“If the medical school admissions quota is raised by 1000, half the students majoring in natural sciences at SKY Universities will be eligible”

Students study at Jongno Academy in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, Aug. 8, 100 days before the 2024 college entrance examination. By Kwon Do-hyun

Increasing the medical school enrollment quota could narrow the gap between the cutoff scores for medical school and for other natural science majors in the regular college admissions (jeongsi), according to an analysis. This means, the number of medical schools that students can apply to with passing scores for natural science majors at top-level universities would increase, altering the college admissions situation.

On October 23, Jongro Academy analyzed the scores of the top 70% of students (based on Korean language, math, and social science and science categories) who entered medical schools nationwide in regular admissions. They used scores published in Adiga, a portal for information on college admissions. According to the analysis, if the medical school admissions quota increases by a thousand, the score needed to apply to medical school will drop by 0.8, from an average of 95.3 to 94.5 out of 100. A quota bigger by 3,000 will bring the score down 1.8 to 93.5.

As the cutoff score for medical school drops, more students will be able to apply to medical school with passing scores for general natural science majors. As of the 2023 school year, students with passing scores for 26 (28.6%) of the 91 natural science majors at Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University (SKY) were eligible to apply to medical school. If the medical school quota increases by a thousand, students with passing scores in 44 of 91 majors (48.4%) will fall under a range possible to apply to medical school. Students in almost half of the majors in natural sciences would have scores higher than the medical school cutoff score. If the medical school quota is raised by 3,000, students in 73 (80.2%) majors will have scores high enough to apply to medical school.

Three (6.7%) of the 45 natural science departments at Sungkyunkwan University, Sogang University, and Hanyang University had a cutoff high enough to make their students eligible for medical school in the 2023 school year, and this will increase to six (13.3%) and sixteen (45.6%) if the medical school quota is increased by a thousand and 3,000 respectively.

“Depending on the size of the medical school quota, the range of natural science majors that can apply to medical school is expected to increase significantly,” said Lim Sung-ho, CEO of Jongro Academy.
However, he added, “We need to be cautious about making hasty predictions that it will be easier to get into medical school, since there are many variables at play.”