"Praised as Better Than Private Consulting... 500 Applicants in 40 Minutes, Registration Closed Early"

Intensive Counseling Week Provided for High School Seniors Last Month
Reducing Reliance on Private Education Through Online Video Counseling
Demonstrating the Potential of the Public Academic and Career Guidance System

"I feel much more trust and confidence in this service than in private education consultants, and I want to continue receiving counseling."

Last month, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's "Intensive Counseling Week" service for college admissions received an enthusiastic response from parents. The goal was to accept 250 applicants online, but around 500 parents signed up within about 40 minutes, forcing a swift closure of registration.

Photo material for university entrance exam regular admission preparation guidance seminar. Photo by Yonhap News

This year was the first time the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education held the Intensive Counseling Week in March for high school seniors. The program was introduced to help students and parents who have just entered their final year of high school develop concrete college admission strategies, which can otherwise feel overwhelming. It complemented the existing special college counseling centers, which had previously been held offline in gymnasiums or auditoriums, by offering online consultations.

Over 50 veteran, in-service teachers with extensive experience in academic and career counseling provided free, one-on-one, remote video counseling sessions, each lasting 40 minutes, over the course of a week. The counseling covered everything from analyzing student records to consulting on which universities students could apply to, providing strategic admissions guidance.

Word of mouth quickly spread among parents, leading to the unprecedented situation where registration closed after just 40 minutes in the program's inaugural year. Positive reviews poured in, with parents saying, "Even without seeing my child, they were able to understand everything just from the student record and gave detailed advice on what to do moving forward," and, "I've tried the internet, YouTube, school websites, and admissions seminars, but this is the first time I've received such detailed, one-on-one advice." The perception that private consulting is necessary to get into a good university is gradually being challenged.

In particular, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has expanded and reorganized the pool of veteran in-service teachers involved in academic and career counseling from 50 to about 300. Kim Sunwook, a teacher at Seoul Girls’ High School who has participated in the program for 16 years, said, "Before homeroom teachers begin full-scale counseling, this is an ideal time to set an overall direction, which is why it was so well received. We identify each student's strengths and weaknesses and provide objective, unbiased admissions counseling based on comprehensive data."

The Seoul Education Research and Information Institute, which is responsible for the program, expanded the number of specialized Intensive Counseling Weeks from three last year to four this year, tailoring each for different groups and times. Next month, around 300 first- and second-year high school students will receive intensive counseling. In August, the program will target high school seniors preparing for early admissions, and in September, it will support third-year middle school students preparing for high school selection. A representative from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education stated, "To strengthen the public education academic and career guidance system, we plan to secure a larger budget through a supplementary budget around July."

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