Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gongdeokguy]

I enrolled in SKK GSB [성균관대] in September 2008, last year.
http://gsb.skku.edu/2008_home/main/main.htm
If you want to go to school in Korea/Asia and the United States � graduating with degrees from both institutions (Dual Degree Program), within the span of 1.5 years, it may be what you are looking for.
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What is the timeline (my timeline) / How does it work? 1 Session = about 7/8weeks

SKK GSB (Choice of Global MBA: Marketing or Strategy or MBA Finance Stream)
2008// September-December [2 Sessions] � Core courses (some choice of electives)
2009// January-May [2 Sessions + Intensive Weeks] � Elective courses

Company/Project: SC Bank
2009// Summer � Internship

Kelley (Choice of: Entrepreneurship, Mgmt, Marketing, Finance, Accounting, or Ops Majors)
2009// September-December [2 Sessions] � Electives for your major
2010// January-March [2 Sessions] � Electives for your major
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Right now I am doing my internship at Standard and Chartered Bank (SC제일은행)

I�m heading to Kelley School of Business in Indiana for orientation + settling in next month.
You enter Kelley as a 2nd year student (when they do electives that count towards a major).
Many Courses from SKK GSB transfer over to Kelley�s transcripts that count towards a major you choose. Even then, it is no problem to meet any course requirements for the major.

Let me know if you have a question about the school or my experiences.
Based on the posts in this thread people consider doing an MBA, or an MBA in Asia/Korea for a number of reasons.

For some it is specifically, or a combination, of credibility, ROI, wanting to remain in Asia/Korea, or obtaining some Asian experience. I certainly fell into the combination category.

Granted, there are a plethora of other schools in Asia, Europe, and the States that will suit you better depending on how you build your decision framework and the weight you put on various dimensions... and your short and long term goals. For me, I�m maybe a few years corporate then indulge in my own business and/or PhD later. It�s about �fit�.

I believe that the Dual Degree Combination helps hedge a lot of major risks a foreign or Asian/Korean student would be concerned with. If you want to work in Korea, for example, if they don�t care about your SKK GSB degree, they will lend credence to your US one. Harvard might take you further but hey not everyone can go to Harvard. Kelley reputation, salary, student satisfaction, and career centre was enough for me.
MBAs tend to be region-centric and faculty-centric. If you are not sure if you�d like to stay in Asia or Canada/States, etc. your bases are covered with DDP.

Here are some facts about SKK GSB:

- The curriculum is 100 % English
- Brand new modern building built by Samsung that opened this year
- Case study method used for most classes
- Founding and current Head Dean is from the US, First foreign Director of Korean stock exchange
- Large contingent of FT foreign faculty and visiting faculty who graduated from and have taught at good schools: Kelley(Indiana), Kellogg(Northwestern), Sloan(MIT), Schulich(York), Ross(Michigan), etc.
- Korean professors: Full command of English, no lectern-leaning lectures.
- Classmates:
About 35 % foreign � Egypt, Latvia, Iran, Canada, Russia, Vietnam, China, Nigeria, Kenya, Romania
 Korean students � generally older than int�l; many Samsung (various divisions), a few Posco, Woori, KDB, Google Korea, etc.
- Alumni: Most have good jobs (ING, Samsung, etc.), however we are a young school so we do not have the extra network, but then again if you do DDP you could get both.
- Good Career Support,, well so far at least
- Received AACSB Accreditation
- Collaboration with MIT (Pilot Dual Degree Program is here-but not advertised on their site as per agreement)
- Scholarships @25-50%; Free ride is company sponsored only
- I liked living in my own place, but dorm is 300,000k per month if that�s your thing
- Didn�t need GMAT,, but you can�t slack off and go for DDP with a crap GPA.
- Could do with a larger student body (over 100 my batch, probably 120 next etc.), but it�s a growing school; Prof to student ratio is therefore quit low
- Lots of competition to get into the school
- Good field trips: Samsung Electronics, Diamond Ogilvy, Cheil WorldWide, CJ Group, Hite Beer, Kyobo Life, Temple Stay, and others
- HK Trip

Cost:- SKK GSB tuition = 12,000,000 x 2 � scholarship; I had 50 %, so it was 12,000,000원
- Kelley 2nd year tuition = 39,000 USD plus living expenses
Attending school in the US for 1 year vs. 2, you can determine the savings at various F/X rates.

