[REVIEW] Mnet's Celebrity Goes To College: Nicole

"Celebrity Goes To College Series 3: Nicole" - Thursday 11 p.m. on Mnet

The star of the third installment of Mnet's "Celebrity Goes To College" series is Nicole of Korean girl group Kara. Singers Seo In-young and MC Mong, who starred in the past two seasons, were two of the most flamboyant and least academic of Korea's celebrities bunch who attended KAIST and med school, where Korea's geniuses of the geniuses are said to attend. And the past two seasons were focused on the two stars, old enough to be older siblings to the other students, trying to be serious and friendly with their young classmates. So the real fun in watching them was not in their so-called real college experience but witnessing random incidents that happened on the show, like those in "Simple Life".

But Nicole is a completely different character under different circumstances, compared to the show's previous stars. She has a language barrier - she is not fluent in Korean - but she is a real high-school senior who dreams of going to college. So with Nicole, the show will be able to tell the actual story about students preparing for college and not about students experiencing college life. Hence she starts off the show as a student preparing for college, not as a free-rider into college. Just like kids her own age who stand at the crossroad of admission and rejection from college, Nicole applies to various school departments and goes through all the interviews. With her less-than-fluent Korean and little preparation, it seems fair that she was rejected from all four schools and her rejection even draws emotional empathy from the viewers.

Coincidentally, the show premiered on Mnet on November 12 - the day of Korea's college entrance exam. Nicole received rejection letters from all four colleges that she had applied to. Even if she had only applied to earn the right to be an irregular student, did she learn that "college entrance" is tough in reality by experiencing shocking rejections on the show? "Rejections happen, so what." Nicole says on the show, trying to ignore her disappointment. We hope that, in the future, she aces the college entrance exam and gets to fully enjoy the college campus life that she dreams of.

Reporter : Lynn Kim lynn2878@asiae.co.kr