Medical school ‘study abroad in local area’… Gangwon, the largest number of local talents per student (comprehensive)

In Gangwon, ‘One out of 100 people’ can go to medical school
Honam ranks 2nd, Chungcheong 3rd… ‘Gangwon·Honam·Chungcheong’ advantageous in the next year as well
More spots for regional talent selection in 2026… “Must meet the minimum requirements for the CSAT”
A significant number of non-capital region medical schools have a competition rate of less than 1:6, with the possibility of being ‘undersubscribed’,
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A banner for medical school admission posted at a high school in Daegu
A banner for medical school admission was posted at a high school in Beomeo-dong, Suseong-gu, Daegu on May 27. [Yonhap News Agency Photo. Redistribution and DB prohibition],
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, ” (Seoul·Sejong=Yonhap News) By Kim Soo-hyun and Seo Hye-rim = With a significant expansion in the number of medical school admissions for regional talents and regional talent selection, students and parents aiming for medical school admissions are expected to calculate which region will be advantageous for ‘local study abroad’.”,
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, ” When looking at the scale of regional talent selection compared to the number of students, it is analyzed that it is relatively easier to enter medical schools in ‘Gangwon, Honam, and Chungcheong’ regions.”,
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, ‘ According to the results of comparing the size of regional talent selection for 26 non-capital region medical schools and the estimated number of students based on the 2023 educational statistics by Jongno Academy on the 2nd, this year, the region with the largest regional talent selection scale for the 2025 academic year is Gangwon region, reaching 1.25%.’,
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, ‘ The number of high school seniors in Gangwon region is 11,732, and this region selects 147 students for regional talent selection at four medical schools.’,
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, ‘ Mathematically, it means that about 1.3 out of 100 high school seniors in Gangwon region can enter medical school through regional talent selection.’,
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, ‘ Regional talent selection is a system that allows students who reside in that region and graduated from high schools in that region to apply only to medical schools in that region.’,
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, ‘ The Enforcement Decree of the Law on the Promotion of Non-Metropolitan Universities classifies the standards of regions into 6 regions: Chungcheong region (Daejeon, Sejong, South Chungcheong, North Chungcheong), Honam region (Gwangju, Jeonnam, Jeonbuk), Daegu-Gyeongbuk region (Daegu, Gyeongbuk), Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam region (Busan, Ulsan, Gyeongnam), Gangwon region, and Jeju region.’,
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, ” Starting from the 2028 academic year, middle school students must also come from a ‘non-capital region’. In other words, current 9th graders must live in a non-capital region and attend a middle school located in a non-capital region to meet the eligibility requirements for regional talent selection.”,
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, ‘ The Enforcement Decree of the Law on the Promotion of Non-Metropolitan Universities stipulates that for medical schools, more than 40% (20% for Gangwon and Jeju regions) of students should be selected as regional talents.’,
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, ” However, with the increase in medical school admissions and the government recommending that more than ‘60%’ of regional talent selection be conducted for non-capital region medical schools, the number of regional talent selection spots has significantly increased this time.”,
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, ‘ The total number of regional talent selection spots for the 2025 academic year at 26 universities is 1,913, an increase of 888 compared to the previous year (1,025).’,
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, ‘ The proportion of regional talent selection also expanded by close to 10 percentage points from 50.0% to 59.7%.’,
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, ” This has led to speculations that there may be a boom in studying abroad in non-capital regions.”,
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, ‘ Based on the 2025 academic year data, following Gangwon region with the largest regional talent selection scale relative to the number of high school seniors, Honam region ranks next at 1.01%.’,
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, ‘ Honam region selects 443 students for regional talent selection at four medical schools.’,
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, ‘ Chungcheong region ranked third at 0.96%.’,
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, ‘ This was followed by Daegu-Gyeongbuk region 0.90%, Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam region 0.77%, and Jeju region 0.57%.’,
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Promotional materials for medical school admissions posted at an academy in Seoul on the morning of May 30. [Yonhap News Agency Photo. Redistribution and DB prohibition],
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, ‘ The situation remains the same for current 11th graders for the 2026 academic year admissions.’,
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, ‘ Comparing the admission plans for the 2026 academic year with the number of 11th-grade students, Gangwon region ranks the highest at 1.31%, followed by Honam region at 1.04% and Chungcheong region at 0.98%.’,
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, ‘ Then followed by Daegu-Gyeongbuk region at 0.90%, Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam region at 0.81%, and Jeju region at 0.76%.’,
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, ‘ The ranking remains the same as the 2025 academic year, but the situation for the 2026 academic year is more pronounced towards students in non-capital regions as each university has indicated that they will select more regional talents than in the 2025 academic year.’,
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, ‘ In the 2026 academic year, out of 3,542 spots available for non-capital region medical schools, 63.2%, or 2,238 spots, will be selected through regional talent selection.’,
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, ‘ With the increase in the regional talent recruitment quota for non-capital region medical schools, there is also an analysis suggesting that there may be an increase in universities where the competition rate based on the previous year’s applicants falls below 1:6.’,
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, ‘ According to Jongno Academy, among the 26 non-capital region universities in the 2025 admissions, 17 out of 26 universities may not have a competition rate of 6:1 or higher.’,
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, ‘ Lim Sung-ho, the head of Jongno Academy, said, “Based on the standard admission process, where up to six applications are allowed for regular courses, if the competition rate does not exceed 6:1, it can be considered as ‘undersubscribed'” and added, “If the minimum CSAT requirement is not met, this situation could occur even more significantly.”‘,
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, ‘ Unlike the previous year where there were no universities with competition rates less than 4:1 or 3:1, it is expected that in the 2025 academic year, there may be an increase to 12 and 7 universities, respectively.’,
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, ‘ Compared to the previous year, if the number of applicants remains the same, in the 2025 academic year, Dongguk University (WISE) could see the largest decrease from 24.25:1 to 6.5:1.’,
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, ‘ Also, Chungbuk National University could decrease from 13.0:1 to 2.97:1, Ulsan University from 12.56:1 to 3.05:1, Konkuk University from 13.91:1 to 4.50:1, and Catholic Kwandong University from 11.90:1 to 2.98:1.’,
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, ‘ By region, six universities in the Chungcheong region could see the largest decrease from 9.55:1 to 3.24:1.’,
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, ‘ The average competition rate for regional talent selection for the 26 universities nationwide was 10.46:1, with 8,369 applicants.’,
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, ‘ As the number of regional talent selection spots at each university has increased, Jongno Academy predicted that to maintain the competition rate from the previous year, the number of applicants would need to nearly double to 16,204 applicants, which is unlikely to happen.’,
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Excitement among academies in Gwangju, with the highest proportion of regional talent selection quotas for medical schools
(Gwangju=Yonhap News) By Cho Namsu,
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, ‘ However, there are more variables to consider about how many local students can actually enter medical schools.’,
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, ” A considerable portion of regional talent selections are expected to be admitted through direct entrance examinations, as universities are demanding that ‘CSAT minimum grade standards’ be met for the direct regional talent selection.”,
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, ‘ According to Jongno Academy, there are only two universities among those operating regional talent selections in the 2025 academic year that do not apply the CSAT minimum grade standards to direct regional talent selections, which are Konkuk University and Soonchunhyang University.’,
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, ‘ If students who fail to meet the minimum CSAT grade set by universities arise, the regional talent selection quota will not be fully filled.’,
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, ‘ In this regard, an official from the Ministry of Education said, “It is not desirable to reduce the CSAT minimum grade standard at once,” but added, “It will be possible to explore various admission methods to recruit students with abilities suitable for each school.”‘,
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