"Going for Science and Engineering" KAIST and POSTECH See Increased Early Admission Competition Despite Medical School Expansion

Impact of Expanded Medical School Applications Fades
Number of Students Taking Leave Falls Below Usual Levels

As the early admission application period for universities in 2025 is in full swing, the competition rates at major science and technology specialized universities are showing positive trends. Concerns that the expansion of medical school quotas would lead to a decline in applications to science and engineering universities appear to be easing.

KAIST announced on the 12th that a total of 4,697 applicants applied for the early admission process, which closed the day before, marking an increase of 410 applicants compared to the previous year. The growth rate reached 9.6%. Including those who applied for both the Creative Challenge and General Admission tracks, the total number of applicants was 6,500, an 8.6% increase from the previous year.

This outcome dispels concerns that the increase in medical school enrollment quotas and the declining school-age population trend might reduce the number of applicants due to avoidance of science and engineering fields. The Ministry of Science and ICT's active efforts to revitalize science and engineering, such as providing research living allowances to graduate students in these fields, may have also had some influence.

In particular, the school explained that the number of applicants has significantly increased for two consecutive years, recording the highest competition rate in five years. The number of applicants was 5,687 in the 2021 academic year and rose to 8,250 in the 2024 academic year, an increase of about 45% over four years. The average annual growth rate is approximately 13.2%.

Although not one of the four major science and technology institutes, POSTECH, which also closed its applications the day before, recorded a final competition rate of 9.67 to 1, a significant rise from last year's 8.39 to 1. GIST, which is still accepting applications, is also understood to have a higher competition rate compared to the same period last year.

KAIST has assessed that the mid-term dropout rate of science and technology institute students, which was a concern due to the expansion of medical school quotas, is not that large. A school official said, "So far, the number of students taking leave of absence has actually decreased compared to previous years, but since it is the beginning of the semester, there is a possibility that the number of leave-takers may increase," but they expect that there will not be a mass dropout as feared.

KAIST is also seeing an increasing trend in the number of applicants for master's and doctoral programs. The total number of applicants for graduate programs was 5,992 in the 2021 academic year and increased to 6,783 in the 2024 academic year, a 13% rise. Notably, the number of foreign applicants for master's and doctoral programs has increased significantly. It rose to 1,370 in the 2024 academic year, about a 52% increase compared to 902 applicants in 2021.

Since the inauguration of President Lee Kwang-hyung, KAIST has improved its admission process by adopting innovative methods such as the Creative Challenge track, which selects 100% of candidates based on document screening alone, and the Equal Opportunity track, breaking away from traditional frameworks to select talents with a spirit of challenge, creativity, and consideration.

President Lee Kwang-hyung emphasized, “Thanks to improvements in the admission system, such as selecting creative talents with KAIST DNA and expanding the Equal Opportunity track for multicultural and large families, we have been able to consistently select the nation’s top science and engineering talents while fulfilling our social responsibilities under difficult conditions.”

Meanwhile, science and technology institutes established under special laws, such as KAIST, GIST, DGIST, and UNIST, are not subject to the six-application limit for early admissions. Even if applicants have applied to six general universities, they can still apply additionally. UNIST is accepting applications until today, while GIST and DGIST will close theirs on the 13th.