Those who want to pursue postgraduate studies can take a look

Thread Content

1. Is the postgraduate entrance exam really difficult? Regarding the difficulty of postgraduate entrance exams, some people exaggerate it, which scares away many students who could have easily been admitted to graduate school. Some students underestimated the difficulty of the postgraduate entrance exams and were too complacent, resulting in poor performance even in those cases where they could have been admitted. Indeed, there should be a proper assessment of the difficulty of taking the postgraduate entrance exam; both exaggerating and underestimating its difficulty is inappropriate, and in many cases it can even be harmful. For the vast majority of students, I think the difficulty of taking the postgraduate entrance exam isn’t that high. After all, considering that the **admission cut-offs need to take into account the enrollment requirements of schools at various levels, it’s obvious that they can’t be set too high. The difficulty of the questions is also moderate and relatively stable, so it’s possible to have an idea of it well in advance. The requirements for final exams at universities are quite high, but as long as students study diligently and spend enough time on it, it should not be a problem. Much of the effort put into preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam is not aimed solely at reaching a certain score threshold, but rather at finding ways to reduce the risk of failing the exam. Perhaps many of the things you learn may not be tested on, but they are still meaningful, as they can all reduce the risk of your not being admitted to graduate school. The problem is that many people are not fully aware of this, so they do not consider how to arrange the reviews from the perspective of minimizing accidents, especially when it comes to reviewing professional courses; as a result, these efforts often fail, giving the impression that preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam is quite difficult. Of course, the idea that preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam is easy is also extremely wrong. Preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam requires completing a series of tasks; if those necessary tasks are not fulfilled, the chances of being admitted to graduate school by luck are very low. Only when you invest enough time and effort can we say that preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam is not actually difficult. 2. Is it only possible to get into graduate school if you have good grades in regular courses? Since the graduate entrance examination consists of only 5 subjects, it depends on the degree of effort put in during review, the length of time spent reviewing, and whether the methods used are correct; it has little to do with one’s usual academic performance. I know one outstanding graduate from Zhejiang University (only 30 such students are selected in the whole university each year). Due to his excessive confidence, thinking that his academic performance was good enough and that he didn’t need to study hard, he failed to get into graduate school and did poorly on the exams (though he later went to study at a school ranked among the top 20 in the United States). I heard from the teachers in the department that in the past, several students had difficulty finding jobs because they didn’t have a degree; with no other options left, they had to pursue postgraduate studies, and they all did very well in those exams. So the key to whether you can pass or not lies in how well you review; don’t hesitate to take the postgraduate entrance exam just because your usual grades are poor. It’s impossible for you to study with such intensity as you do when preparing for postgraduate exams; therefore, your usual grades don’t hold much value. Since you may not particularly enjoy studying, you don’t put in much effort, and as a result, your usual grades often cannot reflect your true level of ability and potential – they are essentially meaningless. 3. When is the best time to start preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam? Although I think it’s better to decide early on which school and major to choose, it’s a bit excessive for some students at universities to start preparing from the moment they enter college, or even from their sophomore year. As a result, the entire college experience is centered around preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam. When looking back on one’s college years, it’s inevitable to feel that too many things were sacrificed for this purpose; while others had a wonderful college experience, one’s own was dull and unremarkable. Therefore, I think that if you have decided to take the postgraduate entrance exam, then before your junior year, you should study very diligently whatever courses will be part of that exam, aiming to reach a level similar to that required for the exam (for example, use the math review guides meant for the postgraduate exam during classes, especially before final exams). This is a way of preparing yourself for success in getting into graduate school in the future. Before your junior year, make sure to master all your mathematics courses, and raise your English proficiency to the CET-6 level or even an excellent score at that level as early as possible – this will serve as a great preparation for postgraduate entrance exams. If you are taking the exam in your major, I think it’s sufficient to start studying mathematics and some specialized courses starting in the second half of your junior year. If switching to a different major, it is best to start taking some courses related to that major as early as the first semester of junior year, or to read the reference books specified for entrance exams in that major. In the second semester of junior year, one can then read textbooks with the same title as those specified, but written by different authors and containing slight differences in content; this helps to deepen understanding of the prescribed textbooks and reduces the risk of encountering content that has not been seen before in the exams. Recently, perhaps due to the fierce competition for postgraduate admissions, I have heard that in many schools the subject matter covered in the exams goes far beyond the prescribed textbooks; sometimes even more than half of the exam content cannot be found in those designated reference books (this is especially true for programs in economics and pure humanities). Therefore, it is very important to start studying other textbooks early. If the prescribed textbooks are clearly not authoritative enough, have insufficient depth of content, or lack comprehensiveness, it is even more necessary to carefully study authoritative textbooks with the same title. 4. What should be done before officially starting to prepare for the postgraduate entrance exam? First of all, you should try to seek advice from seniors who have just taken the graduate entrance exam. Whether they were admitted or not, they have some experiences and lessons that can be useful for you, helping to avoid major, fundamental mistakes. Additionally, you can ask them to provide you with a list of recommended books, which will save you the trouble of searching for books blindly. The quality of reference books is extremely important; otherwise, it not only wastes time but also may not yield any results despite all the effort put in. Even though you may already be familiar with the admission trends of the school you intend to apply to in previous years and have purchased the recommended reference books from those times, it is still important to check whether there are any changes in the recommended reference books listed in the new admission brochure. Before starting to study intensively, you should visit the school’s website, review the new admission brochure, and confirm if there are any changes in the recommended reference books. For those who don’t know how to find the official websites of various universities, they can go to the China Education and Research Network; for example: http://www.edu.cn/HomePage/res/inc/list.php?listid=3. Other websites worth checking include: http://www.ewwt, http://www.kaoyan.com, and http://www.kaoyan.net. However, the most important thing is to get in touch as soon as possible with current postgraduate students at the university and program you are interested in, either by phone, email, or by visiting them in person during the summer vacation, so that you can ask them for advice on exam preparation. This is very important, as it will help you avoid making major mistakes in choosing your direction Don’t be afraid to disturb others; most graduate students are nice and enthusiastic. 