All Gathered in September... College Entrance Schedule and COVID Variables

CSAT Application Period: 3-18, Early Admission: 23-28
Early Admission Accounts for 77% of Total, School Records Make Up 67.1%

First-Year High School Seniors Fewer Than Early Admission Slots, Opportunity Ahead
June 16 Last Mock Test for Graduates and Current Students Together

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] September is expected to be a decisive month for students preparing for college entrance exams. From the 3rd, applications for the 2021 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) began. Currently enrolled students can apply at their schools until the 18th. Graduates can choose to apply either at their alma mater high school or at the education support office in charge of their current residential district. On the 16th, the last September mock evaluation hosted by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE), which is taken by both graduates and current students before the CSAT, is scheduled, and this day is also the deadline for submitting early admission student records. Early admission applications for each university will also begin on the 23rd. Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the deadline for submitting early admission student records has been changed from August 31 to the 16th of this month. The application period has also been postponed by about two weeks accordingly, running from the 23rd to the 28th. Universities plan to accept applications for at least three days during this period.

◆ Fewer high school seniors than early admission slots... Opportunity for high school seniors = Early admission accounts for 77% of total recruitment. It includes student record-based (curriculum) 42.3%, student record-based (comprehensive) 24.8%, essay-based 3.2%, practical skills 5.4%, and others 1.3%. Oh Jong-woon, Evaluation Director at Jongro Academy Sky Education, emphasized, "Since early admission, which has a high acceptance rate for current high school seniors, accounts for a large portion, it is necessary to actively apply for student record-based screening." Regular admission accounts for 23.0%, with CSAT-based admission at 20.4%.

This year, for the first time, the total number of third-year high school students in Korea is less than the number of early admission slots at universities and colleges. Currently, there are 437,950 high school seniors, while the early admission recruitment number is 446,860. Director Oh said, "In the 2021 college entrance screening, early admission accounts for 67.1% of student record-based screening at four-year universities nationwide, which is the largest portion, and more than half of major universities focus on student records," adding, "This year’s early admission will provide sufficient opportunities for high school seniors."

Applicants can apply to a total of six early admission programs. It is advisable to select about two universities where admission is relatively secure and then apply to one or two universities as ambitious choices. After assessing your competitiveness based on screening elements such as curriculum, extracurricular activities, and essays, you should devise a favorable application strategy. Even for the same school and department, if the screening methods differ, duplicate applications are allowed. For example, you can apply simultaneously for the curriculum-based and essay-based screening for the same department. However, some universities may restrict duplicate applications, so it is necessary to check in advance.

Last year, examinees who completed the 2020 academic year early admission essay exam at Hanyang University Seoul Campus in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, were leaving the campus. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

Due to COVID-19, most early admission interviews this year will be conducted in a non-face-to-face (untact) manner. There are three main methods: video submission, on-site recording, and video conferencing interviews. Video submission involves the applicant answering given questions, recording a video, and sending it. Lee Manki, Director of Uway Education Evaluation Research Institute, said, "In this case, the discriminative power of the interview is low, so other factors besides the interview will carry relatively more weight," adding, "On-site recording, where applicants answer questions in a test room on the designated interview day and are recorded, and real-time video conferencing interviews have the same discriminative power as traditional face-to-face interviews."

◆ COVID-19 likely to be a variable in this year’s college entrance exams = On the 31st of last month, ten universities including Kyung Hee University, University of Seoul, Yonsei University, and Ewha Womans University postponed their essay and aptitude test schedules to after the CSAT, which may lead to a significant increase in applicants. The preliminary scoring results of the September mock exam conducted by KICE, taken by both graduates and current students before the CSAT, are also important. Based on these results, students can check the level of universities they can apply to in regular admission and then decide on early admission universities, which will be helpful. The nationwide joint academic achievement test in October, organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, is only for current students.

One concern regarding the exam scheduled for the 16th is whether the social distancing level 2.5 will continue. If social distancing prevents large academies from opening, graduates may have to take the exam online. A KICE official said, "It is still difficult to predict the situation on the exam day, but if academies remain closed due to COVID-19 and students cannot attend, we will provide URLs to large academies so that students can take the exam online."

COVID-19 variable: If social distancing level 2.5 continues,
large academies close... Graduates take mock exam online
Individual score reports sent, but cannot verify score differences with current students

If the exam is taken online, the answers will not be reflected in the overall evaluation results, and only individual score reports will be sent. This year, the September mock evaluation results have become even more important due to fairness controversies between graduates and current students. If graduates’ scores are not reflected in this exam, it will be impossible to verify the score differences between graduates and current students. Previously, KICE stated that the score differences between graduates and current students in the June mock evaluation were not as pronounced as in the previous year.

After the September mock evaluation, less than three months remain until the CSAT. It is recommended to solve the mock exam questions several times within the time limit and manage health for condition adjustment. Lee Young-deok, Director of Daesung Academic Development Research Institute, said, "Rather than studying new material, it is better to review difficult parts of what you have studied so far," adding, "Using familiar EBS textbooks, school textbooks, and error notebooks is effective."