Text | Financial Stories, Author | Original, Editor | Wan Tiannan
Faced with the fierce involution in the workplace, people who are tired or deliberately escape, many people in the workplace who are over 30 or 35 years old are looking forward to passing the postgraduate entrance examination, accumulating new abilities, finding new springboard and stepping into a new track.
However, these older postgraduate students soon discovered that they had fallen into another extreme involution sinkhole.
In recent years, the number of postgraduate students has been rising continuously, from 1.65 million in 2015 to 4.74 million in 2023. Although it fell back to 4.38 million in 2024, the nature of involution does not seem to have changed.
What’s more, the admission rate of graduate students in 2024 is only about 20%, which means that 8 out of every 10 people are facing falling out of the list.
The 33-year-old Wen Dao is one of them.
Previously, she went around in the media industry and public relations companies. "It’s all sunset industries." She couldn’t see a way out. In the second half of 2023, naked resignation was chosen as the literary knife with tiredness, and she took a full-time postgraduate entrance examination. In order to prepare for this year’s graduate interview, I even flew from Shandong to Shenzhen, and finally I regretted falling out of the list by one point.
After some tossing, Wen Dao, who was out of work and shy, was forced to go back. "I have joined a new media company now, and my income is very small. Let’s make do with it first."
As for whether or not to take the postgraduate entrance examination in World War II, Wen Dao, who just failed once, is a bit drumming. "Save some money first, and let’s talk about it after half a year."
Today, we aim at the older postgraduate students. Why do they want to take the postgraduate entrance examination in reverse? What problems did you encounter during the preparation? How to guarantee the source of life? Is it worth all the efforts to bet on this silent postgraduate entrance examination gambling game?
"I found that I never reconciled with my 18-year-old self."
Si Nian’s academic performance was excellent since childhood, but unfortunately, the college entrance examination was out of order and she missed out on Peking University.
The college entrance examination every year is the saddest day for Si Nian.
It’s like a scabbed wound that will be uncovered again and again every year, and it hurts every time.
It happened that she had just returned to her hometown from naked resignation, and the continuous staying up late and working overtime made her unable to endure.
After a sudden break, Si Niannian had a comfortable life for a few days, but soon, she felt confused, lost her sense of control over time, and was tired and weak. She spent every day watching movies and brushing Weibo’s little red book.
One day, she suddenly brushed the movie "The Spice Girl at the Bottom" and rekindled her enthusiasm for the postgraduate entrance examination.
She wants to restart her life, regain control of time and make up for her 18-year-old regret.
For jing xing, a full-time nanny, the postgraduate entrance examination is a protest and a cry for boring life.
Jing xing was born in the financial circle. After giving birth to a baby, she chose to return to her family, and her life revolved around her children and her husband. There is less and less communication with her husband, and she is gradually out of touch with society.
Her life is filled with tea, rice, oil, salt and baby’s shit. What I care about is no longer the valuation of the industry track company, but the big promotion of diapers and eggs in supermarkets today.
Every time when her husband talks about a social hotspot with great interest, she can’t talk about any other views except nodding her head.
This is completely different from her previous speech in the debate field and her courage in the workplace.
She was inexplicably afraid and suffered from postpartum anxiety.
She hopes to rediscover her radiant self through the postgraduate entrance examination.
Ma Fei has always lived a step-by-step life. Ordinary looks, read two ordinary books, found an ordinary administrative job, and life has been so ordinary that it seems to be endless.
So the 30-year-old Ma Fei decided to rebel, and GAP spent a whole year trying to experience a more exciting life. Hiking in Tibet, bungee jumping abroad, eating frozen pears in Erbin, and having a barbecue in Zibo … …
Life is wonderful. However, when I want to return to the workplace, I find that my resume is basically "unreadable", and the only interview is still unreliable sales, with a basic salary of only 1300.
"As long as the GAP has passed in China, looking for a job seems to be sentenced to death." Ma Fei is helpless, but she wants to cry about the cruel reality.
Postgraduate entrance examination seems to be her best solution.
