Medical school enrollment enquiries grow amid government's quota expansion push

Students pass by a banner boasting high admission rates into medical schools at a private cram school in Seoul's Gangnam District, Wednesday. Yonhap

Interest in medical schools is growing among students as well as those in universities and those who have jobs, following the government’s recent announcement to raise the annual enrollment quota at medical schools by an extra 2,000 starting in 2025.

In particular, those who are currently majoring in different subjects at universities or working in other fields, are making a lot of inquiries to private cram schools and online forums, asking about the feasibility of taking the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) again in order to get into medical schools. The CSAT is the national college entrance exam that takes place every November.

Like in many other countries, being a doctor is considered one of the most respected and honorable professions in Korea. The unemployment crisis is also attributed to the growing interest among young adults in taking the CSAT again so as to attend a medical school.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that the annual enrollment quota at 40 medical schools across the county will increase to 5,058 from the current 3,058, starting in 2025 and lasting to at least 2029.

A civil servant in his early 30s, who works at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, posted a question on Blind, an anonymous chat app for verified employees, Wednesday, asking for advice from others about studying for the CSAT again so as to get into a medical school.

“The government said the enrollment quota will be dramatically increased, so I want to try the exam,” he wrote. “I am thinking about studying for two to three years. What do you guys think? It is not recommended?”

In another online community forum belonging to Seoul National University, which is considered to have the country’s top medical school, an unidentified person wrote that those, who bravely challenged themselves when law schools or medical graduate schools were first introduced, always succeeded.

“Doctors’ lives are incomparable to those of regular employees. I think it is a good time to take up a challenge,” the person wrote.

Doctors walk near a hospital in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

Private cram schools are receiving a high number of inquiries.

Nam Yoon-gon, who is in charge of college entrance strategy at MegaStudyEdu, one of the top cram schools in Korea, said those who have made such inquiries included a Seoul National University graduate who recently got a job and an incumbent teacher at an elementary school.

According to Jongro Academy, another major cram school, the number of people preparing to enter medical schools in 2025 is expected to increase by more than 6,000 to 15,851.

The cram school also expected that the number of parents who will opt to move to regions outside the Seoul metropolitan area with their children will increase, as this decision will work to their advantage when their children seek to enter local medical schools.

This anticipation came as Health Minister Cho Kyu-hong said the government will prioritize efforts to increase the quota at medical schools situated outside the Seoul metropolitan area in a bid to address regional disparities and improve access to medical services in underserved areas.

The country’s medical school admission system gives advantages to students studying at a high school in a region when they apply for a medical school in the same region.