Medical School Admission Briefing Closed in 20 Minutes... 1,000 People Gathered

Ajou University Medical and Advanced Departments Information Session... "If Enrollment Increases This Year, 50 Out of 110 Students Will Be Selected Through Regular Admissions"
Academy Community "Medical School Admission Competition in Gyeongin Area Without Regional Talent Screening Expected to Intensify"

Despite growing uncertainty surrounding the increase in medical school quotas, more than 1,000 people gathered over the weekend for the medical and advanced science department admissions briefing held by universities in the Gyeongin region. Parents attending the briefing are faced with the situation of having to devise exam strategies assuming an increase in quotas, as the early admission application deadline is just four months away and the medical school admission quotas have not yet been finalized. The admissions industry expects that once the court's suspension hearing on the medical school quota increase concludes and each university's early admission guidelines are announced at the end of this month, the full-scale admissions competition will begin.

At Ajou University’s "Admissions Conference" held on the 11th at COEX in Seoul, attendees are listening to explanations related to the admissions process. About 1,000 people, including students, parents, and career guidance teachers, participated in the briefing session that day.

According to the education sector on the 12th, about 1,000 examinees, parents, and career and admissions counselors attended the 'Admissions Conference' held by Ajou University the previous day at COEX in Seoul. Although the event was scheduled to start at 2 p.m., some parents lined up from 8:30 a.m. to receive one-on-one consultations.

The briefing was originally planned for 400 attendees, but the first round of applications, scheduled to run for five days from the 1st to the 5th of last month, was filled within 10 minutes, and inquiries about admissions and the briefing surged, prompting Ajou University to increase the number of attendees to 1,000. However, the second round of applications also ended within 20 minutes. The high interest from parents of high school seniors appears to be due to the admission plan not being announced yet, despite the early admission application deadline being just four months away.

If the government's announced increase of 2,000 medical school quotas is confirmed, Ajou University's medical school quota, which was previously 40, will increase to 120. For the 2025 academic year admissions, the university plans to reduce the quota by 10 to recruit 110 students, selecting 40 through the early admission comprehensive student record screening, 20 through the essay screening, and 50 through regular admissions.

An official from Ajou University's admissions office explained, "Due to recent uncertainties in admissions, anxiety among parents and examinees has increased, leading to a flood of inaccurate information. We organized this event to provide as much information as possible to examinees and distributed materials such as the admissions results from the past three years and an essay guidebook, which had not been previously disclosed."

In the university community, it is expected that the direction of this year's medical school admissions will be determined after next week, as the appellate hearing results on the suspension of the medical school quota increase by the medical community are scheduled to be announced then.

The admissions industry also anticipates that once the universities' early admission guidelines are announced at the end of this month, the full-scale medical school admissions competition will begin. Since details such as quotas, regional talent screening for non-metropolitan medical schools, and the ratio of early to regular admissions at each university remain unknown, examinees and parents are expected to engage in even more intense deliberations to devise the most advantageous admissions strategies once the guidelines are released.

A representative from a major admissions academy predicted, "In non-metropolitan areas, the increase in regional talent screening may lower the acceptance threshold for early admissions somewhat, but for medical schools in the Gyeongin region, which do not have regional talent screening, the influx of examinees from the metropolitan area may raise the acceptance threshold for regular admissions." They added, "However, since detailed admission procedures have not yet been finalized, examinees should be sure to check the guidelines announced at the end of this month."