The National College Entrance Examination (gaokao) just took place on June 6 and 7, and the scores started being released on June 22.
White-collar employees and experts suggest that students should choose their major based on their interests. (Photos: VCG)
After getting their scores, students are faced with some of the most important decisions of their lives - they must pick a university and a major. These two aspects are likely to influence their career paths and lives.
Metropolitan interviewed some white-collar employees who were in the same shoes as these students almost a decade ago, and they shared their opinions and advice on how to choose a major.
Old hands and experts share their opinions on how to choose a university major for students who just passed their gaokao.
Old hands and experts share their opinions on how to choose a university major for students who just passed their gaokao.
Old hands and experts share their opinions on how to choose a university major for students who just passed their gaokao.
Follow your interests
All of the interviewees pointed out that it is better to follow your interests when it comes to choosing a major rather than just listening to your parents or following social trends on which major is popular and can make you big bucks in the future.
"I think your interests are the most important thing when it comes to choosing a major; interests are the best mentor," said Tian Xiaocui, who took her gaokao eight years ago and now works in finance.
"If you don't like your major and spend four years studying it, you will be miserable and probably not that good at it," she said.
Tian added that it is sometimes hard for young students to know what they want to do at such an early age, and that they should listen to advice from their parents, teachers and friends and form an educated decision.
"Students can also talk to people who have been working for several years and get a peek of what life looks like for people who work in different industries," Tian said.
Xue Zhaoming, who works as an architect and took his gaokao over 15 years ago, suggested that students should not only seek material gain from attending university and choosing a major.
"Attending universities and studying different majors should be about improving one's personal and professional quality, rather than for utilitarian reasons," Xue said.
"Students need to think about whether or not they like a major and whether it can improve their all-around capability," he said.
Jerry Zhang, who works in IT and passed the gaokao 20 years ago, shares the same opinion.
"Interests are the best motivation to learn. It makes no sense to decide on which industry to go into based on what is happening right now," Zhang said.
In addition, she said if you follow trends that are happening now instead of your interests, you may not have motivation to learn, and since society is developing really fast, something that may seem like a good industry now may be outdated once you get into the workforce.
Luo Zhiquan, the deputy principle for The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen holds a similar opinion.
"Interests should be the most important factor when choosing a major, followed by the needs of our society and country as a whole," Luo said.
"I think the best scenario is for a person to land a job that they like where they can earn a decent salary. To achieve that, we must combine personal interests and society's needs," Luo said.
When talking on the subject of young students not knowing what they should choose, Luo suggested that interests are directly linked to what you are good at.
"If you find yourself good at something when other people aren't, that is your interest," Luo said.
Future trends
Besides interests, interviewees and experts also pointed out that it's important for college entrants to see our world's future development as well, and to choose majors for the betterment of the future rather than outdated ones.
"For the industry that I work in, I think computers, artificial intelligence (AI) and big data are all future development trends. They may become mainstream industries in the future, so I suggest that students look into those majors if they are interested in it," Zhang said.
"I also suggest that students take internships in different industries while they have time and experience for themselves what they want to learn and do in the future," Zhang said.