5. The conflict between preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam, looking for a job, attending classes, and taking final exams. Since you have chosen to prepare for the postgraduate entrance exam, it means that you don’t have much time to look for a job before the exam is over, and you shouldn’t spend too much time on job hunting either; otherwise, you will end up with nothing in the end. From my experience, Zhejiang University’s annual large-scale autumn campus job fair represents a significant challenge for those preparing for the postgraduate entrance exams. At that time, many people find the preparation process quite tough and tedious, and they start to doubt whether they can succeed in passing the exams; they also begin to question whether their decision was correct. At this time, there are quite a few people who, once they find a decent job at a job fair or see their classmates land good jobs, become hesitant; they start thinking about looking for work, lose interest in studying*, or simply decide not to pursue further studies. All their previous efforts went to waste; in the end they didn’t manage to find any good jobs. At least compared to the job opportunities and prospects available after pursuing graduate studies, few of them were able to secure such good positions. It’s a shame that they gave up so early. Many people in similar situations later regretted it, as pursuing a master’s degree after starting work is by no means as easy as students on campus imagine; it requires many times more effort than necessary (for example, those who study while working have to study until late at night yet still run out of time), as well as greater pressure (such as having to quit their jobs to pursue a master’s degree, with high expectations from family and friends who don’t want them to fail, since failure would bring consequences for their personal life and their family’s financial situation). So I emphasize once again that since you are preparing for the postgraduate entrance exams, you shouldn’t spend too much time looking for a job before those exams are over. However, I think it’s worth attending the job fair on campus. But if you start focusing on finding a job from that point on, it’s not necessary. If you find that you did very poorly on the exam, you can still look for opportunities during the winter break and the second semester after the exams are over (there are many job fairs held in various places after the Spring Festival – don’t miss them). If you start thinking early on that you’ll go work if you don’t pass the exam, and if you constantly focus on preparing a backup plan for your failure, you’re likely to fail the exam. The pressure of preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam is intense; once the preparation reaches a certain level, it seems as though there isn’t enough time. There are surely quite a few people who want to skip classes in order to prepare further, right? To be honest, during the semester I took the postgraduate entrance exam, I skipped about one-third of the classes, as I felt I didn’t have enough time. The specialized courses taught by the instructors were also relatively simple. But of course, the instructors weren’t happy to see students skipping classes, so it was important to maintain a good relationship with them and explain my circumstances to them. However, overall, if you prepare early, it’s not necessarily necessary to skip classes in order to get into graduate school. 6. Arrangements for retakes: First, you need to understand the specific requirements for the mathematics exam you are taking; there are levels from Mathematics 1 to Mathematics 4, with the required content and difficulty decreasing as you move up to higher levels. Generally speaking, mathematics includes advanced mathematics (calculus), linear algebra, probability theory, and mathematical statistics; however, the requirements vary greatly depending on the field of study. Be sure to understand what is required in terms of mathematics for the postgraduate entrance exams before starting to study relevant textbooks, so as not to waste time on topics that are not required at all for those exams. English is the same for both arts and science students, but politics courses are divided between the two tracks. Although most of the content in politics courses is the same for both arts and science students, there are still some differences specific to the arts track, which should be taken into account. Not everyone has to take these three general courses. Mathematics is only required for majors in the two categories of science, engineering, agriculture, and medicine, as well as economics and management; it is not required for other majors. If you need to take three general courses, there are only two specialized courses. Apart from Peking University, which requires a particularly large number of courses for its postgraduate entrance exams, other universities require fewer specialized courses, with the number of designated reference books ranging between five or so. If you only need to take two general courses (English and Politics), and three specialized courses, then the number of recommended reference books is around 5 to 10 (this varies by university; please refer to each university’s application guidelines). To understand the characteristics of the specialized course exams at different schools, the approaches taken to setting questions for these courses often vary greatly from one school to another. In some schools, the professional courses are definitely based on designated reference books, and it’s easy to obtain exam papers for these courses, which can serve as a reference for your review. In some schools, there are no designated reference books for the specialized courses, or the exam topics often go beyond what is specified in those reference books; instead, questions are set based on papers published in recent academic journals or on current hot topics in academia (for example, in law, it is necessary to read legal journals from recent years, as well as the latest works and other important articles written by law professors at the institution conducting the exams). Therefore, if you have taken exams involving essay writing before, you need to schedule time to read these papers. As mentioned earlier, mathematics should be completed as early as possible in the second half of junior year. I believe it’s best to go through the math material and finish the exercises in the accompanying study books by the summer before that period; those who have the financial means can also attend some summer tutoring courses for general courses and specialized subjects (depending on individual circumstances). Back then, I didn’t hear much about any tutoring classes in Beijing or Shanghai. At the end of November, I attended the public course tutoring classes organized by Zhejiang University’s graduate school. I found that the math teachers there were very skilled and their instruction was extremely helpful; however, I didn’t see much improvement in my skills in English and politics. So, if I want to attend English and politics tutoring classes, it’s better to choose those with a higher standard in Beijing or Shanghai. Be sure to review everything once before attending the tutoring class; otherwise, it’s basically a waste of money with no effect at all. For politics, I think it’s sufficient to start reading the books compiled by the Higher Education Department in the previous year, written by Yu Xueben and others, right from the summer vacation. There’s no