news

The 2024 college entrance examination admission results have been announced one after another. Looking back at the college entrance examination data of various provinces, computer and electronic information majors remain popular, while civil engineering major has become a cold shoulder. The phenomenon of "popular majors becoming more popular and unpopular majors being abandoned" is becoming more and more obvious.Ten years after the reform of the new college entrance examination, there are new policies and new trends in volunteer application every year. Why are popular majors so popular? Are "pitfall" majors really not worth studying? Tencent News Education Channel specially invitedAI volunteer question-answering designer, Chen Kunyu, PhD candidate at Tsinghua UniversityshareUnique insights and valuable experience on how to balance professional, providing reference for prospective college entrance examination candidates and college students.

Q: How should candidates weigh their personal interests, areas of expertise and employment prospects to choose a major?

A: Major and employment is an issue that is discussed every year. It is normal that this issue is enduring, because the major that everyone is interested in is definitely different from the "hot majors" that change every year. At this point, everyone may have realized that what is popular and what is unpopular, or what is considered to have good employment and what is considered to have poor employment, its judgment is fluctuating. But if a person's interest is persistent, maybe I choose an unpopular major now, and feel that I have suffered a little for my interest, but maybe it will become a more popular major in ten years. Or I sacrifice my interest now and choose a more popular major, and ten years later it may become a less popular major.

For example, we can look at the architecture major ten or fifteen years ago. At that time, it was undoubtedly a popular major. But now, it has become a cold major with the lowest score. For example, a hot topic on the Internet a few years ago, a student who took the college entrance examination in 2012 was admitted to Southeast University. He originally wanted to apply for civil engineering, but was transferred to software engineering. It was very sad at the time, being transferred from a popular major to a lukewarm major. But now it seems that he has escaped from a "pit" and has a relatively bright future.

So the so-called unpopular or popular majors, or whether the employment prospects are good or bad, are actually relative concepts.If you have a long-term judgment on your interest, it must be an interest that can be measured in ten years, rather than an interest that is established overnight without knowing much about the major, then why can't you choose a less popular major for your interest? It is not impossible for an unpopular major to become popular.

Q: I have always heard that "biochemistry, environmental materials science" is called a pitfall major. What is the actual situation of these majors now? Are they still a pitfall?

A: This is also a big topic. Let me first talk about those who have left the pit. Materials have a tendency to leave the pit. New energy vehicles have become popular in the past two years. The rapid growth of the new energy vehicle industry has driven the rapid growth of the battery industry. Those who study battery technology iteration are mainly those who work in chemistry and materials. Thinking in this way, the material major is at least much more closely integrated with related industries.

Why was "biochemistry, environment and materials" considered a pitfall a few years ago? It's because these majors seem to do very well in research, and they often publish in Nature and Science. But it's hard to put the articles into practice after they're published. If they can be put into practice, the employment situation will improve quickly. So there are some good news for chemistry and materials, but there doesn't seem to be much good news for biology and environment at the moment, but that doesn't mean there won't be good news in the future.

The core problem of these majors is that there is a serious disconnect between scientific research and industry. What students learn in school may not be recognized by the market. If something comes out of school and is recognized by the market as a new growth point, then perhaps the so-called pitfall major will become a less pitfall major, or even a potentially more profitable major in the future.

certainly,On the other hand, the major of biochemistry and environmental materials may be a wise way to rise for those of us who can only go to ordinary 211 or non-211 universities for undergraduate studies.. Because these majors are usually considered to be more difficult, it is very easy to pass the postgraduate entrance examination. We think that maybe my college entrance examination score is not very high, but I study hard and strive to pass the postgraduate entrance examination of a 211 or even 985 school. Of course, it is basically impossible to work in the same field after graduation, such as taking the civil service examination or striving for selection. What major I studied before is relatively less important.

Q: What do you think of popular fields such as computer science, artificial intelligence, and automation? Are there any potential pitfalls in these popular majors?

A: In fact, if it can be called popular, there will basically be no particularly serious pitfalls, such as the overall employment of this major is not good. But there may be a loss, because this major is too popular, resulting in its score line being significantly higher than other majors, but this major is actually not worthy of such a high score line. A typical example is computer and artificial intelligence. In fact, for those of us who are engaged in scientific research, artificial intelligence is a relatively natural branch under the entire computer major. My study of computer science to do artificial intelligence is exactly the same as my undergraduate application for artificial intelligence major to do artificial intelligence. There is basically no difference. But if we look at the score line, many schools, especially the artificial intelligence major named xx experimental class, have a higher score line than computer major. So, if you apply for computer science instead of artificial intelligence, you may be able to enter a better school. This situation exists in many popular majors, such as artificial intelligence and computer, integrated circuits and electronic information, etc.

Question: Is it worth applying for emerging majors?

