Top Scorer is a Female Repeat Student Graduated from a Private High School in Yongin
Fails to Meet Seoul National University Medical School Science Subject Admission Criteria
Despite the government's declaration not to create 'killer questions,' there was one perfect scorer in this year's CSAT, which is considered one of the toughest exams in history. The perfect scorer is a female repeat test-taker from Seoul who graduated from Yongin Hankuk University of Foreign Studies High School (a private high school).
According to the Ministry of Education on the 7th, this student achieved perfect scores in all subjects: Korean (Language and Media), Mathematics (Calculus), English, Science Inquiry Biology 1 and Earth Science 1, and Korean History. She plans to enter medical school but is reportedly unable to apply to Seoul National University College of Medicine because she did not meet their admission criteria. Seoul National University College of Medicine requires applicants to take either Physics or Chemistry among the science inquiry subjects, but this student chose Biology and Earth Science.
Earlier, the government emphasized in June that it would eliminate CSAT killer questions that could only be solved by attending private academies to reduce the negative effects of private education. However, the only perfect scorer in this year's CSAT was a repeat test-taker who attended a private academy in Gangnam, Seoul. It is known that she attended a comprehensive class at a cram school in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The standard score she can receive is 435 points, the sum of Korean, Mathematics, and Science Inquiry areas. However, since the 'highest standard score' varies by elective subject, even if the raw score is not perfect, there may be cases where other students receive higher standard scores than this student.
Initially, due to the unexpectedly high difficulty of all subjects in this year's CSAT, schools and academies speculated that "there might be no perfect scorers." In fact, this year's CSAT was more difficult for top-tier students than last year in Korean, Mathematics, and English sections. In the Korean section, the 'highest standard score,' which usually rises when the exam is difficult, increased by 16 points compared to last year, and only 0.01% (64 students) achieved a perfect score. The English section also had the lowest percentage of first-grade scorers since the introduction of absolute grading in the 2018 CSAT, with a first-grade rate of 4.71%.
The last time there were no perfect scorers in the CSAT was in 2011. The 2022 CSAT, which introduced the current integrated liberal arts and science system, was also considered a 'difficult exam,' but one repeat test-taker achieved a perfect score. In last year's CSAT, which sparked controversy over 'killer questions,' a total of three students?two high school seniors and one repeat test-taker?achieved perfect scores.
Looking at the number of perfect scorers in recent CSATs by year: ▲2017 - 3 ▲2018 - 15 ▲2019 - 9 ▲2020 - 15 ▲2021 - 6 ▲2022 - 1 ▲2023 - 3. Individual CSAT score reports will be distributed tomorrow (the 8th).
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