Increase in medical school seats adds complexity to college admission strategies

[Anchor]

As evaluations suggest that this year's college entrance exam was somewhat easier, students are increasingly concerned about their admission strategies.

With various factors overlapping such as the increase in medical school admissions and the expansion of undecided major admissions, predicting the cutoff scores is expected to be challenging.

Next, we have reporter Kim Min-kyung.

[Report]

The biggest variable in this college entrance exam is indeed the increase in medical school admissions.

Medical schools are becoming a "black hole" that attracts top-tier students, which is expected to have a cascading effect on the cutoff scores for engineering and natural science departments.

As the number of admissions increases, there are predictions that the cutoff score for regular admissions to medical schools may drop somewhat.

[Lim Seong-ho/Director of Jongro Academy: "Typically, if a percentile score of around 95 was considered the cutoff for regular admissions, with the increase in medical school admissions this time, it is now expected to drop to around 93 or even lower…."]

However, since 67.6% of medical school admissions are selected through early admissions, competition among so-called "repeat students" aiming for regular admissions is expected to become even fiercer.

The significant increase in the proportion of undecided major admissions is also a variable.

The number of students admitted without a major, who can explore their career paths before making a choice, will increase to over 37,000 for the 2025 academic year, quadrupling from the previous year.

As the scale of admissions grows, the quotas for other departments may decrease, making it difficult to apply previous years' admission results as a standard.

[Lee Man-ki/Director of Uway Education Evaluation Research Institute: "Since the size of the recruitment unit itself is larger, predicting cutoff scores becomes significantly more difficult compared to when the recruitment unit was smaller."]

Experts advise that if students score lower than usual on the college entrance exam, they should focus on the individual assessments of universities for early admissions, and if they score higher, they should actively target regular admissions.

This is KBS News, Kim Min-kyung.