China’s economy continues to decline, with high unemployment rates persisting. In the midst of this situation, Chen Ruyue, a 24-year-old graduate from Peking University in Shanghai, has made headlines by re-entering the college entrance examination this year and gaining admission to the medical school at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. This event has sparked widespread public discussion and attention.
On July 11, the topic “Female Peking University Graduate Re-enters College Entrance Exam and Enrolls in Shanghai Jiao Tong University” trended on social media.
According to reports from mainland China, in 2017, Chen Ruyue was admitted to Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management with a major in finance after graduating from Shanghai Experimental School.
It is reported that during her freshman year, with a curriculum mainly focused on foundational courses, Chen gradually realized that finance was not her passion. Especially during her undergraduate years at Peking University, she pondered on various career paths and ultimately discovered that her true calling was to become a doctor. By her junior year, her desire to switch paths became even clearer.
To pursue her dream of studying medicine, in 2023, after graduating for two years, Chen Ruyue decided to prepare for the college entrance examination once again. At this point, six years had passed since her first exam. After over a year of hard work, she sat for the exam this year and was admitted to the clinical medicine program at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Public opinion on this matter varied:
“Some see this as a waste of educational resources, as a Peking University graduate re-entering the exam might take slots from other candidates.”
“After graduating from university, shouldn’t one lose the eligibility for the college entrance exam? There are restrictions on applying for the exam for full-time university graduates.”
“Choosing a major and pursuing a career in that field are not always the same. Becoming a doctor is even more challenging than entering public service.”
“This seems like re-taking the exam out of unemployment and being privileged. Look at her classmate—a female Peking University graduate making a living by selling handmade bracelets, it might have been more cost-effective to start selling bracelets after junior high school instead of attending college.”
“This could be viewed as a different form of ‘lying flat.’ It is well known that to become a clinical doctor, one needs to study clinical medicine for five years (undergraduate), follow the ‘5+3’ integrated program (bachelor’s and master’s combined), or pursue the ‘8-year system’ (undergraduate and doctoral combined), only then will they qualify for the physician licensing exam. Whether she will pass or be able to practice remains uncertain.”
China is facing a dire economic situation, with the job market continuously under pressure. In June last year, the youth unemployment rate in China soared to 21.3%, meaning approximately 1 in 5 young people were unemployed. The Chinese Communist Party subsequently halted the release of related data. In the employment data released thereafter, students seeking part-time jobs were no longer included in the statistics.
In June this year, the Information Center of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the Chinese Communist Party published the “2024 College Graduates’ Employment Capacity Survey Report,” indicating that as of mid-April, only 47.8% of graduating students had received job offers, slightly lower than the 50.4% from the previous year.
Despite the high unemployment rate, the number of candidates for this year’s college entrance examination reached a record high of 13.42 million. The number of candidates for postgraduate entrance exams has been on a rapid rise since 2015, reaching 4.74 million last year, also setting a new record.
Recently, a college graduate from a key university in mainland China, Miss Bai, told Epoch Times that young people nowadays only have four paths ahead of them: “work hard, ‘lie flat,’ seek opportunities abroad, or sacrifice oneself like Zhang Xianzhong.”