Why is the 2025 college admissions season in chaos?

The reality of the 2025 university entrance exam is a clear demonstration that an unprepared reform can lead to total failure. Hopefully this lesson will be taken seriously.

The reality of the 2025 university admissions season shows that innovations have led to total chaos, leaving candidates, parents and schools in a state of confusion and disorientation - Illustration: TRAN HUYNH

With a series of reforms such as converting scores according to percentiles, eliminating early admission and unifying wishes through a common system, along with many other technical adjustments, the 2025 university entrance exam is expected to be a turning point in admission reform.

However, the reality is showing a total chaos, leaving candidates, parents and schools in a state of confusion and disorientation. This once again confirms that reforms without preparation and without listening to reality will only lead to failure.

Percentiles - Technical Solutions That Disturb Admissions

One controversial change is that the Ministry of Education and Training applies percentile score conversion instead of using the original score as before.

The original goal was to ensure more fairness in admission between groups, limiting "score discrepancies" between subjects, but in reality this only makes the understanding of exam results unclear.

Candidates no longer know where they stand in the rankings. Candidates are running around, confused about where to place their wishes, while schools are also walking in the fog.

Universities cannot be sure of the appropriate score threshold to admit the desired candidates.

Another alarming point is that the number of applications has skyrocketed to an all-time high. The reason is not difficult to understand: candidates are lost so they register to "cast the net", the more the better to "be sure".

But this puts more pressure on the admission system, wastes time, and creates a negative consequence: many candidates pass but fail, and many fail but pass. An unprecedented upheaval in admission.

Not only that, the admission fee is collected multiple times, according to each wish, many different admission methods according to the regulations of the schools, then the fee must be paid for all wishes registered on the common system of the ministry. This causes great expense, especially for candidates in difficult areas.

A reform that was supposed to lighten the burden on parents ended up making things worse. The result is a system that is in a state of confusion and uncertainty, a no-no in an already stressful college admissions environment.

Early admission is abolished but early admission is still "chaotic"

One of the policies considered "strong" by the Ministry of Education and Training in this year's admission season is to eliminate early admission, with the goal of aiming for fairness, transparency, reducing the situation of "virtual reservation" and focusing on a single admission round.

However, ironically, even though the official admission process has not yet taken place, a series of universities still send out acceptance notices, admission invitations, and even collect tuition fees or request early admission confirmation. These actions completely nullify the ministry's policy, pushing the admission process into a "everyone does it their own way" state.

Even when the time for confirming admission according to regulations has not yet ended, many schools, both public and private, still secretly organize additional admission exams and immediately notify candidates of their admission, regardless of regulations and the general system.

The result is a blatant competition among universities to win candidates, creating chaos and eroding confidence in the seriousness and fairness of the entrance exam.

After the first round ended, a series of universities across the country, from public to private, announced additional admissions with thousands of quotas. Notably, some top public universities had to conduct additional admissions for the first time in nearly 10 years; many majors at these schools had a minimum score of only 14-15 points.

Cannot continue "trial and error"

The failure of the 2025 university admissions season is not simply a technical issue. It is the result of a series of unsynchronized decisions, lack of careful preparation, lack of practical testing and especially lack of listening from the grassroots.

To avoid a repeat of this year's chaos, the Ministry of Education and Training should seriously reconsider new technical options, especially percentiles, until there is a clear, transparent and feasible scientific assessment.

Simplify the admission process, reduce unnecessary fees, and avoid making it difficult for candidates - especially those in disadvantaged areas.

Clear, easy-to-understand and consistent communication so that candidates, parents, and schools can grasp accurate and timely information.

It is necessary to demonstrate receptiveness by listening to feedback from practice, especially from universities and education experts, instead of continuing to build policies from the desk.

College admission is a major step in one's educational journey. It cannot be an irresponsible game of chance.

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TRAN HUYNH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vi-sao-mua-tuyen-sinh-dai-hoc-2025-roi-loan-20250904094414822.htm