Shao Lirong, a college student who is nervously preparing for the exam, is somewhat "panicked" after learning that his major has pre-enrolled seven students.
"The chance is one point less." According to Shao Lirong’s previous inquiries, the number of students enrolled in many schools was initially drawn up with reference to the actual number of students enrolled in the previous year. The continuous increase in the number of people who were exempted from enrollment means that the number of places for unified recruitment has been further compressed and squeezed.
In fact, in the army of graduate students who have repeatedly set a new record, she is not the only one who is troubled by this. The competition among prestigious universities for postgraduate entrance examination is becoming increasingly fierce. With the "rising" proportion of students who are excluded from prestigious universities, some people have changed their schools, and some people have given up on reviewing. There are also many sayings in the post bars of major universities, such as "too pit", "great pressure" and "hopeless".
The "2019 National Postgraduate Enrollment Survey Report" published by China Education Online also pointed out that "some famous schools have exempted students, and the undergraduate graduated from ‘ Double first class ’ The relatively high proportion of students in colleges and universities means that the chances of ordinary college students entering prestigious schools through exemption are relatively low. " "Nearly 80% of candidates think that the increase in the proportion of exemption is unfair to candidates".
"Is our road to progress getting narrower and narrower?" Some ordinary college students are full of doubts on the battlefield of postgraduate entrance examination that has not yet started but has been filled with smoke.
Failure to get a good book is a foregone conclusion?
Li Tao (pseudonym) is a senior in a private undergraduate college in Anhui Province. As early as last December, he set himself the goal of applying for graduate students in China Communication University.
In this young man’s self-cognition, his family conditions are average, and he suffered from the failure of the college entrance examination. "Only the postgraduate entrance examination can not fall behind in the future urban competition."
In the past six months, he got up at 4: 30 every morning on time, took a seat in the study room to recite and brush the questions, and often didn’t finish his review for the day until 12 o’clock in the evening. When he was sleepy, he stood in the corner and endorsed, forcing himself to be sober; If you feel anxious and depressed, tell yourself that the process of preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination is the road of butterfly change in life.
During this period, Li Tao was constantly reminded that compared with the level of the school, "the goal is too high", "you should consider your own upper limit and talent" and "even if you pass the written test, there will still be ‘ Undergraduate discrimination ’ Waiting for questions. "
At this time, Li Tao would retort that "the upper limit is deceptive, and faith must be more important than talent".
On the way to prepare for the exam, Shao Lirong encountered a similar problem — — I am not confident about my first degree.
Shao Lirong was originally a junior college student, holding the idea of improving himself. After passing the college entrance examination last year, he set the goal of postgraduate entrance examination, and his major changed from secretarial studies in junior college and Chinese language in undergraduate course to philosophy he was interested in.
Such a "multi-span" postgraduate entrance examination is undoubtedly more difficult, but Shao Lirong is willing to challenge herself and has arranged a detailed review plan. However, when choosing a school in the early stage, she still dared not choose too high, "for fear of being unrealistic".
Shao Lirong said that he passed the CET-4 and CET-6, and his grades have always been in the forefront of his class. However, when choosing a target institution, he will still consider the number of people who are exempted from the school and the importance attached to the first degree. Even after many considerations, she found the most suitable option, but the recent information about exemption made her feel "at a loss".
"The goal is too high, and I am afraid that others will say that you are overreaching; If the goal is too low, it will be ridiculed. It is better not to take the test. " A Hunan examinee who is preparing for the third postgraduate entrance examination also told the reporter of China Youth Daily and China Youth Network that in the postgraduate entrance examination circle of some ordinary colleges and universities, before the formal registration, the institutions applying for the examination may all be "secrets that cannot be made public".
Is reality really so cruel? Yang Lan (a pseudonym) from a local college in Qingyang, Gansu, tells her own experience.
"The 2018 candidates, who applied for computer science and technology, scored 316 points in the initial test, ranking high, and there were more than 10 written tests in the second test, but because of the interview and sudden ‘ Airborne ’ The transfer students missed the opportunity to go to graduate school. " Yang Lan said that he may be the "cannon fodder" in others’ mouths. After completing the process, he can only become a "running companion" for graduates from key institutions.
