New students withdraw their application because they are assigned to another major. How does the school handle this?

(Dan Tri) - Immediately after receiving notice of being assigned to an unwanted major, many new students at the International University, Ho Chi Minh City National University, decided to withdraw their admission applications.

Many students who came to withdraw their applications had already been admitted to the International University, Ho Chi Minh City National University after being assigned to an unreasonable major (Photo: TK).

"Dark face" when being classified in an unrelated industry

Mai Loan* (HCMC) felt like she was about to collapse when last weekend she received the notice of major allocation from the International University, Ho Chi Minh City National University.

With her main aspiration being Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Loan was placed in the Construction Engineering industry – a field she never thought of.

This was a big shock in Loan's first life.

The female student said: "My eyes darkened when I read the information that I was classified into the Construction Engineering industry."

This female student said that initially, when registering for admission to the school, Logistics and Supply Chain Management were placed in the IU05 - Engineering group with 7 other majors such as Industrial Systems Engineering, Electronic - Telecommunications Engineering, Biomedical Engineering... However, when admitted, the student did not know which major they would be assigned to.

Loan expressed her disappointment: "The school said they would allocate priority majors based on registration and exam scores, but in the end, I was not placed in any of my preferences. It feels like I am being placed in majors that are difficult to recruit."

This incident also made Loan's family restless. Ms. Minh, Loan's mother, shared: "I cannot imagine. My daughter should not study Civil Engineering, a field more suitable for boys, especially since my daughter knows nothing about that field of study."

Decided to "finalize" and withdraw the application that same night

Not only Loan, many other families also face similar situations. Mrs. Hoa recounts the story of her son Long, who wanted to study the field of Electricity - Electronics but was placed in the construction industry, a field that, according to her, "has nothing to do" with his strengths and interests.

“My son burst into tears, he had never been so disappointed. My heart was burning,” Mrs. Hoa recalled the moment her son received the notice of his branch assignment.

She continued, on August 22, when she learned of the admission results to a school of the National University of Ho Chi Minh City, her family was very happy and informed all her relatives. However, when she was assigned to a field of study that was not what she wanted, her whole family and relatives felt indignant.

"My child said he would look for additional options. If he doesn't get accepted, he'll wait until next year to retake the exam and will definitely not study the major the school assigned," said Ms. Hoa.

From the afternoon of knowing the results until night, the whole family was shocked, spreading out everywhere to ask and find a more suitable direction.

"Finally, my family "finalized" that night that we would withdraw our application to the International University, and then study whatever we wanted, but we couldn't force ourselves, waste time and money on a major we didn't like," said Ms. Minh.

Similarly, Ms. Hoa's family also decided not to continue studying but to find another school.

In the student community, many opinions reflect being assigned to the wrong major or learning about "brand new" majors after being assigned (Photo: Screenshot).

In 2025, the International University recruited students by major for the first time and received many reactions from parents and students.

16 candidates withdrew their admission applications

On the morning of September 11, speaking with Dan Tri reporter, Associate Professor Dr. Dinh Duc Anh Vu, Vice Principal of the school, said that he had received about 30 cases of feedback on the division of majors.

In particular, students mainly requested to review their results and request advice on changing majors after 1 year of study and on the possibility of studying a double major.

By the end of the withdrawal notification period, 16 cases had completed the withdrawal procedure and refunded the paid amount.

New students come to withdraw their applications at the International University (Photo: PHCC).

According to MSc. Nguyen Thanh Tam, Deputy Head of the University Training Department, the process of classifying majors within the school's major groups is carried out as follows: When candidates are admitted to a major group, they will register their major preferences in order of priority.

The school then considers each candidate's score and assigns them to majors in order from highest to lowest, until that major has enough quota, then it will move on to the next choice.

According to Mr. Tam, about 90% of students are assigned to majors based on their first or second choice. However, there are still about 10% of students who have to study majors based on their third or fourth choice, so they are not satisfied. In the context of limited quotas for each major, this is inevitable.

Create all conditions for candidates to change majors

In response to questions about the cumbersome admission process of "admission within admission, wishes within wishes" and the strange way of allocating majors, the school representative explained that the school's Admissions Council bases the level of connectivity and the amount of general knowledge of the training majors to divide the majors into groups.

On that basis, in 2025, the school updated the training program for all majors in the school according to each major group, in which majors in the same major group have the same amount of general and basic knowledge, with a similarity level of about 50-70% of subjects.

"This makes it easier for students to transfer between majors, as well as participate in dual major, major, and minor training programs," said MSc. Nguyen Thanh Tam.

For example, Mr. Tam said, students majoring in Construction Engineering can register to study Logistics in their second year. They only need to complete the different modules between the two majors to receive two regular degrees after graduation.

Vice Principal Dinh Duc Anh Vu said that the school has met and consulted with cases who have questions about the assigned major, the possibility of changing majors and the procedures for requesting to change majors after the first year according to regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training .

The school also explained that students in the same major group will study the same in the first year, so when changing majors, students will not lose time and any learning results.

"The school guarantees the training capacity to meet 100% of students' wishes to change majors if they meet the requirements for changing majors according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training such as: Completing the first year program with an average score not below average, the minimum entrance score is equal to the standard score of the new major", Mr. Vu affirmed.

The school leaders also committed to supporting dual major study completely free of charge for those who register to study dual majors in the second major according to their initial registered first choice.

Review and learn from experience in admission and major consulting information

After receiving petitions from parents, students, and the press, the school admitted that there were "bottlenecks" in the process of advising on majors and major transfers.

"If it is true as reported by the press and parents, some staff at the department may not have updated the new major transfer regulations, so they have not given appropriate guidance to students, leading to reactions," said a school representative.

The school will review and rectify existing problems in the spirit of ensuring students' learning aspirations.

*Character names have been changed

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/tan-sinh-vien-rut-ho-so-vi-bi-phan-sang-nganh-khac-nha-truong-xu-ly-sao-20250909063733405.htm