Top Students' Secret: The Educational Methods of Daechi-dong's Top 1% That Create a Super Gap in Grades

Author Romy (Kim Min-ji) · Publisher Dongyang Books · Published 2026-08-24 · ISBN 9791172102357

Book Introduction

Changing your 'location' won't change your child's 'grades'!
The secret to being a top student, discovered in Daechi-dong, the heart of education.

* If you are one of these parents, you must read this book: *
① Parents contemplating whether to move to an academic hot spot like Daechi-dong.
② Parents who have moved to an academic hot spot but are only wasting private education fees because their child's grades aren't improving.
③ Parents exhausted by preparing for entrance tests to famous academies and the endless race to get ahead.
④ Parents who are anxious about being disadvantaged by a lack of information and infrastructure in non-academic areas.
⑤ Parents who want to personally design a customized 'top-tier roadmap' for their child.
⑥ Parents whose relationship with their child and mental well-being are shaken after repeatedly making wrong choices.

The conditions required to be a top student in today's admissions landscape are clear: information, strategy, and study methods. However, the probability of a child attending a school that possesses all three is low, and even if such a school is found, admission is not guaranteed. If not school, then parents must seek out academies with star instructors and educational consultants. But in non-academic areas, there are few suitable academy options, and popular academies in academic hot spots can only be entered by passing highly competitive level tests. It is also rarer than one might think to obtain an optimal roadmap for one's child from consulting services that cost millions of won. Ultimately, parents are left to study themselves and guide their children, but only a tiny fraction of parents are both good teachers and possess the information and strategy to send their children to medical schools or prestigious universities. So, is there really no way for one's child to reach the top?

Romy, the author of this book, is a top-tier education expert, with 36 million cumulative views validating her methods, and she has the full support of 180,000 parents. Alongside her spouse, a high school senior homeroom teacher and admissions director in Gangnam's District 8, she analyzes the admissions scene and develops high-efficiency educational content based on core information and strategies for top-tier students. This author dissects the know-how of Daechi-dong's top students, a group often called a "concrete layer," from elementary school to university entrance, presenting age- and subject-specific study roadmaps to achieve a significant leap in grades. She reveals how to utilize Daechi-dong-style private education to get 200% value without waste, analyzes popular academies such as Hwangso, Fields, Soma, Big3 English Academies, and Giparang, and provides strategies and information from the top 1% that influence education from preschool and elementary school to university admissions. This book summarizes how to set up a customized educational direction for your child and how to properly leverage the advantages of both academic and non-academic areas, ensuring that wherever you are, you will get on the fast track to top grades.

Break free from the misconception that it will be unconditionally good or the prejudice that it will be bad,
And face the 'real solution' for your child!

The author, unlike other educational books, does not blindly advocate for Daechi-dong-style education. Many parents are captivated by the overwhelming results of Daechi-dong academies, but these might be inflated by already accomplished top students, rather than being solely due to the academies' teaching methods. Conversely, criticisms about aimless early advancement, relentless pace, and rigid educational systems ruining children are often made by those unfamiliar with the true nature of Daechi-dong. In the ever-changing educational and admissions landscape, the secret to Daechi-dong's top students is not blind academy-hopping. They quickly seek new strategies whenever the playing field changes, and they meticulously use the Daechi-dong system as a tool tailored to their child's characteristics. Furthermore, they balance effective study methods, smart academy choices, a solid roadmap for elementary, middle, and high school, and unwavering mental management. This is the secret to creating truly top students in Daechi-dong.

36 million cumulative views, 180,000 followers, from a 'Teachers 2' education expert
Completely understanding academic hot spots from outside Daechi-dong

The university admissions system has changed. It is now much more advantageous for university admissions to secure top grades in less competitive non-academic areas than in academic hot spots where getting good internal grades is cutthroat. Non-academic areas have become strategic strongholds that can change the academic landscape. So, how can this golden opportunity truly be used as a stepping stone for an upset?
The weapons that children in academic hot spots, including Daechi-dong, use to dominate the admissions scene are three: information, strategy, and study methods. No matter how diligently one studies all night, it's difficult to beat Daechi-dong's top students who are fully armed with information and strategy. The reason children in non-academic areas often failed was precisely this lack of information and strategy. Parents who know this busy themselves going between academic hot spot mom cafes and information sessions to gain information and strategy, but unlike in elementary school, as children go into middle and high school, access to information in academic hot spots becomes strictly limited. This naturally makes parents in non-academic areas and academic hot spots outside Daechi-dong anxious.

This book perfectly fills those gaps in information and strategy. Even if you don't live in the heart of Daechi-dong, it helps you make the top 1% of information and strategies, which they monopolized, your child's own. The moment this absorbed information and strategy combine with the advantage of internal grades in non-academic areas, your child will wield a powerful weapon that will shake up the admissions scene. The method to beat top students from outside Daechi-dong is right here.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Facing Reality

Not everyone climbs the same ladder
Those heading to academic hot spots
Is it a strategic study abroad or environmental isolation?
The naked truth of grades faced only in senior year of high school
* Checklist for setting direction: Academic hot spot or non-academic area
* If you are considering special admissions for rural students, regional balance admissions, etc.
* University ranking table reflecting the latest admissions results
* The meaning of the minimum SAT score requirement

Chapter 2. Dissecting Daechi-dong

Daechi-dong as an educational platform
The cost-benefit analysis of early English education
Infinite propulsion: Level tests and advanced curriculum roadmaps
Thorough self-reliance: The psychology of reputation and secrets
The pros and cons of Daechi-dong education
* Analysis of popular elementary Korean academies in Daechi-dong
* Analysis of popular elementary English academies in Daechi-dong
* Analysis of popular elementary math academies in Daechi-dong
* Checklist for when you are considering quitting or switching academies
* Checklist for when you are considering attending a new academy
* Checklist for when you are deliberating between Academy A and Academy B
* Essential questions to ask before registering for an academy

Chapter 3. Arming Parents

The parent's coordinates changed by environment
The reality where letting them find their own destination becomes neglect
No helicopter parenting! What's needed is a navigation system
The power of nudges that make you listen to navigation instructions
* Comprehensive overview of high school types
* Checklist for choosing high school type
* Checklist for incorrect high school type selection
* High school internal grades and their structure
* Recommended roadmap for medical school admissions (middle/high school selection)

Chapter 4. Overtaking the Gap

Beyond FOMO to decision, reset the education investment landscape
Break fragmented success myths and cultivate multi-dimensional judgment
Environment creates atmosphere: The two pillars of home that beat Daechi-dong
True motivation begins when external rewards cease
Redefine the function of academies: from rote learning academies to emotional mentors
Practical roadmap by period and subject for overtaking from outside Daechi-dong: Preschool
Practical roadmap by period and subject for overtaking from outside Daechi-dong: Elementary school
Practical roadmap by period and subject for overtaking from outside Daechi-dong: Middle and high school
The balance wheel that saves the mental health of parents and children
* Free reading comprehension diagnostic test
* Recommended elementary Korean workbooks
* Recommended elementary English workbooks
* Recommended elementary math workbooks
* Recommended middle school math workbooks
* Recommended high school math workbooks

Epilogue