Three Years of Integrated CSAT, 15.9% of Liberal Arts Students Choose Science Math... Approaching 10% CSAT Threshold

In the third year of the integrated CSAT, the 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), it is expected that the proportion of liberal arts students choosing science mathematics subjects such as calculus and geometry will reach 10%.

According to Jongro Academy on the 26th, a survey of 1,052 test-takers conducted from the 22nd to the 24th found that 15.9% of liberal arts students responded that they would choose science mathematics.

The proportion of liberal arts students choosing science mathematics was 5.2% in the first year of the integrated CSAT in 2022, and 7.1% in 2023.

On the 17th, the day of the 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test, examinees are waiting for the exam to start at the testing site set up at Gyeongbok High School in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The reason liberal arts students choose science mathematics is that calculus and geometry attract higher-performing students compared to probability and statistics, and due to the scoring method, students with the same raw score can receive a higher standardized score.

Most liberal arts students chose calculus, with 79.5% in 2022 and 81.7% in 2023, while geometry was chosen by 20.5% in 2022 and 18.3% in 2023.

However, liberal arts students do feel burdened by choosing these science mathematics subjects. The responses of "very burdensome" and "burdensome" accounted for 52.9% and 35.0%, respectively.

Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongro Academy, said, "When top-tier students choose science mathematics, the situation may be more disadvantageous for pure liberal arts students," adding, "Top and upper-middle tier liberal arts students should make very careful decisions considering the learning burden when choosing science mathematics."

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