Hotel Shilla President Lee Boo-jin (left) and Hong Ra-hee, honorary director of the Leeum Museum of Art, walk with Lee's son Lim after his university entrance ceremony at Seoul National University in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, in February. [Yonhap]
Hotel Shilla President Lee Boo-jin (left) and Hong Ra-hee, honorary director of the Leeum Museum of Art, walk with Lee's son Lim after his university entrance ceremony at Seoul National University in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, in February. [Yonhap]

A large majority of students who improved their College Scholastic Ability Test scores on their second attempt deliberately cut back on social relationships and smartphone and social media use to better manage their study environment, a new survey shows. Experts say the key is not simply cutting off contact but identifying and regulating whatever disrupts one's own learning rhythm.

Education platform Jinhaksa on Wednesday released results of an online survey of 842 repeat test takers who raised their scores on the 2026 CSAT. The survey was conducted from Feb. 9 to March 2.

Some 83.7 percent of respondents said they intentionally reduced their social relationships during their repeat year. The most common response — 58.3 percent — was "kept only necessary contact," while 25.4 percent said they cut off almost all contact. By contrast, only 7.4 percent said they maintained social relationships at roughly the same level as during their senior year of high school.

Media use — including smartphones, social media and YouTube — also dropped sharply. Some 62.4 percent said they used media only minimally, and 12.6 percent said they blocked it entirely, meaning about 75 percent of respondents actively reduced their digital use during their repeat year. Another 20.9 percent said their usage was similar to before, while 4.2 percent said they used media more than previously.

[Yonhap]
[Yonhap]

The findings echo the study methods of Lim Dong-hyeon, the son of Hotel Shilla President Lee Boo-jin, whose account of gaining admission to Seoul National University drew wide attention. Speaking at a hagwon lecture after his acceptance, Lim said he "strongly recommends completely cutting off smartphones and games for three years."

Lim said staying away from smartphones and games helped sharpen his concentration and focus. He recalled that "the enjoyment of those things — tasted again for the first time in three years on the day after finishing all my exams — was quite something."

Experts caution, however, that the same approach does not work for every student.

Woo Yeon-cheol, director of Jinhaksa's college admissions strategy research institute, said the key is not to uniformly cut off relationships or unconditionally block all media, but to examine what disrupts one's own learning rhythm and adjust accordingly. "The strategy that matters is building a lifestyle rhythm — one that realistically manages social relationships, media use and rest time alongside a study plan — and sustaining it all the way to exam day," he said.

Experts broadly agree that the heart of exam preparation lies not in the sheer number of hours studied but in consistently creating an environment conducive to focus. Rather than blocking smartphones or social media entirely, they say, setting personal usage boundaries and maintaining a steady daily rhythm can help improve long-term study efficiency.


rainbow@heraldcorp.com