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How to change the major on the Certificate of Academic Degree issued by the China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center (CDGDC)? What should I do if my major for the civil service examination does not match?
In China, including Hong Kong, Macau, and many universities, students generally receive two degree certificates: one in Chinese and one in English. This is because universities take into consideration the possibility that students may pursue further studies or work abroad after graduation. In such cases, there may be a question of recognition by the Ministry of Education, as the translation may differ. However, it is possible to apply for a modification in such cases.
How to change the major on the Certificate of Academic Degree issued by the China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center (CDGDC)? What should I do if my major for the civil service examination does not match?
Many recent overseas graduates who return to China wish to apply for civil service examinations. However, they often face the issue of their applications being rejected during the review process, with the explanation stating, "The major studied does not meet the requirements or conditions for application."
Regarding this matter, please consider the following information:
Ten Rise Meow reminds you that when applying for civil service examinations or positions in government agencies in China with an overseas degree certificate, it is crucial to pay attention to the name of your major as it appears on the diploma. The review process for the major name is extremely strict, and even a minor difference can lead to an application rejection. Therefore, if you intend to work as a civil servant or in a government agency upon returning to China, it is important to carefully consider whether the name of your major meets the required conditions.
For instance, if your major overseas is called "International Agricultural Economic Management," and the position you are applying for in the civil service or government agency requires a major in "Agricultural Economic Management," your application will be rejected during the review process. The explanation will state, "The major studied does not meet the requirements or conditions for application." Why does this happen? It's because your major name includes the additional words "International." Yes, you read it correctly; the requirements are that strict. (Although there might be a possibility of gradually relaxing these restrictions in the future, it depends on the circumstances and is uncertain.)
What should I do if my major does not meet the requirements for applying to the civil service examination?
You can choose to apply for positions that do not have specific major requirements.
You can apply to the China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center (CDGDC) to change the major name.
How to apply for a change of major?
Important note: Changing the major through the CDGDC is not guaranteed for everyone. It depends on each individual's specific situation.
In the case of translating the major, there may be differences in understanding due to various reasons. This provides an opportunity to modify the already established major. For example, a long string of English major names from overseas may be translated as "Tourism and Hotel Management" on the CDGDC, but the actual courses studied are more focused on or primarily related to "Tourism Management." However, most civil service examinations require a major name of "Tourism Management." In this situation, if you apply for the civil service examination using the CDGDC-approved major of "Tourism and Hotel Management," your application will be rejected during the review process because the major does not meet the requirements or conditions. The major name includes the additional words "Hotel Management."
There are generally two ways:
(1) The first method is to contact your overseas university and request a letter of confirmation for your major. This letter should demonstrate that your foreign major is equivalent to the major in the domestic university where you want to change the major name. Alternatively, since many overseas universities have collaborations with domestic universities, you can directly correspond the major to the collaborating university's major. Obtaining a confirmation letter from the school is the most convenient option. However, some schools may be unwilling to issue such a letter, which depends on the specific circumstances. Some schools are very efficient in issuing these letters because they have templates and can quickly modify a few details to generate a confirmation letter. At the same time, you should compare the course content, including the consistent curriculum, and create a PDF file for submission. Generally, it takes around 3-5 working days for the process to be successful. During this period, the CDGDC will contact you via phone for verification. Remember to pay attention to your phone and regularly check the progress online so that you can promptly provide any additional documents if needed.
(2) The second method is to review and submit the compiled materials related to your major on the official website. If you haven't prepared the materials in advance, you can still submit a review request and then send an email with the supplementary documents. It is recommended to prepare the materials in advance and submit them during the review process. This is because there is a chance that emails may not receive a response or experience delays in processing, among other unknown circumstances.
Generally speaking, for this method, if you are lucky, you can directly inform the CDGDC to review and change the confirmed major name to the corresponding major name in the domestic university. You should provide an explanation and upload the required documents. After a few days, your application will be reviewed and approved, and the major name will be changed to the corresponding domestic major name (usually within 1 to 2 weeks). It is recommended to check the progress regularly after submission.
However, another approach requires you to identify the alignment of the curriculum between your foreign and domestic majors in advance. You need to find one or more domestic universities that offer the same major and compare the courses offered by both schools. This means that the majority of your foreign major's courses should be similar to the courses offered in the domestic university where you want to change the major. Compile the comparison into a PDF document and send it to the CDGDC following their specified format at renzheng@cscse.edu.cn. If your inquiry falls within their services and is not covered in the automatic reply email, you will generally receive a response within 2-5 working days.
Note 1: The foreign major and the domestic major do not need to have identical courses. It is sufficient if a few courses have a high level of similarity. Generally, if the educational objectives of the majors are the same and you are comparing with a single domestic university, the major courses should have an overlap of at least 50%. Otherwise, it is recommended to compare with multiple domestic universities. In that case, even a few similar courses can be considered. Remember to compile the comparison into a detailed PDF document with visuals, such as screenshots, tables, and demonstrations of the similarity or consistency of the educational objectives.
Note 2: If you apply for a review within one year after the approval by the CDGDC, it is generally free of charge. However, if it exceeds one year, there may be a fee involved. Currently, there is no information indicating a specific time limit after which reviews are not possible. If such information becomes available, please contact Shisheng Miao to update the content of this article. Thank you very much.
Note 3: Changing the major name also has different options. You can choose between two ways of changing the major name. One is to directly change the name from "Tourism and Hotel Management" to "Tourism Management." The other option is to add a discipline category name in front of the recognized major name, for example, "Tourism Management (Tourism and Hotel Management)." The use of parentheses and the inclusion of the broader category name is usually done because, in some cases, after the successful review, the Chinese major name on the graduation certificate remains the same. So, if you are concerned about the inconsistency between the Chinese major on the certificate and the major name approved by the CDGDC, you can use the parentheses or request a separate certificate for the name change from your school.
Note 4: Regardless of which method you choose for the review, it is important to explain why you want to change the major name. For example, if you are applying for a civil servant position and find that your major does not match, but you have studied the same major courses, it is crucial to provide a detailed and clear explanation of the reasons for the review. This statement is similar to a personal statement, and it is recommended to compile the key points into a separate PDF document and upload it.
Note 5: If you received recognition from the CDGDC many years ago and your records may no longer be available, don't worry. Even if the records are not accessible, it does not mean that you cannot apply for a review. Retrieve any available information regarding your previous recognition and contact the CDGDC for further instructions. (If Shisheng Miao censors certain words, they will be directly blocked. Yes, the censorship is strict, and it applies to everything, not just violating content. So, no matter what you say, you have to substitute words. You can probably guess what word should be used, considering how detailed Shisheng Miao mentioned it.)