[2023 CSAT] Teacher Groups and Admissions Industry Say "Math Difficulty Similar to Last Year's CSAT"

College Admission Counseling Teachers: "Last Year's CSAT Similar to September Mock Test"
Admission Industry Shares Consensus on Similar Difficulty to Last Year
Many Questions Require Precise Calculation, Differentiating Mid-High Performers
Common Subjects Difficultly Maintained, Score Gaps in Elective Subjects Persist This Year

On the 17th, the day of the 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test, academy instructors are operating a problem analysis situation room at the Jongno Academy Gangbuk headquarters in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jang Jin-hyeong aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The difficulty level of the 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) mathematics section was evaluated to be similar to last year's exam. Although the discrimination power among top-tier students slightly decreased, the perceived difficulty was likely higher for mid-to-high level students.

On the 18th, Jo Manki, a teacher at Dasan High School in Namyangju and a member of the Korea Council for University Education (KCUE) college counseling teacher group who analyzed the 2023 CSAT math questions, explained, "Compared to the September mock exam this year, the questions were similarly set and also resembled last year's CSAT, but some test takers might have felt it was easier."

Jo said, "The common subject was designed to be difficult enough to burden students, while some students might have felt the elective subjects were somewhat easier."

"Discrimination among top-tier students declined... Math will still have a large weight this year"

Since no ultra-high difficulty questions were included, the discrimination power among top-tier students is expected to slightly decline. Last year's highest standard score in the CSAT math section was 147 points, and the highest score in this year's September mock exam was 145 points.

Kim Changmook, a teacher at Kyungshin High School in Seoul, said, "The difficulty did not increase significantly compared to last year, and relatively straightforward questions were presented. However, straightforward does not mean easy," adding, "Last year's math section 1st grade standard score range was 137 to 147 points, indicating that math had a large weight in the CSAT results."

The phenomenon of students who performed well in math applying to humanities majors through cross-application is expected to continue this year.

Kim explained, "It is already known that students who chose Calculus and Geometry have higher standard scores, and there will be some score differences among elective subjects."

He continued, "This year as well, the test has sufficient discrimination power as an evaluation tool, and math is expected to occupy a large portion of the total score as it did last year. The tendency to apply based on strong math scores in the regular admission process will also likely be evident."

Common subjects were more difficult than elective subjects

The teacher group analyzed that the difficulty of the common math subjects was higher than that of the elective subjects.

Jo Manki said, "The common subjects were set to be difficult enough to burden students, while some students might have felt the elective subjects were somewhat easier."

Park Moonsu said, "The difficulty of the common test range was similar to previous years, and the characteristic that the Math 2 area is harder than Math 1 was also similar."

Jo said, "Compared to last year's CSAT, the difficulty of the common subjects was similar. Just because the common subjects were easier does not mean students who took Probability and Statistics have an advantage," adding, "When compared at the same level, Calculus is the most difficult. The higher scores of Calculus takers come from the structure where students good at math solve difficult problems, not because of issues caused by elective subjects."

Park Moonsu, a teacher at Changwon Girls' High School, said, "Questions 12, 14, and 22 were new types," but added, "It is hard to say that new types appeared in Probability and Statistics, Geometry, or Calculus."

The more difficult questions among the common subjects were question 14, which used the concept of limits; question 15, which involved finding terms of a sequence by dividing cases; and question 22, which inferred a cubic function using the minimum value of a function and then found the function value.

In Probability and Statistics, questions 29 and 30; in Calculus, questions 28, 29, and 30; and in Geometry, questions 29 and 30 were considered high-difficulty questions.

Admissions industry: "Similar to last year's CSAT, no new question types"

The admissions industry also shared the common opinion that the difficulty of the math section was similar to last year's CSAT.

Lim Seongho, CEO of Jongro Academy, said, "The questions were set to be as difficult as the previous year, and the cutoff for the 1st grade maintained last year's level, showing discrimination power," adding, "Discrimination will be more pronounced in math than in Korean."

The Uway math analysis committee said, "The questions were similar to those in the September mock exam and last year's CSAT, and no new question types appeared," adding, "The difficulty of the highest-level questions decreased, while the difficulty of high and medium-level questions increased, resulting in a higher perceived difficulty."

Woo Yeoncheol, head of the Jinhaksa admissions strategy research center, said, "In last year's CSAT and previous exams, the difficulty of common subjects was somewhat high, and it was difficult to equalize the difficulty among elective subjects," adding, "Many medium-high difficulty questions requiring precise calculations were also included, so students who lacked time likely felt a higher perceived difficulty, maintaining discrimination among mid-to-high level students."

On the 17th, the day of the 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test, academy instructors are operating a problem analysis situation room at the Jongno Academy Gangbuk Main Branch in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The admissions industry expects score differences among elective subjects to continue in this CSAT as well. CEO Lim said, "Relatively, the Geometry subject was somewhat easier than last year," but "under current circumstances, Calculus standard scores are expected to be the highest."

The killer questions identified by the admissions industry were questions 14, 15, and 22. Probability and Statistics question 30, Calculus question 30, and Geometry question 30 were also considered somewhat difficult.

Director Woo Yeoncheol said, "Unlike last year's CSAT, it was noticeable that no fill-in-the-blank questions were inserted in the common subjects, and many students likely made mistakes because they were caught off guard by the answer to the short-answer question 14 being option 1."