need to put in too much effort; just make sure you find it easy to read. There’s no need to memorize anything yet – it will be enough to start memorizing from September once you’re familiar with the content. I mentioned earlier that taking the CET-6 is a way to prepare for the postgraduate entrance exam, but I want to emphasize that the questions in the postgraduate exam are much more difficult than those in the CET-6, especially the reading comprehension section. The style and content of the exam are also different. Don’t become complacent or neglect to study seriously just because the CET-6 is easier. If you don’t study seriously, even if you have a solid foundation, you’ll often do very poorly on exams! There is a list of essential vocabulary for the English postgraduate entrance exam. Instead of memorizing mechanically a list that contains only Chinese meanings without example sentences, one should find books with example sentences, identify the words that are unfamiliar, and copy them into a notebook to study. Don’t mix familiar and unfamiliar words together, as this increases the burden on your memory. The basic methods for memorizing words are still copying and trying to recall them. There is too much to say on this, so I won’t go into detail. 7. Recommended reading: (1) For mathematics, for the first round of review, the textbook for advanced mathematics (calculus) can be the one produced by Zhejiang University. Those who are not using textbooks from Zhejiang University or the \"Advanced Mathematics\" book compiled by Tongji University (in two volumes, published by Higher Education Press) should use the advanced mathematics textbook prepared by Tongji University. It should be noted that this book from Tongji University is intended for students in science and engineering fields; many of its contents are not necessary for those studying economics or management, so there is no need to read everything. Supplementary study materials can include those written by Sheng Xiangyao, Ge Yanlin, and Hu Jinde. \"Advanced Mathematics Tutoring\" compiled by Zhang Yuande (Volumes 1 and 2), priced at 31.5 yuan, published by Tsinghua University Press. This book is particularly useful for students with a weak foundation in advanced mathematics. For textbooks on linear algebra, those published by Zhejiang University will suffice. If it’s difficult to understand, you can also consider a book on linear algebra published by Tsinghua University Press (written by Ju Yuma and 4 others, priced at 15 yuan). It is said that this book is highly recommended by those preparing for postgraduate entrance exams. A suitable supplementary textbook is \"Linear Algebra Tutoring\" (2nd edition), compiled by Hu Jinde and Wang Feiyan, available for 15 yuan from Tsinghua University Press; it is an excellent book! Tsinghua undergraduates also receive a textbook for helping with advanced mathematics: \"Guidance to Calculus*,\" compiled by Han Yunrui, Liu Qinghua, Wang Yanlai, and Wu Jiehua. It costs 18 yuan and seems to be quite good; it’s relatively thin so it’s easy to finish reading. I haven’t used it myself, but it’s widely used at Tsinghua, so it should be good. The classic textbook on probability theory and mathematical statistics is likely the one written by Sheng Chou and others from Zhejiang University (published by Higher Education Press); many people use this textbook to prepare for postgraduate entrance exams. I used this book for both my classes and reviews. During my first review, I completed all the exercises at the back of the book, and I found those exercises to be quite good. During the second round of review, most people recommended Chen Wendeng’s tutoring books and accompanying practice questions. I saw someone recommend the mathematics books from the “Golden Edition” postgraduate entrance exam series published by Xueyuan Publishing House (there are three books: advanced mathematics, linear algebra, and probability theory and mathematical statistics), saying that they were extremely helpful to them. Tsinghua University Press and Springer Publishing House have jointly published a book titled “Teaching Reference Books for Tsinghua University and Materials for Postgraduate Entrance Examination Preparation Courses.” It was compiled by Yu Zhengguang, Wang Feiyan, Ye Jun, and Zhao Hengxiu under the title “University Mathematics: Concepts. Methods and Techniques” (Volume 1 covers calculus, while Volume 2 covers linear algebra and probability theory); Volume 1 costs 29 yuan and Volume 2 costs 24 yuan, and they can be purchased separately. (2) English: I used Wang Changxi’s “Review Guide” in the past, but almost all those taking the postgraduate entrance exam in Beijing use Zhu Taiqi’s review books; there must be a reason for that. Other resources include analyses of past exam questions (from 1995 to 2002 will suffice), all the actual questions from the CET-6 exam (you only need to work on the reading comprehension section). For English writing, I recommend the book \"Universal Essays for Postgraduate Entrance Exams\" published by ExamBug; it costs 18 yuan and is quite good. The rest are Zhang Jinxin’s reading comprehension exercises and practice tests. Some people recommend Bi Jinxian’s (the head of the question-setting team 99 years ago) reading comprehension materials. Shi Chunjing’s practice tests are okay for correcting mistakes, but nothing else worth doing – they’re a waste of time, especially the reading comprehension sections. (3) The reply book compiled by Yu Xueben and others under the organization of the Higher Education Department of the Ministry of Education (published by Aviation Industry Press) is essential; there is also an outline analysis provided by Higher Education Press, along with exam questions from various years since 1995 (keep in mind that the content of the exams has changed significantly over time). Others, such as Ren Rufen’s pre-exam review sessions, are said to be good. I don’t know anything else. It’s better to seek advice from others who have just taken the exam. (4) The professional course exam preparation book series ** Edition contains past examination questions from various universities in fields such as economics, management, law, computer science, electronics, and medicine. It arranges these past exam questions by topic and chapter, offering some degree of reference value. Meanwhile, the publisher also provides comprehensive analyses of all past exam questions for the public courses in the postgraduate entrance examinations. The most important thing is to photocopy past examination papers for the specialized courses at the school you are applying to; as long as the designated reference books don’t change much, the more such examination papers you can photocopy, the better. 8. Basic skills for reviewing*: (1) Be sure to work through all the past exam papers in mathematics, English, and politics many times, at least twice. Real exam questions are treasures, while practice questions are worthless – they’re not even as good as trash, especially most English practice questions. (2) For the professional course exams, as long as the designated reference books remain unchanged, they should be copied for as many years as possible; even if it is expensive, copying them is necessary. If you consider it carefully, the risks associated with taking the postgraduate entrance exam may stem more from the uncertainty regarding the content and format of the specialized subject exams. Obtaining more test papers for specialized courses can **reduce this uncertainty**. (3) If it’s possible to obtain photocopies of the course notes taken by students in the same major at the school you wish to apply to, try to get them. This is especially true for majors in the humanities, where exam questions are often closely related to those notes. A single sentence mentioned in the textbook might be expanded upon in great detail in the notes, and this could lead to a complex exam question; such examples are quite common. Don’t think that teachers only test things with clearly defined rules. How do those tests distinguish students who are not from this major or this university? How can