Repeating Students Who Expected 'Killer Questions Excluded' Got Burned by the 'Difficult CSAT'... "Switching Universities Won't Be Easy"

High-Difficulty CSAT Confuses Mid-High Level Repeat Test Takers
Trend of 'Increasing Repeat Test Takers' Uncertain as CSAT Gets Harder
Top Tier Likely to Benefit from Secured Differentiation

Expecting a 'watered-down' exam due to the exclusion of killer questions, a large number of so-called 'N-su students (graduates or above)' who joined the 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) appear to have been caught off guard by the unexpectedly difficult exam. However, there is also speculation that top-tier N-su students aiming for medical school may have an advantage over current students because the exam was difficult.

This year, 159,742 N-su students took the CSAT, the highest number in 27 years since the 1997 CSAT. According to an analysis by Jongro Academy, the number of 'half-su students'?those who did not take the June mock exam but took the actual CSAT?increased from about 81,000 last year to about 89,000 this year. This is attributed to the government's sudden exclusion of killer questions starting from the June mock exam, which led many current university students to join the retake cohort late.

After the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) ended, admission companies have been holding a series of admission briefing sessions. On the 17th, families of examinees attending the "2024 CSAT Results and Regular Admission Score Prediction Briefing" held at Daeyang Hall, Sejong University, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, were looking at admission materials. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

However, the admissions industry predicts that mid- to lower-tier N-su students are unlikely to achieve the scores they expected. The overall difficulty increased as the number of mid-high difficulty questions with a correct answer rate of 30-40% rose. According to MegaStudy's analysis on the 'Comparison of the Number of Questions by Correct Answer Rate Range for the 2023-2024 CSAT' released on the 21st, the number of mid-high difficulty questions with a 30-40% correct answer rate was 93, a 37.6% increase compared to last year's 58 questions.

It is also analyzed that among the half-su students who took this year’s CSAT, there are a considerable number of students ranked mid-upper and below, excluding the top tier. Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongro Academy, said, "Based on the preliminary scoring results and predicted standard scores, students in the humanities track who took the June and September mock exams (current students, not half-su N-su students) are not significantly behind," adding, "It appears that many half-su students have lower scores." He also explained, "In the sciences track, except for the top tier aiming for medical school, scores are not expected to differ significantly from the June and September mock exam results."

Top-tier students who challenged the retake aiming for medical school admission are expected to benefit from the difficult exam. According to MegaStudy’s analysis comparing the 'Sum of Standard Scores for the Top 1000 Students,' the magnitude of the sum of standard scores this year is larger and the slope is steeper than last year. This indicates fewer ties and better differentiation among top-tier students. It is also analyzed that an ultra-high difficulty question with a single-digit correct answer rate (Math question 22) was included in the actual exam.

However, other N-su and half-su students are expected to find it difficult to achieve their goal of transferring to top-tier universities. Nam Yoon-gon, head of MegaStudy’s Admissions Strategy Research Institute, said, "Students who hastily prepared for the half-su after the exclusion of killer questions are likely to fail to achieve their desired scores."

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