A: Generally speaking, when people open a new major, it means that they have something new.But there is a big difference between "having new things" and "being able to learn new things" during your undergraduate studies.Take computer science and artificial intelligence as examples. We all know that artificial intelligence is a very important field under computer science, and its scale is large enough to set up a separate department.But how can you set up an undergraduate AI program that is significantly different from an undergraduate computer science program? This is unlikely.It doesn't mean that if I study artificial intelligence, I don't have to learn basic courses such as data structure, basic language, and discrete mathematics. The basic courses are the same. The required course of artificial intelligence is deep learning, and the elective course of computer science can also choose deep learning. What's the difference?

So looking back, whether it is artificial intelligence, digital economy, or new energy, there is no essential difference between directly applying for these majors and applying for their original majors and then choosing these sub-directions when choosing directions. At most, there is a difference of two or three courses. Although these majors may have very huge differences in graduate school and even in scientific research, I do not recommend choosing these new majors when filling out the application form for undergraduate studies.

Q: Is computer science worth studying? What are the career prospects of this major?

A: Compared to five or ten years ago, the room for advancement in computer science is indeed smaller, because it was the golden age of the entire Internet industry. It can be said that as long as you have a good technical level, you can quickly climb up, whether it is a middle-level leadership position in a large company or starting your own business, it is possible to achieve class transition. But it is different now. Computer science may now become an industry that is not much different from other traditional industry models. Overall, it is a bit saturated. But objectively speaking, the salary level in the computer industry is still higher than that in many traditional industries. It’s just that it may not be as fast as before to become the backbone of a startup team or a middle-level leader of a large company.Computer science is a subject that teaches technology. Whether it is logical thinking or coding technology, it is a very useful skill that can be used anywhere.Not only Internet giants need computer professionals, but all walks of life and even every enterprise need them. It seems that there is still a gap in the demand for computer talents in society.

Q: What are the different majors in computer science? How should I choose?

A: As far as I understand it, it can be roughly divided into the following categories: one is computer science, such as computer science and technology, software engineering; one is electronic information, which includes communication engineering, and the artificial intelligence major in the undergraduate major catalog is also classified under the electronic information category; and the other is automation. Electronic information and automation are related to computer majors, and they are close but not exactly the same. Electronic information may learn a little about hardware, and automation may learn a little about equipment control. However, if you want to use the diplomas of these two majors to find a computer-related job, or change majors in school, or take the cross-examination to study for a master's degree in computer science, it is relatively easy. So when applying for admission, you can not only consider computer departments or computer majors, but also electronic information and automation majors.

Question: If I don’t have a very clear professional direction, how should I judge and choose a major that I really want to study?

answer:I think if you haven't decided what to study, choosing computer science is always a good choice.Because both mechanical and nuclear engineering have some very clear shortcomings. For example, in the mechanical field, whether it is mechatronics, intelligent manufacturing, or traditional mechanical engineering, there is a high probability that you will have to go to the workshop, which is a very strong "mine" for many people. If you study nuclear engineering, whether you go to work in a nuclear fuel plant or a nuclear power plant in the future, the location is very remote. It may take two hours to drive to a place that can be called an urban area, and many people cannot accept it. Compared with these majors with obvious "mines", the entire computer major does not have such obvious "mines". Although there are many people who are pessimistic at present, it seems that everyone is still flocking to apply for computers. It can only be said that this major is strong and has its strengths. Including electrical engineering and machine automation, there is no obvious "mine", you don't have to go to the factory or go to the suburbs. But this major is as difficult to learn as computer and electronics, and it is also a major that requires high mathematics and physics.

Currently, the development direction of all industries is high-tech, sophisticated and intelligent, which definitely requires computer talents.Of course, there are two situations. The first one is that I studied mechanics or electrical engineering, and then I taught myself code to make my major as intelligent as possible. The other one is that I studied computer science, and I saw that you, the mechanical industry, needed intelligent talents, so I spent several months to make up for my mechanical knowledge. Both situations exist, and I recommend the second one. Because for students who take the first path, they often find that it is very difficult to learn the courses in their major. But for people who study computer science, as long as your code skills are good enough, you can deal with problems in other industries, and naturally someone will ask you for help.

In this way, a large amount of time for learning traditional industries is saved, which is an obvious advantage. I have seen many such examples. At first, I thought it was good. If I learn a traditional industry and then learn computer science, will I become a high-end talent? Then I found that I couldn’t understand the required courses. No, I can’t learn code anymore. If I continue to study, I will fail this semester. This is actually an uncontrollable and serious risk. In the case of no strong interest, I still recommend majors such as computer science and electronic information, which are basically correct.

Copyright Statement: This article is an exclusive article of Tencent News Education Channel. Media reproduction is prohibited without authorization.