Consider the opportunity for your second choice.

(Baonghean) - Although the second round of university and college admissions only lasts 10 days (from August 26th to September 5th) and coincides with a holiday, the race to secure the remaining slots is still very intense... In this second round, candidates only have one choice and do not have as many opportunities to change their preferences as in the previous round.

The second day of the second round of university and college admissions coincided with the full moon of the seventh lunar month. Despite this, Vinh University saw a large number of applicants registering for admission. Outside the reception area, applicants and their families attentively monitored the notice board displaying the remaining quotas for the second round of applications. Over 2,000 places were available across 26 majors, with Law having the most places (200), and the remaining majors having approximately 50-150 places each, seemingly reassuring the applicants. At the application reception area, every applicant was advised by the counseling team to carefully consider their choices and to thoroughly research their options, as they only had one choice and could not change it.

Updating the profiles of candidates who registered for their second choice at Vinh University.

To date, Vinh University has received approximately 200 applications for the second round of admissions, with the most applications still being for Law, Finance and Banking, and Information Technology. Notably, contrary to initial expectations that candidates applying for the second round usually have low scores, the actual admission scores for these applicants are quite high. Tran Phan Cuong (Grade 4, Trung Do Ward, Vinh City) came to register for the Faculty of Economic Law with a rather disheartened expression. In this year's exam, he scored 23.75 points in the C block. Confident in his score, Cuong had applied for the Political Academy as his first choice, but ultimately failed to get in because he was 0.5 points short. With an admission score of only 18.5 points for his second choice, Cuong was quite confident in his chances of getting accepted, but as he confided: "In the first round, I didn't research thoroughly enough and applied to a highly competitive school. If only I had thought more carefully, I would have had more opportunities to apply to other top-tier schools."

Along with Cuong, his classmate Phan Trung scored 25.25 points in the C-block exam. However, after failing to get into the Firefighting University, Trung went to Vinh University to apply for his second choice. According to volunteer Nguyen Thi Hong Lam, who monitored the candidates' scores, the scores of those applying for their second choice were quite high, mostly above 20 points. And most candidates applied to departments with admission scores of 18 points or higher...

Providing advice to candidates via hotline at Vinh University.

Dr. Nguyen Xuan Binh, Head of the Training Department at Vinh University, said: "In the first phase, Vinh University has recruited about 85% of its students, and more than half of the majors have already filled their quotas. Because in the second phase, candidates can only submit one application and cannot change their preferences or withdraw their applications to transfer to another university, candidates need to think carefully before making a choice. The key is to choose a major and a career that you are passionate about first. Next, you must choose a major or career that suits your abilities, circumstances, and conditions. You shouldn't choose a major or career based on popular opinion, as this has been a failure for many candidates after the first round of admissions... In the second phase, to support candidates, Vinh University has increased the dissemination of information about the university's admissions process on its website and through mass media." In addition, the school's hotline, through two phone numbers (0388.988.989 and 0383.856.394), is constantly available to provide timely advice and answer students' questions...

At Nghe An University of Economics, in the first round of admissions, through two methods (based on scores and academic transcripts), the university only managed to recruit about 58% of its target. For this reason, the second round is considered the most crucial for a lower-ranked university. To facilitate applicants, right from the entrance, the university has established a team of trained student volunteers to directly assist, answer questions, and advise family members and applicants who wish to apply. In addition, even on holidays, the university staff are on duty regularly and are ready to work overtime if there are applicants registering. Sharing about the second round of admissions, Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai Anh, Vice Principal of the school, said: “We have learned a lot from the first round of admissions. For example, a week ago, many candidates withdrew their applications from other schools and applied to our school, but the information couldn't be updated online. We then directly reported this to the Examination Department and handled it promptly to facilitate the candidates. Also, in the first round, we updated the scores but didn't sort them in descending order. In the second round, we learned from that experience to make it easier for candidates to track the results. Currently, the most popular major is Accounting, followed by Economics and Land Management.”

According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training, in the first round of university and college admissions, nearly 506,000 candidates registered (compared to the projected number of candidates meeting the minimum quality assurance threshold for university admissions, which was over 531,000). Among the top 100 universities, only 57 have filled 80% or more of their quotas, while the remaining 300+ universities and colleges are reserving slots for candidates applying for the second round. This statistic shows that even if candidates don't get accepted into their first choice, they shouldn't worry too much but should remain calm and carefully consider their options. Experience from the first round also shows that the majority of candidates who frantically switch between schools are those with lower exam scores and many who don't assess their own abilities or carefully consider their choices before submitting their applications. In addition, many parents and candidates have misconceptions about the candidates' true abilities. In reality, this year's exam scores are higher than in previous years because this year's exam had to integrate two subjects into one, making it easier.

Many argue that students who scored 18 or 19 points this year are essentially only scoring the same as those who scored 13 or 14 points last year. Furthermore, many candidates are impatient and, despite the Ministry's policy allowing them to change their preferences at local universities, still insist on going to universities to make changes, leading to chaos, wasted time, and increased costs. For example, in Nghe An province, nearly 30,000 students registered for the university entrance exam, but after almost 10 days, only 1,027 students requested to change their preferences at high schools. The rest undoubtedly rushed to universities, even if it wasn't necessary.

Regarding the Ministry of Education and Training, following public and university feedback, the second round of admissions has undergone positive and reasonable changes. Specifically, in this supplementary admission round, after registering for admission to a university, candidates are not allowed to change their preferences or withdraw their applications to transfer to another university. Candidates must use the barcode number on each exam results certificate to register for admission to only one university. The Ministry of Education and Training requires that during the admission period, provincial Departments of Education organize the acceptance of applications from candidates and transfer the registration data to the universities. At the end of each admission round, universities must submit the admission scores and the list of admitted candidates to the Ministry's admissions data management system. In addition, candidates can seek direct advice via the Ministry of Education and Training's phone numbers: 04.36231138 - 0436230816 - 04.36231137.

My Ha