College Major Choice / Career ExplorationCollege Major
After Gaokao Scores Are Released, How Should You Shortlist Majors? A RIASEC Checklist
Check current official conditions, courses, tasks and practical limits after Gaokao scores. Keep name-only impressions, popularity narratives and missing evidence pending verification. Rank references and tests do not establish eligibility or admission.
Quick Answer: After Scores Are Released, If There Are Too Many Majors Available, Don't Immediately Ask "What Major Is Right for Me?"
Start with current official conditions. Check subject, enrollment, batch, physical-exam and single-subject rules before comparing courses and practical limits. Set aside options with a confirmed unmet condition or an infeasible non-negotiable limit. A name-only impression, popularity narrative, uncertainty or missing evidence belongs in pending verification; historical ranks do not independently establish eligibility.
Convert interests into task-based questions using RIASEC: Do I genuinely want to engage in these tasks over the long term?
— analysis, experimentation, creation, communication, organization, process management, data handling, and fieldwork
?
Use MBTI only as optional reflection: Preference descriptions may prompt questions about communication, decisions and collaboration. They do not identify a best learning method or translate a type into a major; check actual understanding, performance and costs in real tasks.
Course validation determines keeping or removing an option: Major names, popular narratives, or newly introduced majors are insufficient. You must examine core courses, curriculum design, assignment formats, practical components, and actual work demands.
Final output is a checklist: Retain, pending verification, temporarily exclude. Test hypotheses through assessments; validate them against real-world conditions. When formally applying, always follow official guidelines from provincial education examination institutes, the Sunshine Gaokao system, school admission policies, and the official application choice platform.
This article is not "AI helping you choose a major." It's a practical, actionable major elimination list that you can immediately implement after receiving your scores.
The 2026 Context: Start With Official Information
The Ministry of Education announced that the 2026 Gaokao Cloud Consultation Week would run on the Sunshine Gaokao information platform from June 22 through June 28. Treat that platform, provincial examination authorities, university admissions regulations, subject requirements, and official application systems as the primary sources for current admissions information.
The Ministry of Education also published the Undergraduate Major Catalogue (2026), including new entries such as embodied intelligence and brain-machine science and technology. A newly listed major is still a prompt to examine course content, training conditions, and current institutional requirements; it is not evidence that the major will suit a particular student.
Newness does not determine suitability, popularity does not determine value, and an income narrative does not guarantee long-term viability. In an information-heavy application season, first remove options that do not meet your real constraints instead of collecting more major names.
Separate unavailable options from options needing evidence
Use two different actions. If a current official eligibility condition is not met, or a non-negotiable practical limit makes attendance impossible, set the option aside. If you only know the name, popularity narrative or imagined career, mark it pending verification rather than treating missing information as evidence of mismatch.
For each option, check:
Official conditions: selected subjects, physical-exam rules, language or single-subject requirements, the current enrollment plan and batch rules.
Core courses: whether repeated experience shows sustained resistance, or whether the content is simply unfamiliar.
Tasks and training: what the major actually requires beyond its name or popularity.
Practical limits: tuition, campus, program length, health or caregiving constraints.
Missing evidence: the curriculum, task sample or interview needed before deciding.
Keep rank and previous admissions data separate from mandatory eligibility. They inform an uncertain application strategy and do not establish this year's admission outcome. If course or task evidence is missing, keep the option under review. Revisit an exclusion when the relevant conditions or evidence change.
Within 30 Minutes of Seeing Your Scores: Create a Major Exclusion List
You need an updateable evidence table, not a perfect answer.
Major name
Formal conditions, separate rank references and practical information
What makes the name attractive
Potential core-course deal-breaker
RIASEC corresponding tasks
Issues that need to be verified
Current status
Next action
Example: Data Science
Whether the ranking is within the scope of discussion; whether physics/mathematics foundation is required
"Data", "AI", "wide range of employment"
Advanced mathematics, linear algebra, probability and statistics, programming, modeling
Investigative (I), Conventional (C), and partly Realistic (R)
Can I accept long-term mathematics and coding training?
