The main question of this research is how female students confront the conditions of the university entrance exam and higher education, and at what points this experience has intense gender-based implications. This qualitative research uses semi-structured in-depth interviews as its primary data collection tool. Thirty-two female students from various universities across the country were interviewed. Thematic analysis of the interview data revealed class-center/periphery and gender gaps as two main themes of the research. Inefficient academic guidance, hidden curriculum of the entrance exam, and conflicting normative pressures with academic interests are part of the experience of girls who have entered university, which seems to be shared with boys. However, gendered attitudes during major selection, doubts about simultaneous marriage and education at university, and family complicity with native-place policies are unique experiences of female students at the university entrance stage. The intersection of class-center/periphery and gender factors encompasses mechanisms for reproducing social gender order at the turning point of the university entrance exam.