According to Youdao's postgraduate entrance examination analysis, it is estimated that about 5 million students nationwide will be admitted to postgraduate entrance examination this year, of which the postgraduate entrance examination rate of fresh graduates may exceed 50%.
More and more "exam preparers" have given birth to the new format of paid study rooms.
In recent years, the self-study room in the inner volume has been gradually upgraded, and accommodation services have been added.
So, a group of "people living in the study room" appeared.
Among them, there are young people who have been defeated and fought repeatedly in the three battles for postgraduate entrance examinations and public examinations, young people who have been "expelled" by their parents and are not allowed to lie down again, and young people who have spent money to buy self-discipline and hired people to supervise school...
reveal
Residential study rooms are like college life
Between the West Fifth Ring Road and West Sixth Ring Road in Beijing, on the west side of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, there is a dormitory study room beside Yungang Road not far from the Yongding River.
Judging from the navigation map, there are many forest parks around, and it can be seen that it is located in a secluded place.
This self-study room is in a yard with several five-story buildings. The yard is surrounded by auto repair stations. There is only one restaurant at the entrance of the yard.
The self-study room is located on the second floor. There are many classroom-style rooms. There are rows of desks with partitions. The front desk has prepared small desk lamps, power banks and other supplies, as well as instant coffee and some small snacks. In addition, a dedicated room is used as a recitation room.
The building opposite the study room is the dormitory. In a room of more than ten square meters, two wooden beds with bunk beds, four desks, and four sets of washstands are placed side by side at the door of the private bathroom.
The furnishings here look like a typical university dormitory, and the people living in the study room also have a typical university lifestyle, almost two o'clock every day.
Not long after this residential study room opened, Wang Yan, who was preparing for the judicial examination, moved in here. She was the first official guest of this study room.
After she moved in for more than half a month, she ushered in her roommates: two girls who were preparing for the teacher's qualification certificate.
Wang Yan expressed her understanding to the situation where two roommates came together: "They think more about safety issues." Wang Yan said that she didn't communicate much with the two roommates, "after all, study rooms are not like self-study rooms. Universities are the same, but their exam directions are different.”
Due to the short stay, Wang Yan and her roommates did not bring many things, only basic daily necessities.
During the day, they each sat at the partition table in the study room, wearing earphones for class. After eating takeaway at noon, they returned to the dormitory for a lunch break. They continued their studies in the afternoon. dormitory to sleep and rest.
In the past month, Wang Yan's life has been very regular and simple. She feels that her study efficiency has improved, and she has avoided a lot of unnecessary time consumption.
At the beginning, in order to find a study room with a better accommodation environment, Wang Yan visited many study rooms in Beijing.
She concluded that although the self-study environment in Beijing's self-study rooms is similar, the accommodation conditions are uneven. "Some dormitories do not have private bathrooms, but only provide public water rooms for washing, and some dormitories are small but live 8 people."
In the end, Wang Yan chose the one with the best accommodation, but this study room also had shortcomings: there was no cafeteria, so she had to order takeout by herself.
"Of course, for those who really need the study room, whether there is a cafeteria is not a bonus item, but if the food is not added well, the points will be deducted."
Wang Hao, who lives in a study room outside the East Fifth Ring Road, often complains about the cafeteria in the study room.
Although there are many flavors in the cafeteria, he feels that the food tastes very average, and the price is "not beautiful", "it's better to order takeaway".
Wang Hao's dormitory is also a bunk bed with a four-person room, and the study room is in another building. Some study rooms are large classrooms with long tables, and some are separate seats with partitions.
In the past two years, with the development of paid study rooms across the country, residential study rooms have also increased.
Zhang Miao, who took the postgraduate entrance examination in World War II, lived in a study room near Xianyang City, Xi'an North Railway Station. The location is remote, and the delivery fee of at least 25 yuan is required for take-out.
"When I first came here, I had to hold back when I wanted to eat a piece of fried chicken. I would 'save up' whatever I wanted to eat, and eat it together when I went to the city for something."
original intention
Continue to challenge yourself for the obsession in your heart
Speaking of the original intention of living in the study room, Wang Yan admitted that it was to "not be disturbed and not disturb the people".
Wang Yan is currently working in a law firm. In order to make herself better, she signed up for this year's legal qualification exam. As the last few months of the exam are approaching, she needs to take a surprise online class. If she takes classes at home, she will disturb each other with her family. .
At first, Wang Yan found a 24-hour paid self-study room, but some online classes had to be held until after 10 o'clock in the evening. When she finished the class and went home very late, she felt tired and worried.
At the end of September this year, Wang Yan chose this study room in Yungang.
Wang Yan said that she has some "social fears" herself and is usually relatively independent, so living in the study room will not make her feel lonely.
People like Wang Yan who are preparing for the social professional skills test are only a small number of customers in the dormitory self-study room. The "comer" of the war.
The 22-year-old Wang Hao has just been promoted to senior year. He lived in the study room just to prepare for the exam.