To be verified
Look at the curriculum plan and try a Python/statistics open class
Example: Psychology
Is there any subject-combination requirement restriction; does the school favor teacher education, medicine, or science
"Understanding people" and "feeling helpful"
Statistics, experimental psychology, measurement, paper reading
Social (S) and Investigative (I)
Do I like to study people, or just chat?
To be verified
Check core courses and interview undergraduate psychology students
Example: Journalism and Communication
Is the enrollment plan and school platform sufficient
"Expression", "Media" and "Content"
News writing, communication theory, data communication, interviews, internships
Artistic (A), Social (S), and Enterprising (E)
Can I accept open feedback and high-paced output?
To be verified
See student works and internship requirements
Example: Mechanical/Automation
Subject-combination requirement, physical examination, school engineering platform
Am I willing to be exposed to specific systems and engineering constraints?
Needs verification
Check experimental courses and graduation projects
Example: Business Administration
Is it within the optional major group
"General", "Management", "Business"
Accounting, operations, organization, market, case analysis
Enterprising (E), Conventional (C), and Social (S)
Do I want to study management, or do I simply not know what to choose for the time being?
To be verified
Check the course structure and compare accounting/marketing/information management directions
Apply three rules:
If a hard requirement fails, temporarily exclude the option immediately.
If eligibility is satisfied but course or task evidence is missing, mark it “verify.”
Retain an option only when the current evidence supports further investigation; retained does not mean “final choice.”
Layer 1: Separate formal conditions, application strategy and practical limits
Check current formal conditions under the applicable official rules. Keep historical rank references, preparation, resources and costs separate from eligibility; they inform application strategy and practical feasibility. Optional interest or personality reflection cannot establish eligibility or admission.
Question
What to check first
What to do if not satisfied
What can the test do here
Is the ranking within the discussion range?
The official score-to-rank table, admissions from previous years, changes in this year’s plans
Do not enter the main list, only put it in the observation area
Basically cannot help
Does your subject combination meet the requirements?
School admissions regulations, subject-combination requirements, major group requirements
Exclude the option if the requirement is not met
Cannot be bypassed
Are there any physical examination/single subject restrictions?
Admission regulations, physical examination requirements, special major instructions
If not met, exclude or be cautious
Cannot replace official requirements
Is the enrollment plan too small?
This year’s enrollment plan, major composition
Mark risks, do not need to rule them out immediately
Can only assist in discussing interests
Are the family constraints manageable?
City, cost, accommodation, transportation, risk tolerance
Mark for verification or exclusion
Not a substitute for family decision-making
Layer 2: Turn Interests into "Task Problems" with RIASEC
See if you are willing to engage in long-term abstract training
Artistic (A)
Does this major have expression, design, content, works, or open questions?
Portfolio requirements, presentation-based classes, and creative assignments
It does not mean that you can only choose art
Social (S)
Does this major involve sustained work with people through teaching, service, communication, or support?
Who is served in practice, the communication load, and the emotional labor involved
See whether the "people-facing work" is real and acceptable
Enterprising (E)
Does this major involve organizing resources, persuading others, advancing projects, and tracking results?
Case classes, competitions, presentations, business projects
Does not necessarily mean studying business
Conventional (C)
Does this profession value process, data, discipline, accuracy, and order?
Accounting, auditing, statistics, data governance, documentation requirements
See if you are willing to handle structured tasks
For each retained major, write two tasks you want to try and two you may resist. Then verify them with coursework, project descriptions, interviews, or a small task.
