When students drop out of school - Part 1: Changing majors and dropping out of school right after being admitted

Students ask questions about careers and schools at a Tuoi Tre newspaper's 2024 admissions and career counseling program - Photo: DUYEN PHAN

In the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year, the Banking Academy issued academic warnings to 286 students and forced 77 students to drop out. Most of the students forced to drop out were given academic warnings for the third or fourth time.

It is noteworthy that many students who were given academic warnings three times had zero cumulative credits, meaning that these students did not study after being admitted to the school.

Admitted but not enrolled

Among the 286 students who were warned by the Banking Academy for academic misconduct, many were students who were only admitted in 2023. Most of the first-year students were warned because their cumulative scores were too low, and many students did not register for credits and did not have an average score to consider.

At Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education, of the 725 students who received academic warnings for the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year, 80 were first-year students. Of these, 29 students had a cumulative GPA of 0, meaning that these students did not actually study. The remaining 51 students had extremely low GPA, all below 1.

In addition to the students on academic warning, there are 994 students on academic probation. Of these, 682 are first-year students. The students are on academic probation because they have many outstanding credits.

Many other universities also have a large number of students who have been warned about academic matters and forced to drop out. Among them, Ho Chi Minh City University of Law warned 89 students about academic matters and forced 39 students to drop out due to poor academic results in the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year.

In the previous school year, the University of Commerce, Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry, Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade... also warned hundreds of students about academic affairs.

The number of students forced to drop out of school is also not small. In particular, the University of Law ( Hue University) in the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year forced 112 students to drop out, and in the 2022-2026 course alone, 57 students.

Similarly, the School of Tourism (Hue University) also decided to expel 172 students from the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year, including 29 first-year students. The University of Foreign Languages ​​(Hue University) also expelled 112 students from the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year.

Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport reviewed the first semester learning results of the 2022-2023 school year and forced 143 students to drop out of school for being absent from school for longer than the prescribed time.

At the age of 18, you choose a major that is not right for you, not your interests, or it is not the major you chose but someone else chose instead. Therefore, students have low results and receive academic warnings not because they are bad but because they do not like it.

Mr. Bui Hoai Thang (Head of Training Department, University of Technology - Ho Chi Minh City National University)

Wrong major

According to information from universities, there are many reasons why students are admitted but do not study or study poorly. Some candidates choose to study abroad after being admitted, others are unable to afford to study due to difficult circumstances, and the rest choose the wrong major, leading to discouragement and not wanting to study...

In 2023, NTH was admitted to the Food Technology major at the University of Industry and Trade. But as soon as he started studying, H. realized that this was not the major he liked. H. said that he liked cooking and preparing food and that nutrition would be more suitable.

H. said that when applying for admission, he did not research the major thoroughly, so he thought that the food industry was also related to food processing. H. applied to change majors but was not accepted because it was the first semester. H. plans to apply to change majors next year or try to continue this major but will take additional cooking courses outside.

Meanwhile, VL, a first-year marketing student at the University of Finance and Marketing, realized that his forte was in another field after entering school.

"Going to college and having to study math made me tired and stressed. And I also realized that I liked studying languages, not marketing. When applying, I saw my friends applying for this major. This is a hot major, with high benchmarks and lots of career opportunities, so I chose it. At that time, I didn't research carefully and didn't know my strengths" - L. said.

Regarding the situation of students neglecting their studies, Mr. Thai Doan Thanh, Vice Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, said that after students are admitted, the school conducts a survey to see if their chosen major is suitable for them. Results over the years show that more than 10% of students answered that their chosen major does not match their interests and desires.

"Most students choose unsuitable majors because these majors are often ranked as their fourth or fifth choice when applying for admission. These are majors to study for free, not majors that they like. This leads to students having no motivation, no passion for studying, and failing until they are warned about academic performance and forced to drop out of school," said Mr. Thanh.

Similarly, Mr. Huynh The Nguyen, head of the training department of the University of Finance and Marketing, said that many students choose majors based on trends or friends without knowing much about the profession they will study. Moreover, the way of studying at university is different from that of high school, which makes many students "shocked". This leads to ineffective learning results for students.

Read the training program carefully

From a career orientation perspective, Mr. Tran Nam - Head of Student Affairs Department of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Ho Chi Minh City National University) - said that this is the result of late career orientation at the high school level. In addition, universities are not providing adequate admissions counseling, leading to misconceptions about careers.

"When consulting on admissions, we always recommend that candidates carefully read the school's publicly announced training program. If you choose randomly or choose incorrectly, you will not only waste time, money, and career opportunities, but also take away the places of those who really want to study that major," said Mr. Nam.

(to be continued)

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/khi-sinh-vien-dut-ganh-giua-truong-ky-1-vua-trung-tuyen-da-chuyen-nganh-nghi-hoc-20240523093214147.htm