16,181 apply to 8 Seoul med schools — down 32% from 2021 peak

Semiconductor contract programs and regional doctor system cited as key factors

Regional-track applications jump 40% as Greater Seoul applicants lose access

A medical school in Seoul. This image is not directly related to the article. [Yonhap]
A medical school in Seoul. This image is not directly related to the article. [Yonhap]

The long-stable landscape of South Korea's university admissions is shifting. The number of early-round applicants to medical schools in Seoul has fallen to its lowest level in a decade, a domain once considered the exclusive preserve of the country's top science students.

Analysts point to two converging forces behind the retreat of elite applicants: the rise of semiconductor contract programs at major conglomerates offering guaranteed employment, and the introduction of a regional doctor system at provincial medical schools that has narrowed access for students from the Greater Seoul area.

According to Jongno Hagwon, a major college-entrance consulting firm, a total of 16,181 students applied in the early-admissions round to eight medical schools in Seoul for the 2027 academic year. That is down 267, or 1.6 percent, from the previous year's 16,448 — and the smallest figure in the past decade. Compared with the peak of 23,876 applicants recorded for the 2021 academic year, the number has plunged 32.2 percent, or 7,695 applicants.

The drop is largely attributed to a strategic shift among top-tier science students. As the government has pushed to develop advanced industries, semiconductor contract programs tied to major companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have emerged as a genuine alternative for the country's best science and engineering talent, analysts say, dispersing what was once an almost reflexive rush toward medical school.

A shrinking pool of admissions tracks open to Greater Seoul students has also dealt a direct blow to application numbers. The number of applicants from Seoul pursuing open-national-track spots at 26 provincial medical schools came to 8,627 — down 1,928, or 18.3 percent, from the previous year's 10,555. Compared with the 2022 academic year, when 21,011 students applied through that route, the figure has fallen 58.9 percent.

Applications to four medical schools in the Gyeonggi-Incheon area also declined, dropping from 12,942 last year to 12,022 this year, a decrease of 920, or 7.1 percent. Combined, the total number of applicants pursuing tracks accessible to Greater Seoul students — including Seoul schools, Gyeonggi-Incheon schools and open-national-track spots at provincial schools — fell by 3,115, or 7.8 percent, from the previous year.

Regional-track admissions, by contrast, drew a surge of interest. Applications to regional-selection tracks at 27 provincial medical schools — including the established regional talent program and the newly introduced regional doctor system, both targeting local students — jumped to 15,775, up 4,528, or 40.3 percent, from the previous year's 11,247. Excluding the 2025 academic year, when medical school enrollment expanded and applications reached 19,423, this year's regional-track figure is the highest in five years.

Jongno Hagwon attributed the overall decline to a combination of factors: fewer admissions tracks available to Greater Seoul applicants, and the dispersal of top science students toward other promising fields such as semiconductor contract programs.

"If regional doctor system recruitment expands further, there is a real possibility that a polarization trend will continue — with fewer Greater Seoul students applying to medical school and more provincial students doing so," Im Seong-ho, head of Jongno Hagwon, told Yonhap.


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