As provincial medical school target local talent, ambitious parents leave Seoul for the suburbs

Parents aspiring for their children to become doctors are packing to leave Seoul, as the new medical school admissions scheme allocated more spots for students living outside the capital.

Parents of elementary and middle school students attend an information session hosted by a cram school running a preparatory course for medical school admissions in Daechi-dong, southern Seoul. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Parents aspiring for their children to become doctors are packing to leave Seoul, as the new medical school admissions scheme allocated more spots for students living outside the capital.

On Friday, the Ministry of Education and the Korean Council for University Education disclosed admissions plans for the 2025 school year, confirming 4,610 enrollments for 39 medical schools nationwide, an increase of 1,497 from the current quota.

Of these, 1,913 slots are reserved for applicants who completed their high school education in areas outside of the metropolitan area and plan to study medicine in the same city or province.

Thus, the increased spots for local talent are prompting families with children to relocate to suburban areas.

Earlier this year, following consultation with an educational adviser, a parent of an elementary school student who previously worked in Seoul asked the company for a transfer to a branch office in Busan and moved.

The adviser explained that for some, instead of attending highly prestigious yet competitive high schools in Seoul, aiming for regional schools that encourage applicants to be educated locally is a more strategic approach.

Students stroll past a banner in Suseong District, Daegu, displaying the number of students admitted to various medical schools and prestigious institutions. [YONHAP]

With the country set to add 888 new regional spots for 26 non-metropolitan medical schools beginning next year, 1,549 out of a total of 1,913 spots, or 81 percent, will be filled based on students’ high school academic records and extracurricular activities, while the remaining 364 spots will be based on scores from the state-run college scholastic ability test (CSAT).

The addition is prompting parents, particularly those with elementary school-aged children, to compete for these spots and relocate to suburban areas.

An elementary school student parent who recently relocated to Cheonan in southern Chungcheong and commutes to and from Seoul cited the presence of seven medical schools in Chungcheong as a significant factor in the family's decision to move.

The parent believes that the abundance of medical schools increases their child's likelihood of entering local medical colleges.

"My child can also apply for a medical school near the greater Seoul area if he maintains good grades,” the parent remarked.

Starting in 2028, eligibility criteria for the local student priority policy will become stricter, requiring completion of middle school education in the region, in addition to high school as currently required.

Since the policy does not count transfers, families must move while their children are still in elementary school.

A student is spotted in Daechi-dong, Gangnam District in southern Seoul, on May 18 where many private cram schools are located. [NEWS1]

Regions benefiting the most from the increased local talent admissions are Chungcheong and Gangwon.

Jongro Academy, one of Korea's biggest cram schools, reported on Thursday that the number of local talent slots per regional medical school will increase from 0.9 to 2.4 in the Chungcheong region and from 0.7 to 1.7 in Gangwon.

In short, students ranking second to third in high schools will now have a shot at regional medical school, whereas previously, even those ranking first were not guaranteed admission.

The two regions also have good transportation links to Seoul, where many private cram schools, or hagwon, are located.

A parent from Sejong, who spends over 2 million won ($1,450) monthly on private education for their child in the second grade of elementary school, believes that targeting medical schools outside greater Seoul through the local talent system is “advantageous” if their child cannot secure a spot in the metropolitan area.

Migration to rural areas for educational benefits started even before the government's enrollment expansion, according to Lim Sung-ho, Jongro Academy's head.

He explained that since the local talent admission ratio increased to 40 percent at the beginning of the 2023 college admission exams, provincial high school students had a clear advantage, leading families to relocate gradually to suburban areas.

A hagwon teacher who commutes between Seoul and Cheongju, North Chungcheong, said it was common for students in affluent Seoul districts like Gangnam District "to transfer to schools in regions like Wanju, North Jeolla, to attend prestigious schools like Sangsan High School, known for its high medical school admission rates."

“Gimje in North Jeolla has a relatively small number of students compared to the number of medical schools in the area, and also has a prestigious high school to prepare for the national college admission exam,” said a parent who moved from Seoul to Gimje last year with two kids in elementary school.

The parent said it took half a year to convince the family to relocate.

However, moving to a suburban area for children’s education is not feasible for all families.

Choi Young-deuk, a consultant for the high school entrance exam at Myungin Academy in Daechi-dong, a hot spot for private cram schools, said only parents with transferable jobs or sufficient financial resources have inquired about the local talent system.

“Those who move are usually doctors, lawyers, employees with branch offices in the region or self-employed who can move quite freely,” he added.

Jeon Gwan-woo, head of Alchan Education Consulting, warned that relocating has high risks.

While a student may have a “high possibility” of entering a non-metropolitan medical school if they consistently maintain top grades in middle and high school, it remains "difficult to predict how their grades will be six years later," Jeon said.

He also called the move a “high-risk adventure” since some regional medical schools have tough minimum exam score requirements.

Despite its risks, the local talent prioritization system offers clear advantages for locals, leading to complaints among some parents and students in greater Seoul who see it as "reverse discrimination."

For instance, Chonnam National University Medical School in Gwangju admits 78.8 percent of its students under the local talent system.

A Korea University student who graduated from a high school in the capital area and is now preparing to transfer to a medical school expressed concerns about the heightened competition among Seoul students, particularly among top-scoring students in science and math, for limited spots in metropolitan medical schools.

Lim also predicted the competition could intensify with a rise in applications to medical schools in the Seoul metropolitan area.

BY SEO JI-WON, CHOI MIN-JI, WOO JI-WON [woo.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]