Overview of 2008 School Year Admissions Procedure

Nationwide, 199 universities will enroll 180,072 new students in the upcoming school year. Last year, the enrollment was higher with 7,253 more students.

As directed by the Education Ministry, student GPA scores in applications to 130 schools will be weighted at 30-40 percent in the application process.

Including the above key ideas, the Korean Council for University Education yesterday announced the application procedures for the next school year.

The Early Decision quota will exceed that under the regular procedure for the first time. The latter now represents only 47.6 percent of the total enrollment.

151 schools will select 15,482 students on a special merit basis, while 91.4 percent of the enrollment will be determined through the regular screening procedure.

At 177 schools including all national and municipal public schools, the GPA score will be weighted at more than 30 percent, while prestigious universities will limit it to less than 20 percent. In detail, 130 schools will factor GPA scores somewhere in between 30 to 40 percent, and 29 schools at 40 to 50 percent. In particular, 27 schools will weigh the GPA scores at more than 50 percent.

But the actual impact on the final admissions decision will not come from the GPA factor. Whatever the percentage reflection, schools have narrowed the differences between GPA classes.

A vast majority of the universities, or 131 schools, will weigh as much as 60-80 percent of their admissions decisions on SAT scores. Students will face a tougher year since 44 schools require essay exams.

Students have to file applications for Group Gah and Nah schools from December 20-25. For the remaining schools, the procedure lasts for six days from December 21. Schools in Group Gah will notify applicants of their admissions decisions from December 27, 2007 to January 10, 2008; schools in Nah from January 11 to 21, 2008; and those in Dah from January 22 to February 1, 2008.

Senior Education Ministry official Wu Hyeong-shik said, “We will analyze how schools make the decisions next year. If we find a school that goes against our policy, we will punish it. We have no specific ideas on how to form the law school admissions procedure for now.”

But universities criticized the decision, saying, “The Roh administration tried to force-feed us with its admissions policy. Faced with fierce criticism and opposition, it backed away. Now, the dirt has settled down, and it’s trying to go back to its anachronistic idea.”

foryou@donga.com