▲ Principal Ji Young-ho

According to college admission implementation plans of 2021, 12 out of 15 prestigious universities in Seoul will increase ‘qualitative evaluation’ which lays greater importance on ‘student record’. In other words, successful students must prove themselves excellence on every subject alongside excellent non-subject activities such as school clubbing, volunteering and reading etc as well as good impressions on a letter of self-introduction and interviews. <Power Korea> met Ji Young-ho, Principal of Youngtak Academy, whose fame is well known and spread in the field of ‘student record management’. 

Preparation is everything
Ji is running two directly managed Youngtak Academy in Daechi-dong, Gangnam District, and Bangi-dong, Songpa District. 20 years of expertise in student record management and performance assessment has brought such a fame today especially in Gangnam, Songpa and Gangdong districts. As its name suggests, students from renowned high schools such as Whimoon High School, Sookmyung Girls' High School, Boin High School, Paichai High School and Hanyang University High School have been regulars of Youngtak Academy for many years as if it is a tradition. 

Although only in two locations, it boasts 29 top teachers of each field with around surprising 1,000 students thanks to its years of expertise in single area as well as its effective management system. The principal Ji values highly of preparation and emphasizes; 

“There is no royal road to learning. You get the result of how much you have poured your time and effort. One or two months of preparation will not bring you the score you desire but a continuous hard work. The earlier you start the better result you get. It is just the law of nature. Being the No.1 in your class does not guarantee you a top high school or a university. You need to know about your level, your talent and aptitude and the requirement of your desired school or university if you are to get what you want.”

Ji also points out the importance of ‘balance’. “A successful student should allocate the time line in balance. For example, if you are good at math but weak at English, you should give a little more time to your weak area. Likewise, you should allocate your time to all subjects with consideration of your strong and weak areas of subjects.” 

The role of Youngtak Academy in this respect is to the find each student’s strong and weak point, their desired schools and universities, and their talent and aptitude in order to bring the optimum result to every single student. 

In recognition of years of expertise and contribution, Youngtak Academy received the 2019 Korea Education Industrial Awards, in the category of student record management, alongside prestigious educational organizations and institutes in South Korea such as EBS, Korea University Graduate School of Journalism & Mass Communication and Yonsei University Korean Language Institute.