Careful planning key to getting admissions

By Kim Bo-eun

Since the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) was taken Nov. 8, private education institutes have been hosting events to give advice on college admission procedures.

These events are teeming with parents and students across the nation hoping to obtain strategies to enter the best possible schools, given their scores.

Although one’s score is the main basis in selecting schools of application, knowledge of some basic facts may serve as useful tips in maximizing the chance of going to the school of one’s choice.

Understanding basics

The first step is to understand the tendency that students have in applying to schools, depending on whether it is early admission or regular admission through test scores.

Early admission takes place before the CSAT and from this year, each student can apply to six universities of their choice. Those who do not get accepted into any of those schools can take the latter option of taking the CSAT.

The students who apply through this process therefore have a tendency to choose schools they wish to go to even if their school grades on transcripts may fall short of the required standard. This is because even if they are not accepted to any of those schools, they have another chance through taking the CSAT.

Application through the CSAT however, is limited to three schools, and students don’t get a second opportunity when they fail to gain admission to these schools. Therefore, the majority of students who take the CSAT tend to apply to schools and departments that require scores similar to theirs’ or lower, since they don’t have a fallback option.

Another tendency for students applying after taking the test is that they tend to base their choices on the name value of the school, rather than the departments that they are interested in.

The result is that unpopular departments at prestigious universities overflow with applicants, which slims the chance of them being accepted.

On the other hand, it is quite often the case where popular departments such as business administration of top schools fall short of applicants, as students calculate that there will be more competition for popular areas of study and less for unpopular ones.

“Last year, because the CSAT was relatively easy, a large number of students performed well on the test, and this made a lot of them apply to schools and departments requiring lower scores to avoid excessive competition,” said Jang Moon-sung, CEO of Haneul Education.

“But because the test was relatively difficult this year, we do not expect that to happen again.”

Effects of test’s level of difficulty

Depending on how difficult the year’s CSAT was, departments at elite universities require different levels of scores. The logic is that when the test is relatively easy, a larger pool of students perform well on the test and the number applying to popular departments at prestigious schools increases, raising the competition.

However, when the test is tough, the students who usually do well obtain good scores, which enable only these students to apply to the cream of the crop. Essentially, if the tests are difficult, it creates favorable conditions for smart students.

For the rest, the difficulty of the test does not matter as much,

Experts have evaluated this year’s test as harder than the previous year, but more challenging than the test in 2010.

“The math and English subjects were harder this year, so students with good scores will have an advantage,” said Jang.

Less CSAT-takers this year

A notable piece of information is that the number of students who took the CSAT this year decreased by 25,104 this year from the previous year.

“The main reason is that schools are increasing the number of students they accept through the early admissions process,” Jang said.

Starting last year, when students admitted through the early admissions process do not fill the quota, schools are able to accept more students to fill the slots. As the students who are accepted through the process are unable to take the CSAT, the number of test-takers decreased.

At the same time, among those taking the test, more students are being admitted through the early admissions process at prestigious universities which is composed of an essay exam and minimum CSAT scores, resulting in less students applying to universities with only their test scores. This year, 1,000 more students are to be accepted through the above mentioned admissions process.

The decrease in students applying solely through their test scores is bound to lessen the competition. However, a closer look shows that students taking the social science subjects decreased by 23,792, while those taking the natural sciences subject increased by 6,309. Therefore for the latter group, competition may be heightened, education institution Megastudy predicted.

Careful examination and planning

Experts advise test-takers to check their scores as soon as possible. Although the official scores are later reported, in order to set up strategies in applying to schools, the student needs to have a concrete idea of one’s performance on the test. When unsure of which answer one selected while checking the questions to add up one’s score, the safe route is to consider that the answer was wrong.

The estimated test score will then provide a range of schools that one can apply for and appropriate strategies can be set according to each school.

Jang added that students need not be overly concerned about the changes in the CSAT to take place next year.

“Students should apply with confidence in their scores and don’t have try to settle for less because they are afraid to re-taking the test next year when it changes,” he said.