Imagine getting rich and famous, with your face plastered on huge billboards—for being a popular high school tutor. That’s the case in Hong Kong, where tutors have as much celebrity cred as actors and rock stars. Many of the top tutors, who get students ready for all-important college-admissions tests, have their own music videos and Facebook fan pages and can earn more than $1 million a year. Tutoring companies market the tutors as celebs—giving them pop star haircuts and designer clothes—to enhance their appeal. Hong Kong’s public universities accept only 18 percent of high school grads, and students are eager for a leg up on the make-or-break entrance exam. But some people criticize the tutoring companies, saying they make promises about test success that they don’t keep. “I’ve heard that some ‘tutor kings’ tell students that they will excel in the English examination if they memorize 50 chosen words,” said one Hong Kong lawmaker. “But this is impossible. These are all gimmicks.”