'First Time Like This': Why High School Freshmen Are Dropping Out to 'Reset' Their GPAs

As the influence of high school grade point averages (GPAs) in college admissions grows, some students are resorting to a "GPA reset."

A "GPA reset" refers to dropping out of high school during the freshman year if one's grades are poor, and then re-entering high school the following year to study alongside younger students and try again for better grades.

It is an "abnormal" choice to spend an extra year in high school to repeat the freshman year for better grades, similar to repeating college entrance exams.

While there are no official statistics yet on dropouts specifically for this purpose, cases of "GPA resets" are already being observed in schools.

Concerns are rising that the side effects and loopholes caused by excessive competition for college admissions are worsening.

According to an analysis of School Info open data by Jongro Academy on June 7, a total of 18,661 students dropped out of 1,703 general high schools nationwide in 2025.

Of these, high school freshmen accounted for 56.0%, or 10,450 students.

This means that more than 10,000 students who entered high school last year dropped out before completing a single year.

This is the first time the number of freshman dropouts has exceeded 10,000 in a single year since Jongro Academy began compiling the data in 2019.

In relation to this, a comment on a YouTube video posted on June 9 about "high school freshman dropouts exceeding 10,000" read, "The number of students dropping out because of poor grades and re-entering the grade below has noticeably increased."

A YouTube user identifying as a high school student wrote, "Since re-entered students have already studied the material for an extra year, it's easier for them to get top grades. The regular students then get pushed down by these older classmates, making it harder to get good grades, which leads to more dropouts—a vicious cycle."

The user added, "These days, almost no one drops out to immediately prepare for the CSAT (regular admission). Instead, they prepare to re-enter a lower grade at a school where it is easier to get good GPAs. It's so bad that the term 'GPA reset' was coined. I really hope adults and the media notice this abnormal situation."

While the primary reason for dropping out of high school in the past was to give up on school grades and take the high school equivalency exam, it is argued that more students are now repeating their freshman year to secure better GPAs.

In a real-life case, a 17-year-old student surnamed Choi living in Daegu dropped out last year and re-entered a different high school in March this year.

Choi said on June 19, "I am preparing for medical school, but I was devastated by a point deduction in a group performance assessment and getting a Grade 2 in a mandatory science class. It was hard enough to cause depression and panic disorder, so I ultimately chose to make a fresh start."

Another student, a 16-year-old surnamed Park, dropped out last month from a non-standardized general high school in Gyeonggi Province.

Park said, "I am attending an academy for self-directed study to prepare for re-entering high school as a freshman next year. I want to go to medical school, but after getting a Grade 2 due to a difference of just one or two questions, I started considering dropping out and re-entering. The thought that my freshman grades must be perfect to get into medical school made me cry every night and almost gave me panic attacks."

A 16-year-old surnamed Yun living in Pohang, who also dropped out last month to re-enter, pointed out, "The current college entrance structure imposes excessive grade competition and pressure on students, creating an environment that ultimately forces them to consider a 'GPA reset.'"

Meanwhile, a 16-year-old surnamed Kim living in North Gyeongsang Province said, "Many of my friends at nearby autonomous private high schools have dropped out with the intention of re-entering. I am also considering dropping out and re-entering."

She added, "Because my goal is the medical field, the anxiety that I absolutely must get straight Grade 1s is overwhelming."

On online communities for test-takers and "mom cafes" (online parenting forums), posts contemplating dropping out and re-entering are constant, with questions like, "My child's first-semester freshman GPA is ambiguous for medical school; could dropping out and re-entering be a viable strategy?", "My child is crying in shock after ruining the midterm exams. Is it possible to drop out and re-enter?", and "My grades came out lower than expected; I'm debating whether it's better to drop out and re-enter even now."

A teacher surnamed Kim working at a high school in Yongin said, "These days, right after the very first exam of freshman year, students start contemplating dropping out, saying, 'I can't get into my desired university with this GPA.'"

