Limiting the number of admission wishes: Reducing 'virtual' admissions

GD&TĐ - The Ministry of Education and Training is seeking opinions on adjusting a number of important regulations in university admissions from 2026, including the registration of candidates' admission wishes.

In the survey, the Ministry offers the following options: Maximum 5 wishes, maximum 10 wishes and unlimited wishes.

Ensuring fairness and transparency

Ms. Tran Thi My Dieu - Principal of Van Lang University (HCMC) said that it is necessary to control the number of wishes, because this requires candidates to grasp information and think carefully when choosing their admission wishes. "If too many candidates register without a clear orientation for their future career, many students will be admitted but not enroll, wasting opportunities for others," Ms. Dieu commented.

Instead of not limiting the number of wishes as at present, the Ministry of Education and Training proposes to limit the maximum number of wishes that candidates can register. The purpose is to overcome the situation of candidates registering too much but without consideration, leading to "virtual" admission and causing difficulties for training institutions.

These proposals are based on an assessment of the shortcomings of the current admissions method.

Firstly, limit the number of fake registrations. The lack of a limit on the number of wishes has caused many candidates to register indiscriminately to increase their chances of being admitted. This makes it difficult for schools to determine the exact number of candidates who really want to study, leading to a high rate of "fake" registrations in the admissions rounds.

Second, improve the quality of input. Tightening admission regulations, especially the method of considering academic records, is expected to help schools select more suitable candidates, reducing the situation of "entering for the sake of it" and studying the wrong field of ability.

Many opinions say that it is necessary to limit the number of wishes to avoid overloading both candidates and schools. In fact, in 2025, it was recorded that candidates registered more than 100 wishes. Allowing too many registrations causes the system to process a huge amount of data, while the efficiency is not commensurate.

“Limiting the number of wishes will force candidates to consider more carefully, choose a major and school that suits their abilities and goals, and at the same time reduce pressure on schools during the admission process,” Ms. Tran Thi My Dieu emphasized.

Consulting day for choosing admission wishes in 2025. Photo: TG

Standardize processes and data

At the 2025 Higher Education Conference, Mr. Nguyen Tien Thao - Director of the Department of Higher Education (Ministry of Education and Training), said that looking at the 2025 data, only 29.5% of candidates registered for more than 10 wishes. Of which, not many candidates were admitted to the 9th or 10th wish, or were admitted but did not enroll. "This shows that many students registered for many wishes because of fear of risk, 'anti-failure', or registered according to the trend, not in accordance with career goals".

According to Mr. Thao, registering too many wishes makes candidates lack responsibility and motivation to strive. “When they feel like they are 'registering just to be sure', their efforts will decrease. Meanwhile, the large number of wishes also puts pressure on the selection and data processing work,” he added.

The Ministry of Education and Training said that the revised admission regulations will soon be announced, aiming at the goal of fairness, reliability and conformity with the 2018 General Education Program. At the same time, the Ministry is planning to issue a new policy on regional priority for candidates, in the context that many provinces and cities are merging administrative units.

From another perspective, Dr. Vo Thanh Hai - Vice President of Duy Tan University ( Da Nang City) said that limiting the number of wishes should not be applied immediately at the present stage, because it could affect the candidates' right to choose and reduce the flexibility of the admission system.

“Before making a decision, the Ministry of Education and Training should rely on actual data: How many candidates registered for 5-10 choices and how many registered for more than 10 choices. This is important data to evaluate the impact of the policy, avoiding hasty adjustments without basis,” Dr. Hai emphasized.

According to him, the quality of admission does not lie in the number of applications, but in the transparent, fair and standardized admission process and criteria. If the admission system is strict and clear, then regardless of how many or few applications candidates register, the results will still accurately reflect their true abilities and aspirations.

Instead of tightening the number of applications, Dr. Vo Thanh Hai proposed standardizing the admission combination and technical regulations throughout the system.

“Currently, some majors have too many different combinations, making it difficult for candidates to orient and compare. For example, the Computer Science major currently has up to 7 admission combinations. If the wishes are limited, candidates will have to choose very difficultly between schools and combinations, while the opportunity to be considered for the right capacity is narrowed,” Mr. Hai analyzed, at the same time proposing to unify the way to convert English certificate scores between schools.

According to him, there is currently a situation of 'a hundred flowers blooming', each school converts IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC scores in its own way. This causes disadvantages for candidates and reduces the consistency of the system.

The Ministry of Education and Training should issue common standards to ensure fairness. Therefore, it is necessary to standardize admission techniques - from data on wishes, admission combinations to certificate conversion - to help the system operate more effectively, reducing pressure on candidates. The ultimate goal is to recruit the right people with the right capacity, not to limit candidates' opportunities just because of technical regulations.

The Vice President of Duy Tan University emphasized that improving the quality of enrollment must be viewed holistically, in which enhancing the capacity and reputation of training institutions is the key factor. If the university maintains quality, candidates will consider choosing the right major and the right school. At that time, limiting wishes will become unnecessary.

According to a report by the Ministry of Education and Training, in 2025, 852,000 candidates will register for admission with 7.6 million wishes to more than 4,000 majors and training programs of more than 500 universities and colleges nationwide.

There are 17 admission methods applied, of which admission by academic records accounts for the highest rate (42.4%), followed by admission by high school graduation exam scores (39.1%) and 15 other methods.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/gioi-han-so-nguyen-vong-xet-tuyen-giam-ao-trong-tuyen-sinh-post752764.html