An examinee reacts with teachers at an exam site in Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou Province, June 7, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]
The scores for this year's national college entrance exams were released over the past weekend. For the nearly 10 million students who passed the exam, applying for university is a new test that has to be finished in about three weeks.
It is understandable that some should be shilly-shallying over what major of which university to apply for.
To begin with, these to-be college students now have to give serious thought to their future, and adapt to the fact that they have to learn to stand on their own feet from now on.
Even if they were well-prepared for the national college entrance exams, few have been taught how to overcome "choice phobia disorder" regarding the application process.
They studied several subjects at middle school, including math, physics, history, geography, biology and chemistry, but there are hundreds of majors for them to choose from at university.
For example, even if a student has decided to study a geography-related major, he or she still faces dozens of choices, ranging from those related to geology and satellites to those about economics and tourism. There are so many majors of interdisciplinary studies today that even a professor of geography might not be familiar with all the subjects in the geography department.
Most employers have clear and strict requirements for the majors of job candidates. It is suggested the university applicants try and identify what these are so that they choose a course suitable for the type of job they want.
That's even more necessary nowadays given the fast-changing employment landscape.
That explains why there are now companies providing consultation services to help applicants choose their major and university.
For those hoping to continue to pursue their studies after obtaining a bachelor's degree, foresight and planning is needed as their university application is only the beginning of their future academic life.
For those applicants deciding to look for a job directly after graduation, their choices should be more employment-oriented as they need to choose the majors that equip them with the knowledge and skills demanded by the jobs of today.