New freshmen attend an orientation session for the 2023 academic year with their seniors cheering them on at Seoul National University in the South Korean capital on Jan. 5. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of dropouts has been increasing at major universities in Seoul in the last three years, largely due to the increasing number of students enrolling in medical school.
Jongno Academy, an educational institution for college admissions, reported that there were 7,111 dropouts from 11 major universities in Seoul in 2022, up from 5,518 people in 2020.
A total of 4,388 people dropped out of natural science departments, up by 51 percent. The number of dropouts from the humanities department more or less stayed constant.
1,874 students dropped out of South Korea’s three most prestigious universities — Seoul National University, Yonsei University and Korea University — and 75.8 percent of whom were from natural science departments.
From the three universities, dropouts from natural science departments jumped in percentage from 66.8 percent in 2020 to 71.1 percent in 2021.
At Seoul National University, 275 in 341 dropouts were from the College of Natural Sciences, which was 4.2 times greater than the number from the College of Humanities.
Hospital Playlist, one of the most popular dramas on Netflix in South Korea in 2021.
“Dropouts from natural science departments at Seoul National University, Yonsei University and Korea University are assumed to have taken the college entrance exam again to enter medical school,” Jongno Academy said.
Students were able to apply for undergraduate medical school programs starting in 2022, which might have led many students to drop out of their prior program of study to try out for medical school.
Experts believe that more people may drop out of college to retake examinations and enter medical school.
For the 2023 college admission applications, 4,015 students chose not to enroll at Seoul National University, Yonsei University or Korea University despite having been accepted.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
