This study was intended to analyze the effects of student background and parental variables on choices of college and major using Korea Education and Employment Panel Survey data. The results are as follows. First, male students were more likely to try to attend college. Higher wages and parental incomes make university attendance more probable. Additionally, the probability of attending higher education depends on the type of high school the students attended. Second, the more parent?student conversations about schools/departments, the greater the possibility of attending a higher-education institution, and the more conversations about interests/aptitudes, the greater the probability of choosing a major in fields other than humanities/social sciences or natural science/engineering. Third, the higher the high-school math score, the greater the likelihood of admission to higher education. Higher math grades also significantly influenced the choice of natural science/engineering majors. The implications of the above for students’ career choices were discussed.