SKY Early Admission GPA Cutoffs Rise Side by Side... "GPA Differentiation Will Increase"

In the 2023 academic year college admissions, the GPA cutoff scores for early admission at Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University all showed an increase. This is interpreted as students focusing more on their school GPA due to the reduced weight of extracurricular activities in the early admission process.

According to Jongro Academy on the 14th, an analysis of the top 70% cutoff among final enrollees in the early admission process at Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University for the 2022-2023 academic years showed that the average GPA cutoff for the comprehensive student record screening increased from 2.30 in 2022 to 2.28 in 2023.

The cutoff at Seoul National University rose the most during the same period, from 2.00 to 1.92. In the case of Korea University’s humanities department, the increase was also significant, from 2.88 to 2.81.

Logos of Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University (clockwise from the left). Photo by Asia Economy DB

Starting from the 2022 academic year college admissions, the weight of extracurricular areas such as club activities, recommendation letters, and personal statements in the early admission process has been reduced.

Jongro Academy analyzed that with the reduction of the extracurricular component in early admissions and the increased uncertainty due to the integrated CSAT for humanities and sciences, students with excellent school GPAs are concentrating more on early admissions.

For the student record screening track, Yonsei University’s cutoff improved from 1.56 to 1.51, and Korea University’s from 1.78 to 1.66. Seoul National University does not have a student record screening track, so comparison is not possible.

For the humanities departments at Yonsei University and Korea University, the cutoff rose from 1.74 to 1.62, and for the natural sciences departments, from 1.61 to 1.55 during the same period.

In the early admission for medical schools at Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University, both the comprehensive student record screening (1.48 to 1.43) and the student record screening track (1.12 to 1.11) cutoffs increased, maintaining top-tier score ranges.

Jongro Academy predicted, "This year, the GPA differentiation among high school seniors applying through early admission to major universities will become even more pronounced," adding, "There may be a pattern of safer applications rather than aiming higher."

Meanwhile, according to Jongro Academy, in the 2024 academic year early admissions, the proportion of comprehensive student record screening is 100% at Seoul National University, 52.7% at Yonsei University, and 71.1% at Korea University, while the student record screening track accounts for 23.3% at Yonsei University and 26.2% at Korea University.

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