44.4% of Examinees Say "I Will Decide Regular Admission by 'University Brand' Rather Than Department"

"Outlook of Majors" Pushed to Lower Priority
More Opinions on "Safety-First Applications" Than Last Year

On the morning of the 23rd, when the 2021 College Scholastic Ability Test score reports were distributed, examinees entered the auditorium at Ewha Girls' High School in Jung-gu, Seoul to receive their score reports. Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] This year, when choosing schools to apply to in the regular admission process, examinees considered university reputation as the most important factor.

On the 24th, a survey conducted by the admissions site operated by the education evaluation agency Uway, targeting 716 members, showed that 44.4% of respondents decided on their university choice based on the 'university's reputation (brand),' making it the most common answer.

Last year, the most common answer, with over half at 54.0%, was 'the prospects of the major department including employment rate.' This item dropped to second place this year with 34.1%.

Next were 'commuting distance and dormitory (12.2%)' and 'tuition fees and scholarship scale (9.3%)' in order.

A Uway official explained, "Due to the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, commuting distance and dormitory, as well as tuition fees and scholarship scale, have each increased by two to three times," adding, "This indicates that competition in less popular departments at major universities is expected to be fierce."

With the college entrance exam system changing due to institutional reforms starting next year, more respondents this year expressed intentions to apply with a 'downward safety choice' compared to last year. Last year, downward safety applications were 13.7%, but this year it increased to 17.6%, coming down from confident applications.

This survey was conducted from the 18th to the 20th, with a total of 716 examinees participating. Among them, 438 were current high school seniors, and 278 were graduates who had taken a gap year or more.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.