[2022 Regular Admissions] A Wider Gateway... 4,102 More Openings Than Last Year

Increase in Recruitment Expected Due to Frequent Unfilled Positions
Variables Include Transition to Undergraduate Pharmacy Program and Cross-Application

Starting this year, with the decrease in the proportion of early admissions and the increase in regular admissions, the number of regular admission slots for the 2022 academic year universities has increased by 4,102 from last year to 84,175. In particular, the scale of admissions based on the CSAT (College Scholastic Ability Test) accounts for 90.3%, increasing by 2,507 compared to last year. In the Seoul area, Korea University (1,471 slots) increased by 702 from last year, showing the largest increase, and Kyung Hee University (2,051 slots) increased by 503.

By region, Seoul increased by 5,270, and Gyeonggi·Incheon by 1,218, showing a significant rise in the number of regular admission slots at metropolitan area universities. In non-metropolitan areas, the number of early admission slots increased while the number of regular admission slots decreased. However, since the number of slots transferred from early admissions to regular admissions may increase, the actual scale of admissions could be larger than this. This year, as the CSAT was more difficult than last year, the proportion of students meeting the minimum CSAT score requirements for early admissions at top-tier universities is likely to decrease. The number of unfilled early admission slots may increase and be transferred to regular admissions, potentially increasing the final number of regular admission slots.

An important variable for this year’s regular admissions is the College of Pharmacy. With the College of Pharmacy switching to an undergraduate system, the number of top-tier natural science admissions has also significantly increased. In cases of overlapping admissions among top-tier students and those shifting to medical and pharmaceutical fields, many additional admissions may occur even at top-tier universities. For natural science fields, due to the increase in regular admission slots and the shift to humanities fields, competition rates and admission cutoffs are expected to decline somewhat. Previously, top-tier universities and medical and veterinary schools were concentrated in the Ga and Na admission groups, but with the College of Pharmacy also concentrated in these groups, the application combinations for natural science examinees are expected to differ from before.

This year, cross-application due to the integrated CSAT is also a variable to watch. Some universities operate admission tracks without distinguishing between academic fields, so it is worth paying attention to these. Examinees should estimate their desired universities based on their average percentile scores and consider the advantages and disadvantages of each university of interest. Through mock application services, examinees can review the distribution of scores by range and application patterns.

Woo Yeon-cheol, head of the Admissions Strategy Research Institute at Jinhaksa, said, "With the increase in the number of third-year high school students and repeaters, as well as the establishment of the College of Pharmacy, competition rates for early admissions have risen, and this trend is expected to continue in regular admissions." He advised, "For universities with increased regular admission slots, since the admissions results are expected to be affected to some extent, carefully checking changes in admission tracks compared to the previous year and applying to universities that are relatively advantageous to oneself will help achieve good results."

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