Since the second semester of sophomore year, Yang Lan has been preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination. She gets up at 6 o’clock every day and goes to the library. Sometimes she even eats instant noodles at the gate of the library for lunch. The most difficult high number was brushed for three rounds, and other subjects were also carefully prepared. When leaving the library, the light materials were divided into two or three times before they were moved.
At the same time, combined with her major, she participated in the 6th National College Students’ E-commerce Challenge of "Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship" and the 2nd "China Chuangyi" Youth Entrepreneurship Innovation Competition, and won awards.
Yang Lan changed the target school several times according to the suggestions of teachers and classmates, from Chinese Academy of Sciences to Xi ‘an Jiaotong University and then to a key university in China. But the final result still disappointed Yang Lan, and even made her feel that "life will become a foregone conclusion if you don’t get a good one in the college entrance examination".
Tang Yong from the College of Materials Science and Engineering of Northwest Normal University holds different views. This year’s postgraduate entrance examination, he applied for a double-class university in his hometown.
Tang Yong believes that a solid review can give you a better grasp. In addition, if you are practical, have strong executive ability, are interested in your major, and can actively participate in experimental courses and practice offered by the school to exercise your hands-on ability, you will have a competitive advantage and don’t have to worry too much about the postgraduate entrance examination.
This confidence comes from the recognition of your own efforts. Tang Yong said that as soon as he entered the school, he found learning pleasure in the laboratory. At the same time, the school also arranged for everyone to practice in some university workshops and enterprises, so that they could have a deeper understanding of their majors and set the goal of continuing their studies.
"Start early and prepare for a long time." Now, Tang Yong has found his own review rhythm, reading books, doing problems and doing experiments every day according to the schedule to improve his theoretical knowledge and operational level. He told reporters that after graduate school, he hopes to switch from the capacitor materials he is studying now to the metal materials he is more interested in.
The success or failure of postgraduate entrance examination is not the only evaluation, and the road of diversity can be widened.
"More than 90% of the enrollment units believe that the quality of the students who are exempted is generally higher than that of the unified candidates; More than 60% of the enrollment units believe that the exemption policy is fair to candidates. " Another set of data given in the 2019 National Postgraduate Enrollment Survey Report is quite different from the candidates’ views.
"If the admission method of postgraduate entrance examination relies too much on the written test results, it will lead to the postgraduate entrance examination becoming ‘ Exam-oriented ’ As an important aspect of the reform of the postgraduate enrollment system, exemption is also a postgraduate enrollment method that is in line with international standards. It focuses on the consistent performance and comprehensive quality of students during their school years and contributes to the quality of graduate students. " Xiong Bingqi, vice president of 21st Century Education Research Institute, pointed out the problem.
He admits that most prestigious schools are research-oriented, and it is naturally not competitive to select innovative talents for doctors. In addition, the increase in the proportion of exemption will, to a certain extent, "crowd out" the places that have passed the national unified examination for postgraduate entrance examination, which may make it more difficult to unify postgraduate entrance examination.
According to the Survey Report on Postgraduate Enrollment Data in 2019, in the last year, universities such as Tsinghua, Peking University, Wuhan University and Zhejiang University broke through the half-exemption barrier. At the same time, "school level" has become an important factor in admission. Among the recommended exemption master students accepted by Peking University, Zhongshan University and South China University of Technology in 2019, 94.8%, 91% and 87.24% of undergraduates came from "double-first-class" construction universities respectively.
"This reflects ‘ Why do college students take the exam ’ And ‘ The goal of postgraduate training in key universities ’ There is a deviation between them. " Wang Yu (pseudonym), a senior psychology student who took part in the postgraduate entrance examination this year, made an analysis of this. He believes that the deviation is mainly due to some candidates’ misunderstanding of the postgraduate entrance examination, which strengthens the original transitional degree into an identity and equates graduate students with a successful life.