According to the school's regulations, he could not stay at school during the holidays. If he went back to his hometown, he was afraid that he would have poor self-control, so after the previous seniors and sisters who went ashore recommended him a dormitory self-study room, he decided to stay in Beijing alone and concentrate on "preparing for the war".
Wang Hao's parents are also very supportive.
The guests in the study room include Wang Hao, who took the initiative to study, and some who were forced by their parents.
Zhang Ze, a student from Beijing, has been graduating from his undergraduate degree for more than a year, but he has yet to find his ideal job.
In September of this year, under the constant urging of his parents, he decided to prepare for the postgraduate entrance examination and also moved into a study room.
Zhang Miao, the World War II Party for the postgraduate entrance examination, took the initiative to send himself to the study room in his hometown of Xi'an, "I have always been a person with very poor self-control since I was a child. , so I know that if I am not in an environment with a strong learning atmosphere, I will definitely not calm down and prepare for the exam."
Zhang Miao graduated from a marketing major in a 211 college in Shaanxi a year ago. After failing the postgraduate entrance examination for this major, she first went to New Oriental to serve as a high school English teacher, and then resigned to start a business in Beijing. However, due to the failure of financing, the company eventually became "rotten". tail".
After this experience, Zhang Miao decided to inter-professional preparation for graduate students majoring in journalism and communication, so she moved into the study room in July this year.
Zhang Miao's three roommates are also students of World War II postgraduate entrance examination like her.
Of course, there are also young people living in the study room who have "three wars".
In April of this year, Li Zimeng decided to try to apply for the civil servant exam in her hometown after failing the postgraduate entrance examination in World War II. During the exam preparation period at home in Baoding, she was very considerate of her parents who were working. Live at zero.
However, the test preparation environment at home is relatively general, and the sound insulation of the room is poor, making it difficult to study quietly.
In order to have a better environment for preparing for the exam, Li Zimeng also chose a dormitory study room. As a result, after the provincial exam, she was 12 places away from entering the interview. She had always been obsessed with the postgraduate entrance examination and decided to renew the fee in the study room. colleges.
The 6-person dormitory where Li Zimeng lives is filled with roommates like her who took the postgraduate entrance examination in World War II or World War III. Some of them chose to postgraduate entrance examination because they could not find their ideal job, and some of them kept challenging themselves for the obsession in their hearts.
experience
The learning atmosphere of different study rooms is "ice and fire"
Regarding the learning atmosphere in the self-study room, the feedback from the residents is "two layers of ice and fire".
Zhang Ze, who was "forced to study room" by his parents, thinks that this place is too different from what he imagined: "Before I came here, I thought that the atmosphere of learning here was very strong, but when I came, I found out that except for a few people in the class, they are serious every day. Learning, everyone else is 'taking a form'."
Zhang Ze's roommate is 25 years old this year. He has lived in the study room for the third year. He has also signed up for training courses, but he almost never goes to class. He sleeps until noon every day, and stays in the dormitory to play games. Share" a routine similar to his.
Zhang Ze added that there are many other students like roommates. "They were all 'forced' by their parents, and they just stayed here in cooperation."
Zhang Ze believes that more and more people choose to live in the study room because they lack self-discipline after graduating from university and it is difficult to find a suitable learning environment. ” psychological comfort.
However, for most students with poor foundation, hoping to have a teacher to help them arrange their learning progress and study in a group with other candidates are also the main reasons for "following the trend" to choose such institutions.
Zhang Miao, who took the postgraduate entrance examination for World War II in Xi'an, felt the same way. She felt that the boarding study room did not bring her expected results, so despite the remote location of the study room, she still found time to go shopping in the center of Xi'an.
In the life with her roommate, she did not feel a particularly strong learning atmosphere. "Although everyone occasionally exchanges the learning progress of the public class, discusses the problems that they do not know, and also eats and endorses together, but There is no strong mutual supervision mechanism.”
Before signing up, Zhang Miao did a lot of "strategies" on various social media platforms.
Initially, her appeal was to find a boarding study room with a "supervisory" nature to help herself prepare for the exam with the help of external forces. "Everyone in the boarding study room I'm in is not very 'ready' as a whole, and the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays are approaching. Half of the people don’t study in the study room, and for someone like me with poor self-control, I still hope to feel more pressure in this environment.”
Wang Hao, who started preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination in advance, was very satisfied with the learning atmosphere of the study room, "even more intense than expected." Wang Hao said that in addition to the existing "supervision" management of the study room, other students in the study room focused on His state of study has also deeply infected him, making him more focused and more efficient than self-study at home.
Since the roommates in the same bed are also preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination, everyone has a regular schedule.
Li Zimeng thinks that those supervising services and course training are actually very tasteless. The real need for studying in the self-study room is the learning environment. These environments cannot be bought with money. They use the hard-earned money of their parents to buy their own "concentration." ', she didn't think it was necessary.
