"One in 100 High School Seniors Goes to Medical School"... Which Region Is the Most Advantageous?

Selection Scale Ranking: Gangwon, Honam, Chungcheong Order

With a significant expansion in the quotas for medical schools outside the metropolitan area and the selection of local talent, it is expected that 'local study abroad' aiming for medical school admission will surge. Based on the scale of local talent selection relative to the number of students, it is projected that it is easiest to enter medical schools in the order of 'Gangwon, Honam, Chungcheong' regions.

One out of 100 students in Gangwon enters medical school

With the confirmation of an increase in medical school admission quotas for the first time in 27 years, the academy district is buzzing with anticipation that the threshold for medical school acceptance may be lowered. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

On the 2nd, Jongro Academy compared the scale of local talent selection at 26 medical schools outside the metropolitan area with the estimated number of students based on 2023 education statistics. The region with the largest local talent selection scale for the 2025 academic year compared to the number of high school seniors taking the college entrance exam this year was Gangwon, reaching 1.25%. The number of high school seniors in Gangwon is 11,732, and four medical schools in this region select 147 students through the local talent selection. Arithmetically, this means that 1.3 out of every 100 high school seniors in Gangwon can enter medical school through the local talent selection.

The local talent selection system allows only students who reside in the region and graduated from high schools in that region to apply to medical schools in the same region. Starting from the 2028 academic year, an additional condition will be added requiring students to have attended middle school in a non-metropolitan area. In other words, current third-year middle school students must live in a non-metropolitan area and have enrolled in a middle school located in a non-metropolitan area to meet the eligibility criteria for local talent selection.

The Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Promotion of Local Universities stipulates that medical schools must select at least 40% (20% for Gangwon and Jeju regions) of their students as local talents. However, with the increase in medical school quotas, the government has recommended that non-metropolitan medical schools select 'at least 60%' through local talent selection, leading to a significant increase in the number of local talent recruitment this time. Universities have also announced that they will select more local talents in the 2026 academic year entrance exam, which will be taken by current second-year high school students, making the advantage for non-metropolitan students even more pronounced in 2026.

Only 5% of admissions have no minimum CSAT requirement

Non-metropolitan medical schools will select 1,913 students through the 'Regional Talent Admission' process for the 2025 academic year, an increase of 888 students compared to last year.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, most admissions require satisfying the minimum condition of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) in addition to the school records. Jongro Academy analyzed the 2025 early admission guidelines of 26 non-metropolitan medical schools with mandatory local talent selection and found that out of 46 admission types, only 3 had no minimum CSAT requirement.

The number of admissions without minimum CSAT requirements accounts for only 78 students, or 5.0%, out of the total 1,549 early admission local talent recruitment spots. The remaining 95.0% must meet the minimum CSAT standards. By criteria, 522 students (33.7% of early admissions) are required to have a combined grade of 4 across three subjects. Those with a combined grade of 5 across three subjects number 399 (25.8%), and those with a combined grade of 6 across four subjects number 219 (14.1%).

Im Seong-ho, CEO of Jongro Academy, said, "Although the number of early admissions for local talent has increased, the minimum CSAT conditions are quite stringent. Universities have not only increased their quotas but also face a limited 'talent pool' nationwide, so it seems difficult to easily remove the minimum CSAT requirements."