By Park Chung-a
Staff Reporter
The Gangnam district of southern Seoul, known for intensive cram schools, is seeing itself more and more crowded with overseas Korean high school students who have come to take intensive SAT courses, the mandatory entrance exam for U.S. universities.
``About 95 percent of our students are South Korean high school students residing overseas who want to go to U.S. universities. They come here to get intensive courses on SAT to make the best use of their summer vacation,'' said Kim, an owner of one cram school in Gangnam district. `` Most of our teachers are composed of graduates of Ivy League universities including Yale and Princeton. Most of them are American nationals.''
Monthly tuition fee for the cram school is eight times higher than 450,000 won, the average standard fee for the school set by the government.
One private institute in Shinsa-dong, Seoul, charges even more than 10 million won for a 10-week SAT math course.
Despite the high price, in order to attend the SAT intensive courses during summer vacation, overseas students have to make reservations as early as possible as they get fully booked by the end of April.
``Last year, we gave a presentation for the SAT course at various hotels," an official at the institute said. "But this year, we were overwhelmed by the number of applicants without any presentation. We have no more room for students at the moment.''
Students say that South Korea's intensive tutoring programs specialized in U.S university entrance exams are very effective for them to prepare for the exam.
``The cram school here teaches us all the know-how for the test, which is hard to get alone. Courses on the exam are not only intensive but also systematic, helping us better prepare for the exam,'' said Kim Na-young, a South Korean high school student residing in the U.S. ``As my parents are in the United States at present, I have to rent an apartment room for two months to attend the course here.''
Parents say they have no choice but to send their children to SAT cram schools in Korea because there are no such private academies in the U.S.
``I spent more than 25 million won on SAT courses in Korea over the last three years,'' said a mother of son who went to a U.S. university this year.
According to statistics, the number of homecoming Korean students stood at 15,000 last year and is expected to grow further this year.