Pre-med programs outside Seoul admitting more local grads

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Pre-med programs outside Seoul admitting more local grads

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Pre-medical programs at regional universities outside Seoul are admitting more graduates from area high schools, new data show.

According to research by the Ministry of Education and the Korean Council for University Education on new students majoring in medical sciences attending 32 regional universities, 39.3 percent of admissions this year were graduates from local high schools near each respective college.

That figure increased 8.3 percent from last year, when the rate was 31 percent.

In Korea, it is generally assumed that most regional universities are less competitive than schools in Seoul. But medical science programs are typically viewed in a different light, with many high-achieving students applying to medical science courses nationwide.

More than 50 percent of new pre-med students accepted to Pusan National University (PNU) and Chosun University in Gwangju came from areas in close proximity to those schools.

Of 88 new students accepted to the Department of Pre-Medicine at PNU, 61 are from Busan, Ulsan and elsewhere in South Gyeongsang, and 57 of 88 new students at the Department of Premedics at Chosun University are from the Jeolla region, including Gwangju.

At universities in North and South Gyeongsang including those in Daegu, Busan and Ulsan, more than 50 percent of students with medical science majors come from nearby areas, research shows. Those are followed by schools from North and South Jeolla with 43.9 percent, and the Chungcheong and Gangwon regions with 32.4 and 6.6 percent, respectively.

The increase was the result of a law unveiled by the ministry in 2013 to help make regional universities more competitive by requiring medical, dental and law schools outside Seoul to admit a certain quota of students who graduated from area high schools starting in the 2015 academic year.

According to the legislation, 30 percent of admissions at regional universities must be students from the surrounding areas. Gangwon has a 15 percent requirement.

Yeon Su-jin, a representative from the Education Ministry, added that the ministry will provide more financial aid to regional universities in order to encourage students from the respective regions to apply to programs there other than medical school.

This year, 79 regional universities will accept 9,980 students who will take the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) in November in an application process specifically tailored to regional high school graduates.

According to university admissions expert Kim Hui-dong, local students have an advantage when applying to pre-med courses at universities in the region in which they live, as they are eligible for early admissions for both the general application, as well as the application for local students.

BY KIM SUNG-TAK [nam.yoonseo@joongang.co.kr]
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