Why is the junior class at the University of Science and Technology of China not popular anymore? Plan | West Lake University | University of Science and Technology of China

Known as the "pioneer of youth classes"

Youth Class of University of Science and Technology of China

The latest batch of admission lists has been announced recently.

Just like last year,

This year, the Youth Class at the University of Science and Technology of China has admitted a total of 45 students.

What's different is that,

Last year, we recruited 15 people in Zhejiang,

And this year, only 4 people were recruited,

Among them, there are 2 people in Shaoxing, and 1 person each in Ningbo and Wenzhou.

The number of admissions decreased by over 70% year-on-year.

Why did the junior class at the University of Science and Technology of China suddenly lose its popularity?

What new trends are reflected behind this?

The "Jianghu" of the picture youth class

To talk about whether the Youth Class at the University of Science and Technology of China smells good or not, one must first understand the territory of the domestic youth class.

Before 2021, only three universities in China, namely the University of Science and Technology of China, Xi'an Jiaotong University, and Southeast University, were recruiting students for youth classes. The enrollment of Southeast University's Youth Class does not exceed 10 people, and it can be said that the Youth Class of China University of Science and Technology and the Youth Class of Xi'an Jiaotong University are the only choices for parents who hope their children can enter the Youth Class.

However, the enrollment positioning of the two universities is different, so the competition for enrollment is not fierce. The University of Science and Technology of China has "Youth Class" and "Youth Class Innovation Pilot Class", which respectively enroll students aged 14 but not exceeding 16 years old and students under 17 years old. The Youth Class at Xi'an Jiaotong University is open to fresh junior high school graduates.

In recent years, Zhejiang has been the main source of students for the youth classes of these two universities, and even the most important source of students.

Taking the Youth Class at the University of Science and Technology of China as an example, in 2020, a total of 48 students were enrolled, including 12 students from Zhejiang, accounting for a quarter. In 2021 and 2022, the enrollment of this class was 45 people, with 10 and 15 students from Zhejiang, respectively.

Looking at the Youth Class at Xi'an Jiaotong University again, in 2021, a total of 234 students were admitted, and more than 60 students from Zhejiang were admitted. In 2022, the class enrolled 216 students, with 92 students from Zhejiang province on the list.

Why has the youth class become a "hot cake" in the eyes of parents in Zhejiang?

Educator Xiong Bingqi believes that for the youth class, the simple understanding of social public opinion is still to go to university at the age of 13 or 14 and attend prestigious schools. People care about the age at which these "prodigies" attend university.

A high school principal from Zhejiang told Chao News reporters that the youth class can be exempted from the college entrance examination, even the middle school entrance examination and graduate entrance examination. Every year, many eager parents come to consult with them. Some schools even charter cars for students who meet the conditions and are interested in applying for the youth class to take the exam and try their skills.

Why is the Youth Class at the University of Science and Technology of China not popular anymore?

Why did the popular enrollment trend of the Youth Class at the University of Science and Technology of China in Zhejiang end abruptly this year?

Many parents feel puzzled. But many high school principals were not surprised by this.

In their view, one of the main reasons is that West Lake University's enrollment firepower has further increased. The two principals smiled and said, "High school students were all attracted by Principal Shi.".

The President Shi they are referring to is exactly the President Shi Yigong of West Lake University. Last year, West Lake University officially started recruiting undergraduate students, and the Innovation Class recruited a total of 60 high school students from Zhejiang Province in their second and third years. This year, the Innovation Class at West Lake University continues to enroll Zhejiang high school students in their second and third year of high school, with an enrollment plan expanded to no more than 90 students.

From the information collected by Qianchao News reporters, it can be seen that the enthusiasm of high school sophomores to apply to West Lake University has never been higher this year. Among the newly admitted students, more than half of them are high school sophomores. For example, six students from Hangzhou Foreign Language School were admitted to West Lake University, and five were high school sophomores.

