Universities Moving to Scrap Essay Tests
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Sogang University and several other schools are moving to drop essay tests in their selection of students from as early as next year.
Their move indicates that universities are changing their selection methods after President-elect Lee Myung-bak reaffirmed his government will guarantee full autonomy to universities in the process.
Sogang said Monday that it will not give the essay test from this year if students' scores on the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) are disclosed. CSAT scores this year have been given to students only in the form of levels, while absolute figures were not available.
``We had to use the essay test because it is hard to evaluate students with only CSAT results which show only nine grades,'' a school admissions officer said. Other schools including Ewha Womans University, Chung-Ang University and Sungkyunkwan University also have the same plans as Sogang.
So far, the government has intervened in entrance exam plans of universities directly or indirectly. For example, the education ministry had requested universities to give weightings of more than 30 percent to school records when selecting students in order to promote public education.
Also, the ministry has asked universities to put less weight on the CSAT, state-run college admission test in order to cut private education costs. Moreover, it no longer provides test takers with raw scores.
As a result, many universities have said they have experienced difficulties in differentiating between students only through CSAT grades and school records.