Choosing the wrong major is like "catching fish climbing trees, catching monkeys wading in water"

"Catch fish climbing trees, catch monkeys wading in water"

On the afternoon of September 27, at a seminar sharing study abroad experiences, with the participation of nearly 30 prestigious universities around the world, Ms. Le Dieu Linh, Deputy Director of an educational organization, said that students need to choose a suitable career, not compete with "hot" majors.

Citing the Open Doors 2023 report (an annual report published by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in collaboration with the US Department of State ), Ms. Dieu Linh said that due to similarities in the global labor market, business and engineering are the two most chosen majors when international students study in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.

Meanwhile, in each country, international students have more specific choices of majors. For example, in the UK, the most popular major is law; health in Canada, agriculture in Australia and engineering - computer science in the US.

These options depend on each country's preferential policy for recruiting international students and the specific human resource needs of each region.

According to Ms. Dieu Linh, when choosing a major, students should not only focus on the "hottest" major now, but also think about the next 20 years because the "hot" major now may decline. "The major must focus on survival skills," Ms. Linh said.

Sharing with parents and students earlier, Mr. Duong Van Linh, CEO of Career Pass Institute in the US, said that with the development of the AI era, careers will also change.

10 years ago, the finance industry was very attractive but now technology is dominating. In the next 5-10 years, students and parents need to have a thorough understanding of what the industry trend will be like.

"If parents choose the wrong major for their children, it's like trying to catch a fish and climb a tree. If they don't climb well, they'll have to go back. For example, computer science is hot right now, but there are still jobs in other majors. Don't force your children to work beyond their abilities.

"If a child has social strengths but forces them to study economics, it will be like forcing fish to climb trees or monkeys to swim in water, it will not be effective," this expert humorously shared.

Chọn sai ngành học giống bắt cá leo cây, bắt khỉ lội nước - 2 — The most popular majors for international students in the US (According to Open Doors 2023 report).

Working overtime can lead to deportation

According to Ms. Dieu Linh, in addition to choosing a career, choosing a school with suitable finances is also very important.

According to this expert, depending on the region and each school, it can be imagined that the highest cost of studying abroad today is about 2.5 billion VND/year for top private schools, such as Harvard University or Johns Hopkins (USA).

At the average cost, at well-ranked schools in Australia, the UK, or Canada, international students still spend about 1-1.2 billion VND/year for all tuition and accommodation expenses.

However, according to Ms. Dieu Linh, there are still universities that cost about 600-700 million VND/year, but these schools' rankings are not good.

“Even with scholarships, the cost of studying abroad is still a burden if families are not financially strong. For example, in the US, in both public and private schools, if a student has a 100% scholarship, they still have to spend several hundred million VND on other miscellaneous expenses besides tuition and accommodation,” said Ms. Linh.

Ms. Harriet Pham, representative from the University of Toronto (Canada), said that international students will spend about 1.5 billion VND/year to study at this school. This is a relatively high cost for international students if they do not win a scholarship.

Ms. Vivian Vo, representative from UC Riverside, California, USA also shared that on average, international students spend about 2 billion VND/year for all living expenses and study here. Meanwhile, to get a scholarship, they must meet many strict requirements.

Answering Dan Tri reporter about the fact that not all families have enough money to cover the cost of studying abroad for their children. If international students work part-time to cover the cost of studying, is that okay?

Ms. Dieu Linh said that finishing 4 years of university, graduating and working right away only happens to students studying engineering, finance, and business. For students studying medicine or law, they may have to study abroad for 6-8 years.

Therefore, students need to try to apply for maximum scholarships in the first 4 years, the financial support will be less in the following years of graduate study.

“In the context that countries have been creating barriers for international students in recent times, international students should carefully calculate their finances for 4 years.

If you plan to work extra to cover your tuition fees, it will be difficult to quantify your financial capacity.

Although countries really need workers like international students, if they work part-time jobs unrelated to their field of study, they will easily be classified as illegal workers and deported back to their home country," said Ms. Linh.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/chon-sai-nganh-hoc-giong-bat-ca-leo-cay-bat-khi-loi-nuoc-20250928011855056.htm