"In recent years, West Lake University has had a good development momentum and has a strong ability to access international resources. From last year to this year, there have been significantly more students in our school who want to apply to West Lake University." A vice president of a high school in Shaoxing said that after Zhejiang's layout of a new type of university, top students in Zhejiang have more diverse choices to study in the province. In addition, many parents of Zhejiang students are more inclined to stay in the province to study at universities, so the appeal of the Youth Class at the University of Science and Technology of China is naturally not as strong as in previous years.

A high school principal from Hangzhou also revealed data from his high school: more than 20 students from the school were admitted to various talent programs of Tsinghua and Peking University, as well as the Innovation Class of West Lake University this year. However, the number of admissions to the "Innovation Pilot Class" of the Youth Class and Youth Class at the University of Science and Technology of China has rarely shaved off their heads.

"These enrollment plans of Tsinghua University and Peking University are not labeled as' youth classes', but in reality, they only enroll students from junior high school to senior high school, or students from senior high school to senior high school, with enrollment targets highly overlapping with the 'innovation pilot classes' of the junior and junior classes at the University of Science and Technology of China." The president revealed that most of the senior high school students admitted to various enrollment plans of Tsinghua University and West Lake University in previous years would have applied to the junior classes at the University of Science and Technology of China, but now they are "diverted" by their more favored universities.

A new logic for cultivating "young talents"

Behind the hot and cold changes in the youth classes at the University of Science and Technology of China, it is not difficult to find a new trend: prestigious schools such as Tsinghua and Peking have begun to lay out the cultivation of "young talents", and provinces such as Zhejiang have also begun to make efforts in the layout of new universities. The youth classes at the University of Science and Technology of China are no longer outstanding.

In the cycle of history, similar scenes are not the first to appear - in the 1980s and 1990s, youth classes were once popular in China, and more than 10 universities in China held youth classes to recruit young college students. But ultimately, due to the pursuit of "early talent", the training effect did not meet expectations, and most youth classes in universities ended in a bleak ending.

Under the current trend of "youth class" education, although the paths may seem similar, the underlying logic of cultivating "young talents" in various universities has changed.

As Xiong Bingqi said, in the era of elite higher education, youth classes are considered as an exploration of talent cultivation for "early emerging talents". However, in the era of popularization of higher education, hosting youth classes to recruit young college students clearly cannot pursue "early emerging talents" anymore, but should explore how to personalize the cultivation of top-notch talents and cultivate more innovative talents.

Currently, China has entered the era of popularization of higher education. The important task of higher education is no longer to expand the scale of talent cultivation, but to improve the quality of talent cultivation. The positioning of organizing youth classes in universities should be tailored to individual needs, providing personalized training programs for students with personality and strengths, rather than pursuing the speed of talent cultivation.

At the 2018 founding conference of West Lake University, Shi Yigong expressed his hope that West Lake University would become an explorer of China's higher education reform, and provide reference and inspiration for building a modern university system with Chinese characteristics through his own practice and exploration.

In the past year, West Lake University has also taken practical actions to give students and parents peace of mind. Unlike general undergraduate education, the university has recruited over 190 leading talents with top academic achievements or young scientists with academic potential as undergraduate academic mentors worldwide. In other words, there are 60 new students, each with multiple mentors. In this way, it is possible to truly achieve personalized training and personalized teaching.

The principals also interpreted the new changes from their own perspectives: as more prestigious and new universities join the competition for young talents, top high school students in Zhejiang have more important choices for further education. "Top talents need to have adapted training methods in order to shine to the fullest extent," said a high school principal, hoping that this is just the beginning. In March of this year, Zhejiang University held a seminar on the cultivation of top-notch innovative talents in basic disciplines, and several high school principals proposed that Zhejiang University should launch a talent program as soon as possible. In 2025, Ningbo Oriental University of Technology is also expected to start admitting undergraduate students.

For excellent high school students in Zhejiang, the opportunities to access better educational resources are constantly increasing. For Zhejiang, keeping these outstanding students within the province also means bringing more possibilities for its future development.