Simulating University Selection For Logistics & Supply Chain Management And Industrial & Systems Engineering Major In Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City: An Agent-Based Approach

Abstract

In Vietnam, students who desire to pursue their higher education by going to a university after graduating high school, face a complicated process. Similarly, universities have to constantly ensure that they set reasonable quotas and thresholds, as well as recruit a decent amount of high-achieving students. There are a few studies in Vietnam looking into the factors that influence a student’s choice in university, using statistics to deliver their conclusions. However, none of the studies look into the dynamic interaction between students and universities throughout the university application process in Vietnam. Hence, this thesis aims to develop an Agent-based model capable of simulating this dynamic process, limited within Logistics & Supply Chain Management (LSCM), and Industrial & Systems Engineering (ISE) major in Vietnam National University (VNU) Ho Chi Minh City. The model considers different factors that impact both students and universities in making their decisions throughout the application process, such as students’ academic performance, their perceived quality of the university and the university's desired number of enrolled students. The results show that the model worked largely as expected, and was validated using real world data from International University (HCMIU). Different experiments can be performed on the ABM such as predicting the result of the university application process in the near future, impact of changes of student’s perceived quality of the university program changes, or changes in the grade distribution of the aptitude test. However, the model still has limitations due to the lack of data from the other university under VNU that also offers similar programs as well as the assumed probability distributions of certain parameters.