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intern wang fengming china youth daily and china youth network reporter li danping

"zero threshold" does not mean "zero investment" or "zero risk".

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want to study financial management, but was assigned to sociology? study architecture for a while, but found that it is not suitable for you?

the school season is coming. after the fierce competition of the college entrance examination, a group of freshmen enter the university campus. some are happy and some are worried about the new professional studies. some students are admitted to their target volunteer and start a new chapter in their life with anticipation; some people do not like their majors and prepare to change their majors as soon as they enter school, striving to "take the helm again" in their lives.

wang su, who has graduated for five years, belongs to the latter. she has always had a strong interest in chinese since high school, but was transferred to sociology in college. at that time, the school where wang su was studying had very strict requirements for students to change their majors. to change majors, students must rank in the top two in their freshman year, and then take the written test and interview of the target major. only after passing can they successfully change their majors. wang su ranked fourth, so naturally she did not qualify for a major change. "how great it would be if there was no threshold for changing majors!" she often thought.

today, expectations have become reality, and many domestic universities have gradually relaxed their policies on changing majors. at tongji university, undergraduates have seven opportunities to change majors, and there are many options such as transferring out of sino-foreign cooperative education, transferring into medicine, and transferring from liberal arts to science and engineering. at shanghai jiaotong university, students can apply to change majors multiple times in the first three years of university. some universities have even introduced policies such as "zero threshold, full liberalization" and "any major transfer", and the restrictions on major choices have gradually been reduced.

as the threshold for changing majors in colleges and universities gradually decreases, can students find their dream? how should we decide whether to change or not?

    when colleges and universities open the "any door" for changing majors

xu jiaying from ocean university of china changed her major twice in just one year. at first, her major was german, but xu jiaying was not interested. she switched to french before taking a single class, thinking that it was more in line with her "free" personality. later, during her studies, she came into contact with film by chance, and the gears of fate turned again. being a screenwriter and director was once xu jiaying's dream, but unfortunately she failed to achieve her wish at that time. this contact rekindled her "film dream" and she started her journey of changing majors again.

some people change their majors because of their interest, while others find that their majors do not match their expectations after learning more about it, and then make timely adjustments. gao zhexian studied at tongji university. at first, he majored in civil engineering, but after studying, he felt that the major's training program did not match his career plan. during the summer vacation of his sophomore year, he chose to switch to optoelectronic information.

for zhang lin, a sophomore in shanghai, the lowered threshold for changing majors provided him with an opportunity to study in a popular, high-scoring major. when filling out his application, he originally intended to major in automation, but the admission score for the major was high, and zhang lin's chances of being admitted were low. to be on the safe side, he applied for food science and engineering, "which was a new major at the school at the time, and the admission score was low." with the school's relaxed policy on changing majors, zhang lin was able to transfer to automation as he wished.

gao yan, associate professor at beijing normal university zhuhai campus, believes that the lowering of the threshold for changing majors in many universities is the result of weighing the pros and cons. "choosing a major is a major event in students' lives. in the past, the policy for changing majors was somewhat rigid. some students who don't like their majors and can't change out will lose motivation to study and become negative about their majors, which will cause big problems." in addition, due to the lowering of the threshold for changing majors, some students who are more willing to take advantage of the policy choose to enter the school with low scores first and then transfer to high-scoring majors, "which may involve fairness issues."

    changing majors, “zero threshold” does not mean “zero risk”

"zero threshold" does not mean "zero investment" or "zero risk". "you need to be cautious when changing majors." fan yangyang, a teacher of human resources management at the sino-swiss hotel management school of beijing international studies university, reminded that time management and learning basic knowledge may be problems that students will face after changing majors.

