By Park Chung-a
Staff Reporter



Most university applicants are greatly apprehensive about their College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) scores, which virtually determine their admissions, and by extension their lives.
However, 18-year-old popular actress Moon Keun-young received an acceptance letter from Sungkyunkwan University, a top domestic university, regardless of her exam scores.

Moon will be able to enter the liberal arts department of the university next March as Sungkyunkwan University announced that she was admitted through ``self-recommendation,’’ an application process open only to those who possess ``special talents.’’

Super famous pop singer Rain, a student of Kyunghee University, was also accepted to the university’s art fusion design graduate school last week.

Universities fiercely compete to attract stars during the admission exam season. They claim the enormous publicity can enhance their image by recruiting celebrities. Students, however, are complaining that it is a shady admission practice.

Eugene, a former member of the girl group S.E.S. was at the center of criticism over her non-transparent admission into prestigious Korea University in 2000. Although the university officially said she was accepted by virtue of her singing and English ability, there were questions about how her skills were actually measured.

In 2002, the university withdrew the singer’s admission, claiming her high school was not qualified in the Korean education system. However, after a legal battle, her admission was re-instated and early this year she posed as a model for a promotional poster of the school.

``Many students believe that our school accepted her as a way to promote its image since she was one of the top stars at that time, regardless of her academic skills,’’ said a Korea University student who wished not to be identified. ``For most students, entering universities is still a life-or-death problem in a society where the alumni network exercises enormous power. Entertainers who get accepted into universities because of their fame are naturally envied as well as criticized.’’

Universities that enthusiastically recruit the stars say that choosing students is at the discretion of the schools.

``These days, more and more importance is being put on one’s talent than just academic knowledge. From that perspective, the contribution to society by stars should be appreciated,’’ said Lee Ki-tae of the admissions department of Kyunghee University. ``Also, stars help enhance the image of the schools as they are idols for many young students.’’

However, students criticize the universities’ benevolence toward stars, saying that it ruins the spirit of fair competition.

According to a joint survey by university culture magazine Think Good (www.ucpress.co.kr) and job recruiting Web site Powerjob (www.powerjob.co.kr) on Tuesday, 91 percent of university students said celebrities should have to compete fairly with other students. Only 9 percent said that universities should grant stars preferential treatment. The survey of 389 university students across the nation was done from Nov. 25 to 30.

Whether entertainers get preferential treatment is one problem, the fact that most entertainers turn out to be bad students is another.

``What offends students even more is that most stars who get accepted to universities through such a special process fail to fulfill their academic duty as students,’’ said Kim Heoun-sic, a culture critic. `` Most entertainers rarely attend classes and fail to accomplish given tasks due to their busy schedules. However, whenever it comes to graduation season, universities even offer the stars achievement awards for enhancing the schools’ reputation, which is ridiculous.’’

Bae Kuk-nam, another culture critic said that such idleness of entertainers as students comes from their wrong perception of university and the university’s unprofessional management regarding admissions.

``The admissions of actress Moon and singer Rain to universities are at the center of people’s attention now. Likewise, many people will keep watching them as they will pursue their life as university students,’’ said Bae. ``Depending on how diligent and faithful they are as students, people’s negative attitude could be overcome.’’

michelle@koreatimes.co.kr