Admission wishes doubled, will university benchmark scores increase?

X U TREND OF REGISTERING MULTIPLE WISHES TO INCREASE CHANCES

According to Dr. Nguyen Trung Nhan, Head of Training Department of Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry, this year the number of applications to the school has doubled compared to last year. The number of candidates using foreign language certificates to convert to English scores has also increased from 3,000 to 8,000, of which the majority achieved IELTS 5.0 or higher. Explaining this trend, Dr. Nhan said that because there is no early admission this year, candidates tend to apply for more applications to increase their chances of being admitted.

PHOTO: DAO NGOC THACH

As of the afternoon of August 5, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education recorded about 70,000 registered candidates (an increase of nearly 40% compared to last year). According to Dr. Huynh Trung Phong, Director of the Center for Student Support and Startup Development of the school, the surge in registered candidates shows the attraction of the pedagogical industry in the current career choice of students. With preferential policies in studying, new points of the Teachers Law, teachers' salaries are ranked highest in the administrative career salary scale system... leading to this industry being very attractive to PhDs, especially good PhDs.

The University of Economics and Law (Ho Chi Minh City National University) also recorded a total number of registered students more than doubling compared to last year. Majors with a large number of registered students include international economics, e-commerce, marketing, international trade law, management information systems, digital marketing, etc.

Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade recorded more than 100,000 candidates registering for admission, nearly double that of last year. Master Pham Thai Son, Director of the school's Admissions and Communications Center, said that the main reason was that there was no more early admission, all methods were implemented simultaneously in the first round. Meanwhile, last year, candidates who had applied early only had to re-register for the eligible candidates in the system if they did not want to register for another candidate. Therefore, this year, candidates tend to register for many candidates to increase their chances of being admitted, leading to an increase in the number of applicants to schools.

Several other public universities that attract many PhDs also reported double the number of registered students compared to last year.

D FORECAST OF STANDARD SCORES TO DECREASE AT MANY SCHOOLS

Although the total number of candidates registered in the first round of general admission on the Ministry of Education and Training's system increased, schools still said that the benchmark scores tended to decrease.

Dr. Nguyen Trung Nhan said that the benchmark scores for many majors at Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry are expected to decrease by 0.5-1 point because the high school graduation exam results in many subjects were lower than last year.

Master Cu Xuan Tien, Head of Admissions and Student Affairs Department of the University of Economics and Law (Ho Chi Minh City National University), also predicted that the school's benchmark scores will tend to decrease by 0.5-1.5 points compared to last year. The reason is that the high school graduation exam scores in English and math have both decreased, while 5 out of 6 admission combinations of the school include both of these subjects. In particular, for new majors with lower competition levels, the benchmark scores are likely to decrease further, such as: civil law (English program); applied mathematics in economics, management and finance (English program); financial technology (Co-op program); management information systems (Co-op program) ...

Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Hoai Thang, Head of Training Department of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (Ho Chi Minh City National University), also predicted that the admission scores of many majors may decrease compared to last year, due to the decrease in high school graduation exam scores in many subjects and the school changing its admission formula. Associate Professor Thang analyzed that this year the school will reserve 95-99% of its admission quota for a combination of academic performance, cultural and sports achievements, and priority points (if any). According to this combined admission method, the factors that greatly affect the school's admission scores are the Ho Chi Minh City National University's competency assessment exam scores and the high school graduation exam.

Meanwhile, according to Associate Professor, Dr. Thang, the graduation exam scores in all subjects decreased compared to last year, except for physics. Math fluctuated the most, with the average score dropping from 6.45 to 4.78. Chemistry decreased by 0.62 points compared to last year to 6.06 points. Biology decreased by 0.5 points. The number of students scoring 7 or higher was also lower than in previous years... In addition, this year the school changed the formula for calculating the competency assessment test scores. In previous years, to convert the competency assessment score to a 90-point scale, the school took the total test score and divided it by 11 (maximum total score of 1,200). This year the school's admission score scale is 100, the competency assessment score converted to the math section is doubled, so the maximum score for this test is 1,500 divided by 15.

"Technically, the converted competency assessment score has decreased. In addition, the high school graduation exam score has decreased, so the overall basic standard score will decrease slightly by a few points," said the Head of Training Department of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology.

Photo: Dao Ngoc Thach

SOME INDUSTRIES' BENCHMARK SCORES ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE

Although the general benchmark trend is expected to decrease, some industries that attract students are likely to have benchmark scores that remain the same or increase compared to last year.

Dr. Nguyen Trung Nhan said that with the available data, the benchmark scores for the law major and some "hot" majors in the technology field of Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry may remain the same or increase slightly, such as: computer engineering, automotive engineering technology, mechatronics. In the method of considering the results of the capacity assessment of Ho Chi Minh City National University and considering the transcript, the benchmark scores are likely to increase. Looking at the score spectrum of this year's capacity assessment exam, about 40% of the nearly 153,000 candidates taking the exam achieved a good level (700/1,200 points or higher).

"Therefore, the majors that last year had a benchmark score of 700-850 will increase by a few dozen points this year, because this score area has a large number of students and is more competitive. The benchmark score from considering academic records has a similar trend, because the school has stopped giving priority to directly considering specialized students, and instead switched to adding 1-3 points," Dr. Nhan further predicted.

Similarly, a representative of the University of Economics and Law predicted that the benchmark scores for some "attractive" majors may remain stable or increase or decrease slightly compared to last year. In 2024, the benchmark scores for e-commerce will be 27.44 (high school graduation exam score) and 945 (competency assessment score); management information systems will be 26.33 and 896 points; international trade law will be 26.9 and 861 points; international economics will be 26.55 and 884 points; international business will be 26.71 and 894 points, etc.

With the situation of students registering for admission to the school this year, the representative of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology also said that some "hot" majors with standard scores may increase compared to last year such as: microchip design, computer science , data science, logistics and supply chain management...