Do you know the five common mistakes when choosing a university major?

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University education is different from secondary education; when filling out application forms, candidates not only choose schools but also need to take into account their personal interests and hobbies. Filling out volunteer applications for the same batch has two meanings: one is how to select schools, and the other is how to select majors. 　　Which is more important, choosing a good school or choosing a good major, has always been a topic of debate. 　　Mistake 1: Understanding a major by its name. That is, guessing what a major is based on its literal meaning, interpreting it from the words themselves. 　　In the past, when filling out college application forms, candidates and their parents often made mistakes in choosing courses due to a lack of understanding of the nature of those courses or confusion over their names. Some candidates prefer to choose majors with attractive and trendy names, but after entering university, they lose interest in those majors and develop an aversion to studying. 　　In fact, the names of many professions do not reflect their essence or the related occupations in the future. For example, the names of the two majors, “Computer Science and Technology” and “Information and Computational Science”, are similar, but one belongs to the field of engineering/computing, while the other belongs to the field of science/mathematics. There are significant differences both in the major courses and in future career fields. 　　Error 2: Giving priority to programs with higher admission scores. Assuming that a program has a high admission score means it must be a good program. 　　High admission scores may be due to the popularity of a particular major, which leads to a large number of applicants. In other cases, high admission scores for a certain major can be attributed to the low admission scores in the previous year, which resulted in more applicants that year. And even if it is the school’s flagship major, it is not necessarily the right major for the child. 　　Error 3: Choosing a major based solely on future employment prospects. Each major has its own training objectives as well as general career directions. 　　If students wish to enter certain industries and pursue related careers after graduation, studying relevant majors during university and acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills will make it much easier for them to find employment. When recruiting, employers also specify requirements regarding the majors that graduates have studied, especially in occupations and industries that demand high levels of specialized knowledge and skills. But this is not absolute. 　　Some industries have a wide range of relevant specialties. For example, the banking sector requires professionals with backgrounds in economics and management, such as those in finance and accounting, but it also needs experts in information technology fields such as computer science and information security. 　　Some industries have relatively strict requirements in terms of majors; for example, in the power sector, there is a list of approved majors, and candidates can choose fields such as Electrical Engineering and Automation as their first choice. 　　Therefore, if candidates have a clear interest in a particular industry, they can choose a major related to that industry based on their own circumstances, which makes it much easier for them to enter that industry after graduation ； However, if, for some reason, it is not possible to obtain a degree in a related field, it is still possible to learn about such fields through methods such as taking minor courses or pursuing further studies, thereby achieving the goal of working in that industry. 　　Error 4: As long as the name of a major is the same, it’s the same everywhere. Although the name of a major may be identical, there are differences among majors with the same name due to variations in each university’s educational approach and areas of research. 　　For example, the major in Electronic Science and Technology is offered at Xidian University and Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. 　　The Electronic Science and Technology program at Xidian University focuses on the study of basic theories, design methods, manufacturing processes, and testing techniques in the field of electronic science and technology. Its specializations include optoelectronic technology and electronic materials and components. In contrast, the Electronic Science and Technology program at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications is characterized by its emphasis on microelectronics, the design and integration of information and communication systems, as well as computer applications. 　　The two schools have different focuses in their programs. If a candidate is interested in a particular major, they should also find out whether the training objectives and career prospects for that major at the university they intend to attend align with their own expectations. 　　Error 5: Popular majors with high employment rates. In fact, majors that seem popular on the surface do not necessarily have high employment rates. A survey shows that in recent years, the top 10 majors in terms of employment rates among undergraduate students are: energy and power engineering, chemistry, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering and pharmacy, civil engineering, electrical and information engineering, engineering mechanics, materials science, management science and engineering, and business administration. 　　Among these ten categories of majors with high employment rates, some are less popular choices when applying for admission; in fact, in some of these majors, over 90% of the students are those who were assigned to them as a result of adjustment processes. Popular majors at the time of application can lead to awkward situations in terms of employment, such as law, medicine, international economics and trade, computer science and technology, biotechnology, environmental engineering, and bioengineering. 　　When making a choice, it is better to consider factors such as the employment prospects for a particular major as published by the Ministry of Education, relevant data from research institutions, the employment situation at the universities offering that major, statistical figures related to that industry, and the supply and demand situation on recruitment websites, rather than focusing solely on popular majors. 　　At the same time, it is also important to note that society’s demand for graduates from different majors is not balanced; the supply and demand situation for these majors varies among different schools and at different educational levels, and it changes over time. Therefore, candidates and their parents need to have a forward-looking understanding of the social demand for a particular major, as well as paying close attention to the employment rate and quality of jobs associated with that major at the institution they wish to apply to.