Nationwide Medical School Early Admission Carryover Hits Record Low... Zero in Seoul and Capital Area

2023 Academic Year Early Admission Medical School Early Admission Deferred 12 Students
12 Students Only from Non-Capital Area Universities... Regular Admission Quota Also Decreases

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] The preference for medical schools was reflected in the numbers during the 2023 academic year early admission process. Not a single deferred admission was recorded at medical schools located in Seoul and the metropolitan area.

According to Jongro Academy on the 30th, the nationwide deferred admission count for medical schools in the 2023 early admission was 12. This figure marks a sharp decline compared to 213 in 2019, 162 in 2020, 157 in 2021, and 63 in 2022.

In particular, no deferred admissions occurred at universities in Seoul and the metropolitan area. While there were years without deferred admissions in metropolitan medical schools in 2020 and last year, Jongro Academy explained that this is the first time since related statistics have been compiled that no deferred admissions occurred at Seoul universities.

Compared to last year’s 63 deferred admissions across 11 universities nationwide, the decrease is striking. This year, 12 deferred admissions were recorded across 8 universities nationwide, with 4 at Konkuk University Glocal Campus’s Department of Medicine and 2 at Yonsei University Mirae Campus’s Department of Medicine, while all others had only one deferred admission each.

This phenomenon is largely attributed to the full implementation of the regional talent selection system starting this year. The regional talent selection system allows only students from the respective region to apply and is conducted under Article 15 of the "Act on the Promotion of Local Universities and Balanced Regional Human Resources Development" (Local University Promotion Act). Accordingly, medical, dental, Korean medicine, and pharmacy schools outside the metropolitan area were required to recruit at least 40% of their total quota through the regional talent selection. As a result, top students from these regions applied en masse to local medical schools during the early admission process and were admitted, according to the admissions industry.

With the significant reduction in deferred admissions for medical schools nationwide, competition for regular admissions is expected to intensify further. In fact, the number of regular admission slots for medical schools nationwide decreased from 1,260 last year to 1,161 this year. The decline was especially notable at non-metropolitan universities that implemented the regional talent selection system.

Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongro Academy, advised, “While the regional talent selection system made early admissions somewhat predictable, there is no such distinction in regular admissions, so the competition rate for medical schools is likely to rise significantly. Since additional admissions during the regular admission period are expected to be smaller than in previous years, a more cautious approach is necessary.”