After introducing the College Admission Simplification Policy, there has been debate about whether general admission or the Comprehensive School Report (CSR) admission is a better system. Specifically, some believe the CSR maintains its positive impac...
After introducing the College Admission Simplification Policy, there has been debate about whether general admission or the Comprehensive School Report (CSR) admission is a better system. Specifically, some believe the CSR maintains its positive impact on enhancing public education with curricular diversity and in selecting promising students. On the contrary, others doubt its fairness and reliability and criticize this new policy for excessively burdening students and their parents with application preparations. This study examines the impacts of family background, educational settings, and extracurricular activities on choosing a specific admission type. Using Seoul Educational Longitudinal Study (SELS) data, results showed that living in an educationally privileged area had a significant effect on reducing the likelihood of choosing the CSR type but household income and parental education were not significant. Next, the analysis found significance in the association between extracurricular activities and college admission type choice. More proactive participation in career development activities and higher level of career maturity were related to higher likelihood to get admitted by colleges through the CSR type. Lastly, parental support for students’ educational and career development had mixed impacts on choosing admission types. Parents who spent more on private tutoring services were more likely to choose the CSR type. However, parental effort to participate in college fairs and paid consulting was not significantly related to admission type choice.