Perfect grades no guarantee of medical school admission as 5-tier grading looms

By Yang Geun-hyuk, The Herald Business

Six medical schools set their minimum passing grade at a perfect 1.0 in the school record-based admissions track for the 2026 academic year. Experts warn that a shift to a five-tier grading system beginning with the 2028 admissions cycle could leave even top-scoring students shut out of medical school.

Jongno Hagwon released an analysis Sunday of school record-based admissions results at medical schools nationwide. Of the 32 universities that disclosed their cutoff scores, six — Yonsei University, Catholic University of Korea, Ulsan University, Kyung Hee University, Inha University and Ajou University — recorded a passing cutoff of grade 1.

The full breakdown of passing cutoffs shows six schools (18.8 percent) at grade 1.0; five schools (15.6 percent) in the 1.02–1.09 range; seven schools (21.9 percent) in the 1.11–1.15 range; four schools (12.5 percent) in the 1.16–1.19 range; four schools (12.5 percent) in the 1.20–1.28 range; five schools (15.6 percent) in the 1.30–1.45 range; and one school (3.1 percent) at 1.53.

Because the school record-based track evaluates applicants primarily on grades, students with a perfect grade 1 across all subjects can still be rejected by some medical schools.

Jongno Hagwon projected that once the current nine-tier grading system is replaced by a five-tier system starting with the 2028 admissions cycle, grades alone will no longer reliably differentiate among applicants in medical school early admissions.

Under the nine-tier system, a grade of up to 1.45 is estimated to correspond to a 1.0 under the five-tier system. That means the passing cutoff at most medical schools could effectively fall within a single top grade, making it nearly impossible to distinguish between candidates on grades alone.