Korean Job Discussion Forums

tirinal · Joined: 08 Oct 2007

To what extent does having a less than fluent ability to speak Korean hinder the MA experience? I would assume that not all the requisite classes are in English.

dharmabum86 · Joined: 05 May 2010 Location: Korea

Not as much as you think.

There are a few other foreign students that I know who speak less Korean than I do. As far as I know you can take courses offered by the many foreign professors who all lecture in English. Many of the Korean Profs also lecture in English.

I do know that I have to pass a language proficiency test before I graduate but I've been told you just need a rudimentary knowledge of Korean and can show you can hold a simple conversation.

lookingforworkinasia · Joined: 14 Dec 2007

I've actually been accepted into several International Master's programs in several different countries for the fall, so I've been reading up on this extensively. I didn't apply to Korea as the proficiency test at SNU turned me off and I couldn't find a program that interested me anywhere else, but the better schools in Korea seem to have good international connections and are well recognized. I'd be most concerned about the level of English spoken in class and in lectures.

One thing you might want to consider is looking at schools in your home country that have exchange agreements with Korean Universities. It seems that you would only need a semester at the most to get a comprehensive idea about politics that are unique to the Korean peninsula. An exchange could give you a chance to cover that, and give you more choices in terms of where you study.

onie · Joined: 29 Dec 2008

What is the quality of the English that the lectures are delivered in? I have heard negative things so far.

Other than SKY, what other universities would be worth considering? On my list so far is Sogang, Ewha and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. But if SKY is so unknown outside of Korea, how much recognition will these schools have?

Part of the attraction of Seoul National is the fact that its ranking in the country will probably correlate to its access to facilities and resources.

dharmabum86 · Joined: 05 May 2010 Location: Korea

its a hit or miss with lectures.

Most foreign profs are great at what they do. the Korean profs are really hit and miss in my opinion.

The facilities at SNU are not bad. Could be better but its a gov run university. If you plan on coming here get in soon because they are in talk on whether or not to privatize the school very soon. That means higher tuitions usually.

Anyhow it all comes down to your department and advisor of choice.
Still its a great school and the foreign students are from all over. Also invest in a bike or scooter if on campus. The mountain hills here are brutal!

onie · Joined: 29 Dec 2008

dharmabum86 - I'm assuming you're at Seoul Nat as we speak; are you there as an international student? If so, how did you find the application process - ie. what were your credentials like, if you don't mind my asking?

dharmabum86 · Joined: 05 May 2010 Location: Korea

I'm here as an Int'l student.

The application process was a bit hectic. Since I'm a gyopo I had to produce documents saying I was foreign born and Korean (parent passports, birth certificates and the like). I had to prove I was Korean by blood, but not a citizen of Korea. That was irritating because I had to order long form birth certificates showing who my parents were. You needed your transcripts, any awards, certificates and so on as well as any relevant work you feel would express your academic interests. A really good statement of intent and so on. The one thing that bugged me was having to get an xray done. You have to get a Korean xray done with a Korean doctor stamp it to prove you're disease free if you plan on living on campus, which I was going to do.

I did my undergrad in Toronto along with a undergraduate thesis(I was told this helped as it proved my research ability and so on). I did some work after school for a municipality until that dried up. Then I applied at SNU and was lucky enough to get in. My lab is a part of a new section of the CALS school at SNU.

onie · Joined: 29 Dec 2008

dharmabum86 - What was your GPA/extracurriculars (if they pay attention to this) like? Mine's not amazing but I'm hoping to compensate for it with other things on my CV.

vincentmiser · Joined: 14 Jan 2009 Location: Everywhere

I just got accepted for a doctoral degree at SNU for the next semester.

English Matt · Joined: 12 Oct 2008

A bit tangential to the main topic of conversation in this thread, but don't naturally assume that the best place to learn about a country's politics is at a university in that country. As silly as that may sound, it can very well be the case. For instance, I am intending to study a Masters course in Eastern European and Russian Studies and supposedly the best University for that is the School of Eastern European and Slavonic Studies (part of University College London) rather than a University in Russia or Eastern Europe. Obviously Korea is the best place to come to to study the language, but just make sure it is indeed the best place to come to study the politics.

dharmabum86 · Joined: 05 May 2010 Location: Korea

I had a A- or a B+ GPA. I forget the score but it was either one. I was told that having research experience was really important. The profs want to know that they can depend on you to do work on their projects and help them publish.

I had done my undergrad thesis, did some work for a municipality, worked for a non-profit for a while, did some writing for an online magazine, and did an internship at a provincial ministry. My experience was mostly research based and not much real private sector experience. Not quite sure if that hurt or helped me.

Thiuda · Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 8:38 am Post subject:

I'm currently doing a PhD at Korea U. I don't know how difficult it was to get in, though I think my application package was fairly strong: research experience, conference presentations, refereed papers, a good research proposal and a reasonably high GPA.

I'm very satisfied with my professors, all of whom have degrees from upper tier US and European universities. The courses are informative and challenging, the meetings with my supervisor are helpful and, as a previous poster mentioned, considerable effort is expended in providing us with the means to publish and present. I especially like my fellow students at KU, they're helpful, friendly, bilingual and very knowledgeable.

Downsides? Some Dave's posters may not hire me once they hear that I did my degree at a Korean university.

cubanlord · Joined: 08 Jul 2005 Location: In Japan!

UknowsI · Joined: 16 Apr 2009

I got accepted to the SNU PhD program in... Ocean Engineering or something like that. My GPA was around 3.6/5, but I'm from Europe so I think it's a little hard to compare the GPA. My GPA would be a B-, but B- is above average and also good enough to get PhD scholarships back home. I didn't have any published papers either, and there was no kind of interview or anything like that. I had pretty good results from various science competitions though. The application process was fairly straight forward, but required a decent stack of documents, but nothing that was too hard to come up with. On the other hand I tried to apply for Korea University but gave up because I didn't understand the application process. I feel like it's often less competition to get accepted for engineers than for humanity students, so it might be harder for other majors.