All Major University Admission Thresholds and Top Grade Cutoffs Rise... Seoul National University Medical School Up 3 Points, Business Administration Up 2 Points

SKY Medical School Cutoff Rises by 3 Points Each
Top Humanities in Seoul Up by 1-3 Points
Seoul Major Universities Admission Scores Increase by 7-8 Points
Grade 1 Korean Cutoff Rises by 8-10 Points
Increased Difficulty and Discrimination in Math
Cross-Application from Science to Humanities Also a Variable

On the 17th, when the 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test was held, examinees who finished the exam were leaving the test site at Yeouido Girls' High School in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) was somewhat easier than last year's "bul-sunung" (extremely difficult CSAT), resulting in higher expected admission scores and top-tier cutoff scores for major universities. The difficulty of the Korean language section in the integrated CSAT for humanities and sciences decreased, raising the admission threshold, while the increased discrimination power in mathematics is expected to make cross-application from science students to humanities majors more prominent.

According to an analysis by Jongro Academy on the 18th, the expected admission scores (based on raw scores) for major universities in 2023 are 294 points for Seoul National University’s College of Medicine, 3 points higher than last year, and 288 points for the College of Business, 2 points higher. The scores for Seoul National University’s Department of Political Science and International Relations (286 points) and Department of Korean Language Education (282 points) increased by 1 point each, while Pharmacy (281 points) and the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (280 points) rose by 5 and 6 points respectively.

Yonsei University’s College of Medicine scored 293 points, and the Business Administration Department scored 280 points, 3 and 1 points higher than last year respectively. Korea University’s College of Medicine scored 292 points, 3 points higher than last year, and the Business Administration Department scored 281 points, 1 point higher. In the top humanities majors in the Seoul area, scores increased by 1 to 3 points, and the Colleges of Medicine at Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University each rose by 3 points. Admission thresholds for major universities in the Seoul area are expected to increase by 7 to 9 points for raw scores, and by 5 to 8 points for general natural science departments. Notably, Hanyang University’s Department of Policy Science (264 points) and College of Business (262 points) rose by 7 and 8 points respectively compared to last year.

Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongro Academy, commented, "The easier Korean language section raised the admission cutoff by up to 7 to 8 points, and the importance of mathematics has increased significantly compared to last year. The top tier will be decided by mathematics scores, and no matter how well one performs in Korean, if the math score is poor, it may become impossible to compensate with the Korean score."

The cutoff scores for the top grade announced by the admissions industry also rose by 7 to 8 points in Korean compared to last year, while mathematics remained at a similar level. According to Jongro Academy, the raw score cutoffs for the top grade are ▲Korean (Speech and Composition) 94 points ▲Korean (Language and Media) 91 points, rising by 8 and 10 points respectively from last year. Mathematics cutoffs are ▲Probability and Statistics 91 points ▲Calculus 87 points ▲Geometry 88 points, each increasing by 1 point from last year. The top grade rate for English is expected to be 8.17%, up from 6.25% last year.

Uway projected the top grade cutoffs as ▲Korean (Speech and Composition) 93?94 points ▲Korean (Language and Media) 89?90 points ▲Mathematics (Probability and Statistics) 89?91 points ▲Mathematics (Calculus) 85?86 points ▲Mathematics (Geometry) 87?88 points. For English, the rates for grade 2 (25.99%) and grade 3 (45.41%) dropped by 2 percentage points and 8 percentage points respectively compared to the previous year, indicating greater discrimination in the mid-to-upper ranks.

Although the integrated CSAT for humanities and sciences has entered its second year, the controversy over the advantages and disadvantages of elective subjects is expected to continue this year. The increased discrimination power in mathematics favors science students, who are also more likely to actively participate in cross-application. CEO Lim said, "Cross-application is especially likely to be significant in mid-to-upper tier universities and will act as a major variable. Humanities students should carefully check whether the math scores required for the departments they are considering applying to have increased compared to before the integrated CSAT."

After the CSAT, university-specific exams will begin. Starting with Soongsil University on the 18th, universities including Konkuk University, Kyung Hee University, Dankook University, Sogang University, Seoul Women’s University, Sungkyunkwan University, Sookmyung Women’s University, and Korea Aerospace University will conduct essay-based admissions on the 19th.

Woo Yeon-cheol, head of the admissions strategy research center at Jinhaksa, advised, "Materials from the admissions industry should be used only as references, and unless the likelihood of taking university-specific exams is significantly higher or lower than expected, it is advisable to take them. For essay exams, students should thoroughly review past questions, the purpose of the questions, and grading criteria on the university admissions office websites to prepare."

Kim Chang-mook, a teacher at Kyungshin High School, said, "Based on the test trends, the score distribution among the top tier is expected to become denser, and competition for regular admissions scores will likely be fiercer than last year. It is important to calculate converted scores considering the proportions of Korean, math, English, and other subjects rather than relying solely on provisional scores, and to carefully plan regular admission applications."