A huge barrier to university admission in 2028: The path to escape for ‘N Aquatic’ is narrowing. > News

The core of this change in entrance exams came from the conflict between the two systems, the ‘5-grade system’ and the ‘9-grade system’. Starting in 2028, the high school academic performance evaluation method will be converted to a 5-grade system, and it is a very difficult task for universities to evaluate N students with grades from the existing 9-grade system and current students with grades from the new 5-grade system using the same quantitative standards. To resolve these uncertainties in evaluation and prevent disputes over fairness, 10 major universities, including Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University, have chosen to significantly expand the selection process targeting only current students. In fact, according to Jongno Academy's analysis, the number of students enrolled in the N-study program with limited support increased by a whopping 2.5 times, from 1,942 in the 2027 school year to 4,894 in the 2028 school year. This amounts to approximately 24.2% of the total number of students recruited through rolling admissions, and in fact, one quarter of rolling admissions are fundamentally blocked to N students.

Looking at the types of admissions, the impact of these changes is concentrated on the student record curriculum selection process. A whopping 4,079 students, or 83.3% of the total number of N-students limited, come from the subject selection process, which means that the selection process based on academic records will be thoroughly reorganized to focus on currently enrolled students. The student record comprehensive screening also blocked the entry of N students with a proportion of 14.9%, and a 1.8% limit was also established in the essay screening. By university, Seoul National University had the highest restriction rate at 31.5%, followed by Chung-Ang University, Korea University, and Hanyang University. In particular, universities such as Sungkyunkwan University, Ewha Womans University, and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, which previously had no N admission restrictions, are joining in, and the right to apply on a regular basis for so-called ‘active’ students in the entrance examination field is showing signs of becoming more solidified.

What is more noteworthy is the fact that these restrictions are spreading beyond regular recruitment to regular recruitment. Korea University and Sogang University established a new category that N-students cannot apply for part of the regular admissions intake, so even the regular exam, which was considered the last bastion of university entrance exams, has become a narrower gate than before for N-students. This change goes beyond simply universities' convenience in calculating grades and is in line with the justification of improving the entrance exam system in line with changes in the high school curriculum. Admission experts say it is unclear whether these measures will continue beyond the 2029 school year, but they believe it will be a significant psychological and strategic pressure on N students preparing for next year's entrance exam. As a result, top-ranked N students with excellent grades faced a situation of isolation where their options were significantly reduced when it came to developing an admission application strategy.

This change in the entrance examination landscape is putting strong pressure on this year’s test takers to ‘see their results within this year.’ As awareness spreads that the 2027 school year is virtually the last opportunity to enter university with a 9-grade grade, it is highly likely that a large number of N and semi-graduate students will flock to the rolling admissions process. In particular, N-students who have the experience to meet the minimum academic standard for the CSAT can have a great advantage in applying for admission, so competition with current students is expected to be fiercer than ever. Accordingly, experts advise that the key to determining the success or failure of this entrance exam is to calmly consider the possibility of meeting the minimum score on the CSAT, rather than excessively applying upward support, and to establish a conservative and stable support strategy. Ultimately, as the threshold for entrance exams increases, the strategic flexibility of individual test takers becomes more important than ever.