Almost ten years after graduation, Si Nian completely forgot the relevant contents of professional courses. "Now you ask me to define news, and I can’t say a few words."
Everything has to start all over again.
Even, physical fitness and memory are not as good as before.
I miss the occupational disease of working overtime before. If I sit for a long time, my back hurts and my cervical vertebra hurts.
Originally, I wanted to explain and copy 400 terms of communication science first, at least to make my face familiar. Unexpectedly, after writing more than 1000 words, my hands hurt. When I was a child, the cocoon grinded by homework turned slightly red again, and I felt new vitality.
Si Niannian couldn’t help but vomit with his family. "I’m wasting my time before I get started."
The 30-year-old old waist can’t support sitting for a long time, so Si Niannian can only adjust his study plan and set tomato time for 45 minutes and rest for 20 minutes like a middle school classroom. Every time you learn a tomato clock, you have to lie in bed for a while, otherwise your waist can’t stand it.
Compared with physical fatigue, Liu Jiahua has to bear more silent pressure from her parents.
"My parents didn’t stop me from taking the postgraduate entrance examination on the surface, but I know they think I’m irrational. "Liu Jiahua is very helpless. After all, in the eyes of parents who have always been traditional, having a stable job, getting married and having children early is the right way in the world.
They will silently forward to Liu Jiahua the news of the registration of the local county business, or insinuate that the cousin of XX’s relatives is married.
Liu Jiahua usually smiles and perfunctory in the past, or turns a blind eye and buries his head in endorsement.
Kobayashi’s problems are even more daunting. He originally chose a last-rate 985 because he valued the number of people admitted to the school. As a result, he encountered a shrinking move. He originally admitted 100 people, and now only 45 are left.
Half of the people who were cut off alive also directly cut off more than half of Kobayashi’s enthusiasm.
What makes Kobayashi even more mad is not only shrinking the strokes, but also changing two reference books, which is equivalent to all previous efforts being burned.
Kobayashi silently placed an order for two other books while saying that "the sky will drop to the people of Sri Lanka, and they must first suffer their minds and work hard."
When I encounter problems before the exam, I am very anxious. For example, Shi Jing almost gave up when she signed up, because the admission ticket failed to be certified.
At present, most provinces confirm online, and it is necessary to submit the photo of ID card and my ID card. It is reasonable to say that there is no big problem, but it is just the photo on the university diploma that year.
"Who can look the same as 10 years ago?" Shi Jing is going crazy. When she just graduated, she only weighed 105 kg, and now she is a fat man of 160 kg. The original oval face has also become a double chin, and the eyes have been squeezed into a crack by meat.
Originally, Shi Jing specially painted a light makeup to take a photo of the hippocampus. In order to have a beautiful photo during the future graduate school, I didn’t expect the audit to fail.
Shi Jing is anxious to find a solution online, and some friends share their successful experiences — — No beauty, no makeup. It is best to shoot with the front camera of the mobile phone. The uglier it is, the higher the pass rate is. More and more people verify that this is an effective method, but Shi Jing takes photos and uploads them again and again, and the verification fails again and again.
After the 12th failure, Shi Jing couldn’t help calling the Shanghai Admissions Office, and said bluntly that she was 60 Jin taller than ten years ago. The teacher of the Admissions Office is also very helpless, because the photos of previous students must be intelligently compared by AI before they can pass the next manual review. But now Shi Jing is stuck in the first level.
"AI recognition, however, you can use AI synthesis. Defeat magic with magic. " At the reminder of a friend, Shi Jing used AI photo studio to generate his own "AI ID photo". The steps are very simple. As long as you upload more than a dozen photos that you just graduated from college and add a few recent photos, the AI applet will be automatically generated.
Looking at this AI photo that is "both like and not like myself", Shi Jing uploaded the postgraduate registration confirmation with the mentality of giving it a try.
"Certification is successful. The photo of the admission ticket was uploaded successfully. "Shi Jing breathed a sigh of relief, but then he was worried about what to do if he was stopped outside the examination room on the day of the postgraduate entrance examination.
