This year's number of regular-admission applicants to medical schools was the lowest in the past five years.
On Jan. 4, Jongro Academy tallied the 2026 academic year's nationwide regular-admission applications to medical schools and found that this year's total at 39 medical schools nationwide was 7,125, down 32.3% from a year earlier.
Over the past five years, the number of regular-admission applicants was △9,233 in the 2022 academic year △8,044 in 2023 △8,098 in 2024 △10,518 in 2025 △7,125 in 2026. Even excluding the 2025 academic year, when medical school enrollment quotas increased by 2,000, the applicant pool that had stayed in the 8,000–9,000 range plunged into the 7,000s this year.
However, the average competition ratio at medical schools nationwide rose slightly from 6.58 to 1 last year to 6.61 to 1 this year. By region, the Seoul area fell from 4.19 to 1 to 3.80 to 1. By contrast, Gyeongin rose from 4.65 to 1 to 7.04 to 1, and non-capital regions increased from 7.77 to 1 to 8.17 to 1.
By university, Kosin University posted the highest competition ratio nationwide at 24.65 to 1, while Ewha Womans University recorded the lowest at 2.94 to 1.
Applicant numbers fell in all regions. The Seoul area had 1,409 applicants, down 9.8% from the previous year. Gyeongin had 387 applicants, a steep 54.0% drop from a year earlier, and non-metropolitan regions had 5,329 applicants this year, down 34.3% from last year.