It has already been four months since Korea University’s (KU) early admission program 2-2 went high on the agenda. Hundreds of students and teachers nationwide raised an objection that they can not agree on the results. Contrary to their expectations, top scoring students were disqualified at the first stage. KU declared that there was nothing
wrong with the results and conducted the admission. Until now, doubts on KU admission remained unresolved. However, on February 26, the Korean Council for University Education (KCUE) officially announced that KU was not responsible for adopting the high school ranking system, which had been the main dispute of the matter. Still, some remain skeptical and question the truth behind KU’s 2009 admissions.
Last October, a fierce controversy broke out over KU’s 2-2 process. The controversy first arose when KU announced successful candidates of the first stage of the 2-2 process on October 23. Top scoring students were astonished by their unexpected failure since the first stage recruits 15 to 17 times more than the final accepted number of students. When approximately 150 out of 200 students in a foreign language high school were allegedly known as having passed the first stage, students from public high schools protested. Later on, some students complained that they failed to pass the first stage while other inferior students from the same high school were admitted. As the problems grew serious, the National College Preparation Guidance Association even tried to file an injunction to stop the proceedings of the 2-2 process.
The controversy was provoked again on February 2 when Assemblyman Kwon Young-Ghil of the Democratic Labor Party publicly spoke about the 2-2 process. According to data compiled by Kwon, 4,295 students from foreign language high schools underwent the 2-2 process and 2,508 among them were accepted at the first stage. Kwon also indicated that even though foreign language high school students account for only 10.53% of all applicants, 30.41% of the successful candidates were foreign language high school students.
The controversial 2-2 process at KU is a general selection that puts emphasis on school grades. In the first stage, the number of students competing for a slot is reduced to 15 to 17 in accordance to their scholastic performance (90%) and extracurricular activities (10%). Among them, successful candidates are chosen according to their essay writing scores and Korean Scholastic Assessment Test (KSAT) levels.
Students who have been rejected are still persistent in questioning this year’s admissions, stating that the results of the 2-2 process are suspicious, considering how the process is supposed to work. Students from public high schools are wondering how hundreds of foreign language high school students with low school grades got through the first stage although the admissions process stresses school grades. Also, students cast doubt on why students with lower grades passed, while students with higher grades from the same high school failed.
Did KU favor foreign language high school students?
The most contentious issue for the 2-2 process mishap is the allegations about the ranking of high schools. A number of students, parents, and teachers doubted whether KU ranked high schools in the 2-2 process. The rumor that 70% of the students from a small-scaled foreign language high school passed the first stage spread, and this made many ordinary high school students curious. It meant that foreign language high school students with a grade level of seven or eight were accepted while some students from public high schools with a grade level of one or two failed (one being the highest, and nine being the lowest). Considering the fact that GPA is the major factor in this admission process, it aroused controversy. Students and teachers said KU favored foreign language high school students and gave admission to those who have low school grades.
The figures about the 2-2 process provided by Assemblyman Kwon gave support to students and teachers who criticized KU’s high school grading system. From the data, the ratio of successful candidates among applicants from foreign language high school students was 58.4%. Moreover, in A Foreign Language High School, 212 students applied for KU early admission and 190 students passed, which makes the ratio of successful applicants 89.62%. Also, it was identified that two students from Y Foreign Language High School, even with a grade level of six to eight were admitted. Throughout his report, Kwon asserted that KU gave extra credit to students of foreign language high schools in the admission process that was supposed to select students based primarily on their school grades.
KU’s position on Kwon’s claim is that KU had selected students according to the admission principle and had not treated foreign language high school students favorably. KU explained that students with low school grades were qualified because of their excellence in extracurricular activities.
Was there any mistake regarding the complicated calculation method?
Even though the focus of the 2-2 process mishap is mainly on the excessively high ratio of successful applicants among foreign language high school students, there is another suspicion. Students with superior school grades failed to pass the first stage while students with inferior school grades from the same high school passed. Students and teachers assumed that extracurricular activities made a difference in admission at first. However, it turned out that even students with low school grades and less extracurricular activities were qualified while other students with better qualifications were disqualified.
The National College Preparation Guidance Association stated that KU might have made a mistake while calculating grades and applying incalculable values. KU had introduced its own system to calculate applicants’ school grades. This system is quite complicated and invariable values such as α and κ are included in this formula. The National College Preparation Guidance Association claimed that KU needs to verify the validity of the intricate calculation formula and usage of α and κ.
In to a letter that KU Office of Admissions Dean Seo Tae-Yeol sent to the head of the National College Preparation Guidance Association, he clarified that the calculation formula is a scientific outcome. He noted that KU had developed its own scientific calculating system in order to select students in a fair and objective way. It focused on solving problems such as grade inflation and tried to reflect the differences among high schools such as the number of students and difficulty of the exam.