Shi Jing compared his current photo, ID photo and admission ticket photo with AI. As a result, the similarity between the current photo and ID photo is 85%, and the similarity between ID photo and admission ticket photo is 85%. The similarity between myself and the admission ticket photo is only 70%.
To this end, Shi Jing deliberately brought his diploma with him on the day of the exam, prepared an explanation in advance, and wanted to prepare in advance to prevent being stuck.
On the day of the postgraduate entrance examination, when entering the security check, Shi Jing will specifically explain that he has gained weight. Fortunately, there was no danger. Although the photo similarity between myself and the admission ticket is not very high, the invigilator is allowed to enter the exam after comparing himself with the ID card, ID card and admission ticket respectively.
A realistic problem that must be faced in the postgraduate entrance examination for older people is money. Although I return to my study role, I still have to live. Rent, meals, daily necessities, review materials, and even remedial classes and study rooms … … Daily expenses are inevitable, so where does the money come from?
Wu Kaiyuan believes that even if she prepares for the postgraduate entrance examination, she can’t break the source of income, so she chose to prepare for the exam on the job. Therefore, in addition to the study time from work to home at 8: 00 to 11: 00 every night, she can only seize all the time to "learn". She imported the electronic version of professional course notes into WeChat reading, and then used the commuting time to "listen to books". In the company, when holding some boring meetings, I recite dozens of words in the air.
Si Niannian became a "full-time daughter" with peace of mind, eating and living at home. After deciding to take the postgraduate entrance examination, she had a good communication with her parents, and wanted to fight again while she still had momentum. Si Nian grew up in a democratic family, and her decision was supported by the whole family.
At the age of 30, I was at home, and I was embarrassed to miss it. I told my parents that I could cook. But this cooking is really hard to compliment, so I took on the job of washing dishes for every meal. When I was a child, Si Nian hated washing dishes, but now she washes them clean every time.
Trading labor for rent, Si Nian is comforting himself.
It is also a full-time preparation at home. Xiao Wang, who has always had a good face, is really hard to ask his parents for money.
Therefore, she chose to set up a stall in the night market. Starting from 1688 and Pinduoduo, some cheap and beautiful trinkets can be put on display for 2 hours every night, and when they are good, they can earn more than 100 yuan. Although they can’t compare with their monthly income of over 10,000 yuan before their resignation, the money for buying some daily necessities and studying materials is enough.
He Lingwei chose to go back to his grandmother’s house in the countryside to prepare for the exam. There was no social interaction and no way to order takeout, so the cost of living was lower. Therefore, the cost is basically to consider some expenses of information, and she is adhering to, "Resolutely not to report to class, and resolutely not to spend money.
As soon as her economic account book for postgraduate entrance examination was spread out, in addition to the registration fee of 200 yuan, she only bought two English real questions over the years and 30 yuan online class videos.
Unlike He Lingwei, Yang Ya saved 100,000 yuan in hand a few years before work, although she was also preparing for the exam.
This time, he was determined to take the postgraduate entrance examination, so he spent 15,000 yuan to enroll in a one-to-one guaranteed remedial class. Yang Ya thinks the money is well spent, at least there are professional people to give you guidance, so you don’t have to waste time without direction like a headless fly.
Ma Fei also has an extra expense, that is, he has packed a study room for postgraduate entrance examination near his home, which is 1800 yuan a month.
Because studying at home is too tempting, self-control is really a problem. The desk is close to the bed, so it is easy to learn to lie on the bed.
But in the study room, Ma Fei can at least concentrate on reading. After all, he spent real money and was more motivated to study.
On the day before his 30th birthday, Xiaoyu received a notice of Tsinghua’s proposed admission.
She wrote emotionally,
"The 18-year-old wind has crossed many hills and finally arrived today. I am still the best age. To youth, and to the courage to restart. "
And a few years ago, Huang Xuan, who came from the same small county with her, also made the decision to take the postgraduate entrance examination at an older age. 31-year-old postgraduate entrance examination, 33-year-old graduate admitted to Beijing university career editor.
