Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Thiuda]

Frequently people come to Dave's and ask for information regarding distance/online MAs. Sometimes individuals ask for info about doing graduate degrees at Korean universities as well. Unfortunately, all too often those type of threads focus less on providing useful information and more on the pros and cons of one specific education provider. I think it might be useful for prospective students if those of us who are currently studying, or have already graduated, to relate our experiences with the schools that we studied at. Here are some of the questions that I imagine potential students may have, feel free to add more.

1) What did you study? Where did you do your degree?
2) How long did it take you? Did you study full-time/part-time?
3) How much is/was tuition on a per semester basis?
4) How many hours per week did you have to study per course?
5) Where you happy with the program? Pros? Cons?
6) Has your degree brought you the benefits that you had hoped it would?

[Thiuda]

[Summer Wine]

Thanks for that post. Its really useful, I am considering studying and working in korea, so its useful to know that it is workable. Its also good to know what difficulties you can face while doing it.

[lost at sea]

This post was nice. I am looking for a distance masters myself. I am looking at:

Uni of Birmingham (http://www.cels.bham.ac.uk/programmes/distance/tefltesl.shtml)

Uni of New England (http://www.une.edu.au/bcss/linguistics/maal.php)

UNE link doesn't seem to load for me.

I know you received yours from New England, and I am curious about it. Is it accredited in the USA, and Europe as well? I have read Birmingham's is accredited in both.

Many threads seem to bring up USQ (http://www.usq.edu.au/) which appears to be a degree mill, but useful to a degree in Korea. Is the added year it takes to complete a UNE or Birmingham masters worth it? How do the costs all add up? I am having some trouble finding the costs for Birmingham, but you said around 2.5 million won for a semester of UNE. I don't think that is too bad if it's accredited in Europe and the USA.

EDIT:

Does anyone know of any other distance masters in areas other than linguistics, tesol or translation?

[Hyeon Een]

Any opinions on the University of Auckland (Prof. Rod Ellis!) 1 year distance in MA TESOL? Specifically with regards to following it up with a PhD?

The MA is 1 year unlike most which are 2 years. Which is nice. And Rod Ellis is a pretty well known guy in the field so he most give it a bit fo credibility.

I'd only be interested if I was also doing a PhD though.

[naturegirl321]

1) What did you study? Where did you do your degree?
MA in TEFL from Uni of Jaen, Spain. Through a consortium with www.funiber.org It's like a consortium of unis from Latin America, except for Spain.

2) How long did it take you? Did you study full-time/part-time?
Course work was two years. There are 16 courses to take. You take 3 or 4 a semester. It's PT. Thesis took 1.5 years from start to getting my grades, thanks to the fact that my lovely tutor took a long long time to grade. And there was more paperwork to do afterward. Now they've changed the programme and you do your thesis while studying.

3) How much is/was tuition on a per semester basis?
I got a 50% scholarship due to the fact that I worked at one of the unis in the consortium. Total cost was 3K usd plus another 700 for the degree. Now I think costs are around 7 to 10K

4) How many hours per week did you have to study per course?
Depends on what you want to get out of it. We had online questions to answer on a forum about the reading and a 7 to 10 page assignment to do for each course based on the reading. If you read fast, it goes faster. Maybe 1-2 hours per day per course?

5) Where you happy with the program? Pros? Cons?
Um, no not really. Don't get me wrong, I learnt a lot. I did have major problems with my thesis. And the people in the office are a bit incompetant, like I've asked for proof of graduation in ENGLISH two months ago. I still don't have it. All I need are two sentences. But someone has to sign off on it.

MAJOR negative. It's from Spain. Some unis in Korea won't accept degrees from non English speaking countries, even though EVEYTHING, books, assignments, thesis were all in English.

PRO: 16 courses. that means you cover a LOT of material. Learn many new things.

6) Has your degree brought you the benefits that you had hoped it would?
Yep. But I'll still be doing an MA from USQ starting sometime this year.

[naturegirl321]

[lost at sea]

Are you afraid that an MA from USQ will be frowned upon in Korea or else where? I read even some places in Korea refuse MAs from USQ. I like that it's only a 1 year program, but afraid about it being no good.

[naturegirl321]

[lost at sea]

Deakin is more accredited than USQ? How about in the USA and Europe? I am in the same boat, trying to find a program I can complete quickly but accredited in at least the USA and Asia, and hopefully Europe.

[naturegirl321]

If it's accrediated in OZ, it should be accrediated in the US as well.

[Draz]

Sorry for what could be an offtopic post, but I would be very interested in hearing from people who studied something other than TESOL/Applied Linguistics while in Korea. After reading at least a dozen threads on them, I have determined that I have no interest in those degrees. I do want to study something, and I'd love to hear about other options. I was really hoping this thread would be it.

[Thiuda]

[Sadebugo1]

[lost at sea]

I have been digging around more, and...

(concerning applied linguistics)

For a 2 year MA it appears university of Birmingham is the best (in my opinion).

I am curious about a 1 year MA program. Are there any highly recommended one year programs out there? If not I will shoot for Birmingham's 2 year program. [/u]