Seoul National University, Yonsei University and Korea University are strengthening school records and interview evaluations for the 2028 academic year admissions, making entrance criteria at top-tier universities more complex, according to an analysis. With school records also gaining weight in regular admissions, students must manage their overall school life alongside the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), analysts said.
According to Etoos Institute of Educational Evaluation on Tuesday, Seoul National University (SNU) and Yonsei University will increase early admissions and reduce regular admissions slots for the 2028 academic year. SNU will expand early admissions from 2,183 students in the 2027 academic year to 2,496, an increase of 313, while reducing regular admissions from 1,349 to 1,107, a decrease of 242. Yonsei will also increase early admissions from 2,140 to 2,575, up by 435, while cutting regular admissions from 1,372 to 1,039, down by 333. Korea University will maintain levels similar to the previous year, with 2,721 early admissions and 1,867 regular admissions slots.
SNU has strengthened school record and interview evaluations. Under the Regional Balanced Selection, a principal recommendation program, the university will raise the number of students each school can recommend from two to three and expand admissions by 217 students, while abolishing the minimum CSAT score requirement. For the early admissions general track, the interview time has been extended to 20 minutes, with emphasis on "students' unique learning experiences" and "probing questions" to strengthen in-depth evaluation. In regular admissions, the existing "subject evaluation," previously weighted at 20 percent, has been renamed "subject competency evaluation" and its reflection ratio raised to 40 percent. The evaluation grades have been subdivided from three to six levels, and community competency evaluation has been added.
Yonsei University has also overhauled its comprehensive school records track. The four existing categories, including "Activity Excellence" and "International," have been simplified into three: "Comprehensive Talent," "Research Talent-General," and "Research Talent-International." Among these, the "Comprehensive Talent" category has reduced the interview weight from 40 percent to 30 percent, elevating the influence of document evaluation.
The Recommendation Track, a school records-based admissions program, has also shifted from a single-stage to a multi-stage process, with document evaluation accounting for 20 percent in the second stage. Yonsei had previously secured differentiation through the so-called "Z-score" method using standard deviation in the existing school records-based admissions, but as standard deviation will not be recorded on school records under the 2022 revised curriculum, the change is interpreted as a measure to compensate.
Korea University has also abolished the minimum CSAT score requirement for all departments except medicine under its School Recommendation Track, while expanding the document evaluation weight to 20 percent. In addition, while simultaneous applications between the School Recommendation Track, a school records-based admissions program, and the Academic Excellence Track, a comprehensive school records track, had previously been prohibited, dual applications will be allowed starting in the 2028 academic year.
"When evaluation elements are abolished, changes emerge in which the influence of other elements grows," Etoos Institute of Educational Evaluation said. "Since the school record reflection method differs by university even in regular admissions, caution is needed when applying to early and regular admissions."
