Meaning:
“考研” literally means “to take the national graduate program entrance exam,” and “倒流” means “back flow.” This term, coined by Chinese netizens, refer to the scenario where a student who graduated from a top Chinese university has chosen to enroll at a graduate program with a less prestigious university than their undergraduate school. The term “back flow” is used because traditionally, students often choose to enroll at a graduate program with famous universities, often with a higher rating than their original school. This reverse phenomenon occurs because of the difficulty in finding a decent job and excessive competition with the graduate entrance exams.
Example:
A: 你哥考研上岸了吗？
Nǐgē kǎoyán shàng’àn le ma？
Did your elder brother succeed in getting enrolled at a graduate program?
B: 他选择了一所家乡的普通大学读研。
Tā xuǎnzé le yīsuǒ jiāxiāng de pǔtōng dàxué dúyán。
He has chosen to take a graduate program at a run-of-the-mill university in my hometown.
A: 现在竞争激烈，考研倒流很普遍。
Xiànzài jìngzhēng jīliè，kǎoyán dǎoliú hěn pǔbiàn。
With the fierce competition, it’s common to go to a not-so-famous university for graduate study.