Dropping out of university midway due to an "unsuitable" choice.

"I don't know what career I should choose, but because I'm afraid of failing to get into university, I've targeted some majors and schools that are easy to get into," shared a 12th-grade student during a one-on-one career counseling session with Associate Professor Pham Manh Ha (University of Education, Vietnam National University, Hanoi).

According to Mr. Pham Manh Ha , it is quite common for students to "not know what career to choose," or not know which profession suits them in the future. But instead of choosing a path that matches their aptitude and interests, many high school seniors only set the goal of "passing the entrance exam," at least getting into a school, even if the major is not suitable for them.

Failure in the university journey

In college admissions counseling sessions for parents and 11th and 12th grade students, the most frequently asked questions experts receive are "Which schools are easy to get into?", "Which admission method is easiest to choose?", and "Which majors offer high job opportunities?". However, very few questions are asked, such as "What financial preparation is needed to study this major at this school?", or "How can I identify career paths that match my aptitude?".

What many parents and students don't realize is that "high job opportunities" are evenly distributed across all professions, provided they are a good fit. When students have a passion for something, they study well and have a higher chance of seizing job opportunities.

Candidates in the 2024 high school graduation exam.

But the journey to understanding that is often very long and arduous. A large number of high school students choose to follow the crowd, according to their parents' wishes. Often, parents' expectations are out of sync with their children's desires, strengths, and abilities.

Pham Minh Thanh (from Thai Binh province) is a young man who initially enrolled in a school under the Ministry of Public Security following his family's guidance. However, Thanh increasingly realized that this was not the path he desired.

While studying at the police academy, Thanh worked as a tutor, sharing study and exam preparation tips on his personal page, unexpectedly attracting the attention of many students. Thanh felt his work was meaningful and realized he had another dream: to become a teacher. He dropped out of the police academy, retook the entrance exam to study pedagogy, and his choice met with strong opposition from his family.

Thanh's story is not unique, and many young people lack the courage to make a different choice like Thanh did, opting instead to follow their parents' guidance and ultimately failing in their university studies.

Giving up halfway because they realized they were "on the wrong path".

Professor Nguyen Huu Tu, Rector of Hanoi Medical University, shared that there have been students who passed the entrance exam to medical school with high scores but were unable to complete their studies. Medicine is one of the fields that demands a great deal of effort and perseverance. Unless it's their dream and they lack the qualities to commit long-term, it's very easy to give up after just one year.

Hanoi Medical University typically has very high admission scores. To get in, many students must have excellent academic performance in high school and diligently study for the entrance exam. Because it's so difficult, this university has become a dream for many students. However, cases of students dropping out, as Professor Nguyen Huu Tu shared, often involve students who, upon entering the university, realize they don't like the medical profession. Because they don't like it, the pressure to study becomes even heavier.

At Hanoi University of Science and Technology, according to Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Phong Dien, there were times when hundreds of students received academic warnings for failing to meet academic requirements. Many students had to drop out of their studies because the academic requirements were very high, and they realized they were not suited for it.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thanh Chuong, chairman of the university council of the University of Transport, also recounted that many students entering the university have fallen into a state of psychological instability due to choosing the wrong major and lacking the skills to change and adapt to the new learning environment.

This "lost path" isn't limited to prestigious universities; it's even more common in many lower-ranked schools. Many students accept schools they don't truly want to attend simply because of the fear of failing to get into university, only to become discouraged and neglect their studies once they're there.

An economics lecturer at a university in Hanoi shared, "In one class I supervised, nearly 30% of the students dropped out after their first year." The university admits students based on high school transcripts with relatively low scores. "Easy to get in, easy to drop out," this lecturer remarked.

Take a detour.

Tran Van Tuan (from Nam Dinh), a young man who passed the entrance exam for the Economics major at a university with a score of 18.5, shared that it was the school he had applied to "avoid failing" other options. After failing other choices, it was the only place he was accepted into.

"The more I studied, the more I realized it didn't suit my financial situation and I lacked motivation. Initially, I thought maybe the school wasn't prestigious, so the quality wasn't good, and it didn't give me motivation or enthusiasm. But gradually, I realized it really wasn't a good fit for me," Tuan said, adding that he intends to stop studying and find a more suitable field before it's too late.

In another case, Dinh Vu Tuan (Quang Binh) participated in the 2024 university entrance exam and was eligible for early admission with 5 preferences for different majors and universities. Tuan officially passed his first choice, the Information Technology major at a prestigious university. However, after the first year, the pressure of poor academic results caused Tuan to fall into depression.

Sharing her son's story, Ms. Thanh Kim, Tuan's mother, said that due to her son's mental health, the family had to consider having him stop studying. She researched and learned that some private universities have a mechanism for accepting students transferring between related majors, so she plans to apply for a transfer, accepting that her son will have to repeat his first year.

"Sometimes, getting into university too easily isn't a good thing. My child qualified for five universities, but now has to transfer to a private school because we made a mistake from the start," Ms. Kim shared.

(To be continued)

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/bo-hoc-dai-hoc-giua-chung-vi-lua-chon-lech-pha-20250403170739667.htm