In the 2026 academic year early admissions at Seoul National University, Yonsei University and Korea University, the number of unfilled seats in natural sciences surged.
According to Jongno Academy on the 28th, the number of applicants who failed to fill the quota in the 2026 academic year early admissions at the three universities and were rolled over to regular admissions is 368. That is up 89 from 279 a year earlier, a 31.9% increase, and the most in the four years since the 2023 academic year.
Unfilled seats in natural sciences totaled 263, 2.1 times the 128 a year earlier. Jongno Academy said it is the most in the past five years. In contrast, unfilled seats in the humanities totaled 95, down from 143 in the 2025 academic year, the lowest level in the past five years.
By university, Seoul National University had 55 unfilled seats, up six from a year earlier. In the humanities, one seat each went unfilled in the business school and the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, while in natural sciences, unfilled seats occurred in 19 departments, including six in the College of Nursing, six in the Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, four in pharmacy, and three in the School of Advanced Convergence.
Yonsei University had 146 unfilled seats, up 15 from a year earlier, an 11.5% increase. In the humanities, 15 departments had unfilled seats, including 39 in the School of Humanitas, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS), four in German language and literature, and three in business administration. In natural sciences, 20 departments failed to fill their quotas, including 12 in electrical and electronic engineering, 11 in advanced computing, seven in chemical and biomolecular engineering, and seven in system semiconductor engineering.
Korea University had 167 unfilled seats, up 68 from a year earlier, a 68.7% increase. Most of the unfilled seats were in natural sciences, including 28 in electrical and electronic engineering, 16 in computer science, and 13 in materials science and engineering.
Among the three universities' medical schools, Yonsei University and Korea University each had one unfilled seat, while Seoul National University had none.
Jongno Academy said the scale of unfilled seats reflects the competitive landscape among top-tier test-takers. It assessed that the decrease in unfilled seats in the humanities was due to more top-tier applications in early admissions and fewer overlapping acceptances, intensifying competition. It analyzed that the increase in unfilled seats in natural sciences was due to more overlapping acceptances and fewer top-tier students.
Jongno Academy also cited the significant increase in medical school admissions quotas. It said many 12th graders won admission to medical schools, apparently reducing the number of top-tier repeaters or partial repeaters in natural sciences.
Im Seong-ho, head of Jongno Academy, said, "Competition among humanities students is expected to be fierce even in regular admissions," adding, "In natural sciences, the decline in top-tier students will affect the regular admissions cutoff."