Significant Drop in Regular Admission Cutoff Scores for Humanities at Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University

Yonsei University Drops 18.9 Points, Korea University 7.7 Points, Seoul National University 5.5 Points
Disparities in Elective Subjects Cause Difficulty in Predicting Admission Cutoffs

On the 12th, parents and examinees who attended the 2022 College Entrance Exam Regular Admission Score Prediction and Strategy Presentation held at the 600th Anniversary Hall of Sungkyunkwan University in Jongno-gu, Seoul, listened attentively to the instructor's explanation. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] In the 2022 college entrance exam, the admission cutoff scores for all humanities departments at Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University significantly dropped. Some departments saw declines of more than 30 points.

On the 6th, Jongno Academy analyzed the average admission scores (out of 300 points) for humanities departments at Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University for the 2022 academic year. Yonsei University's humanities departments dropped by 18.9 points (287.9 → 269.0), Korea University by 7.7 points (287.7 → 280.0), and Seoul National University by 5.5 points (293.8 → 288.3).

Following the 2021 academic year, almost all departments that admitted students for two consecutive years saw a decline in admission scores compared to the previous year. The first year of the integrated CSAT (College Scholastic Ability Test) caused disparities between elective subjects, leading to a significant drop in cutoff scores. As examinees faced considerable difficulty predicting their scores, the admission cutoffs fluctuated greatly.

Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongno Academy, stated, "The main reason for the drop in humanities admission scores is that liberal arts students' math scores decreased due to the integrated CSAT. Since weighting and other factors favored science students who scored relatively higher in math, this ultimately contributed to the decline in cutoff scores. It is also presumed that the cross-application of science students to humanities departments had a considerable impact on the drop in admission scores."

Yonsei University's Department of Library and Information Science saw the largest drop of 31.5 points (289.5 → 258.0). The Department of German Language and Literature at Yonsei dropped by 24.2 points (289.0 → 264.8), and the Department of Education by 22.5 points (288.0 → 265.5).

At Korea University, the Department of Education dropped by 12 points, the Department of Korean History by 11.8 points, and the Department of English Education by 10.7 points. Seoul National University saw declines in the Department of Geography Education by 9.5 points, the Department of Psychology by 9.0 points, and the Consumer Studies major by 6.5 points.

On the other hand, the natural sciences departments remained at levels similar to last year. Seoul National University dropped by an average of 0.3 points (286.1 → 285.8), Yonsei University by 3.3 points (284.6 → 281.3), while Korea University increased by 1.5 points (280.5 → 282.0).

The gap in admission scores among humanities departments at Seoul National University widened from 5.5 points in 2021 to 8.0 points in 2022, and at Yonsei University from 14.5 points to 19.5 points. In the natural sciences, Yonsei University saw the gap between departments increase significantly from 18.0 points to 30.0 points, and Korea University’s gap expanded from 21.9 points to 32.4 points.

Meanwhile, the top humanities department cutoff for the 2022 academic year was Seoul National University's Department of Economics and College of Business Administration (292.0 points). For natural sciences, it was the College of Medicine (297.5 points). At Yonsei University, the top humanities department was Cultural Anthropology (277.5 points), and for natural sciences, the College of Medicine (297.8 points). At Korea University, the top humanities department was the Department of Economics (284.9 points), and for natural sciences, the College of Medicine (293.9 points).

With increased uncertainty in cutoff scores due to the integrated CSAT in regular admissions, there is also a forecast that the rate of students retaking the exam will rise.

CEO Lim explained, "In the second year of the integrated CSAT, differences in the ratio of examinees choosing elective subjects and concentration on specific subjects like calculus continue to appear. Since scores for elective subjects have still not been disclosed, confusion among examinees may be greater than last year."