Korean Job Discussion Forums

[eunjeong]

Hello,
I'm just wondering if anyone has any information on how I can study in Korea, not as an exchange student and not in English, but complete my degree in Korea as an international student. I want to be a translator so I think studying abroad would be more beneficial to me than studying in my own country.
Any information would be appreciated.(Cost, Visa)
Thank you in advance.

[coralreefer_1]

I'm not sure exactly what kind of info you are looking for. I'm working toward a second degree in International Trade, and all of my classes are taught in Korean.

The only way you could take college level courses in Korean as an international student would be to pass a minimum level 4 TOPIK exam. Assuming you have that, you should be able to register for any course you like (although some department at more prestigious universities like to see a level 5 TOPIK.

Cost depends on the university. At most universities (excluding National Universities) you should be able to get at least a 50% tuition scholarship across the board (meaning every international student gets that, regardless of grades) Other schools may give you more scholarship assistance if you are from a university they have a connection with, or are what they would consider an "outstanding" student, but that varies from university to university.

Most universities, (excluding the SKY universities and a few other high ranked ones) tend to run between 3 million-4.5 million Korean won for both undergraduate and graduate level per semester. In my case my tuition is about 3.2 million won, but with the 50% scholarship I receive for being an international student, I only pay a little more than 1.5 million. That being said...National Universities do not give that kind of blanket scholarship to foreign students, and unless you are attending Korea University, Yonsei, Sogang, KAIST, and maybe one or two other distinctive universities, you are better off going to a national university if you are set on finishing your degree in Korea.


In my case, I worked my ass off and spent alot of money ordering and searching for English textbooks to supplement my Korean textbooks, and spent many hours doing preview and review before an after each class and earned a 4.41 GPA last semester, however I did not get any kind of extra scholarship for having great scores more than the many other foreign students in my department (mostly Chinese)who sit in class all in a group in the very back, don't even bother buying the textbooks for the class and basically piss their way through it. Again, it varies from school to school but at most places you can get a least 50% just for being a foreigner.

As far as visa goes, you will most likely get a D2 visa, unless you have some other kind of situation (married to a Korean, already have some kind of visa from a job...etc)

To qualify as an "international student" in most cases, you would either need to prove that...

a - you completed your entire education from elementary up to your current level outside of Korea

b- Prove that both of your parents are not Korean

If you have any more questions, please feel free to PM me.

[Tundra_Creature]

I was gonna say something, but coralreefer_1 basically covered everything.

I can't really elaborate on it, since I'm only here for an exchange in the fall.

When you're applying for you D2, process is basically the same as most visas in addition, you need your admissions letter from the school.

Do you have any idea as to which university interests you though?