Layer 3: MBTI Looks Only at Learning and Decision Preferences, Not for Direct Major Selection
Describe which presentation feels more natural, then compare actual understanding through more than one approach
Infer that a given type "should study" a particular major
Decision-making preferences
Help you identify whether you value logic, impact, value or executability when making trade-offs
Predict future achievements
Communication preferences
Evaluate whether a large number of group assignments, presentations, and discussion sessions may be draining on you
Determine the level of social skills
Structural preferences
Observe preferences and costs in open projects, ambiguous tasks and uncertain deadlines; assess performance separately.
Judge self-discipline or ability
Do you understand a topic better through concrete examples or conceptual maps?
Do you prefer discussing an unfinished idea or thinking privately before presenting it?
Do you make progress with an early plan or with staged checkpoints that allow revision?
In group work, what balance of independent work and interaction is sustainable?
Turn the answers into reversible study experiments. Do not use a type to claim that someone has or lacks the ability for medicine, engineering, law, communication, or any other major.
Layer 4: The Curriculum Is More Informative Than the Major's Name
The name is very new, but the courses and resources are very vague
Core courses
Main courses from freshman to junior year
A large share of the core curriculum is something you would persistently resist
Assignment form
Exams, papers, experiments, code, presentations, group projects
A very high proportion of tasks you hate
School resources
Laboratories, internship bases, industry cooperation, teacher orientation
A popular-sounding major with weak supporting resources
Paths to further education/employment
Common destinations, job tasks, and industry changes
Salary rankings are visible, but the actual work is not
The same major name can represent different training at different institutions. Use the target program’s official curriculum.
Layer 5: Use Three Categories Instead of Forcing a Single Top Choice
The goal is not to name one perfect major immediately. It is to reduce an unmanageable list into a transparent decision set.
Status
Criteria
What do you do next
Keep
Eligibility requirements can be discussed; core courses are acceptable; RIASEC tasks are interesting; realistic constraints can be tolerated
Compare application tiers and institutions
To be verified
Eligibility requirements can be discussed, but courses, tasks or realistic constraints are uncertain
Check the curriculum plan, ask seniors, try open classes or projects
Temporarily excluded
A current official condition is unmet; repeated experience supports sustained resistance to core courses; or a non-negotiable practical limit makes attendance infeasible
Set aside for now; reconsider if relevant conditions or evidence change
How to Address Conflicts When Parental Advice, Popular Narratives, and Interests Clash?
Do not settle the dispute by choosing a winner. Assign an evidence task to each disputed claim.
Conflict situation
What it may mean
How not to argue
More effective verification actions
Parents recommend a stable major, but your interests tend to be creative/research
Parents focus on risks, you focus on task interests
"You don't understand me" / "You are too idealistic"
Write stability, courses, employment paths, and interesting tasks in the table
You like popular majors, but the red lines in the courses are obvious
What you like is narrative, not necessarily the training process
"Popular majors have a future"
Look at the core courses and try an introductory course
The Holland result supports a certain direction, but the ranking range does not
Interest is established, but the current application conditions may not support it
"The test said I am suitable"
Explore adjacent majors, minors, official major-transfer options, and postgraduate pathways
MBTI preferences are inconsistent with major tasks
This is just a reminder at the level of learning/communication preferences
"This type cannot learn this"
See if the course format and real assignments are adaptable
Common Mistakes That Make the Shortlist More Confusing
Starting with a personality label before checking official eligibility.
Treating rank as a guarantee rather than one input to application strategy.
Choosing a major by name without reading the target curriculum.
Equating “new” or “popular” with low risk or guaranteed employment.
Treating temporary difficulty as permanent inability—or ignoring sustained resistance to central tasks.
Letting a test directly recommend a major.
Keeping every option “just in case” without naming the missing evidence.
Assuming transfer to another major will definitely be available later.
Predicting admission, salary, or career success from an interest or personality result.