Investigation of the KCUE Ethics Committee
On February 13, an ethics committee of the Korean Council for University Education (KCUE) called a meeting to discuss the controversy surrounding the KU admission mishap. KCUE, a negotiating body of 200 universities, is currently in charge of admission issues under the university autonomy policy. KCUE planned to hold the council in late February when the admission process comes to an end. However, KCUE decided to move the schedule to February 13 since disputes over the admission mishap heated up. “The Ethics Committee will deal not only with allegations on grading high schools but also overall issues that the press and other groups cast doubt on,” said KCUE officials before the meeting.
With the presence of the KCUE Ethics Committee members and the KU Office of Admission officials, Dean Seo explained the student selection through the KU 2-2 process. However, the Ethics Committee decided that it was not enough to clear doubt and called for further research. The committee demanded that KU explain how it is possible for Aublic school students with a grade level of one or two to be disqualified while foreign language high school students with a grade level of five or six to be qualified. Also, KU needs to elucidate why top scoring students failed, whereas students with lower grades passed without any explicit difference in extracurricular activities. Finally, KU should reveal the actual distribution between scholastic performance and extracurricular activities and how the calculation method was made and applied.
At an interview request while the KCUE investigation was still in progress, Dean Seo said, “It’s hard to clarify our position since there have been political attacks.” He continued, “Admission is a delicate matter which should not be treated rashly.” He mentioned that people should wait for the KCUE Ethics Committee investigation and KU’s official elucidation.
After the February 26 announcement that KU was not guilty, KCUE officials explained that they have held four Ethics Committee meetings, talked with KU officials including President Lee Ki-Su, and were able to reach this final decision. They added that if doubts regarding the admission process do not get settled after the KU press conference, they are considering opening an additional board meeting and creating an administrative investigation committee to get to the bottom of this ongoing dispute.
Following the KCUE’s official announcement, KU held a press conference, explaining its stance on the disputes on the high school ranking system, favoring foreign high school graduates, and how school records were reflected in the admission process. KU officials expressed regret concerning the confusion that they caused applicants and parents. “The somewhat complex proceedings of the different types of entrance admissions have not been informed in prior as clearly as we would have hoped, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to students and parents,” verified the KU Office of Admissions on that same day.
Daeseong High School Teacher and Chief of Daejeon College Preparation Guidance Association
Q. As a high school teacher, you may have been able to notice students’ reactions directly. How did students take their failure?
A. Right after the results of the first stage were announced, students who failed said that they didn’t know extracurricular activities would contribute to the results that much. However, when they realized other students with lower qualifications passed the first stage, they were in shock. They wondered why they were disqualified.
Q. What do you think is the primary issue surrounding KU early admission mishap?
A. Even though the press is concentrating on KU’s giving extra credit to foreign language high school students, that’s not the point. The press only focuses on school ranking in order to get the story. We, members of the College Preparation Guidance Association, never use the term school ranking in regard to this controversy. Main points are that KU had distorted the purpose of the 2-2 process and used a method that was too complicated to calculate school grades.
Q. Why do you think KU distorted the purpose of the 2-2 process?
A. When students and teachers protested why students with low school grades were qualified while students with high school grades were disqualified, KU stated that the difference in extracurricular activities might have affected the result. This doesn’t make sense, because 90% 9070 of this general selection is based on school grades and KU admission officials used to say it will give more weight to school grades. We are curious about the actual weight of extracurricular activities.
Q. What do you think about KU’s calculation method?
A. I think it is too complicated. I’d like to know why it is so complicated. Since it is too complicated, KU might have made a mistake while calculating all of the applicants’ school grades.
Q. Assemblyman Kwon Young-Ghil of the Democratic Labor Party publicly spoke about the 2-2 process. What do you think about it?
A. Kwon tries to turn this controversy into a political issue. However, we are quite different from him. We just want to approach this issue only as an educational one. We’d like to solve this problem in an educational way and reach a substantive solution that could help students.
Q. It is known that KU is uncooperative about this controversy.
A. It is not true, actually. KU has been very cooperative with us and a series of discussions have been held. KU agreed with us on dealing with this controversy in an educational way.
Q. What kind of progress has been made so far?
A. KU decided to achieve its primary purpose in the next 2-2 process. KU said it will reflect only school grades. Moreover, we have made a request to form an advisory committee composed of high school teachers. Until now, only KU admission officials worked on the admission criteria. We think high school teachers can supplement these criteria.
Q. What is the association’s future plan?
A. The National College Preparation Guidance Association will hold a meeting on February 23 to talk about the discussions we had with KU admission officials. We hope that the admission mishap won’t happen ever again. If KU is identified as having been at fault after KCUE’s probe, we will demand an apology and explanation.
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madeleine@korea.ac.kr
