Increasing virtual filtering in university admissions: Candidates are stressed waiting for benchmark scores

The Ministry of Education and Training unexpectedly postponed the announcement of benchmark scores, surprising millions of candidates and universities.

This afternoon, August 22, universities will announce admission scores after filtering 10 times, 4 times more than the original plan, because the virtual ratio this year is too large.

There are candidates registering over 200 wishes!

The reason for the high virtual rate is that candidates register too many wishes, leading to many difficulties in determining the benchmark score. According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), nearly 850,000 candidates have registered for admission with a total of about 7.6 million wishes, meaning that on average each student registers nearly 9 wishes - a record high in the past 5 years.

According to many experts, the early cancellation of admission makes candidates lose their initial support, so they tend to register many admission wishes to increase their chances of being admitted. Many candidates register from more than 100 to over 150 wishes, some even register over 200 wishes. To limit the virtual rate, the Ministry of Education and Training should limit the number of admission wishes because processing the virtual filtering system is complicated, time-consuming, and prone to errors, while candidates registering too many wishes is also not effective.

Experts also pointed out that in the current admission process, virtual filtering is an indispensable step to limit the situation of virtual candidates - that is, registering for many wishes at many schools. If virtual filtering is not done carefully, it will lead to candidates being admitted to many schools at the same time, causing a situation of excess quota or vice versa.

In previous years, when schools were still allowed to consider early admission, early-admitted candidates only needed to re-register and the admission system could filter immediately. But this year, schools are not allowed to consider early admission, all methods are considered at the same time, not to mention having to convert scores between methods, making the virtual filtering more complicated and confusing. In addition, vocational colleges this year also participated in this system, causing the number of candidates to increase, and the number of wishes to be large.

Candidates learn about admission requirements at Nguyen Tat Thanh University (HCMC) Photo: Tan Thanh

Admission deadline remains unchanged

The announcement of the first round of benchmark scores will be delayed compared to previous years, at the latest 5 p.m. on August 22, but other important milestones in the university and college admission process in 2025 will remain the same. Accordingly, the deadline for candidates to confirm their admission will remain unchanged, at the latest 5 p.m. on August 30.

The Ministry of Education and Training affirmed that increasing the number of virtual filtering times is only a technical adjustment, aiming to improve the efficiency of processing wishes in the context of a sudden increase in the number of registrations. The admission process is still being implemented according to plan, ensuring publicity, transparency and maximum benefits for candidates.

According to the previous plan, the afternoon of August 20 was the time when schools officially announced the admission scores for universities and colleges in 2025. This is a time that millions of candidates and parents have been waiting for for many days.

For universities, the Ministry of Education and Training’s sudden postponement of the announcement schedule means that the admission announcement plan and admission instructions must also change. Many schools had previously planned to announce the benchmark scores on the evening of August 20 or the morning of August 21, but were forced to wait and update according to the new schedule.

Hanoi University of Science and Technology said that in response to the request to adjust the admission and virtual filtering plan, the admission results for the Northern region will be announced at 4:00 p.m. on August 22.

Dr. Nguyen Trung Nhan, Head of Training Department - Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry, said that according to the original plan, the school would announce the benchmark scores in the late afternoon of August 20. The extension of time also makes those working in the admissions department more nervous because they have to continue monitoring information to implement. According to the school's original plan, the schedule for welcoming new students to complete admission procedures was from August 22 to 30, but now it has to be adjusted to August 23.

Master Pham Thai Son, Director of the Admissions and Communications Center - Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, said that the school planned to welcome new students from August 22 to 31, but it was postponed to August 24 to September 5.

Some other schools have announced that the start of freshmen will be delayed, which could affect previously planned activities.

Faced with the sudden change, experts advise candidates to stay calm because the additional virtual filtering will help the benchmark score to be more accurate, reducing the risk of errors. MSc. Nguyen Thi Kim Phung, Deputy Head of the Admissions - Communications and Corporate Relations Department of the University of Finance and Marketing, noted that candidates need to closely follow the announcement of the school about admission time, required documents and online procedures. In the context that the time may be delayed, it is necessary for candidates to proactively update information from the school's official website and fanpage.

Increasing the number of virtual filters will give good results

Mr. Pham Van Doi (Linh Xuan Ward, Ho Chi Minh City) said that his child registered for 9 wishes at 4 universities this year. All last week, the family counted the days waiting for the admission score on the afternoon of August 20, but at noon, they heard the news of the postponement, so they were a bit more stressed.

Some parents also think that the Ministry of Education and Training should announce the plan sooner, instead of announcing it on the exact date. However, some parents also have a positive view that it is better to be slow but accurate than to announce it hastily and then have to adjust it.

Dr. Nguyen Duc Nghia, former Vice President of Ho Chi Minh City National University, said that this year's application processing system has not been able to handle all the fake applications after 6 filtering times, so the number of fake applications needs to be increased. He hopes that after 10 virtual filtering times, good results will be achieved.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/tang-loc-ao-mat-thoi-gian-thi-sinh-cang-thang-196250821221100843.htm