Applicants contest Ho Chi Minh City University of Banking’s admission criteria

Many applicants allege that the Ho Chi Minh City University of Banking (HUB) quietly changed its supplementary criteria for law programs, causing them to fail despite meeting the initial admission score.

Thanh Trang, an applicant from Ho Chi Minh City, applied to three law programs at HUB: economic law, law, and economic law (partial English program). With a score of 24 in the C00 exam group (literature, history, and geography), Trang exceeded the entry requirement for economic law by 2 points. She also met the literature score requirement of at least 6, as announced by the university.

Convinced she was admitted, Trang rented accommodation and prepared for enrollment. On the morning of 25/8, she checked the Ministry of Education and Training’s admission system and discovered she had failed all her applications.

"I felt devastated. I had put all my hopes on HUB and hadn't applied to any other universities. I don't know why I failed. I contacted the university, but received no response," Trang said.

Thanh Tra’s family, from Lam Dong, has been distraught for two days because their daughter faced a similar situation. With a score of 23.5 in the C00 group and 6.75 in literature, they were overjoyed that their daughter had been accepted into her first choice, economic law, and they began preparing for her move. However, a day after the standard scores were announced, they had not received any notification of acceptance via text or email. When Tra contacted the university, she was told her daughter had not been admitted.

"My daughter failed, but we don't know why. I contacted the university, but no department responded. I will go there in person to ask," Tra said.

Thanh Phuc, from Quang Tri, experienced a similar situation. He applied to three law programs at HUB with a score of 23 in the C00 exam group, including a 6.75 in literature. When he checked the Ministry of Education and Training’s system to confirm his enrollment, he was shocked to find he had been admitted to his fourth choice at Van Lang University.

In online forums, Trang and Phuc found many others in the same predicament. They revisited the admission announcements and believe the university quietly altered the admission requirements for law programs.

Specifically, in the initial plan and minimum score announcement, the university stated that applicants for law programs must achieve a total score of 18/30, with a minimum score of 6 in either math and literature, or in either math or literature, within the chosen exam group.

"But when applicants inquired, the university explained that the supplementary criteria for law programs required a minimum score of 6 in both math and literature if the exam group included both subjects. We failed because our math scores didn't reach 6," Phuc explained.

Trang said she carefully reviewed the admission plan, minimum scores, and requirements, ensuring she met all the supplementary criteria before applying. However, yesterday, when she revisited the university's admission plan, she found the conditions had changed. She tried contacting the university again, but received no response.

The supplementary criteria for law programs at Ho Chi Minh City University of Banking as stated in the minimum score announcement on 23/7. Photo: Le Nguyen

On the evening of 25/8, a representative from HUB told VnExpress that they were addressing the applicants' and parents' concerns.

"After discussions with relevant parties, the university will respond to parents and applicants," the representative stated.

According to an admissions expert at a university offering law programs, the supplementary criteria for law programs follow Decision 678 on training standards for undergraduate law degrees, issued by the Ministry of Education and Training in March. Applicants must achieve at least 60% (18/30) of the total score. Additionally, they must achieve 60% of the individual score for both math and literature, or for either math or literature (6/10).

"This regulation means that if the exam group includes both math and literature, such as D01, both subjects must have a minimum score of 6. If the group contains only math or literature, such as C00, only one of these subjects needs to meet the minimum requirement. Many universities offering law programs have similar regulations," he said.