The Iranian entrance exam is a huge investment with a near-zero return. The capital includes time (3–5 years), energy, financial costs (50–500 million Tomans), and the psycho-emotional capital of millions of students and families. The only benefit is limited acceptance (for example, 10 out of 300 in certain fields).

Personal harm: More than 85% of candidates fail. The theory of general attributions (1967) shows that failure is attributed to the system, but the defense mechanism leads to isolation, depression, anxiety, physical disorders (sleep, digestion, immunity) and even suicide.

Family harm: Blame ("We spent so much, it became forbidden"), comparison ("So-and-so's child was accepted"), humiliation ("You are nothing"), parental guilt. These destroy trust, create emotional distance, disrupt the power structure (illusion of power in the successful, defiance in the unsuccessful) and even lead to divorce.

Social harms: The entrance exam is a competition for capital; the top ranks are mostly prosperous. Deprived areas with zero access fuel a sense of deprivation, hidden anger, forced migration, a cycle of poverty, and a decline in national cohesion.

Conclusion: Small profits are incompatible with huge capital. The entrance exam is not a test of talent, but a mirror of inequality.

Suggestions: Elimination/structural review of the entrance exam, continuous assessment, real income quota, free educational platform, scholarships for low-income earners, mental health in schools, a campaign for success without the entrance exam, a ban on advertising ranks.

The entrance exam is the destruction of generations. An urgent review is necessary.