SKY Average Competition Rate Closes at 4.28 to 1
Seoul National University Sees Decrease in Competition Rate Compared to Last Year
Natural Sciences Competition Rate Declines, Medical Department Rises
Schools with Newly Established 'Da-gun' Division See Competition Rate of 15 to 1
As the application deadline for the 2025 academic year regular admissions approaches in three days, it has been identified that the average competition rate for top-tier universities that have already completed their applications has decreased compared to last year. This is interpreted as a result of concentrated applications to medical schools due to the 'increase in medical school quotas,' which caused applicants from other fields to disperse. In schools where the third recruitment group was newly established this year, competition rates even rose to double digits.
According to an analysis by Jongno Academy, the average competition rate for SKY (Seoul National University, Korea University, Yonsei University), which closed regular admissions applications the day before, was 4.28 to 1, down from 4.42 to 1 last year. The average competition rate for SKY decreased significantly in the natural sciences. This year, the average competition rate for natural sciences was 4.21 to 1, compared to 4.63 to 1 last year. On the other hand, the average competition rate for humanities increased from 4.10 to 1 last year to 4.37 to 1 this year.
In particular, Seoul National University, which recorded the highest competition rate ever last year, had 5,917 applicants for 1,569 spots, resulting in a competition rate of 3.72 to 1. This is a significant drop compared to last year's 4.44 to 1. The number of applicants in the natural sciences decreased from 3,660 to 3,022, and those in the humanities decreased from 1,479 to 1,186, with a more pronounced decline in natural science applicants.
Yonsei University also saw its competition rate fall to 4.21 to 1 from 4.62 to 1 last year. Korea University raised its overall competition rate by showing a high application rate in the newly established third recruitment group this year. The final competition rate rose to 4.78 to 1, up from 4.19 to 1 last year.
Among these, the average competition rate for medical schools in SKY was 3.80 to 1, slightly up from 3.71 to 1 the previous year. Based on the general admission track, Seoul National University’s rate increased from 3 to 1 to 3.55 to 1, Korea University’s from 3.26 to 1 to 3.32 to 1, and Yonsei University (Seoul) from 3.43 to 1 to 3.53 to 1. However, Korea University’s academic excellence track dropped from 4.33 to 1 to 3.92 to 1, and Seoul National University’s regional balance track fell from 3.6 to 1 to 3.1 to 1.
This regular admission cycle saw a notable rise in competition rates at schools where the third recruitment group was newly established. Ewha Womans University saw 892 applicants flock to the Artificial Intelligence Data Science Department, which moved to the third group, raising the competition rate from 3.77 to 1 to 4.27 to 1. Seoul National University of Science and Technology also saw its competition rate increase from 4.33 to 1 to 4.86 to 1. Particularly, the competition rate for the third group, which attracted many applicants, closed at 15.4 to 1.
Jongno Academy stated, "In the 2025 academic year regular admissions, it is analyzed that top-tier students in the CSAT focused their applications more on medical schools than on science and engineering departments," and predicted, "As a result, there will be many universities experiencing additional admissions due to overlapping acceptances among medical schools."
Uway also analyzed, "Despite an increase in both third-year high school students and repeaters (graduates or above) this year, applicants dispersed to the expanded medical school quotas, and the number of applicants decreased as more students chose to retake the exam immediately instead of applying through regular admissions, resulting in a lower competition rate compared to last year."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
