Universities open regular admissions as competition heats up

Parents line up in front of Jongno Hagwon in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Dec. 7, to participate in a session where experts explain admissions strategy for suneung test-takers. (Yonhap)

Regular admissions for the 2026 academic year opened Monday, with shrinking quotas and this year's challenging college entrance exam expected to intensify competition.

According to the Korea Council for University Education, four-year universities will accept applications through Wednesday, while community colleges will continue until Jan. 14.

A total of 193 four-year universities will admit 69,272 students through the regular track, about 19.8 percent of total intake and 1,416 fewer seats than last year.

Korea’s college admissions system is divided into early and regular rounds. Early admissions, which run from September to December, place greater emphasis on students’ school records, extracurricular activities, essays and interviews. Regular admissions rely primarily on scores from the annual College Scholastic Ability Test, or Suneung.

Most major universities use converted CSAT standard scores calculated under their own formulas, rather than the raw scores listed on reports, though some institutions — including Seoul National University, Hongik University, Kookmin University and Sungkyunkwan University — apply different methods.

Competition is expected to be fiercer than last year, as this year’s CSAT was more difficult and the number of applicants increased despite reduced quotas.

Experts stress the importance of considering how heavily universities weigh the English section of the CSAT, which was particularly challenging this year. Among Korea’s top three universities, Yonsei University places the greatest weight on English, while Seoul National University places the least.

Lee Man-ki, head of Uway Education Evaluation Institute, said predicting cutoff scores will be especially difficult this year due to sharper score differentiation and changes in admissions units.

“Applicants should stay calm and apply based on principles they have already set,” he said.