The Story of a Student Who Scored a Perfect Score in the 'Application Section' Amid the Unprecedented 'All Pass' Incident

A reference chart for regular admission placement is displayed behind a student who took the College Scholastic Ability Test.
/Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] Amid the COVID-19 aftermath, 'strategic application' has become rampant even in the regular admission application process for the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), leading to criticism of the 'application area.' In this context, news that an actual test-taker was admitted to their desired university with astonishing scores has become a hot topic.

On the 21st, a post titled "Current Situation of the Department of Mathematics at Chungbuk National University Admitted with CSAT Grades 7, 8, 5, 7, 7" was uploaded on a university entrance exam community.

The post included a CSAT score report showing grades of 7 in Korean, 8 in Mathematics (Type Ga), 5 in English, and 7 and 7 in Science Inquiry subjects, along with a photo of the admission certificate for the Department of Mathematics at Chungbuk National University for the 2021 academic year.

It continued, "The recruitment quota was 19, but there were 49 applicants, and all up to the 30th waiting list were admitted, with an average percentile of 10 also gaining admission," adding, "This is an unprecedented case surpassing the 'Soongsil University 644 incident.'"

The 'Soongsil University 644 incident' refers to a case in January 2013 where a test-taker with grades 6 in Korean, 4 in Mathematics (Type Ga), and 4 in Foreign Language was admitted as the 10th waiting list at this university, causing a stir. It was an incident where admission was granted with scores far below the originally established standards, and it is still talked about among students preparing for entrance exams.

A post on a university entrance exam community revealed that a student with a CSAT grade of 78577 was admitted to the Department of Mathematics at Chungbuk National University, surprising everyone. / Photo by University Entrance Exam Community Post Capture

Netizens who read the post could not hide their surprise. Students who took the exam reacted with comments such as, "Is this manipulated? How did they get admitted?", "Wow, I'm jealous. Luck is also a skill," "They got an 8 in Math but entered the Math department. I wonder if they can keep up with the classes," and "Perfect score in the application area."

Meanwhile, reactions among current students at Chungbuk National University were sharply divided. On the anonymous Chungbuk National University community 'Everytime,' some posts showed somewhat heated responses like "This is a disgrace to the school. Let's file a complaint," while others posted comments such as "That's their luck, so what's the problem?" and "Let's just focus on studying hard ourselves."

Meanwhile, this year's college entrance was marked by many variables, including the impact of COVID-19, a decrease of 55,301 applicants compared to the previous year (493,433 applicants), and a record-high absentee rate of 14.7%, leading to fierce strategic application battles.

Entrance exam experts unanimously agreed that due to the declining school-age population and the concentration of universities in the metropolitan area, regional universities were particularly hard hit.

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