"National and Math Top Grade Cutoff in Mid-80s"... Confused Examinees Amid 'Bulsuneung'

Increased Discrimination Compared to Last Year "Similar to the 2019 Difficult CSAT"
Score Prediction Becomes Harder with Common + Elective Subject System
Rising Number of CSAT Test Takers Expected to Increase Regular Admission Competition
Participate in Early Admission After Preliminary Scoring, Carefully Weigh Weighting Factors

On the 19th, the day after the 2022 College Scholastic Ability Test, the humanities essay exam was held at Soongsil University in Dongjak-gu, Seoul. Examinees are heading to the exam venue. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

The 2022 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) was labeled a ‘bul-sunung’ (extremely difficult exam), causing confusion among test-takers. With the system changing to an integrated liberal arts and science CSAT, predicting grades and scores before the results were announced became more complicated.

According to Jongno Academy on the 19th, the cutoff scores for the top grade based on raw scores are as follows: Korean (Speech and Composition) 85 points, Korean (Language and Media) 83 points, Mathematics (Probability and Statistics) 86 points, Mathematics (Calculus) 84 points, and English 85 points. Compared to last year’s cutoff scores, the Korean score dropped by 4 points. Mathematics (Probability and Statistics) is 2 points lower than last year’s Type B (88 points), and Mathematics (Calculus) is 8 points lower than Type A (92 points). English, which was easier last year with a top grade ratio of 12.7%, is expected to drop to 6.26% this year.

Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongno Academy, said, "The top grade cutoffs in Korean and Mathematics being in the mid-80s is an unusual indication of a difficult ‘bul-sunung’ exam. Especially English is about half as easy as last year and remains very difficult even in the fifth year of absolute evaluation."

Lee Young-deok, director of Daesung Academic Development Research Institute, said, "The top grade cutoffs for Korean and Mathematics have dropped significantly, and although it is too early to conclude because these are provisional scores, the level is similar to the ‘bul-sunung’ of 2019. Even if scores dropped due to difficult questions, it is hard to conclude that the test was poorly taken, so students should use standard scores or percentile conversion services to decide whether to participate in early admission essay tests."

On the 19th, the day after the 2022 College Scholastic Ability Test, the humanities essay exam was held at Soongsil University in Dongjak-gu, Seoul. Examinees are heading to the exam venue. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

With the change to a ‘common + elective’ subject structure, it has become more difficult for students to gauge their relative standing. Standard scores vary depending on the average and standard deviation of the test-taking group, and raw scores differ depending on the elective subjects. The Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation adjusts elective subject scores using the common subject scores of the test-taking group. It is inevitable that the accuracy of grade cut predictions by admissions agencies will decline.

Lee Man-gi, director of Uway Education Evaluation Research Institute, said, "Deciding whether to take university-specific exams depends on trusting the provisional grade cuts from admissions agencies, but this year, due to the introduction of elective subjects and adjusted scoring systems, the accuracy of provisional grading is expected to decrease. Since there are many variables in regular admissions, unless you have a favorable chance of acceptance to higher-tier universities than those you apply to in early admissions, it is better to focus on early admissions."

Starting from the 19th with Soongsil University’s humanities department, essay exams begin on the 20th at Catholic University’s pre-medical department, Konkuk University, Dankook University humanities, Sogang University natural sciences, and Sungkyunkwan University humanities. This year, major universities in Seoul will recruit 84,175 students through regular admissions. Although the number of regular admissions increased, the number of CSAT test-takers rose to 452,222, making an increase in competition for regular admissions inevitable.

Admissions experts advise actively participating in early admission essay and interview tests while carefully considering weighted score calculations when applying for regular admissions. CEO Lim Seong-ho said, "The liberal arts essay may be similar in difficulty to last year, but the top-tier science essay is likely to be more difficult than last year. Since regular admissions this year require consideration of advantages and disadvantages of elective subjects beyond Korean, English, and Mathematics, it is important to quickly decide on competitive subjects and consider university-specific weighting and scoring methods."

Kim Chang-mook, a college admissions counselor at Kyungshin High School and member of the Korea Council for University Entrance Counseling Teachers, explained, "Due to the elective subjects in Korean and Mathematics, predicting grades and percentile scores has become more difficult. Since the discriminative power has increased, provisional scores should be interpreted conservatively when deciding whether to take university-specific exams. It is important to broadly consider possible universities and thoroughly analyze admission methods to weigh advantages and disadvantages."

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