Seoul's 8 Major Universities Early Admission Shows 'Natural Sciences' Concentration... Fierce Competition Among Top Science Students

Competition Rate for Early Admission at 8 Seoul Universities Rises to 22.4:1 in Natural Sciences
Over 9,400 Applicants Increase in Natural Sciences, Humanities Drop to 12,000
Natural Sciences Share Reverses to 54%, Surpassing Humanities (46%)

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] While the number of applicants in the natural sciences significantly increased for the 2022 academic year early admissions, the number of applicants in the humanities decreased. Unlike last year, the proportion of natural science applicants surpassed that of the humanities.

According to Jongno Academy on the 18th, an analysis of the competition rates by department for early admissions at eight major universities in Seoul (Seoul National University, Korea University, Yonsei University, Sungkyunkwan University, Hanyang University, Sogang University, Kyung Hee University, Chung-Ang University) showed that the natural sciences recorded a competition rate of 22.4 to 1, a significant rise from last year's 18.7 to 1.

The number of natural science applicants increased by 9,420 compared to the previous year, but the number of available spots decreased by 946, causing the competition rate to rise sharply. Among the eight universities, seven saw an increase in natural science applicants. Yonsei University was the only exception, where the number decreased, likely due to the essay test schedule being set before the CSAT, which caused additional burden on examinees.

The competition rate for the humanities at the eight universities also slightly increased to 17.6 to 1 from 15.9 to 1 in the 2021 academic year. However, the number of applicants decreased by 12,491, and the number of available spots also dropped by 1,641, resulting in a slight increase in competition rate. Among the eight universities, only Korea University (770 applicants), Kyung Hee University (250 applicants), and Seoul National University (137 applicants) saw an increase in humanities applicants.

The applicant ratio at the eight universities was 53.5% for natural sciences and 46.5% for humanities. In the 2021 early admissions, the humanities (50.2%) outnumbered the natural sciences (49.8%), but this was reversed in this year's early admissions.

The introduction of the undergraduate pharmacy program also had an impact, but overall, there was a concentration of top-tier students in the sciences. At Sogang University, which does not have a pharmacy program, the decrease in humanities applicants (1,178) was larger than the increase in natural science applicants (490). At Korea University and Hanyang University Seoul Campus, which have pharmacy programs on their local campuses, the increase in natural science applicants was much higher.

According to the 2022 CSAT application results, 46.8% of natural science students chose calculus and geometry. Based on the March mock exam by the education office, the selection rate for calculus and geometry was 39.5%, and the June evaluation institute mock exam showed 44.6%, indicating a gradual increase. This is a significant rise compared to the 33.0% participation rate in Mathematics Type Ga in the previous CSAT.

The concentration of top-tier students in the sciences is expected to accelerate further. The admissions industry has analyzed that the integrated CSAT this year will create advantages and disadvantages based on mathematics. Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongno Academy, stated, "With an increase in top-tier students in the sciences, competition among science students in the regular admissions CSAT could become intense."

Lim added, "For natural science examinees, in a scenario where top-tier students are concentrated, subjects like science exploration (Gwa-tam) may gain practical discriminative power due to the mathematics inflation phenomenon. Humanities students should focus on alternative subjects like social studies exploration (Sa-tam) to compensate for the disadvantageous mathematics."