Registering for multiple university admission preferences: A waste of resources due to a lack of direction.

The 2025 university admissions season concluded with over 7.6 million applications submitted by candidates. This means that, on average, each candidate submitted nearly 9 applications, an unprecedented number.

Notably, registering for multiple preferences doesn't necessarily stem from careful planning, but mainly from anxiety and a lack of career direction, leading to wasted money and time.

Faculty members from Hanoi University of Industry provide career guidance to students. Photo: Contributor.

In this year's university entrance exam, candidate Nguyen Van Long (Phuc Thinh commune, Hanoi) scored over 90 points on the National University of Hanoi's aptitude test, giving him the opportunity to be considered for many of his dream majors. However, due to concerns about inconsistencies in the conversion of scores between different admission methods, Nguyen Van Long registered for 30 nguyện vọng (preferences) hoping to secure admission to one university. The application fee alone for these 30 preferences was 450,000 VND.

As for candidate Nguyen Mai Lien (a former student of Bac Thang Long High School, Thien Loc commune), even though she had already submitted separate applications to several universities and paid the application fee, when registering again on the Ministry of Education and Training 's general system, Lien had to pay the application fee again for those same choices. "A single admission method that requires paying fees twice is very wasteful," Lien expressed.

According to regulations from the Ministry of Education and Training, the university entrance exam fee for 2025 is 15,000 VND per application, and candidates must pay online through the National Public Service Portal after completing their application registration. The total amount a candidate needs to pay will depend on the number of applications registered. While this amount may seem small, at only 15,000 VND per application, statistics show that the total application fees paid by candidates nationwide this year amounted to over 114 billion VND – a significant sum compared to the actual cost of maintaining the existing online application system.

The Ministry of Education and Training argues that allowing unlimited applications aims to expand opportunities for university admission. However, in reality, opportunities are only truly meaningful when accompanied by complete information, a transparent system, and a unified coordination mechanism.

When the scoring system varies for each school, each subject combination, and each admission method, candidates cannot accurately predict their chances of admission, turning the system into a labyrinth that forces many to choose the most costly option: registering for as many preferences as possible. Meanwhile, a healthy, economical, and efficient admissions mechanism is one that is stable, standardized, and transparent. In that case, each candidate would only need to register for 3-5 preferences.

Students participate in career guidance counseling at Hanoi University of Industry. Photo: Contributor.

The deeper reason for students registering for multiple preferences lies in the fact that high schools lack early career guidance for students, meaning they haven't had sufficient access to information about professions and the labor market.

Furthermore, the lack of transparency in the admissions process, especially in the way scores are converted between different admission methods, makes candidates even more anxious, forcing them to register for multiple options to "insure" their future.

Registering for multiple majors to secure a place in university often leads to the consequence that many students don't truly enjoy their chosen field of study. Some drop out after a few semesters, while others reluctantly complete their studies but then struggle to find suitable employment after graduation. In reality, many graduates and engineers end up making a living as ride-hailing drivers, unskilled laborers, or migrant workers, resulting in a significant waste of time and money for both families and society.

Given the current shortcomings, it is time for the Ministry of Education and Training to review and make timely adjustments, from standardizing exam questions and unifying score conversion methods to providing early career guidance for students. Students cannot continue to gamble their future on dozens of "lottery tickets" of desired majors. They need a fair, transparent, and reliable admissions system so that each decision about choosing a school and a major is a serious choice for their lives.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/dang-ky-nhieu-nguyen-vong-xet-tuyen-dai-hoc-lang-phi-tu-su-thieu-dinh-huong-715829.html