Proactively choose multiple admission methods
These days, in addition to studying, Uyen Nhi - a 12th grade student at Viet Duc High School (Hanoi) also spends time learning about university admission methods.
The female student plans to take the entrance exam to Hanoi National University of Education and has consulted the school's admission plans from previous years. Realizing that admission based on high school graduation exam scores is no longer an advantage, Uyen Nhi decided to proactively seize the opportunity through many other admission methods.
"I plan to apply based on my IELTS score, high school transcript, and high school graduation exam score. In addition, I am considering the competency assessment exam organized by Hanoi National University of Education," the female student shared.
The more information Uyen Nhi learned, the more worried and confused she became, because she was the first group of students to graduate from high school under the new program. The exam format and number of subjects had clearly changed.
"I feel vague and unclear about orientation and studying. I hope universities will announce their university admission plans right now so that we have a basis for review and orientation" - Uyen Nhi expressed.
Similarly, Dang Ngoc Minh Chau, a 12th grade student at Viet Duc High School, has also invested in studying and reviewing for the IELTS certificate since grade 10 and plans to use this certificate for university admission.
"This is one of the international English certificates accepted by many leading universities in Vietnam and around the world. Possessing IELTS will give me an advantage when applying for majors that require high foreign language skills, while also expanding my opportunities in study and career in the future" - Minh Chau shared.
Although the total investment cost for studying and taking the IELTS test is about 30 million VND, the female student thinks this is a "worthy investment" to give her better opportunities in her studies and career.
Not only Uyen Nhi or Minh Chau, the current trend of students is to choose many admission methods instead of just depending on high school graduation exam scores.
Controversy over early admission
Admission by IELTS, academic transcripts, aptitude test scores, etc. are all commonly referred to as early admission.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training, schools are using more than 20 early admission methods. Looking back at the 2024 admission work, the Ministry of Education and Training admitted that although there have been many innovations in the admission work, allowing training institutions to conduct admissions using many methods also causes difficulties for candidates in the selection process; on the other hand, the early admission method does not really ensure reliability, objectivity, and fairness for candidates and between training institutions.
At the 2024 Higher Education Conference, the issue of unfairness in admission methods was once again mentioned by Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son. Mr. Son said that schools using too many methods, having many early admission quotas and few quotas based on high school graduation exam scores, pushing the admission scores very high, causing unfairness.
“Early admission has negative impacts on general education in the final stages of this level. Therefore, it needs to be considered in the coming time. Because students who are eligible to be admitted to university through early admission will not study anymore. That is very harmful" - said the Minister.
In fact, the Ministry of Education and Training has repeatedly encouraged schools to use graduation scores for admission because it believes that these results are more reliable, less costly, and ensure fairness. But in reality, in the context of universities being given autonomy, the use of diverse admission methods is an inevitable trend.