Although the self-study apartment is downstairs from Wanda Plaza, and the surrounding is very prosperous, but Li Zimeng rarely leaves the study room. Her dormitory and study room are facing the door, and meals can be done on the same floor. .
Although Li Zimeng has lived in the study room for a long time, the baffles and compartments, books and gray-white walls occasionally make Li Zimeng feel breathless, but whenever she finishes reviewing in the middle of the night, she sees those roommates who live in the study room. There will be a feeling of "there is light in my heart", and it will also give her the motivation to continue moving forward.
cost
Many services are derived to achieve revenue balance
The study room where Wang Hao lives has launched a "student supervision service".
Teachers also visit the study room several times a day to check students' attendance and whether they are playing with their mobile phones.
The study room where Li Zimeng lives is next to the business district of Baoding. It is one of the few dormitory study rooms in a prosperous area.
And the bigger the city, the more remote the location of this residential study room.
At present, there are four or five residential study rooms in Beijing that can be searched on Meituan and Dianping, and they are basically outside the Fifth Ring Road, not close to the subway, and the transportation is not convenient.
These dormitory study rooms have different prices depending on the services they provide. Taking Beijing as an example, the accommodation fee is about 2,000 yuan, and most of the water, electricity and meals are at their own expense. For candidates in Beijing, this price is not too high. , compared to the price of renting in the same area, it is quite affordable.
"Pay-based study rooms have opened up more and more in recent years, mainly because of low cost, but in fact, there is not much money to be made. Now, the cost of living study rooms is also taken into account." A study room founder said, he Among the several self-study rooms that are operated, only one is profitable, and the cost of residential self-study rooms is not much higher than that of non-residential self-study rooms. Although there are more beds and other hardware, but because they can stay, they can choose to live in relatively remote places. At the same time, it can reduce the cost of rent.
However, even if the residential study rooms are all located outside the Fifth Ring Road, in a big city like Beijing, it is still impossible to achieve a balance of revenue only by self-study and accommodation costs.
As a result, the study room has also derived many other fee-based services.
The study room where Wang Hao lives varies according to different conditions. The price of an 8-person room, a 4-person room and a 2-person room is 1,000 yuan, 1,500 yuan and 2,000 yuan per month respectively.
The study room where Wang Hao lives has launched a "student supervision service".
According to regulations, students enter and leave the self-study area every day to "clock in" to assess whether the study time meets the standard.
At the same time, there is also a "full-time learning manager" to supervise students' learning time and progress, and help formulate daily learning plans.
Teachers also visit the study room several times a day to check students' attendance and whether they are playing with their mobile phones.
"Generally, the mobile phone is collected at 8 in the morning and returned at 6 in the evening, but it is not mandatory, and it depends on the individual's self-consciousness." Wang Hao said.
But judging from the reality after moving in, Wang Hao feels that many of the infrastructure in the dormitory of the study room is relatively simple, and the maintenance of the property is also lagging behind, and the conditions cannot be compared with the school.
In addition, many students living in the study room reported that there is a lot of invisible consumption in the dormitory study room. For example, some canteens require students to recharge their meal cards and swipe their cards to consume, but the prices are high and the taste is average. It will cost thirty or forty dollars."
Another example is that the park is located in a remote location without any express cabinets or express stations. The nearest express point is 2 kilometers away. The supermarket is monopolized by the park, and prices are generally high.
The use of water, electricity and internet also requires separate payment.
Wang Hao did the calculations himself. Although he expected the cost of two months to be 4,000 yuan, it actually cost nearly 8,000 yuan.
On the basis of invisible consumption, some residential study rooms have launched training courses related to exams, turning study rooms into education and training schools.
The study room where Zhang Ze lives has a course called "100-day sprint class", which includes accommodation fees, tutoring courses, books and other materials, which add up to 30,000 yuan.
The class teacher will arrange the class schedule according to the student's course selection plan every week, with an average of two tutoring classes per day, and the rest of the time is reserved for students to study by themselves.
All students who sign up for the "100-day sprint class" can choose a combination of courses according to their own needs, and then be assigned to the corresponding class.
Everyone has a fixed seat in the class, books and review materials can also be stored in the same place for a long time, and they can study in the class when they are not in class.
Zhang Ze will attend classes from 8:30 am to 11:30 am and 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm every day. After a simple dinner, he returns to the classroom to continue his self-study until about 11:00 pm.
Zhang Ze joked that there is quite a "high school feeling" here.
Industry insiders said that the introduction of courses in residential self-study rooms is also a helpless move under business pressure. It is difficult to say whether self-study rooms use teaching and training to relieve operating pressure, or whether teaching and training use the form of self-study rooms to transform, but whether it is teaching and training courses or "Inspector service" is actually out of the essence of the study room.
(All parties in the text are pseudonyms)
Text/Reporter Zhang Ziyuan
Intern Li Qianxiao Sun Zhe Zhang Xingyu
Co-ordinator/Photo courtesy of Lin Yan and Zhang Bin interviewees