Media: "13 years of repeating exams for top universities" should not be regarded as "inspirational role models". Top universities | universities | admissions | college entrance exams | candidates | admitted | repeating exams | Tang Moumou
Recently, Guangxi candidate Tang once again opened his social media account. Tang's social account authentication information is "For Tang, a 13 year repeating student at Tsinghua University". Three months ago, he posted an article "Fight for 100 More Days", and netizens cheered him on in the comment section.
According to reports, after last year's college entrance examination, Tang, known as the "nail household", was admitted to the School of Nursing at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. Many people thought he would go to college with peace of mind, but he still gave up. From Tang's account authentication information, it can be seen that he highly recognizes his experience of "repeating 13 years of studying at Tsinghua University" and uses it as his identity tag. However, it has to be said that his pursuit is paranoid. If he continues to take the exam and doesn't get into Tsinghua University, will he have to stay old? And even if he finally gets admitted to Tsinghua University, can his fate really be changed?
From the age of 18 to 33, Tang spent 14 years repeating the college entrance examination, doing repetitive practice questions and preparing for the exam. Even if he was admitted to Tsinghua University, it did not mean that his abilities and qualities would be greatly improved. Even if he completes his studies at Tsinghua University, it is difficult to say his future career and career development without core competitiveness. Therefore, regarding Tang's pursuit of "never giving up until he is admitted to a prestigious school", public opinion should clearly say "no".
Some netizens cheer for Tang to repeat his 13 year studies, which may lead him to misjudge his pursuit. It has to be said that the mentality of Chinese society towards repeating the college entrance examination is complex. Many people believe that repeating the examination is a waste of resources, stimulates education competition, especially repeated repeating, and intensifies competition in the examination. Some even suggest restricting repeat enrollment in the college entrance examination, considering it dishonest to give up registration after being admitted to a university, and limiting the application for the following year. Some people also believe that repeating the college entrance examination is an individual's right, and the spirit of striving to repeat for a better university is worthy of recognition. So, there is no shortage of cheers for Tang Moumou's 14 repeated studies at Tsinghua University.
Choosing to retake the college entrance examination or being admitted to a university without reporting is the right of candidates and should not be simply restricted or interfered with. After being admitted to a university, giving up on reporting is not strictly speaking dishonest, but rather the exercise of the candidate's right to choose. Therefore, no matter how many times Tang repeated his studies and how many times he was admitted to universities but gave up reporting, it is his individual right. However, from the perspective of individual growth and success, we cannot arbitrarily use this right. We should have a rational understanding of the college entrance examination, future career and career development, and not blindly believe that being admitted to Peking University and Tsinghua University will inevitably lead to a smooth future.
At present, there is still a problem in Chinese society where university admission is more important than university academic development, and it is even believed that as long as one is admitted to a prestigious university, one can achieve success and fame. In some places, the Qingbei ratio is used as an indicator to evaluate the quality of education, and students who are admitted to Peking University and Tsinghua University are given heavy rewards. In this context, if a candidate is admitted to Peking University and Tsinghua University, they will be considered to have achieved success in life, be a winner in life, and have an endless future.
This view of success lags behind the development of the times. In 2022, the gross enrollment rate of higher education in China reached 59.6%. This year, there were 12.91 million people taking the college entrance examination, and the average admission rate reached 90%. In the era of popularization of higher education, there can no longer be a complex of identity towards prestigious schools, and admission to prestigious schools can be seen as achievement and success. When it comes to further education and academic development, we should shift from heavy admission to heavy training, with a focus on what we can learn after entering university, whether we can improve our abilities, and what kind of career and career aspirations we have in the future.
Specifically for Tang, in his eyes, taking the Tsinghua entrance exam may seem like a concrete and clear goal, but in reality, it is a rather illusory concept. Why did he take the Tsinghua entrance exam, what major did he study at Tsinghua, and what career he wants to pursue in the future? These are the questions that Tang should seriously consider. In the era of popularization of higher education, every candidate should plan their academic development based on their ability improvement, only focusing on academic qualifications without considering their own ability improvement, blindly pursuing prestigious schools, and the result may be a mess. We must abandon the outdated values of repeating exams for prestigious schools multiple times, and we cannot turn candidates who repeat their dreams of achieving prestigious schools into "inspirational role models".
