196,000 Repeat Test-Takers Take This Year's CSAT... Highest in 23 Years

[Financial News] Nearly 200,000 non-currently enrolled students, including graduates and GED holders, flocked to this year's College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). This is the largest number in 23 years since the 2004 academic year. With the current elective subject-based CSAT being administered for the last time, and the trends of "Social Studies runs" and "Probability and Statistics runs" becoming more pronounced, analysts suggest that there are significant variables in predicting the minimum academic standards for early admissions and the cutoff scores for regular admissions.

According to the results of the application process for the 2027 academic year CSAT announced by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) on the 8th, the total number of applicants was 551,864, a decrease of 2,310 (0.4%) from last year.
The number of enrolled students decreased by 16,506 (4.4%) to 355,391. On the other hand, the number of graduates increased by 13,784 (8.6%) to 173,706, and the number of applicants for the GED and other exams also increased by 412 (1.8%) to 22,767. Jongno Academy analyzed that the number of non-enrolled student applicants is the highest in 23 years since the 2004 academic year, and their proportion of the total applicants is the highest in the last 31 years.
The college admissions industry believes that factors such as the fact that the current admissions system is being applied for the last time and the introduction of the regional doctor selection system have influenced graduates' decision to retake the exam.
The concentration on Social Studies in elective subjects has become even stronger. Among the 527,255 applicants for Social Studies and Science, 367,073 selected two Social Studies subjects, accounting for 69.6%. This is an increase of 42,668 from last year.

On the other hand, the number of applicants who selected two science subjects decreased by 45,656 to 75,036. The proportion of these applicants among all applicants for social studies and science also fell from 22.7% last year to 14.2% this year. The number of applicants who selected one social studies subject and one science subject also decreased by 1,708 compared to last year.
While there were many mixed choices last year where students switched one science subject to social studies, this year there has been a significant shift toward choosing both social studies subjects.
ETOOS ACADEMY CO., LTD. cited the increasing number of universities that have eliminated or relaxed the designated requirements for science subjects in natural science admission units as the main cause. It also viewed the strategy of choosing social studies subjects, which are judged to have a relatively lighter study burden, instead of science subjects, and allocating more study time to Korean and mathematics as having an impact.
In mathematics as well, the number of students choosing probability and statistics has increased significantly.
The number of students who chose Probability and Statistics was 336,539, accounting for 64.9% of all mathematics applicants. This is an increase of 38,813 (13.0%) compared to last year. On the other hand, the number of students who chose Calculus was 168,199, a decrease of 39,592 (19.1%). The combined selection rate for Calculus and Geometry also dropped from 42.9% last year to 35.1% this year.
Jongno Academy analyzed that the selection of Probability and Statistics by science students has increased as more universities abolished the designated requirements for Calculus and Geometry in their natural science admission units. It assessed that the scale of this year's "Probability and Statistics run" is the largest since the introduction of the Integrated CSAT in the 2022 academic year.
In Korean as well, the selection rate for Speech and Writing increased from 68.4% last year to 74.7% this year. Language and Media decreased from 31.6% to 25.3% during the same period.

The college admissions industry analyzed that uncertainty regarding this year's early and regular admissions has increased due to the simultaneous rise in repeat test-takers and changes in the test-taker demographics for each elective subject. This means it is difficult to apply last year's CSAT grade cutoffs or regular admission acceptance thresholds directly to this year's admissions.
In particular, for areas where relative grading is applied, the number of students in each grade can vary depending on the actual number of test-takers, the difficulty of the exam, and the score distribution of the test-taking group. As the number of test-takers for inquiry subjects has shifted significantly, it may also affect whether the minimum academic standards required for early admissions are met.
Subjects with a large number of applicants are not necessarily advantageous. ETOOS ACADEMY CO., LTD. explained that it is difficult to determine the likelihood of obtaining a grade or the pros and cons of a specific subject based solely on the number of applications.
The college admissions industry advised that, as early admissions applications are currently underway, applicants need to assess their individual subject scores and the likelihood of meeting minimum CSAT requirements, rather than deciding on universities based solely on last year's cutoff scores. They suggested that, taking into account the increase in repeat test-takers, applicants should formulate a stable application strategy rather than being overly optimistic about their expected scores.
Meanwhile, this year's CSAT is the last one to be held under the 2015 revised curriculum and the final exam of the current elective subject-based CSAT introduced in the 2022 academic year. Starting in the 2028 academic year, elective subjects for Korean and Mathematics will be eliminated, and all test-takers will take Integrated Social Studies and Integrated Science for Social Studies and Science Inquiry.

[email protected] Lee Bo-mi Reporter