"Not Going to Medical School": An Unexpected Choice by a Perfect Score Suneung Student

Seo Jang-hyeop (18), a perfect scorer on this year’s College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) and a prospective graduate of Gwangnam High School in Seoul, has been finally admitted to the Computer Science Department at Seoul National University through early admission.

According to Gwangnam High School on the 13th, Seo’s name appeared on the list of successful candidates for the 2025 academic year Seoul National University early admission announced the day before. Seo achieved a perfect score in all subjects, including Earth Science I and Physics II, on last month’s CSAT. Among the 11 perfect scorers this year, four were current high school seniors, and Seo was the only student from a general high school.

This year's College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) perfect scorer, Seo Jang-hyeop. Photo by Yonhap News.

원본보기 아이콘

After confirming his perfect score in the preliminary CSAT grading, Seo reportedly attended the early admission interview for the Computer Science Department at Seoul National University. Even with a high CSAT score, students admitted through early admission cannot apply for regular admission, including medical schools. However, Seo, who had no intention of entering medical school, remained firm in his decision to become an engineer despite encouragement from his parents and acquaintances to pursue medical school, and completed the early admission process for Seoul National University’s Computer Science Department.

Seo, who has shown interest in computer programming since childhood, is expected to concretize his dreams by attending classes after entering Seoul National University. Seo did not take the early admission process for Yonsei University’s Computer Science Department, which he had also applied to, after the CSAT. He did not apply to other universities’ early admissions.

It is reported that five students from Gwangnam High School, located in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, were admitted through Seoul National University’s early admission.

Meanwhile, 45% of the first successful candidates for Seoul National University’s 2025 early admission were from science high schools, specialized high schools, or autonomous private high schools.

According to Seoul National University and Jongro Academy, among the 2,180 first successful candidates for early admission in Seoul announced on the 12th, 981 (45.0%) were from science high schools, specialized high schools, or autonomous private high schools. The breakdown by type was 17.1% from science high schools, 11.7% from international and foreign language high schools, 9.8% from autonomous private high schools, and 6.4% from science high schools. General high schools (including autonomous public high schools) accounted for 1,091 students, or 50.0%, which is a 0.4 percentage point increase from last year.

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.