Still haven't chosen a major, what to do?

Candidates come to receive advice at the 2024 University and College Admissions Consulting Day in Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: DUYEN PHAN

According to experts, most of the time it's because candidates don't understand the profession well and don't even understand themselves, so they keep struggling to choose a major and rush into "hot" majors.

Change overnight

Candidate Dang Khoi (Vinh Long) has met the requirements to be admitted early to the information technology major of a university in Ho Chi Minh City, but for the past few weeks he has been confused and has not been able to confirm his application on the common system of the Ministry of Education and Training.

Khoi has a high school graduation exam result of 2024 with the social science exam and the component score of each subject is relatively high. In fact, Khoi's academic performance in natural science subjects is not bad, but he is still not confident in choosing this exam to take.

"I heard many people say that choosing information technology will bring many job opportunities and high income, so I registered early and qualified for this major. But I felt very worried because I really don't know much about technology and I'm not passionate about this major. With a score of more than 25 points in the C00 exam, many friends advised me to choose journalism or multimedia communications," Khoi shared.

Therefore, this candidate planned to register his wishes in the following order: multimedia communications, journalism, social work, state management, information technology (he was admitted early). However, because he was still hesitant because he did not really understand the major, Khoi contacted an admissions consultant.

"Attending the 2024 University and College Admissions Consulting Day at the University of Technology (Ho Chi Minh City National University) on July 20, I received advice from the teachers. After a night of careful thought, I completely changed my planned admission wishes.

Realizing that I am suitable for the law industry, I prioritized this major at Can Tho University and hoped to pass. Before, because I saw the glamour of journalism and communications, I wanted to rush into it, while I really did not understand it clearly"...

Rush into the "hot" industry

Every university admission season, candidates want to choose a "hot" major to apply for admission, accepting high risks, failing or finding it unsuitable when re-entering school. The majors considered "hot" in recent years have always attracted a large number of candidates, including medicine, computer science, artificial intelligence, automobiles, tourism, journalism, multimedia communications, psychology, English pedagogy, international relations, finance and banking, international business...

These majors have had very high admission scores for many years in schools, some majors have 29-30 points. In reality, with many majors that are difficult to recruit, society still has a need for human resources but students do not want to study, so some majors have only a few candidates admitted. The reason for this, according to experts, is that most students and parents misunderstand the profession.

Professor Nguyen Khac Quoc Bao, vice director of Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, commented: "Many students think that if they want to work in a certain field, they have to choose to study that major.

It is worth mentioning that not only students but also many parents think like that, so they often orient and want their children to enter a "hot" industry. However, this understanding is incorrect because a career field needs human resources from many different industries. Besides, many students have not clearly identified their interests and abilities, so many are confused in choosing a major.

MSc. Nguyen Thai Chau, Director of the Admissions and Business Relations Center of the University of Finance and Marketing, also said that candidates' choice of majors in recent years has been quite "pragmatic".

"Hot majors, trendy jobs, high salaries after graduation, great job opportunities, and attractive environments are always the information that makes candidates rush to study. I think that currently, most high school graduates choose careers that are not really suitable because they do not have complete and accurate information about the profession, while they do not fully understand their own abilities and qualities," said Mr. Chau.

Consider carefully between passion and ability

Dr. Pham Tan Ha, vice principal of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Ho Chi Minh City National University), said that for many years, journalism has always been among the majors with the highest admission scores at the school due to the glamour of the profession.

Besides, multimedia communications is also becoming a "hot" industry attracting a large number of candidates and this year this industry has the highest standard score in the school's early admission methods.

Multimedia communication is a highly applicable field of study because of the process of combining knowledge of journalism, new technology, marketing, art... in creating and designing multimedia and highly interactive products applied in the fields of communication, advertising, education and entertainment...

People who do this job need to have good writing skills, aesthetic sense and sensitivity to the beauty of life to convey messages effectively. To work well and develop in this field, one needs to be diligent, patient and have a learning spirit.

"In my opinion, depending on your academic ability, especially candidates must clearly identify their strengths and passions to choose a certain major. It is not necessary to choose the exact name of a specific major. Because the general knowledge and basic knowledge of the major are all based on the same foundation.

In the process of studying and working later, you can learn and update your knowledge. So first of all, you need to find out which career orientation is suitable for your strengths and personality, from there learn about related fields of study, rather than choosing a specific major," Mr. Ha advised.

Don't be too dreamy when choosing a major.

Medicine, dentistry and pharmacy are the majors that always attract the attention of many candidates with a large number of applications. In fact, many parents want their children to choose medicine, and even "force" their children to choose this major.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Khoi, head of the training department of Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, advised: "Choosing a major requires careful consideration between your passion and your ability. You should not be too dreamy, leading to failing the university entrance exam. If you really love medicine but are not confident in your score, you can choose to study traditional medicine and preventive medicine to pursue your passion."

Few industries, many jobs

According to Master Phung Quan, admissions expert at the University of Natural Sciences (Ho Chi Minh City National University), currently in Vietnam there are about 240 universities with nearly 370 training majors, while there are more than 3,000 different occupations.

"So you can see that there are very few majors but many jobs. The most important thing is that you need to know what job is right for you, what you want to do, and should choose the majors that you have strengths and love," Mr. Quan advised.

How to arrange wishes?

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thu Thuy, Director of the Department of Higher Education (Ministry of Education and Training), speaking at the 2024 University and College Admissions Consulting Day - Photo: NAM TRAN

Sharing at the 2024 University and College Admissions Consulting Day in Hanoi, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thu Thuy - Director of the Department of Higher Education (Ministry of Education and Training) - emphasized that candidates who have received early admission results from schools must still register their wishes on the Ministry of Education and Training's admission system.

"Last year, we had to deal with cases where candidates were so confident that they had been admitted early that they went on vacation without registering their admission wishes in the system. When they learned that they had to register, the system had already closed," said Ms. Thuy.

Ms. Thuy advises candidates not to register for too many wishes but should consider and allocate the number of wishes (including the majors they love and majors with high chances of passing) to limit the risk of failing all wishes.

A parent asked if the first choice has priority over the other choices and how to arrange the choices. In response to this question, Ms. Thuy advised candidates to arrange their choices in order of priority (desire, preference). If a candidate passes the first choice, the system will not consider them further, even if the candidate meets the requirements to pass the other choices.

As for the schools, according to current regulations, schools do not prioritize accepting all candidates with the first choice before considering the second or third choice... but will consider all choices fairly, and qualified candidates will be considered for admission.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/van-chua-chon-duoc-nganh-hoc-lam-sao-20240721234836904.htm