Over 80 percent of students accepted to law schools at Seoul National University, Yonsei University and Korea University this year also completed their previous education at these three schools, according to data from Jongro Academy on Wednesday.

Of the 403 students accepted to law schools at these universities, 86.4 percent, or 348, earned their previous degrees from one of the three institutions.


Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University are considered Korea's top universities and are collectively referred to by the acronym SKY.

Seoul National University graduates accounted for 50.1 percent of law school freshmen at the three universities, or 202 students. Yonsei University followed with 86 students, making up 21.3 percent, while Korea University had 60 students, or 14.9 percent.

"When applying to law schools, the document review and interview stages carry significant weight, and the name of the university plays a very important role in admissions," said Lim Sung-ho, CEO of Jongro Academy.

Beyond these three schools, 13 graduates from KAIST, or 3.2 percent, were admitted to SKY law schools. Sungkyunkwan University followed with nine students, or 2.2 percent.

Ewha Womans University and the Korean National Police University each had six students admitted, while Chung-Ang University had four. Sogang University and Hanyang University each had three, and Kyung Hee University and Chonnam National University had two each.

Female students made up 39 percent of SKY law school freshmen this year, down 7.3 percentage points from the 2024 academic year.

On average, Yonsei University's law school freshmen were 25.2 years old, while Korea University's were 26.2 years old. Seoul National University did not disclose the average age of its freshmen.

There were 17 students aged 30 or older enrolled in Yonsei and Korea University's law schools, up from nine the previous year.

"The average age of successful law school applicants has risen due to the challenging job market, economic difficulties, and the growing preference for high-status professional occupations," said Jongro Academy's Lim. "Many of the students accepted to law school come from top-ranking departments like economics and business, and a similar trend of increasing average age is also seen in medical school enrollment within the natural sciences."

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]