Idol Research Part 1: Idols' Grades In School

On January 20, Ilgan Sports, a popular Korean newspaper in Seoul, did a special survey of idols, called Idol Research. It surveyed a total of 92 idols, 45 male and 47 female. The following idols were surveyed:

Male Idols: Jay Park, Boyfriend (Kwangmin, Donghyun, Minwoo, Youngmin, Jungmin, Hyunsung), BEAST (Kikwang, Dongwoon, Doojoon, Yoseob, Junhyung, Hyunseung) MBLAQ (Mir, Lee Joon, G.O., Seungho, Thunder), Super Junior (Kyuhyun, Donghae, Ryeowook, Sungmin, Shindong, Siwon, Yesung, Eunhyuk, Leeteuk), C.N. Blue (Minhyuk, Yonghwa, Jungshin, Jonghyun), Infinite (Dongwoo, Sunggyu, Sungyeol, Sungjong, Woohyun, L, Hoya), K.Will, Huh Gak, B1A4 (Gongchan, Baro, Sandeul, Shinwoo, Jinyoung)

Female Idols: Dal Shabet (Ga Eun, Viki, Subin, Jiyul, Ah Young, Serri), Rainbow (Jae Kyung, Woori, Jisook, No Eul, Seung Ah, Yoon Hye, Hyun Young), miss A (Fei, Jia, Min, Suzy), Secret (Hyosung, Sunhwa, Zinger, Ji Eun), SISTAR (Hyorin, Bora, Dasom, Soyu), A Pink (Namjoo, Chorong, Bomi, Eunji, Na Eun, Yookyung, Hayoung), G.NA, Kara (Gyuri, Seungyeon, Nicole, Hara, Jiyoung), 4minute (Jihyun, Gayoon, Jiyoon, HyunA, Sohyun), f(x) (Victoria, Amber, Luna, Sulli)

One of the questions on the survey asked about each idols’ class ranks in middle school. Besides GPA, Korean schools use a ranking system by class to determine who has the best grades. Most classes in Korean schools have an average of 60 students. Therefore, if someone was ranked 13th in their class, their grades would be about 78% higher than the rest of the class. (Note: The following results are averages calculated by all the answers that were given.)

Male Idols: The lowest rank I got in middle school was 23rd. (28 people)

Male idols were surprisingly(?) open about their ranks in school. In response to their highest ranks, 28% revealed that they got to be in 20th of their class. The idol that had the highest rank in school was Infinite’s Sunggyu. Sunggyu confessed, “The lowest rank I got in school was 10th.” There were two idols who wanted to remain anonymous. They revealed, “I have been to the bottom before,” adding to “keep it a secret.”

Female Idols: The lowest rank I got in middle school was 17th. (24 people)

The lowest rank in school is a pain that you want to keep hidden deep in your desk drawer. Therefore, there were many female idols who wanted to remain anonymous. C of D group said that her lowest rank was 6th. On the other hand, one female idol boldly revealed that her lowest rank was the bottom of her class. Secret’s Ji Eun revealed that she has bad memories of her school ranks. When she was in sixth and seventh grade, she was one of the top 10 out of the total student body. But for her final exams in eighth grade, she put C for all of her answers, as it wouldn’t count toward her GPA for college. However, as a result, she got the fourth lowest rank in her whole school by the end of the year.

Stay tuned to Soompi for Part 2!