Live chat event with current Underwood International College students!

After a few months of spamming you guys with travelling in Korea and education-related topics, I am finally sharing more about studying in Korea! Hope that you guys don’t mind because I do feel that you can learn more about travelling in Korea as part of student life, and education articles are a way of showing what activities you can join in Korea as a “SNS supporter” of a UNESCO organization.

This “SNS supporters” thing seems quite unique to Korea, basically organizations like to recruit university students to help promote them or some ideas on their own SNS channels. For instance, Wow Korea supporters aim are supposed to promote Korean tourism. And as UNESCO APCEIU supporter I join conferences or events and through writing articles I’m supposed to promote education for international understanding. There are many other organizations recruiting supporters too, such as KOTRA from what I’ve heard. So depending on your interests there are many such organizations you can join, outside of school!

But I digress. The main point of this post is this live event that I’m very excited about! So basically two of my best friends in school, Amalia and Thanh who are running the Woori UIC Youtube channel are planning to hold a live event via Youtube! What this means is that you get to chat with them in real time, and get all the answers to your questions immediately!

Useful Links

If you haven’t already noticed, I added a “Useful Links” page a few months ago!

I’ve added links to some of the top 10~15 universities in Korea, and also some Youtube channels I found that covered life in Korea or student life in Korea and things like that.

Interview

For application to Korean universities, most of them would have 2 stages in reviewing the application. The first stage would be reviewing of the documents that you have submitted (refer to the post on application for more information). You will be granted an interview only if you have passed the first stage in most cases.

If you are an international applicant residing overseas, you would most likely have a phone interview (I had this with UIC for YU Seoul campus) or Skype interview (I had this with EastAsia International College for YU Wonju campus). Different universities have different ways of doing things; your admissions officer would inform you about the type of interview. If it is a Skype interview, please make sure that you are at least wearing a neat top (just like you would if you were going for a live interview in your country).

For the interview, it would be helpful if you prepare some answers beforehand. I’m not telling you to memorize a politically correct answer, but from my own experience I feel that it is useful to prepare oneself first. The most common question would probably be “Why did you choose to do this course?” or “Why do you want to come to this university?”.When answering such questions, you must be very clear as to why you want to do a particular course or why you have chosen this university. Do sufficient research about the university and course of study beforehand to ensure that you know about the university well, and that you’re not applying on impulse. The interviewers would want an answer with conviction and you must convince them that you are genuinely interested in what the university can offer.

Application

Since speaking from experience is most accurate, most of this post would be based on my application to Yonsei University Underwood International College.

Based on experience (of my own), the application deadline for Fall Semester is late March to mid April. Except the Yonsei University Wonju campus that had a 8th March deadline. For us Singaporeans it means that we have about 1 month in general to apply for the university after the release of A Level results (usually on the first Friday of March).

Common documents required:

1. Application form with passport size photo attached

This is where you fill in your name, age, etc.

2. Results Slip

It can be your GCE A Level, IB, SAT I, SAT II, etc results, an exam that you have taken as a major exam at the end of 12 years of schooling. Some may require your GCE O Level/IP results as well.

3. High School (Junior College equivalent) and/or Middle School (Secondary School equivalent) transcript

In the Singaporean context, JC transcript would be your Prelim transcript. Secondary School transcript would be the O Level cert or IP Results Slip (remember to also submit the explanatory letter about IP issued by MOE as well!) Some may require you to submit your testimonial too!

4. Teacher’s Recommendation (1 or 2 depending on the school’s requirements)

Most universities would have a form for you to get your teacher to fill in. The teacher is expected to seal up the letter in an envelope and it is best if he/she signs on the flap to ensure that it has not been opened. If the confidentiality of the letter is compromised, the letter may be considered invalid. So even if you’re dying of curiosity to know what your teacher think of you, please refrain from opening the envelope and reading it! Universities would encourage the teachers to send out the letter once they’re done with it but as a student, you should either provide your teacher with the stamp or mail it out yourself. You owe your teachers a lot for their guidance, and now they’re helping you write recommendations, so it’s only right that you mail it out for them. Some schools may have their own set of protocols, so please also check with your school if you’re unsure. Also remember that your teachers are also busy with their own stuff and teaching your juniors, so please don’t expect them to be able to complete in a day! Give them about 2 weeks to complete it, if your teacher completes it beforehand I’m sure he/she will not hesitate to pass it to you or whatever your school protocol is ^^