Kim added, "Particularly in non-standardized school districts, the study atmosphere and the intensity of GPA competition vary by school. This seems to lead students and parents to think, 'Wouldn't it be better to get a fresh start on our grades, even if it means re-entering?'"

The driving force behind students choosing to "drop out and re-enter" is the increased weight of high school GPAs.

In particular, the transition to a "5-tier high school GPA system," which will apply starting with the 2028 college admissions, has dealt a direct blow.

While the existing 9-tier system divides grades into Grade 1 (top 4%), Grade 2 (cumulative 11%), Grade 3 (cumulative 23%), and Grade 4 (cumulative 40%), the 5-tier system divides them into Grade 1 (top 10%), Grade 2 (cumulative 24%), Grade 3 (cumulative 32%), Grade 4 (cumulative 24%), and Grade 5 (cumulative 10%).

Although the proportion of Grade 1 expands from 4% to 10%, seemingly lowering the threshold, students suffer from anxiety, believing that "if you fall below Grade 2, getting into 'In-Seoul' universities or medical school is practically over."

In March this year, Megastudy Education presented an average grade of 1.583 as the cut-off line for "In-Seoul universities" based on transcript-only admissions in its "2028 Admission Placement Analysis under the 5-Tier System."

Compared to the existing 9-tier system, where students with a Grade 2 GPA could still aim for mid-to-lower-tier universities in Seoul, the bar for admission has become much higher.

Lim Sung-ho, head of Jongro Academy, pointed out, "Under the 5-tier system, there is immense anxiety that if you do not make it into the top 10% (Grade 1), major universities in Seoul are out of reach, and there is no alternative to overcome this. Since about half of the GPA is determined during the freshman year, there is no system to recover or make up for grades in the remaining period. Therefore, students have no choice but to make a drastic decision (dropping out and re-entering) in their first year."

A 17-year-old surnamed Jeon living in Yangpyeong County, Gyeonggi Province, said, "It's obvious that even within the same Grade 1, evaluations will differ, so how is the 5-tier system easing the burden? Last year, out of a desperate desire to survive, what I contemplated was dropping out and re-entering."

Jeon lamented, "I studied like crazy, sleeping only one hour a day with the determination to rank first in the entire school, but I ended up getting a Grade 2 in just one subject on the first-semester final exam. Hearing that I wouldn't be able to go to a top university under the 5-tier system, I experienced burnout, depression, and suicidal thoughts."

Kim from North Gyeongsang Province also said, "The 5-tier system crowds too many students into the same grade, so even a tiny difference in scores brings immense pressure."

However, dropping out and re-entering does not guarantee a good GPA.

The pressure of "I must not fail" becomes even greater.

Choi from Daegu, who is actually repeating her freshman year, confessed, "Going to school with classmates who are a year younger makes me feel a subtle sense of alienation, and I get a reality check, wondering, 'What am I doing here?' I started over because my parents trusted me, so the pressure that I will have no excuses if my grades don't improve is overwhelming."

Kim, the teacher in Yongin, also said, "Many students who actually drop out end up regretting it because their friends move up a grade while they have to do freshman year all over again. It breaks my heart to think of the immense pain these children must feel in the process of choosing to drop out and re-enter, but persuasion from teachers is useless."

Regarding solutions, Lim, the head of Jongro Academy, said, "The key is to provide relief measures for the 80 to 90% of students who fall outside the top tier. Schools must manage these students well until their senior year and guarantee stable, reliable admission tracks."

He added, "If schools clearly operate CSAT preparation classes that are just as effective as private education, there would be no reason for children to leave school."

Cho상식 (Cho Sang-shik), an education professor at Dongguk University, pointed out, "Although the 5-tier system was introduced to weaken competition, in the college entrance system, competition does not disappear; it merely shifts to other bottleneck areas."

He added, "Educational policy alone is not enough. Unless we first address labor market reforms and the hierarchy of higher education (universities), new entrance exam strategies will inevitably continue to emerge no matter what policies are introduced."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.