SNU freshmen see math scores drop sharply

The scholastic ability of freshmen students at Seoul National University (SNU) was found to be declining sharply after they entered the school. Of well qualified freshmen of SNU`s engineering and natural science departments who got full marks in the uniform scholastic ability test, administered by the state at the end of their senior year of high school, 5.4 percent performed so poorly that they failed in the mathematics proficiency test given by the university.

In February, 1,444 students were put to the test and 111 of them or 7.7 percent scored lower than the failing grade of 30 and were thus disqualified from attending regular classes, according to SNU on Monday.

Of the students tested, 206 or 14.3 percent scored 30 to 39 percent; 320 or 21.5 percent scored 40 to 49 percent; 308 or 21.3 percent scored 50 to 59 percent; 251 or 17.4 percent scored 60 to 69 percent; 258 or 17.8 percent scored 70 percent or above. The overall average was 52.9 percent. Only 13 freshmen, or less than one percent, got 90 percent or higher. Out of 613 students who scored full marks in the math-science category of the scholastic aptitude test, 34 or 5.4 percent got less than 30 percent while two of them scored less than 10 percent.

In a test of English conducted among 4,265 freshmen, 1,107 or 24.4 percent obtained less than 500 out of 1,000. They will be excluded from taking a regular English course unless they get a passing grade in a supplementary test.

Ha Joon-Woo hawoo@donga.com