SNU Admissions Officers to Pick More Students
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Seoul National University announced Tuesday that its admissions officers will pick as many as 1,200 students, or nearly 40 percent of its new students, beginning 2011.
So far, the nation's top university's admission professionals have selected underprivileged students, including those in rural areas. This is the first time the state-run school will allow admissions officers pick students within the total student quota.
They selected 294 students this year, and will pick 331 next year.
The school's plan is expected to boost the burgeoning professional admissions system here, reducing dependence on test scores.
In related developments, presidents of 200 universities across the country abruptly cancelled a planned announcement of the overhaul and reform of their admissions systems.
Currently, most universities recruit high school students based on their test scores and many parents pay private education costs to help children get higher scores.
The Korean Council for University Education (KCUE), an organization of university presidents, delayed the announcement of the reform plan to next week.
A KCUE official said that the presidents decided to delay the announcement because the ``timing was not good.'' He did not elaborate further.
However, some school officials said that the cancellation came as the plan drew a negative reaction from parents. At the same time, anti-government rallies Wednesday also discouraged them from announcing the plan, they said.