In her view, there is no road to life in vain. If she didn’t have the courage to decide to take the postgraduate entrance examination at that time, she wouldn’t have the opportunity to see a wider world and start a different life.
Of course, not everyone will land successfully.
However, everyone went to the shore of life.
Liu Jiahua, 30, met her husband in the postgraduate remedial class and started a sister-in-law relationship with a difference of 6 years.
Although the postgraduate entrance examination was not successful, but the three views are consistent, the two people who are in love with each other entered the wedding hall. In a year, Liu Jiahua unlocked the multiple roles of wife and mother.
What is even happier is that Liu Jiahua’s parents, who were still angry about their daughter’s willfulness to take the postgraduate entrance examination but refused to date each other a year ago, now smile from ear to ear with their little grandson every day.
Although she became a mother, Liu Jiahua still put her feelings first. "I have never regretted going to the postgraduate entrance examination. Maybe one day I will re-prepare for the exam."
And Ma Fei, the one who said he could only learn in the study room. She didn’t go ashore, but she opened a study room called "Going ashore".
"I this person, still like sth over and over again. I think my study room is full every day. When I think about it, it can be done. "
Ma Fei is an activist, and he started to do it. He set up a 150-square-meter house in the community, and after simple arrangement, he let it out. Business is very hot, and I don’t say anything in a month, but I also earned a small 20 thousand.
No, in less than a year, Ma Fei has turned from an "older job-hunting dog" who can’t find a job to a small boss. It is said that he is going to open a second store next month.
And Si Nian is ready for World War II. It is a pity that she was only 1 point lower than the admission line of Peking University in World War I..
"That’s Peking University, isn’t it worth fighting for again?"
And what is gratifying is that during the preparation period, Si Niannian has been recording his postgraduate course and review methods on social platforms. In a year, I have unconsciously increased more than 10,000 fans.
Today, the status of "postgraduate blogger" allows her to earn two or three thousand yuan in advertising revenue every month.
This made her prepare for the full-time exam without "worries", and she also had to rush for her dream of Peking University.
Is it worthwhile to take the postgraduate entrance examination?
This is a matter of opinion.
Simply calculating the economic account, it seems that it is not so cost-effective to go to graduate school at an older age.
A fresh doctoral student of Top3 University in 2023 regretted studying for a few more years. "I graduated as a doctor this year, and I got the highest Offer, so I got an annual salary of 600,000. Look at the undergraduate students who worked a few years earlier than me. Now it is not uncommon to have an annual salary of one million, and I am envious of it." He complained to Caijing Story. "I can study for a doctorate if I want to take the academic road, but the cruel thing is that I can finish my doctorate.
For mr. six in the workplace, full-time graduate study also means the interruption of the workplace.
What’s more, many 985 colleges and universities, especially those in first-and second-tier cities, no longer provide dormitories for master students, which undoubtedly increases the economic pressure of studying.
According to the market price, the extra rent of two or three thousand yuan per month will be a big expense in three years, and the total cost of graduate school may soar to 200 thousand.
Let’s look at the trend of graduate education. In recent years, the number of postgraduate candidates has been rising continuously, and the admission ratio of master students is also increasing year by year. In 2010, the enrollment ratio of master degree to master degree was 3:1, and in 2023, the number of applicants for master degree exceeded 60%. Even in top universities like Tsinghua University, the ratio of master degree to master degree has reached 74% and 26%. This undoubtedly shows that the special master education is increasingly valued.
Back to the reality of the workplace, for many majors, a bachelor’s degree plus three years of work experience may be more competitive in the workplace than a graduate student who just graduated.
For the older professionals who are trying to get rid of the 35-year-old middle-aged crisis through graduate school, "I will be 40 years old soon after graduate school, let alone find a job", which is also the concern of Wendao.
However, there is never a standard answer in life, just like the group of older postgraduate students who go against the current, listening to 10000 kinds of voices, but they can only go their own way after all. (The names in this article are all pseudonyms)