"Because some public opinion overemphasizes ‘ Postgraduate entrance examination ’ The psychological field exaggerates the employment situation and wraps some people in ordinary colleges and universities who don’t have to go to the postgraduate entrance examination into this environment. " Wang Yu said that the number of students has increased, but to some extent, it has reduced the quality of the unified examination candidates.
In addition, there are still some candidates with high scores and low abilities, including some students who are exempted from the exam, who also obtain the places for postgraduate study by surprise before the exam and target shooting, which leads to that "prestigious schools" prefer undergraduates from key universities in selecting talents. Correspondingly, the road of "prestigious schools" for ordinary college students will face more and more competition.
This is consistent with the observation of Xiong Bingqi, vice president of 21st Century Education Research Institute.
He told the reporter of China Youth Daily and China Youth Network that according to the orientation of higher education, local undergraduate colleges should carry out vocational education, and cultivate vocational and technical talents and applied talents. In 2014, China also promoted 600 local undergraduate colleges to change to vocational education. However, in reality, many schools want to develop towards academic universities, forming an atmosphere that encourages students to take postgraduate entrance examinations, resulting in "employment difficulties" and "postgraduate entrance examination fever" for undergraduates.
"There have been teachers of science and engineering majors in colleges and universities who have reported that some freshmen have never done experiments during their college years. Some schools also carry out university teaching in full accordance with the postgraduate entrance examination subjects, turning university study into ‘ Preparatory class for postgraduate entrance examination ’ The content of the study is all around the postgraduate entrance examination, and the non-postgraduate subjects are marginalized. " Xiong Bingqi said that this led some students to study only for postgraduate entrance examination, but actually they did not receive a complete undergraduate education, and it was impossible to complete graduate education with high quality.
He believes that in order to break through, students in ordinary colleges and universities should break the "academic qualification theory" and plan the postgraduate entrance examination with improving their ability as the leading factor. However, under the current social orientation of academic qualifications, the structure of China’s higher education is out of touch with social needs, which leads to the deviation between running schools and teaching objectives and affects students’ future employment and long-term development.
"To solve the problem, we must realize that in the era of popularization of higher education, society must move from a society with academic qualifications to a society with ability. Students should stop imagining that they can become senior talents by improving their academic qualifications. It is the most important thing for society to have their own talents and competitiveness." Xiong Bingqi said.
Xia Jianhua, director of the Student Affairs Office of Anqing Normal University, who has been in charge of students’ career planning and employment guidance for a long time, also found that it is more difficult for ordinary college students to apply for prestigious schools in recent years. To this end, he suggested that students in ordinary colleges and universities can take the "circuitous" route to take the postgraduate entrance examination. They don’t have to focus on prestigious schools, but they can take the examination of relatively easy schools first. After taking the exam, let your vision and thinking level go to a higher level, and then make an exam or other choices.
"Students with very solid professional skills can try hard to get into a prestigious school. However, students with a general foundation in the early stage should set reasonable goals. ‘ Jump and pick peaches ’ 。” Xia Jianhua said.
A teacher from the Graduate School of Lanzhou University suggested that candidates should have a clear judgment on their academic level and future development direction, and rationally choose the schools and majors to apply for in combination with their professional background, their own advantages and academic interests. As an enrollment unit, Lanzhou University will examine candidates’ personal abilities and professional qualities from many aspects. In addition to learning ability, we should pay attention to students’ knowledge reserve, scientific research experience, communication ability, ability to solve complex problems and good moral quality.
"People who want to take the postgraduate entrance examination are people with healthy individual mental health and macro-social mentality, and the ultimate goal is to become people who practice a better life and core values." Mo Xingbang, executive vice president and secretary-general of Gansu Association of Psychological Counselors and doctor of psychology, suggested that in the face of the upcoming postgraduate examination, candidates should improve their self-confidence in learning, change their cognition, turn anxiety into motivation, and dominate their lives, lives and ecology without being influenced by the environment or disturbed by others.
China Youth Daily, Lanzhou, November 24th
China Youth Daily China Youth Network Trainee Reporter Harper Reporter Wang Haihan
