When application season arrives, the discussion starts with how many to send and where. But the prior question is how many you may send at all, and how one application forecloses another. Apply without understanding that structure and you can lose not one card but the whole of jeongsi.

Six and three — where the numbers come from

Across all universities and all admission tracks, susi allows a maximum of six applications. Two different tracks at the same university count as two. Apply beyond six and eligibility is not granted for the excess — the application may be accepted at the time and invalidated later.

Jeongsi works differently. Each university assigns its intake to the Ga, Na or Da group, and a candidate may apply to one university in each group — hence a maximum of three. Two universities in the same group cannot be applied to together.

What matters in practice is that the university decides the group. Even within one university the group can differ by department, and it changes from year to year. That is why last year's memory is not a safe guide.

The big misunderstanding — "if I just don't enrol, surely it's fine"

It is not. A candidate who receives an initial offer in susi cannot apply in jeongsi, regardless of whether they enrol. Declining the place makes no difference, nor does not paying the fees.

This rule changes the nature of a safety application. "One lower choice just in case" actually means "if I get in there, I give up jeongsi entirely". The stronger a candidate's prospects in the national exam, the more carefully that safety card has to be placed.

Waiting-list offers count too. A place that comes through later in the supplementary round is still a susi offer and carries the same bar. Rather than assuming you are clear because no call came on results day, check through to the end of the supplementary period.

What sits outside the limits

Not every institution is covered. The following typically fall outside the six and three:

• Institutes of science and technology and other universities established under special statutes
• Junior colleges — counted separately from four-year universities
• Industrial universities, distance-learning universities and others recruiting on a different timetable

Some of these also recruit outside the Ga/Na/Da groups in jeongsi, so the three-application limit does not apply either. Which institutions are exempt is set each year in the national admissions framework, so check that year's document before applying. This is not something to settle on the basis of having heard it somewhere.

Three ways people miscount the six

Errors in counting cluster in predictable places.

• Two tracks at one university — this is two, not one. Applying to both the subject-record track and the comprehensive track uses two cards.
• Different departments within the same track — even where the university permits multiple applications, each counts individually. The prospectus states whether multiple applications are allowed and how they are counted.
• Applying but not attending — missing a university-set examination does not undo the application. Refunds and counting are separate questions.

One more point: supplementary recruitment after jeongsi runs as a separate process and is not governed by these limits in the same way. If you have already enrolled somewhere, however, participation is restricted, so the first decision is whether to give up that place.

So how do you spread six applications?

There is no single answer, but the usual frame is a split across reach, target and safety. Applying the rules above changes the calculation.

• If exam performance is steady and jeongsi looks stronger — reduce the safety applications, because an offer closes jeongsi.
• If school records are the strength and the exam is uncertain — securing a safety application is worth more.
• Tracks with a minimum exam requirement often have a real entry line well below the headline ratio. We covered that in our article on effective competition ratios in essay admissions.

Also, mix the track types. Six applications all through the comprehensive track means one evaluation method decides everything, so results cluster. Splitting across two or three types according to your strengths reduces that risk.

Missing a date hurts more than a rule

The recurring mistake each year is not a breach of the rules but a missed date. Application deadlines, document deadlines, university-set examination dates and supplementary announcement periods all differ by institution. In particular, if two examination dates clash the application becomes pointless. Check for date conflicts before settling the six.

In short

The rules are short: six in susi, three in jeongsi, and a susi offer closes jeongsi whether or not you enrol, with exempt institutions on top. Those three lines change the logic of how applications are spread. Application counts, exemptions and group assignments are governed by that year's national admissions framework and each university's prospectus; this article is current as of July 2026.