"Medical School Cutoff Scores to Drop by 3 Points... Domino Decline in Dentistry, Korean Medicine, and Veterinary Medicine"

Amid the government's announcement to increase the number of medical school admissions by 2,000 starting from the 2025 academic year, there is a forecast that the cutoff score for regular admissions to medical schools will drop by 3 points compared to the previous year.

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On the 3rd, MegaStudy released an analysis based on its nationwide unified academic assessment (Hakpyeong) full service. This result was calculated assuming that the number of regular admissions to medical schools will increase by 762 students this year, referring to the regular admission ratio in the 2025 college entrance examination plan, and also assuming a top grade in English. According to the results, the minimum score required to apply to medical schools, based on the combined percentile scores of Korean, Mathematics, and Inquiry subjects (out of 300 points), was 291 points last year, but it is expected to fall to 288 points this year, a decrease of 3 points.

Expected minimum scores for regular admission in natural sciences announced by Megastudy.
[Photo by Megastudy]

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The decline in cutoff scores is not limited to medical schools. It is also analyzed that the cutoff lines for major top-tier universities in dentistry, veterinary medicine, and pharmacy will drop in succession. Looking in detail, the scores are expected to decrease by up to 3 points as follows: ▲ Dentistry (290 points → 287 points) ▲ Veterinary Medicine (289 points → 286 points) ▲ Korean Medicine (Hanui) (288 points → 285 points) ▲ Pharmacy (285 points → 283 points). The cutoff score for Seoul National University is also estimated to drop by 2 points, from 283 to 281 points.

Additionally, MegaStudy reported that starting from this year's college entrance exam, the natural sciences admission requirements have been relaxed at major universities except for Seoul National University and Korea University, leading to a 4.9 percentage point increase in the proportion of students taking the Social Inquiry (Satam) section in the March academic assessment for third-year high school students compared to the previous year. This result is based on an analysis of about 275,000 users of MegaStudy's services over the past four years.

Previously, some universities designated Calculus, Geometry, and Science Inquiry (Gwatam) as mandatory subjects for natural sciences admission units in the CSAT, but from this year, more universities have abolished this requirement, allowing examinees to apply to natural sciences units even if they take Probability and Statistics and Social Inquiry combinations. The proportion of Social Inquiry test takers was ▲ 30.7% in 2021 ▲ 27.5% in 2022 ▲ 26.9% in 2023, steadily decreasing, but rebounded to 31.8% in 2024. This phenomenon is the first since the introduction of the integrated CSAT for humanities and sciences.

MegaStudy advised that since many top-tier universities give additional points to Social Inquiry for humanities and Science Inquiry for natural sciences, students should make their decisions carefully. They added, "Students should carefully consider the advantages and disadvantages including additional points and be cautious in selecting the inquiry subjects."

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