The Early Admission Gate for Metropolitan Universities Narrows... Fierce Competition Expected Among Top-Tier Students

From This Month, Rolling Applications Begin... Decrease in Metropolitan Area Universities
Changes in Essay, Student Record Curriculum and Comprehensive Selection Numbers
Significant Decrease in Top-Tier Department Selection Ratios

Applications for early admission for the 2023 academic year will begin in September. This year, universities in the Seoul metropolitan area have reduced the number of early admission spots, while universities outside the metropolitan area have increased theirs. The early admission essay screening at 16 universities in Seoul has been scaled down, and changes are also observed in the number of students admitted through the student record-based academic and comprehensive screening. Although the total number of applicants is decreasing, the overall competition rate at top-tier universities is expected to be similar to last year, but competition is likely to intensify in some of the highest-ranking departments due to a significant reduction in the proportion of admissions.

According to the University Education Council, the total number of new university students for the 2023 academic year is 349,124. The proportion of early admissions increased by 2.3 percentage points from last year to 78.0%, with the number of early admission spots (272,442) increasing by 2,571 compared to the previous year. By admission type, the number and proportion are as follows: student record-based academic screening 44.2% (154,464 students), student record-based comprehensive screening 23.3% (81,390 students), and essay-based screening 3.2% (11,016 students). The proportion of academic screening increased by 1.3 percentage points (5,958 students) from last year, and comprehensive screening increased by 0.4 percentage points.

Although the number of spots for four-year universities increased by 2,571 this year, the number of high school seniors decreased by 7,063. The number of applicants temporarily increased last year but has returned to a declining trend. The gap between university admission spots and the number of applicants is widening, which is expected to exacerbate the polarization between universities in the metropolitan area and those outside it. The total number of early admission spots increased by 10,064 compared to last year, and the proportion of early admissions also rose.

This increase is due to the rise in early admission spots at universities outside the metropolitan area. The Ministry of Education has instructed metropolitan area universities to increase the proportion of CSAT (College Scholastic Ability Test) admissions by more than 40% by this year, which has also affected the proportion of early admissions. Seoul National University expanded its CSAT admission proportion to 40.8%, reducing the student record-based comprehensive screening to 59.2%.

In the case of Kyung Hee University, the number of early admission spots for the student record-based comprehensive screening decreased by 150 (3.4 percentage points) compared to last year. Since the decrease in the number of applicants and changes in admission spots directly affect competition rates by admission period, the movement of applicants by score range, and changes in acceptance thresholds, it is essential to check changes in admission spots not only for universities within one's application range but also for those above and below it.

This year, the early admission period has been shortened from 92 days to 88 days. Early admission applications will be accepted from September 13 to 17, following the September mock exam conducted by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation.

Applicants must select universities and departments for early admission, prepare for university-specific exams, and simultaneously prepare for the CSAT to meet minimum academic achievement standards and for regular admission applications. Since early admission applications occur before the announcement of mock exam results, applicants need to quickly analyze their preliminary scores to determine whether they meet the minimum academic achievement standards and predict the range of possible regular admission applications. With a large number of repeat test-takers (N-su students) who excel in the CSAT joining, it is also important to consider their impact on the minimum academic achievement standards. Grade predictions should be applied strictly. Since it has become more difficult for humanities students to achieve high grades in the mathematics section due to the elective CSAT format, a conservative judgment is necessary.

Lee Manki, director of the Uway Education Evaluation Research Institute, advised, "With the increase in regular admission spots and the decrease in the school-age population, the acceptance threshold for regular admissions is trending downward, so it is essential to consider the regular admission application range when deciding on early admission universities. After the mock exam results are announced and early admission applications are completed, it is necessary to implement an efficient CSAT study strategy that focuses on improving scores in areas where improvement is possible, considering the minimum academic achievement standards for early admission universities and the weighted scores by subject areas for desired regular admission universities during the remaining period."

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