[prostoalex]

It's not cultural, it's a societal perspective. Not sure about other countries, but at least in India there's a secondary education test that everyone has to take http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_India_Secondary_School_Exam...

Results are published, and colleges then make their decisions based on the results of those test. If you don't outperform your peers, your pathway to a good career will get significantly more complicated.