we tell whether a student has a solid foundation or not? Therefore, in professional courses, there are often questions that seem a bit unconventional but actually offer room for understanding and creative application, or questions that span multiple chapters; it is necessary to summarize frequently and establish connections between different concepts. To summarize the content of humanities subjects (such as politics or other specialized humanities courses) into one or several large tables, including all the key points in a highly organized manner on those sheets of paper, so that everything contained in the book is included there, you will have essentially completed the summary. Write down these pieces of paper; you won’t miss any key points in the exam questions. (4) If the department offers preparatory courses for postgraduate entrance exams in specific subjects, questions are often omitted from these courses; even if one cannot attend such classes, it is advisable to try to get copies of the class notes (few good universities offer such specialized preparatory courses, as they are unfair to candidates from other schools). If the department offers the course that is part of the entrance examination during that semester, it is usually the teacher who teaches that course who creates the examination questions (please check with current graduate students first). The class notes taken by that teacher are very useful, and the final exam questions for that course often serve as a good reference as well; you can try to find out more about this (however, don’t rely too much on such tactics – a thorough review is what’s most useful). (5) For English reading comprehension, do not randomly work on practice tests – they are useless. First, one must become thoroughly familiar with all the actual exam questions, analyze them carefully, and figure out the test-makers’ approaches and techniques. You can start by finding a book that provides an excellent analysis of past postgraduate entrance examination questions, but you also need to think critically on your own. If you have fully understood the reading comprehension questions from previous years and there are no more questions left to work on, then work on the reading comprehension sections from the actual CET-6 exams and analyze them carefully. I’ve finished all the reading comprehension exercises for Level 6 as well. I can take a look at the reading comprehension questions in the practice tests prepared by Bi Jinxian and Zhang Jinxin. I should avoid doing the reading comprehension questions in the practice tests created by Shi Chunchen or other people, as well as books like “100 Reading Comprehension Exercises for Postgraduate Exams” or “200 Reading Comprehension Exercises.” Most of these reading comprehension questions are randomly generated and don’t follow the same pattern as the actual exam questions; therefore, doing many of them isn’t very useful. (6) Do not rely solely on exam papers from one or two years to guess what will be tested and what won’t; professional courses can often surprise you! There are often some questions that seem a bit obscure or even very obscure before the exam, so it’s important to gather as many past exam papers for the specialized courses as possible. But even so, a comprehensive review is necessary, and one should do plenty of exercises, especially for science and engineering majors – it’s absolutely impossible to avoid doing enough exercises in their specialized subjects. (7) If you don’t do many math problems, then don’t even take the exam – you definitely won’t pass, so there’s no point in wasting time. (8) If your mathematical foundation is weak, when studying complex numbers for the first time, use the supplementary textbooks designed for freshmen as a starting point, rather than books specifically written for postgraduate entrance exams. Such books explain concepts from the perspective of beginners, which is very helpful for those with a weak foundation to truly understand the relevant material. 9. Several common directional mistakes: (1) Relying solely on the exam papers from the previous year or two for specialized courses, and assuming that certain topics will not be tested, thus failing to conduct a comprehensive review; as a result, those topics that one thought would not be tested often end up appearing as major exam questions. (2) People decide whether to take the postgraduate entrance exam only at the time when formal applications start; making such decisions in a hurry results in few being admitted. (3) Failing to review carefully the subjects one thinks they are good at, assuming that a strong foundation will be enough to pass, often results in poor performance on exams. (4) When applying to pursue a master’s degree in a humanities field, one fails to inquire thoroughly about the scope of past exam questions for that program. For example, many questions in the specialized courses related to humanities come from sources that are not included in the prescribed textbooks, but rather from academic journals or monographs published in recent years; yet one is completely unaware of this and has not read those sources at all. (5) They don’t do many problems in advanced mathematics and English, and there is little practice in English writing and translation; they just look at the answers, which results in slow speeds and insufficient time during exams. (6) They haven’t seen any of the actual exam questions before the test, or have only seen a few of them; they spend their whole time doing practice questions, wasting time in the process. 10. Thoughts on preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam, daily life during this preparation period, and self-motivation: From personal experience, the first round of review can be quite tedious, and one’s enthusiasm for reviewing tends to be low. However, during the second round of review, when comprehensive review and practice exercises begin, one gradually realizes that preparing for the exam can actually be quite interesting. It’s not as time-consuming as some people think – spending over half a year reviewing material that has already been learned is simply a waste of time. You often find that you are making progress every day and gaining something new each day, as if you have returned to those high school days when you had no distractions and were focused solely on doing well in your studies. During my postgraduate entrance exam preparation, I didn’t have to worry about anything other than studying, so I felt very happy during that time. Through the review process, I realized that I learned a lot of things I hadn’t learned before, and I felt that I benefited greatly from it. At the beginning of the review process, many people thought there was plenty of time ahead, so they didn’t put in much effort. However, a great number of them realized too late, as the exam approached, that they had started reviewing too late and should have begun seriously much earlier; as a result, many of them feel quite regretful. Before taking the postgraduate entrance exam, I still thought that I would need another month to have almost absolute confidence in being able to pass it. Looking back now, I realize that I should have spent more time reviewing during the second half of my junior year, so as not to be so worried right before the exam. If you want to apply to a highly competitive school and program, you should start preparing seriously even earlier. I really wish I could almost guarantee getting into graduate school. The amount of work required is indeed quite substantial, much more so than what’s needed if you just want to give it a try and see if you can get in. But the effort you put in is definitely worth it. It can be said that the ability to endure the seemingly dull preparation for the postgraduate entrance exams is the greatest test for candidates. Many people are full of enthusiasm at the beginning, but after studying for a while, they become distracted and no longer want to focus on reading, resulting in failing to achieve their goals. Being indecisive, hesitant, and inconsistent in one’s efforts are the biggest taboos when preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam; they are also the typical characteristics of those who, even before the exam, can be deemed unlikely to succeed in getting into graduate school. Preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam requires resilience and perseverance – it demands that you be able to focus on what you want to do without being disturbed by external factors over a certain period of time. The skills you develop in these areas during this process will benefit you for life. When the day comes that you are admitted to graduate school, you will realize that the process of preparing for the entrance exams is in itself a valuable life experience. The discipline in willpower that you develop during your postgraduate entrance exam preparation will become an important source of confidence for you, and it will help you achieve greater success in your career; it is certainly an extremely valuable asset for your entire life. Although a large number of people apply every year, the number of those who truly study hard and devote themselves fully to their preparation is much smaller. So don’t be intimidated by the total number of applicants; in reality, the number of candidates who are truly competitive is limited. While preparing for the postgraduate entrance exams, it’s also important to exercise; you can go for a run in the evening or afternoon. Preparing for these exams requires not only perseverance but also physical strength. If reading becomes too tedious, it’s best to take a break and go for a walk outside or by the West Lake. Read again after you relax; don’t force yourself to read too much, as it won’t yield good results. You can take a break on Saturday afternoon or evening. Stay happy; imagine every day what life will be like if you pass the exam, rather than worrying about how embarrassing it would be if you don’t. One can often imagine how great it will be to have some fun, get a good sleep, and go out and have a great time after the exam, using this as motivation. Losers keep thinking about what will happen if they fail, worrying all day long, and as a result they do fail frequently. Successful people often think about what they will do once they are successful, spending their time drawing up ideal blueprints for the future, and indeed, things often turn out as they wish. Those who keep failing are usually those who are always worried about failing. What you worry about will happen; if you hope for success, you will achieve it. Therefore, encouraging oneself is very important, as it often determines success or failure. 11. Several things to keep in mind when taking exams and re-exams: (1) Exams: The day before the exam, it’s essential to go and see the examination venue, especially for those taking exams at schools outside the local area. Since the Hangzhou Higher Education Admissions Office is responsible for arranging the venues, these are usually various middle schools in Hangzhou. It’s advisable to check their locations in advance so as not to waste time on the first day trying to find the venue, which could affect the English exam. The biggest concern during exams is likely insomnia; it’s best to discuss in advance with classmates the schedule for using the dormitory space during the exam period. Additionally, to prevent insomnia, one can buy a few boxes of \"Sedative Brain Tonic\" to keep on hand, and take a few small doses of it if they feel that it might be difficult for them to fall asleep. Before the exam, you should prepare pens, ballpoint pens or gel pens, as well as pencils; it’s advisable to have several extra copies of each type of pen. In the past, the exam papers for the postgraduate entrance examination were of poor quality, and it was not possible to write on them with a pen. Therefore, students who are used to writing with a pen should first practice writing with a ballpoint pen, and they should purchase the pens they will need for the exam in advance. It’s better to get used to using them beforehand; otherwise, you might run out of time during the political theory exam on the first afternoon due to slow writing speed. If poor quality paper is observed, do not answer with a pen, as it will affect the impression of the exam paper and result in significant loss of points. Please bring enough ballpoint pens or signature pens! Unless you really didn’t study at all, even if you feel that you didn’t perform well in certain subjects such as English, Politics, or Mathematics during the exam, never give up halfway – stick to it until the end. After all, it doesn’t matter if you miss those two days no matter what you do. If you persevere to the end and still fail, you can at least have a clear conscience. There are some courses for which you think you did poorly in the exam, but in reality, based on the final results, it’s still possible to pass; so don’t give up easily! Every year, for the postgraduate entrance examination, a large number of candidates take only the first one or two exams and then stop taking further tests; as a result, you’ll see that there are fewer and fewer people in each examination room, which is a normal phenomenon. No matter what others do, you must hold on to the end. The vast majority feel that a 3-hour exam time is extremely tight; please start practicing to increase your problem-solving speed one month or two weeks before the exam! Please first determine how much time to allocate to each section, and control your speed when working on the questions. (2) Second-round interview: If you think you have a chance of passing, or if you have already received a notification for the second-round interview, then you should find out whether it is an equal-number interview or a competitive one. If it’s an equal-number interview, you’re basically admitted; if it’s a competitive one, you need to prepare carefully. Even in equal-score re-interviews, it is important to show respect for the interviewer during the interview, avoiding arrogance that might offend them; at the same time, one should demonstrate confidence and keep a smile on their face. It has also been reported that during the equal-score second round of interviews, some candidates were extremely arrogant when answering the teachers’ questions; they thought the professional exams were too easy and were full of pride, only to be rejected, which is quite unfortunate. If it is a differential re-examination, one must be even more careful; don’t assume that just because your total score is high you are safe. While generally, candidates who rank high tend not to be rejected during interviews, if you are only in the middle tier – even if not at the bottom – you should still put in extra effort to prepare. In particular, it is important to answer questions well. The main issues usually involve introducing yourself first, and then asking why you want to apply for this program at this school; you need to think this through before the interview. The rest are a few questions related slightly to the major; they’re generally not too difficult (the difficulty varies depending on the school). One should have an understanding of the basic situation of that department and major; when answering why they want to apply to that program at that university, they can explain it by highlighting how renowned and competitive the program is, as well as their own interest in it. Of course, there’s no need to exaggerate – a straightforward, objective description is sufficient. If you are worried about being rejected, try to write a letter to the department head and the associate dean in charge of graduate admissions before the interview, introducing yourself, expressing your interests and enthusiasm for the department, etc. Writing it carefully will be helpful. You should arrive at the school 1 to 2 days in advance, and then talk to current graduate students to learn about the general situation of previous interviews, so as to have a clear idea. It’s best to arrive at the department 30 minutes to 1 hour ahead of the interview; this way you may have the chance to help with some minor tasks or talk with the deputy director and others, allowing them to get to know you first, which will **reduce the risk of being rejected during the interview**. 12. Preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam should be one of the most important things to consider as soon as one enters university. Zhejiang University students often hear their teachers and seniors mention two questions posed by President Zhu Kezhen right from the beginning of their studies: “While you are here at Zhejiang University, there are two questions you should ask yourselves. First: What have you come to Zhejiang University to do?” Second: What kind of person do you want to become in the future? ”To be honest, most of the answers I heard back then were vague and uncertain. If I were to talk about this topic today, I would say that the most important thing during one’s undergraduate years at Zhejiang University is to find one’s own direction for striving, to discover one’s interests, and to identify one’s career goals and aspirations. As for the future, every Zhejiang University student has quite limited options upon graduation: either to pursue further studies, to go abroad, or to start working right away. Therefore, it’s best to determine one’s goals as early as possible and begin working hard sooner, as the skills and qualities needed to go abroad, to pursue further studies, or to start working differ from one another! In my opinion, whether you plan to take the postgraduate entrance exam or not at that time, you should first gain a good understanding of this issue, as it is very important. You should start thinking about whether you want to pursue a postgraduate degree as soon as you enter university, and if so, which school and what major you would like to study (especially the major!) ) graduate students! Please make your decision early; don’t rush into it. Few people who rush to take the postgraduate entrance exam manage to succeed. As the saying goes, \"He who does not plan for the future will surely face troubles soon.\" Please plan ahead and think about your future! So, what is the meaning of pursuing a graduate degree? Is it interesting to pursue a master’s degree? Due to the heavy course load in undergraduate programs, especially in the science and engineering fields at Zhejiang University, students often have to do homework and write experiment reports, and there is also considerable pressure from final exams. This makes some students feel exhausted, and they wish to end their college years sooner and no longer want to stay in college. However, if you have pursued graduate studies, you will find that graduate life is quite different from undergraduate life – it is much more flexible and relaxed. You have plenty of free time to do whatever you want, read the books you desire, and the exams are usually not difficult to pass; all that’s required is to write a few papers. If you are someone who enjoys reading, then it’s great to have the opportunity to pursue graduate studies. During graduate school, you can read many books that you wanted to read but didn’t have time for during your undergraduate years. You also get frequent opportunities to attend various lectures, and you no longer need to worry about being called on by the instructor when skipping classes to attend them, as there are few courses in graduate school – most of them are completed by the end of the first year. Apart from being able to read whatever books one wants, I think the advantage of pursuing a master’s degree is that one has 2–3 years to prepare properly for one’s future career. In particular, one can change majors while pursuing a master’s degree in order to acquire the specialized knowledge needed for the industry of one’s choice, and then transition into that industry after graduation. 13. What major should be chosen for postgraduate studies? If one wants to pursue graduate studies, what major should be chosen? It seems that most people opt to study in the same major they pursued during their undergraduate degree. However, I don’t think such a choice is necessarily the right one. Personally, if I had been able to enter graduate school in my undergraduate major back then, I believe I definitely wouldn’t have done it. Although I wasn’t disgusted with my undergraduate major, I certainly didn’t like it either, and the prospects for a career in that field weren’t very good. I must choose a major that I enjoy and whose prospects are promising. If, even after pursuing graduate studies, I still have no clear idea about my future, it’s merely delaying the moment when I have to face the difficulty of finding a job; in the end, I can’t avoid this reality – I will have to confront it anyway. As the saying goes, “Men fear choosing the wrong career, while women fear marrying the wrong man.” In my opinion, whether marriage and career are ideal or not is a matter of great significance for both men and women. Generally speaking, whether one’s career is ideal may be even more important, as an unsatisfactory job can also affect the state of one’s marriage. In an industry that is already outdated, you can work yourself to death yet still not earn as much as an average person in a growing industry. Don’t believe the nonsense spouted by those counselors and similar people who are keen on promoting education, claiming that their field of study has great prospects. Instead, listen to the opinions of seniors in the same field who are already in their senior year or have graduated – their views are the ones that truly hold value as a reference. Reality is cruel and it will wake many people up; waking up sooner is definitely to your advantage, so it’s better if you find out as early as possible about the future of your field of study and how you will be assigned a role. Since everyone’s situation is different, I can’t tell you which major you must pursue. However, if you are particularly interested in something, then you should study it – that major would be the best choice for you. If you don’t have a strong interest in anything, then I think it’s best for you to choose a major with a decent workload and one that you also relatively like. If you have no idea what you like, the first thing to do is to analyze your strengths and weaknesses as well as your personality traits, and then choose a field in which you can utilize your strengths rather than your weaknesses. For example, if you enjoy interacting with people, chatting and socializing, and don’t like staying in one place all the time, then you might be suited for a career as a lawyer. One should not take on technical or R&D work if they are in management or sales roles. Of course, if you only like and are suited for working in technology, then it’s better for you to work in that field. Since you don’t live in a vacuum, your mood is often influenced by the opinions and circumstances of those around you. Therefore, it is also extremely necessary to take into account the prospects for social development and career advancement when choosing a major. For now, if you have no passion for your major, or even hate it, then although it may be relatively easier to get admitted to a program in that field, I still advise you not to pursue a master’s degree in it. It’s best to connect your postgraduate studies with your career aspirations; don’t pursue a graduate degree just for the sake of it. If pursuing a graduate degree in your field of study does not bring you any closer to your career goals, then your three years will be almost a waste. If in the future you want to switch to a career that you think has more prospects or that you like, and the difficulty of doing so is almost the same as it was when you graduated from undergraduate, then it’s better to find a major you like earlier and start preparing for postgraduate studies sooner, so as to get into the program you desire. It’s worth sacrificing the level of the university for that. If it’s true that attending a good university during undergraduate studies is more important than choosing a good major, then I believe that for most people, during graduate studies, the quality of the major is likely more important than the reputation of the university, as it directly affects the industry in which one