One in Five Local University Early Admission Successful Applicants Do Not Enroll

Early Admission Non-Registration Rate 18.6%... Seoul Area Universities at 3.0%

On the 27th, examinees who took the 2023 academic year early admission essay exam at Ewha Womans University in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, are leaving the exam hall. This year, 11,393 applicants applied for this admission at Ewha Womans University, and 310 were selected. The competition rate rose to 36.75 to 1, up from 32.14 to 1 last year. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] In the 2023 academic year college admissions early decision process, it was found that about 34,000 examinees who were accepted to four-year universities located in provincial areas did not register.

According to Jongno Academy on the 1st, the number of early decision non-registrants at 130 four-year universities in provincial regions for the 2023 academic year was 33,270, an increase of 652 from the previous year (32,618). In contrast, 42 universities in the Seoul area had 1,396 non-registrants, a decrease of 404 from the previous year (1,800).

The ratio of non-registrants to the total early decision quota was only 3.0% for Seoul area universities, but reached 18.6% for provincial universities. In the 2022 academic year, it was 3.8% for Seoul area and 18.6% for provincial universities. The gap between the two regions widened from 14.8 percentage points to 15.6 percentage points.

On average, the number of early decision non-registrants per university in the Seoul area decreased from 43 to 33, while in provincial universities it increased from 251 to 256.

By city and province, the regions with the highest early decision non-registration rates were Jeonnam (32.9%), Jeju (28.2%), and Jeonbuk (24.8%). In contrast, the metropolitan areas such as Seoul (3.0%), Incheon (3.2%), and Gyeonggi (4.7%) remained in single digits.

Among provincial universities, regions with relatively low early decision non-registration rates were Daegu (5.9%), Daejeon (12.1%), and Sejong (15.7%).

Each university transfers the unfilled quota from early decision to the regular decision admissions. This means that the more early decision non-registrants there are, the higher the proportion of regular decision admissions.

Considering that examinees aiming for provincial universities generally prefer early decision, provincial universities with many early decision non-registrants are likely to struggle in the regular decision admissions as well.

As provincial universities, which have a higher proportion of early decision admissions than Seoul area universities, continue to face greater difficulties in recruiting freshmen, experts say there is no evidence that an early decision-focused selection system works to the advantage of provincial universities.

Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongno Academy, suggested, "Provincial universities should seek solutions such as securing competitiveness and preparing innovative employment measures linked with local governments and companies."

Meanwhile, the early decision admission rates for the 2023 academic year are 60.5% for Seoul area universities, 70.2% for metropolitan area universities, and 86.0% for provincial universities.