[2025 CSAT] SKY Medical School Admission Cutoff Expected to Rise by 2 Points... Top Grade Cutoffs Increase Across the Board

Expected Admission Scores for Major Universities by Jongno Academy
Up to 4 Points Increase in Humanities and 6 Points in Natural Sciences in Seoul Area
Cutoff Scores for Grade 1 in Korean and Math Also Rising
"High Scorers Anticipated to Engage in Competitive Jockeying"

As the 2025 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) held on the 14th was evaluated to be easier than last year, an analysis has emerged predicting that the expected admission scores and the top grade cutoff lines for major universities will all rise. In particular, the easier questions in Korean and Mathematics influenced the increase in the raw score passing line, and competition among high-scoring tied applicants in regular admissions is expected to intensify.

Up to 4 Points Increase in Humanities and 6 Points in Natural Sciences in Seoul Area

On the 14th, when the 2025 College Scholastic Ability Test was held, a family of a test taker is waving their hand to the test taker in front of the examination site set up at Gyeongbok High School in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyeong

According to the analysis by Jongro Academy on the expected admission scores (based on raw scores) for major universities in 2025, the admission cutoff for medical schools in the Seoul area (8 universities) is expected to rise by about 2 points to 285?294 points compared to last year. For the Gyeongin area (4 universities), the medical school cutoff is also expected to increase by about 2 points to 285?291 points. In the provincial area (27 universities), the cutoff is expected to rise by about 3 points to 276?289 points.

The expected admission cutoff for Seoul National University’s College of Medicine is 294 points, 2 points higher than last year. The College of Pharmacy is expected to rise by 6 points to 279 points, and the School of Advanced Convergence is expected to increase by 3 points to 276 points. The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering is expected to increase by 5 points to 277 points. Yonsei University’s College of Medicine is expected to rise by 2 points to 292 points. The College of Dentistry is expected to drop by 1 point to 281 points. The College of Pharmacy is expected to increase by 3 points to 274 points, and the Department of System Semiconductor Engineering is expected to rise by 4 points to 269 points. Korea University’s College of Medicine is expected to increase by 2 points to 290 points. The Department of Semiconductor Engineering is expected to rise by 4 points to 268 points, and the Department of Next-Generation Communications is expected to increase by 3 points to 266 points.

For universities located in Seoul, the humanities admission cutoff is expected to rise by between 1 and 4 points, while the natural sciences cutoff is expected to increase by up to 6 points. The expected admission cutoff for Seoul National University’s College of Business Administration is 285 points, 1 point higher than last year; Yonsei University’s Department of Business Administration is expected to rise by 2 points to 279 points; and Korea University’s College of Business Administration is also expected to increase by 2 points to 279 points.

Top Grade Cutoff Lines Also Rise Across the Board

According to Jongro Academy, EBSi, Megastudy, and Etoos Edu, the 2025 CSAT top grade raw score cutoff lines are as follows: Korean (Speech and Composition) 93?94 points, Korean (Language and Media) 91?93 points, Mathematics (Probability and Statistics) 92?94 points, Mathematics (Calculus) 85?88 points, and Mathematics (Geometry) 86?94 points. Jongro Academy also predicted that the percentage of students achieving the top grade in English, which is graded on an absolute scale, will rise to 6.2%, up from 4.71% last year.

Due to the overall easier evaluation of this year’s CSAT compared to last year, the expected top grade raw score cutoff lines predicted by the admissions industry have also increased. Last year, the top grade cutoff for Korean Language and Media was 84 points and for Speech and Composition was 88 points, both in the 80s, but this year’s CSAT raised them to the low to mid-90s. Mathematics top grade cutoffs also generally rose compared to last year’s 84 points for Calculus, 88 points for Geometry, and 94 points for Probability and Statistics.

This year’s CSAT saw the largest number of repeat test-takers (N-su students) ever, influenced by the expansion of medical school quotas and the exclusion of killer questions, leading to criticism that the test lacked sufficient discriminative power. Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongro Academy, analyzed, "At the highest level, the discriminative power in Korean and Mathematics has weakened, resulting in a concentration of high-scoring tied applicants, making fierce strategic competition inevitable in regular admissions."

However, there is also a possibility that the overall admission cutoff may decline due to the expansion of medical school quotas. Lim added, "This year, with the expansion of medical school quotas, there may be many additional admissions caused by overlapping early admissions acceptances from the top tier, and this phenomenon is expected to appear similarly in regular admissions. The more additional admissions there are, the lower the admission cutoff may become."

Meanwhile, objections to questions and answers will be accepted until the 18th after the CSAT, and the CSAT scores will be announced on the 6th of next month. Early admission results will be announced on the 13th of next month, and regular admission applications will begin on the 31st.