can work, and the quality of an industry is extremely important. In a declining industry, it is not only difficult to gain respect from others, but the income is usually also significantly lower than that in thriving industries, so this cannot be ignored! I know that switching majors to pursue a master’s degree in a field related to science and engineering is not an easy task, but it is absolutely possible if you start working hard early on. I used to study an engineering major at Zhejiang University whose program was rather average; it wasn’t in the field of electronics. However, one of my classmates was admitted to the Department of Information and Electronics at Zhejiang University, while another was admitted to the Computer Science department. They were able to pass because they took these two majors as minors in college and prepared thoroughly, which is why they did well in the exams. If you think it’s difficult to pursue a master’s degree by changing your major within the fields of science and engineering, then I suggest considering switching to fields such as law, economics and management, or journalism and advertising, as the entry barriers for these majors are relatively low. You don’t need to worry at all about falling behind once you’re admitted; I’ve never heard of students in these fields struggling to keep up while pursuing a master’s degree. You can usually do well, as the material in these subjects is much easier compared to the textbooks used in science and engineering fields. Not only that, but once you are admitted as a graduate student in these fields, you will have a multidisciplinary knowledge base that gives you an advantage when looking for a job and in your actual work. However, even within these major categories, there are highly popular fields as well as those that are less popular. For example, in the field of law, highly popular specialties include economic law, international economic law, and civil law; followed by criminal law. There are also less popular specialties such as administrative law, constitutional law, and jurisprudence. Additionally, there is the Master of Law program, which attracts a large number of applicants. In economics, there are popular fields such as finance and monetary banking; followed by public finance and international trade. There are also fields like quantitative economics, technical economics, political economy, industrial economics, and business economics. In the field of management, there are popular specialties such as accounting, business management, and management science and engineering; there is also an MBA program with a high number of applicants (work experience is required). When choosing among these majors, one should make a proper decision based on their own circumstances. While pursuing popular majors can indeed lead to good prospects, it also involves greater risks, as competition for such majors is intense. In most cases, as long as one can get into a good major, a school with lower standards can still be considered. Of course, if you feel that pursuing the most popular programs in that field carries too much risk, it’s not necessary to choose those most popular options; you can consider programs within that category that are less popular, as this reduces the risks and offers better career prospects after graduation compared to pursuing the original program. As long as you enroll in a major within that category, you can study whatever you most want to during your graduate studies. For example, many people are very interested in pursuing a degree in finance, but lack confidence in taking the entrance exams required for graduate studies in this field. In such cases, they can consider first studying fields where they have more confidence, such as quantitative economics, technical economics, political economy, or industrial economics. Once they are in graduate school, they can then focus entirely on learning finance, and upon graduation, they can still enter the financial and securities industry. The same is true for other fields. Take law as an example: if you really want to work in the legal field but find it too difficult to pursue a master’s degree in economic law, you can consider first obtaining a degree in jurisprudence or directly enrolling in a master’s program in law. During your graduate studies, you can read more books on economic law and publish several papers on this subject. Within the same category, there isn’t much difference at the graduate level; it’s most important to enter a major industry. Of course, if one has great confidence in oneself, by gathering as much information as possible and preparing thoroughly, it is entirely possible to take the exams for these popular majors and be admitted. There are countless examples of people who switched majors for postgraduate studies and ended up ranking first in their new field. When choosing a major to study, one should make a decision based on their own objective circumstances. I have a fellow native and a high school classmate; both of us graduated from a renowned university in Shanghai, but we chose very poor engineering majors, which resulted in low incomes after we started working. We want to change our majors. Without resigning and with limited time to prepare, they applied to Fudan University and Shanghai University of Finance and Economics for programs in international finance and finance respectively; however, they failed both times and lost confidence, so to this day they are still forced to stay at their original workplace. I think their decision-making was a serious mistake. It’s right for them to think about changing their major, but they should also take into account their own actual circumstances; they shouldn’t always try to find a one-time solution that will solve everything. They are not the type of people who think they’re extremely great. For them, it’s sufficient to get into a graduate program in economics and management; this not only allows them to change jobs but also means that graduates from such programs have much better employment prospects than before. Even if they really want to enter the financial sector, they can still focus on finance after completing their graduate studies. I know that many students majoring in science and engineering hold significant prejudices against these “humanities” fields, thinking they are worthless, but that’s completely wrong! Isn’t law a field that requires deep knowledge? Isn’t economic management a field that requires deep knowledge? Isn’t there much depth to news advertising? The more you delve into these specialized areas, the more you will realize that every field of study is an endless abyss. That said, if your major is not chosen properly, no matter how well you study or how much knowledge you acquire, you won’t be able to use it. If you spend your entire life working in a field with no prospects, your opportunities for advancement will be limited, and it will be very frustrating. If you are certain of changing careers after graduation, then most of the knowledge you acquired in your undergraduate studies will be useless. Just like my college classmates, hardly any of them work in their field of study; those who don’t work in it lead comfortable lives, while those who do remain average at best, and some even live in great hardship. This is more or less the case whenever general departments are assigned! So, if you already know that your prospects for career placement are poor, then please don’t just focus on studying! Please take a look at your future path while reading! Where is your ideal career? What preparations should you make to achieve this career goal? Learn more things that can help achieve your career goals! 