What's wrong
Why it's dangerous
What's safer
Select only by popular majors
Popularity does not mean suitable, nor does it mean that your school has strong resources
Check courses, school resources and real job tasks
Choose only from parents' recommendations
May ignore the long-term demands of studying the subject
Write the risks that parents care about into verifiable conditions
Select only by MBTI
MBTI is not a major recommendation tool
Only use it to supplement learning and decision-making preferences
Select only based on Holland results
RIASEC does not judge admissions, abilities, or employment
Convert results into task verification questions
Only look at the employment salary list
Income is affected by city, school, ability, and industry cycle
Check courses, internships, employment directions and job tasks
Don’t look at the course content
You may spend four years learning content that you have resisted for a long time
Look at the curriculum plan and core courses
Don’t look at the subject-combination requirements
You may not be able to apply at all
Check the official admissions regulations and subject-combination requirements first
No reality verification
It is easy to submit application preferences based on an imagined version of the major
Complete at least one form of verification: an open class, interview, project, or task sample
Next Step: Turn Test Results into Verification Questions
If your current major pool is still quite disorganized, we recommend taking this path:
First, eliminate majors that do not meet the official eligibility criteria.
Optionally use the RIASEC career interest assessment to turn activity interests into questions to verify; experience and course research can also supply these clues.
If you'd like to better understand your learning, communication, and decision-making preferences, you can take the MBTI Personality Test, but do not directly select a major based on your type.
The value of these tools is not to provide a definitive "answer," but to transform vague anxieties into specific, verifiable questions. For guidance on the appropriate boundaries of use for these tools, refer to Method Boundaries and Common Misconceptions. Before taking any assessment, you may also review the Data and Privacy Statement.
Frequently Asked Questions
After Gaokao scores are released, what should you look at first if you have too many major options?
Check current official conditions first: subject requirements, enrollment plans, batch rules, physical-examination requirements and any language or single-subject conditions. Use rank and earlier admissions data to compare uncertain application options, not as a guarantee or a universal eligibility cutoff.
After Your Rank Is Released, How Should You Narrow the List of Majors?
Use rank and current enrollment plans to compare uncertain application options, while checking formal conditions separately. Set aside a confirmed unmet official condition, an infeasible non-negotiable practical limit or sustained core-course resistance supported by repeated experience. A name-only impression, popularity narrative or missing evidence remains pending verification, with the next information needed recorded.
Can the RIASEC career interest assessment help me choose a major?
It can help, but it does not determine outcomes. RIASEC is better suited to help you observe which tasks and environments you are willing to engage with over the long term, and then translate those results into major verification questions. It cannot predict admission, employment, salary, or career success.
Can MBTI Be Used to Choose a University Major?
MBTI-style descriptions may prompt questions about communication, decision and collaboration preferences. They do not establish effective learning methods or recommend a major; check proposed study approaches through actual understanding, performance and costs.
Should New or Popular Majors Be Prioritized?
Not necessarily. A program's novelty or popularity indicates only that it warrants attention; neither means that it is necessarily worth enrolling in. You need to assess whether the school offers courses, faculty, laboratory facilities, practical resources, and pathways for employment or further education.
What do I do when my parents' recommendations and interest tests don't align?
Don't argue over who's right. Include in the form the parents' concerns about stability, city, cost, and employment risks; also include the interest tasks suggested by the tests. Then verify through courses, interviews, open lectures, and real-world constraints.
How Do You Decide Whether to Temporarily Exclude a Major?
Set an option aside when a current official condition is unmet, a non-negotiable practical limit is infeasible, or repeated experience supports sustained resistance to central coursework. A name-only impression, popularity narrative or missing evidence should normally remain pending verification, with the missing information recorded.
Is FermatMind an official college application system?
No. FermatMind is not an official college application system, does not predict admission outcomes, and does not replace the Provincial Examination Authority, Sunshine Gaokao, school admission rules, subject requirements, or the official application platform. FermatMind's test is only suitable for self-awareness and exploring hypothetical scenarios.
After Gaokao Scores: Build a Major Shortlist with Evidence | FermatMind