"after changing your major, you need to spend more time than other students. while completing the courses of this semester, you also need to make up for the classes of other semesters." she said that in many schools, students do not start from the freshman content after changing their majors, but take classes with students of the same grade. this means that students who change their majors have to directly study more difficult professional courses without completing basic courses, which will be a great challenge.

zhou zhiyin, who switched from sociology to law, said that she had eight exams at the end of last semester, while her classmates only had three or four. she found it difficult to take care of so many subjects, and her final result was not ideal.

in order to switch from food science and engineering to automation, zhang lin chose to downgrade. however, after studying, he felt that the basic courses of the two majors were not much different. at this time, his classmates in the original major had already started doing scientific research, while he was still in the starting stage. he was very confused and "felt a little psychologically disappointed." later, zhang lin decided to take senior courses in automation in advance to see what the "real" automation major was like. in the process of continuous understanding, he gradually regained his confidence.

fan yangyang believes that "zero threshold" major change may be beneficial to students in some cases, but it also means that colleges and universities have higher requirements for teachers. "college students have not yet entered society, and many of their decisions tend to be self-motivated." she believes that teachers have the responsibility to help students better plan their careers. "if a student changes his major three or more times, i doubt whether there is a communication link between the teacher and the student before the major change? do teachers who communicate with students need to be responsible?"

the increasingly open transfer policy will also bring challenges to universities, professional development and other aspects. in gao yan's view, if students can transfer at will, some majors will be lost and no one will study them, while these majors may be necessary for national development, which involves system adjustments. "university decision-makers need to find a balance between the development of the school itself and the overall development of society. although some majors are unpopular now, they are necessary from the perspective of the overall development of society. the popularity and unpopularity of majors are also changing dynamically."

    avoid getting lost in the constant switching of tracks

if you are not interested in a major, changing majors is not necessary. give the major some time, and you may find a new path.

in fact, after wang su failed to obtain the qualification to change her major, she was not completely without the opportunity to study chinese. at that time, the school had almost no requirements for double degrees, and all students could choose. however, under such a "zero threshold" situation, she still had a dilemma: what if the class schedules of the two majors conflict? will i be too busy to study two majors at the same time? after struggling, wang su finally gave up studying chinese.

looking back on this experience, wang su felt that her worries at the time were just superficial, and in fact she was not determined about her target major. "in fact, after a year of study, i had gradually developed an interest in sociology." she said that she didn't know much about the chinese major, and she wanted to study it just because she loved literature. wang su later learned that the chinese major does not cultivate writers. "if i had successfully changed my major at that time, i would probably regret it."

in her opinion, the school's threshold for changing majors has made her think more seriously about her major and be more cautious about choosing her career direction. wang su believes that students who are not clear about their own development are more likely to get lost in the constant switching of tracks.

"when they first enter university, many students don't know much about the major they are studying. they decide they don't like it and have no future development based on hearsay." wang su believes that students should spend more time on their majors and at the same time give themselves some time. in the process of studying seriously, you may find that a major you thought was boring is actually very interesting, and a major you thought was not suitable for you is actually very consistent with your future goals. during the four years of studying sociology, wang su gradually felt the charm of the major. "sociology taught me a new perspective and new way of looking at the world, allowing me to see the connection between people and between people and society."

to transfer or not to transfer? to adjust in time or to leave some time for the major? in essence, it is the student's judgment on whether the major is suitable.

li ran, who works in beijing, has nearly 20 years of experience in hr. in her opinion, the "zero threshold" for changing majors means that the school has delegated responsibilities and has higher requirements for students themselves. "some students have no goals, don't know what they like, and want to learn what others have learned. in the end, they may be exposed to many majors but not learn anything well." she suggested that students need to clarify their goals, have strong self-control, and make strict plans for themselves.

"changing majors is not a way to avoid problems. don't change majors just because you failed a course or don't like a certain teacher. instead, you should find a direction that truly suits you." fan yangyang reminded that majors have tendencies and should match one's future development direction, abilities, etc.

gao yan suggested that students must "take the initiative" to collect information, such as attending experience sharing sessions of senior students, auditing courses in the major they want to transfer to, and actively communicating with career guidance teachers. she reminded that if students encounter some psychological problems during the process of changing majors, they need to seek help from professional psychological teachers in a timely manner.

gao yan believes that students who change their majors should choose the right one for them, and they should not believe in the so-called "love at first sight". gao yan reminds students not to blindly follow the trend of popular majors, and not to hastily switch to the next major just to escape. no major can be learned easily, and the love for a major needs to be cultivated slowly.

(at the request of the interviewees, li ran and wang su are pseudonyms)

source: china youth daily