Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rtarnowski]

Hey all! I was hoping to converse with someone that's been through the Korean Studies Master's program at Yonsei. PM?

[Batboy]

I'm also interested in this. Can you pass on what you learn?

[rtarnowski]

[PRagic]

Best thing you can do is physically visit the school, meet people there, and ask questions. What do you want to 'converse about'? Have you checked out their webpage and gotten as much information together about the program as possible?

There probably are other Yonsei GSIS grads on Dave's. I wasn't K studies so I can't help you out too much.

[rtarnowski]

[PRagic]

No worries. I was just curious as to how much info you had picked up via secondary sources.

IMHO, if you're already finishing up one MA in the U.S., there is little point in going for another MA no matter the location. If you're going to put more time in after your MA, you may as well just get the Ph.D.! About the only time I recommend a second Master's is when people want to make a career transition (e.g. from the arts or sciences into, say, business) and may therefore need additional training such as provided in an MBA program. I've also known people in education who want to shift to admin. They have found it necessary to to get an additional Master's focusing on educational administration.

As far as rigor is concerned, I can tell you that Yonsei's MA and MBA programs have put a number of people through to well-ranked Ph.D. programs in the U.S., including Ivy schools. I count myself among those happy ranks. Like any grad program, you get out of it what you put into it; people will try to slip and slide their way through no matter where you go.

Also, it is my understanding that acceptance is no longer a given.

The alum association is pretty active. I'm always getting requests to attend major functions. At the last one I attended, I was surprised (in a very good way) at the number grads who had gone on to some pretty amazing things. I met people working at top-tier Chaebol, people in the finance industry, people in the government sector (here and abroad), as well as a couple of people who, like myself, went on to work, study more, and eventually become professors.

While there, it is quite common as well to study with exchange students from some of the biggest name universites in the world. When I was there, I had classmates from Chicago, London School of Economics, Berkley, Helsinki, UCLA, Oxford...you name it. I was in the MBA program, and two of the profs on my thesis committee were Wharton Ph.D.s with substantial real world experience. My chair was/is a well recognized Korean studies scholar both here and abroad. I have absolutely no problem transitioning into a U.S. Ph.D. program and holding my own. Score one for Yonsei GSIS.