Immediately following International University's (IU) opening ceremony, Nhu Ngoc promptly withdrew her application and transferred to a private university. She had hoped to study logistics and supply chain management but was assigned to civil engineering.
Ngoc scored 19.5 on the national high school graduation exam, gaining admission to IU in the engineering group. This group encompasses programs such as logistics and supply chain management, industrial systems engineering, electronics and telecommunications engineering, civil engineering, and construction management.
International University admission scores
"When I reviewed the admissions plan, I found it confusing why the university admitted students based on broad program groups instead of individual programs like other universities. However, I assumed I would be able to choose my preferred program, so I still listed IU as my first choice," Ngoc explained.
After being accepted, Ngoc enthusiastically enrolled, registered for her desired program, paid tuition, and shared the good news with her family. On the afternoon of 6/9, she was shocked to receive the university's decision.
"I felt deceived. If I had known this would happen, I definitely wouldn't have applied. As a female, studying civil engineering is neither my preference nor suited to my abilities," Ngoc shared.
Hoang Lan faced a similar situation. He scored 19.5 and was placed in civil engineering, while his preference was electronics and telecommunications engineering. According to Lan, the university's unclear admissions information led him to believe he would be able to choose his program.
Lan and Ngoc decided to withdraw their applications to apply for supplementary admissions at other universities or retake the exam next year. They received refunds of approximately 25 million VND in tuition and other fees.
 |
High school students taking the national graduation exam in Ho Chi Minh City, June. Photo: Quynh Tran |
High school students taking the national graduation exam in Ho Chi Minh City, June. Photo: Quynh Tran
On 12/9, Nguyen Thanh Tam, deputy head of the undergraduate training department at IU, stated that 19 freshmen withdrew their applications due to program misallocation. The university has refunded their applications, tuition, and other fees.
He explained that this was the first year the university admitted students based on related program groups: engineering; mathematics and computer science; business administration, management, and economics; and life sciences and chemistry. This approach aimed to enhance interdisciplinary connections within each group.
He gave an example within the engineering group, where logistics and supply chain management have a similar curriculum to industrial systems engineering, differing by only about 30 out of 150-153 credits.
"The program similarity between majors within a group is very high. During the first year, all students study the same curriculum," Tam said.
With this training and admissions strategy, students can switch programs or pursue double majors if they wish. According to Ministry of Education and Training regulations, after the first year, students can transfer to another program if their exam score meets or exceeds the admission score for that program in the same academic year.
Tam affirmed that program allocation was based on freshmen preferences. Each student, after being accepted, could register up to 5 program choices, which the university considered in descending order of preference. Some programs had limited slots despite high student demand, so applicants with higher scores were prioritized.
According to the deputy head of undergraduate training, this situation only occurred in a few programs, while most students were assigned to their preferred choices.
"The university's oversight was not anticipating the demand for popular programs like marketing and logistics, leading to a lower quota registration with the Ministry compared to student interest. Many students who qualified and wanted to enter these programs were not able to, resulting in frustration," Tam explained.
For students not placed in their desired programs, the university will facilitate program transfers or double majors after the first year.
"We understand that parents and students want certainty rather than waiting another year, so some have withdrawn. The university will carefully review and learn from this issue," Tam stated.
Le Nguyen
*Student names have been changed