14. Regarding changing majors for postgraduate studies, it is obvious that in the vast majority of universities, there are only a limited number of good majors; the majority of departments are of average quality. Moreover, some departments have always had a poor allocation of resources, making it difficult to find good jobs, or even impossible to find any job at all – this is an objective reality. In response to this, we should first accept reality and then work slowly to make changes; complaining is useless; it’s more productive to think carefully about future options. So, under no circumstances should one become filled with resentment because of their weak skills, lose motivation, or even use that as an excuse to not study hard* – that is the most pitiful thing of all. In fact, studying a less competitive major in undergraduate studies does not mean there are no opportunities to change one’s fate; one good opportunity is to switch majors when applying for graduate school. Students in liberal arts fields with a weak foundation in mathematics can switch to majors such as journalism, law, and advertising; those who are not afraid of mathematics, especially science and engineering students, can move on to majors in economics and management, as well as to good liberal arts majors like journalism, law, and advertising. There are several common questions regarding changing one’s major to pursue a master’s degree: One is whether studying for four years in college would be in vain if one changes majors to take the entrance exams for graduate studies After all, a lot of the content related to specialized courses is no longer needed. As mentioned earlier, if your undergraduate major was not good, even if you don’t change your major for postgraduate studies, it’s unlikely that you’ll work in that field later on, since the major itself is not strong enough. Otherwise, you wouldn’t consider your major to be poor. So there’s no need to feel sad about the knowledge acquired in your previous major; it should be seen as the beginning of a new path in life. In fact, training in science and engineering is quite useful; it helps to make one’s thinking clearer. Moreover, after studying science and engineering, when one goes on to study fields such as business management or law and journalism, technical aspects do not seem as mysterious as they would to those who have only studied humanities. If you pursue a career in corporate management or work in the financial and securities industry after graduating from graduate school, a background in science and engineering is still very useful. Another concern is that I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep up by switching to a new major; after all, others have spent four years in college – how can I keep up with them? Apart from a few specialties, I’ve seen many people change their major to pursue graduate studies; I even know some of them quite well. I’ve never met anyone who struggled to keep up, and generally they all do well in their studies, so there’s no need to worry about that issue. However, if the foundation is not very solid, it might be more difficult to pursue a master’s degree in telecommunications and computer science; there should be no problem pursuing a master’s degree in a humanities-related field. Changing majors should not be done aimlessly; one should combine their interests with their career goals to choose a major, decide on a school as early as possible, gather relevant information at an early stage, and start preparing in advance. After deciding on the school and major, it’s a good idea to visit the school in person to see the campus, as well as the graduate housing for that major, to learn about the requirements for exams and future career prospects, and to see if they align with one’s professional goals. This is important! It is also advisable to establish contact with an enthusiastic graduate student in order to stay informed about the relevant developments. After all, many people are still afraid of changing their major; they feel uncertain or think that there are no precedents for it. So, as a precaution, they reluctantly decide to take the exams again to return to the major they studied in undergraduate school. In fact, changing majors is not as difficult as some people think; just as postgraduate entrance exams are not as hard as some people exaggerate them to be. There are many people who successfully changed their major when preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam. 15. Should one take the postgraduate entrance exam while still a student, or after starting work? Different people have different life plans; therefore, whether one takes the exam as a student or after starting work, there are advantages and disadvantages to each option, and it’s not possible to make a general statement. Overall, however, if you can start working in the industry you want right after graduation, it doesn’t matter whether you take the postgraduate entrance exam as a fresh graduate or after working for a few years. However, if you think that in the future you will only be able to work in a field with little prospects and poor working conditions, it is better to pursue postgraduate studies at that time, and you should start preparing as early as possible. By doing so, you can escape from such difficult circumstances and move closer to your career aspirations. If you can get into a graduate program in a field that you are quite satisfied with, then it is definitely worth spending about a year preparing thoroughly, as it will enable you to enter an ideal industry and change the course of your life, which has far-reaching implications. Do not easily miss the opportunity to pursue a graduate degree at the appropriate time, as once you start working, it is usually necessary to resign in order to take the exams required for a graduate degree, and there is far less time available compared to when you are still at that appropriate stage in your life; there are also many other complications. If one does not resign to pursue postgraduate studies, they usually end up choosing less popular majors with less competition, or the same major they already dislike, which is different from the options available at that time. If you ultimately decide to pursue a postgraduate degree, you must be prepared for a lonely life of over half a year to about a year; don’t let others finding jobs make you feel tempted and have your resolve waver. Many students give the excuse of giving up on pursuing a master’s degree halfway through, saying it’s better to work for two years first. Yet such people usually end up with even less confidence in taking the exams to get a master’s degree later on. Some people also refrain from taking the postgraduate entrance exam out of fear of facing the embarrassment of failing it; they are worried that if many of their peers pass the exam while they fail, it will be very embarrassing for them. This mindset is really not right. Avoiding failure out of fear of it is more shameful than failure itself, and it hinders one’s growth throughout life even more. Facing failure bravely gives one more opportunities for success. With so many people in China, the number of excellent positions and professional roles is extremely limited, resulting in fierce competition. You should know that by avoiding competition, you are also missing the opportunity to have a better, more fulfilling life. Furthermore, it should be noted that taking the postgraduate entrance exam is a very important and valuable choice. It is very painful for a person to have no certainty about their future, to feel as though there are no choices available to them and they can only passively accept what fate decrees. Never wait until you are at a dead end before thinking about a way out! Taking the postgraduate entrance exam is a very important decision; it often allows one to change their living conditions through it. It is enviable that when you are dissatisfied with your job and want to change careers, you can pursue further studies to obtain a completely new set of working conditions and environment. Therefore, I think that whether you plan to pursue a graduate degree in the short term or not, you must take the time to build a solid foundation in mathematics and English. Don’t think that math and English are useless; sometimes they can change or determine the course of your life. Is there anything more important than such knowledge? If you have a solid foundation in both mathematics and English, then you will feel more confident whenever you decide to pursue graduate studies.