Despite the decrease in school-age population, the competition rate for top universities is increasing
The early admission application for the 2024 academic year was closed on September 15th. As expected, almost all universities in the top tier saw an increase in competition rates. While Korea University and Dongguk University were the only universities to decline, the rest of the universities increased.
Analysis of competition rates for top-tier universities
The university with the highest competition rate among the top-tier universities was Sungkyunkwan University, which recorded 30.7:1, followed by Sogang University with 29.69:1, Chung-Ang University with 28.35:1, and Hanyang University with 26.52:1. The university with the highest increase in competition rate was Chung-Ang University, which recorded 28.35:1 in the 2024 academic year, up from 24.7:1 in the previous year. This was followed by Sogang University with 2.54:1 and Sungkyunkwan University with 2.17:1. Furthermore, Chung-Ang University had the largest number of applicants ever, with 79,118 applicants, followed by Sungkyunkwan University with 71,872 applicants and Kyung Hee University with 68,270 applicants.
Among the top 14 universities, only Korea University and Dongguk University saw a decline in competition rates, with 1.17:1 and 0.07:1, respectively. The remaining 12 universities all saw an increase. The reason for this decline is that Korea University saw a significant decline in the comprehensive evaluation of student affairs, including school recommendations, academic excellence, and suitability, by -1.01, -2.02, and -2.09, respectively, which led to a significant decline in the comprehensive evaluation of student affairs rather than the evaluation of student affairs. The main factor in Dongguk University's decline was a significant decline in the essay evaluation. Seoul National University saw a significant increase from 6.92:1 in the previous year to 8.84:1, and Yonsei University also saw a similar increase from 12.69:1 to 14.62:1.
Analysis of competition rates for mid-to-high-tier universities
Among the mid-to-high-tier universities, Gachon University had the highest competition rate, recording 23.01:1 with 3,314 applicants and 76,264 applicants. Ajou University followed with 21.34:1, followed by Catholic University with 21.1:1, Sejong University with 18.93:1, and Dongduk Women's University with 6.76:1. Looking at the competition rate compared to the 2023 academic year, Catholic University saw a significant increase from 16.21:1 to 21.1:1, and Semyung University and Dongduk Women's University also saw an increase of 4.41:1 and 4.05:1, respectively. The main reason for this increase is that Catholic University has seen a significant increase in interview applicants since the introduction of the comprehensive evaluation of student affairs documents, and the evaluation of student affairs was also good. Dongduk Women's University and Semyung University both saw a sharp increase in competition rates with the introduction of the essay evaluation in the 2024 academic year.
In the 2024 academic year, Gachon University had a total of 76,264 applicants, an increase of 17,086 from the previous year's 59,178, and recorded the second-highest competition rate overall, even when combined with the top-tier universities. In particular, Gachon University's competition rate is expected to continue to rise as it has a competition rate of over 35:1 based on the pure department essay competition rate for the third year in a row without applicants for medical, pharmacy, and oriental medicine. It means that the number of students hoping to attend Gachon University is increasing. After the final deadline, it appears that the number of potential examinees hoping to attend Gachon University has increased compared to the average of other universities. On the other hand, Hanyang University, Seoul Women's University, Sejong University, and Sookmyung Women's University saw a slight decline in competition rates compared to the previous year. These universities can be seen as returning to their original position, as the competition rate in the previous year increased.
Analysis of competition rates for student affairs evaluation in mid-to-high-tier universities
Analysis of student affairs evaluation competition rates for top-tier universities
The competition rate for student affairs evaluation for top-tier universities in the 2024 academic year decreased for most universities except Hongik University and Yonsei University. In particular, Seoul National University, Konkuk University, Dongguk University, and Kyung Hee University saw a significant decline in competition rates, with 9.27:1, 6.92:1, 4.61:1, and 4.32:1, respectively. Therefore, it seems that the competition rate for the student record curriculum competition was mostly less than 1 in the past, but it increased significantly with the introduction of the student record curriculum competition to all universities and then returned to its original position. Another thing is that the possibility is clearly distinguished. In terms of the fact that the cut-off line for last year's grade is all open to the public and the expected results can be confirmed, the competition rate of 10:1 can be considered too high.
Nevertheless, Konkuk University, Kyung Hee University, and Dongguk University are selecting students based on comprehensive documents, but it is analyzed that this is because it does not significantly affect the grades, even if it is selected in this way, especially since it has decreased a lot this year. Although many students flocked to the implementation of the curriculum competition that included comprehensive documents, there was a decrease in the number of applicants because the influence of the document reflection was not as great as expected. In the student record curriculum competition of top-tier universities, the universities with the most applicants were Hongik University with 7234, Korea University with 6,998, and Dongguk University with 5,653.
Analysis of the competition rate for the student record curriculum competition in mid-to-high-ranking universities
In the student record curriculum competition of mid-to-high-ranking universities, the universities with the most applicants were Gajon University with 7,281 outstanding students in the student record, Seoul National University of Science and Technology with 6,990, Gachon University with 4,742 regional balance, Kyonggi University with 4,498 excellent academic performance, and Myongji University with 4,261 curriculum interviews. The universities with high competition rates were Seoul National University of Science and Technology with 713:1, Myongji University with 14.9:1 curriculum interviews, Kyonggi University with 14.84:1 excellent academic performance, Gachon University with 14.25:1 outstanding students in the student record, and Gachon University with 12.99:1 regional balance.
In the student record curriculum competition of mid-to-high-ranking universities, the competition rate generally decreased, but Gachon University outstanding students in the student record, Myongji University curriculum interviews, Kyonggi University excellent academic performance, and Samyuk University showed a significant increase in competition rates. On the other hand, Gachon University regional balance decreased by -13.47, Samyuk University school recommendation decreased by -8.36, Seoul Women's University decreased by -10.33, and Soongsil University decreased by -6.06 compared to last year. Gachon University regional balance seems to have returned to normal levels this year because so many applicants, 10,189, were attracted, which is 2-10 times more than other universities, and the number of applicants itself is higher than the average of mid-to-high-ranking universities.