Here is a video from an information session � I only have video for a Korean one.
http://www2.pullbbang.com/video.pull?vcode=l2003618

Some of the best due diligence you can perform is to go to an information session where you can meet and talk to staff, students, and faculty. Same goes for any school anywhere.

Good luck to anyone interested in an MBA or furthering their education.

[qcat79]

hey there,

does anybody have the latest info for any of these MBA programs in korea? how is Sejong these days? and how about Sungkyunkwan? how has the SKK program progressed?

i attended the info session for SKK 2~3 months ago and i was the only foreigner there. i immediately got a lot of attention from the foreign dean and one of the current foreign students. they answered a lot of my questions and it looks to be a very good program with tight contacts with good american unis.

the main barrier to me is the money. 12,000,000 over 4 semesters....and that's just the tuition! besides, you will have no time to work or even hold a part-time job. talking about expensive.

would love to hear some advice from folks.

[pkang0202]

I can only say about the Sejong MBA, the program is one of the most ideal ones if you need to work and study at the same time.

The new Dean of the Sejong-Syracuse Program is Dr. Ted Wallin. He was a long-time professor at Syracuse University. This bodes really well since past SSMBA Deans were Koreans who didn't care much for the program. The SSMBA program is much improved from previous years. There has been a resurgence in the activities of the Student Council.

Most of your credits will transfer to Syracuse University's Whittman School of Business. If you really feel you need an MBA from a US University, you can get one from there in only a semester.

*EDIT*

I would also like to add that the program that is there now has changed in the past 2-3 years. From my own personal experience, many of the alumni that did the SSMBA program from 2007 and before have negative views of the program. Nowadays, the program is a lot better. The Student Union is a LOT more involved in making the program better. In the past 2 years the Student Union has organized:

Private Tour of DHL facilities, and VIP treatment by the Asia Country Manager
Private Tour of Bosche with face to face meeting with Bosch executives
Upgraded Student Union room with over $3000 of new equipment
Paid for SSMBA students to attend EU/US/Canada/NZ/Australia Chamber events (EU and US Chamber events are over 60,000w per person)
Setup Networking events at Intercontinental Hotel at CoEx
Alumni Meet and Greets with current students
Publicized articles about the SSMBA through Donga Newspaper and Korea Times

This year's student union are working on many projects also.


If any of you are interested in the program, come to Sejong and sit in on a class. See what it is like for yourself. Talk with the students in the program. Hear what they have to say about it. This is an open invitation to see with your own eyes what the program is about. Classes start again in March.

[qcat79]

do all the new year one intakes take the same classes together the first year? how many students are in a class? or better yet....how many intakes does Sejong take in per semester?

what percent of graduates of the program get a job within 2 months of graduating?

[methdxman]

Any mba that doesn't require gmat is sketchy at best.

[Juregen]

[Yaya]

[methdxman]

[qcat79]

whether it requires the GMAT or not is not the issue. it's accredited by the AACSB. i'd rather have the accreditation than tell my employer that i had to take the GMAT.

[sirius black]

[methdxman]

[qcat79]

true that. i was going to say....really, it's the post MBA salary and connections you gain are the two most important factors.

however, given that i have a sorry GPA from my undergraduate years, but a keen interest in business and want a job in the business world, i'll have to take what i can get. hopefully looking to complete one semester at Sejong while studying for the GMAT in hopes to move on to KAIST.

[eskeemo]

So, did this person enroll in a Korean MBA program? The OP post is from 2006?

I don't know much about these universities, but it seems that posts on this board claim that lack of awareness outside the top 15 US or just being foreign is cache to get into these programs. (e.g., "if I don't get into Stanford, I'll look into KAIST"; "Yonsei likes foreigners, right? Should be easy...").

I glanced at the Seoul University GMBA and notice the acceptance rate is low and the tuition is a balmy US$38,000. Has he got this money ready? Does he know about Korean networking, work culture, and endless-nights at the office? Is his Korean, written and verbal, good enough?

It says the Seoul Nat University degree is dual-earned with Duke University, or Bejing Univ. or ESSEC in France. I do not imagine it being easy to matriculate through this program, unless he is wicked smart, very good at Korean (or prepared to be so), and highly aware of Korean networking culture and particularly East Asian tendencies.

[methdxman]

[Juregen]