10th-grade students in Nghe An 'take a gamble' by changing their college application preferences.

Many surprises in the final minutes.

After 5 days of changing preferences, the number of applications to Thai Lao High School (Hung Nguyen) has decreased to approximately 500, down from 658 previously. The acceptance rate for this school has also increased to over 70%, from 54% as before.

The decrease in the number of applications to Thai Lao High School came as a significant surprise to many candidates. This is because, located just a few kilometers from Vinh City, this school in Hung Nguyen District is quite convenient for candidates from Vinh City to travel to.

Meanwhile, the school's admission cutoff score is significantly lower than in Vinh City, so in recent years, a large number of candidates from Vinh City have registered to take the entrance exam at Thai Lao High School. Before the change of preferences, the competition ratio at this school was approximately 2:1 candidates (the second highest in the province and much higher than other schools in the region).

Why did the number of candidates registering for the entrance exam at Thai Lao High School suddenly decrease after candidates adjusted their preferences? This question seems easy to answer, because after the exam, many reports suggested that many candidates in Vinh City, fearing they would fail to get into public schools in the city, changed their preferences to Thai Lao High School.

In addition, many other candidates (mainly from Hung Nguyen district) feared they would not be able to compete with students from Vinh City, so they transferred their applications to other schools with lower competition rates. "One person tells ten, ten tell a hundred," and by the last minute, the number of applications to Thai Lao High School had decreased significantly.

A similar situation is also occurring at Huynh Thuc Khang High School in Vinh City – one of the most prestigious public schools in the province. Prior to this year's 10th grade entrance exam, this school had the highest number of applicants in the province, with nearly 1,600 candidates. With an enrollment quota of only 810 students, the projected acceptance rate is only 51%.

A surprising turn of events occurred for applicants to this school when, after five days of intense deliberation, many candidates, fearing a rise in the admission cutoff score, withdrew their applications and switched to other schools to ensure their admission to a public school. By the final deadline, the number of applications to Huynh Thuc Khang High School had decreased significantly. As a result, the intensity of the admissions process also subsided, and those who remained steadfast can now breathe a sigh of relief, as their chances of being admitted to the school were much higher than initially predicted.

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By 4 PM on June 11th, my child's class was still buzzing with discussions about whether to stay or leave. A lot of information was being updated, but because it wasn't official, many parents were still hesitant and uncertain.

I was also very worried because after the exam, my child only scored just over 24 points (lower than the previous year's cutoff score for Huynh Thuc Khang High School). Personally, I felt this score was unsafe, so I decided to change my child's application.

However, my son, who really liked Huynh Thuc Khang High School, insisted that I keep it as his first choice and said, "If I don't get in, I'll go to the advanced school within the school." Now that I've received information that the number of applications to the school has decreased significantly, I'm truly delighted and hope he will achieve good results in this year's exam.

Ms. Le Thi Thanh has a child who registered Huynh Thuc Khang High School as their first choice.

A similar situation is occurring at Cua Lo High School. Before the exam, the school had 96 surplus applications, and many students had no chance of being admitted. However, in recent days, more than 60 students who registered this school as their first choice have transferred their applications to other schools, leaving only about 20 students with surplus applications. The admission rate after the change of preferences has reached over 90%.

Anxious

The 2024-2025 10th grade entrance exam is the second time the Nghe An Department of Education and Training has allowed candidates to change their preferences after completing the 10th grade entrance exam.

The Department's aim is to increase students' chances of being admitted to public schools, helping them choose schools that match their test scores and abilities.

However, because determining exam scores is extremely difficult, and evaluating exam questions and predicting cutoff scores are often subjective and outside the scope or expertise of many parents and students, errors or hasty decisions about changing college preferences are unavoidable.

This has also caused the 10th grade admissions landscape this year to remain volatile, and many parents, even after making a final decision for their children, are still uneasy about the results.

Parent Tran Thi Hoai Thanh, whose child registered Le Viet Thuat High School in Vinh City as their first choice, shared that after the Department of Education and Training ended the period for changing preferences, she felt like she was "sitting on a powder keg."

Ms. Thanh said: "My child has average abilities, so from the beginning I decided that Le Viet Thuat High School would be her first choice. After the exam, she scored around 22-22.5 points, and I believe that this score is likely to be enough for admission (because this year's exam was more difficult and this score is equivalent to last year's cutoff score)."

However, upon receiving information that hundreds of students from other schools have transferred in, and a similar number have left Le Viet Thuat High School, I am no longer at ease. This is because it is very possible that my child, currently in the middle group of candidates, will be relegated to the lower group and face a very high risk of failing, as over 300 students will be eliminated.

Further elaborating on this, Mr. Hoang Minh Luong, Principal of Le Viet Thuat High School, said: "After the application process, our school has 1,169 applications remaining, a decrease of 12 compared to the initial registration. Because many applications were transferred from other schools and these students had relatively high exam scores, an increase in the cutoff score is possible. However, parents shouldn't worry too much because last year, the number of applications was even higher than this year, but the cutoff score was only 22.4 points. This year's cutoff score may be lower because the exam was difficult and highly selective."

Not only in Vinh City, but also in some districts, the number of applicants has fluctuated significantly after 5 days of changing preferences. At Nam Dan 2 High School, the number of applicants increased from 617 to 721, an unprecedented "surge". With an enrollment quota of only 450 students, nearly 300 students who applied to the school will fail to get into their first choice.

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Due to the significant increase in the number of 9th-grade students across the province compared to last year, it is normal for the number of candidates to switch their preferences to our school. However, this will certainly affect the admission scores and is expected to increase compared to previous years.

Mr. Pham Xuan Phu - Principal of Nam Dan 2 High School

As a school located in a disadvantaged area, with most students being children of farmers and lacking adequate learning conditions, the fact that many students from other areas register to take the entrance exam has caused the Principal of Nam Dan 2 High School much concern: "Students changing their preferences is their right. However, it also makes the competition for admission to public schools more difficult. I hope that in the coming years, if the number of students increases, more classes and enrollment quotas will be added to give more students the opportunity to attend public schools, reducing the burden on families."

Thus, with many unexpected changes, the 10th grade entrance exam in Nghe An remains a "heated" issue, even though the Department of Education and Training has given students the opportunity to change their preferences.

The Department is expected to announce the exam results by the end of this week. However, the cut-off scores for public schools will depend on several other factors (such as the pass rate for specialized schools) before being officially announced.