Should You Really Go to Korean Grad School? The TRUTH from an SNU scholarship student.

[sarahb]

Finally someone said it! I am still surprised at how people think its possibile to reach graduate level fluency in any language from 0 with only 1 year of language school, especially for native speakers of languages that are completely unrelated to Korean I dont think its a realistic goal.

[Jerry]

Sarah dropping the hard hitting facts. Happy to see more content from one of the most underrated vloggers

[Aiydreen]

Thank you for providing your insights. I feel like a lot of people needed to hear this before applying to a grad school in Korea. Guys, take some time to work on your Korean 1-2 years before so you will be more prepared !

[k-level]

Sarah is 100% correct.
I went to my language study with a Korean TOPIK level in the high 2, almost level 3 range. I am roughly a low level 5 now. My major is mostly in English, but the few classes in Korean I will do are intimidating and I do not plan to take more than 1 per semester. Certainly I am not the best / fastest language learner, but carefully consider if you could handle graduate school in your home country, and then imagine the struggles of doing it in a foreign country. Not impossible at all, but as Sarah said, take the time to properly prepare.

[YouCanCallMeMadsss]

Dear Sarah
I don't know from where to start and how to thank you, but thanks a TON for making this video. You don't know and people might not realize but you are a savior. You set yourself out from all those guys who are advising students to do this and that for gks and post fancy posts about SK but never tell them the actual truth or reality. This video is so so important for all the aspirants to watch and understand before they waste their crucial min 3 years of their life. Regarding language barrier I felt the same thing and thus backed out from applying. Perhaps I'll get better in Korean and then apply.
Thanks again for showcasing the reality and sharing your experience. Wishing you all the love and best in life. 🎈✨❤

[NataliaGarza]

I really appreciate you sharing your honest opinion of what level of Korean is needed for graduate school. I remember reading a blog a few years ago and they said the same thing. She said that anything less than TOPIK 6 isn't good enough. She was saying that both her and her friend had TOPIK 6 and were still struggling because they didn't know the academic words/phrasing needed for their coursework. In fact, my italki teacher has been telling me the same thing for about a year now 😂 I remember the first time I told her I wanted to go to grad school over there she said, "oh, you NEED TOPIK 6 because even TOPIK 6 is 부족해."

I scored TOPIK 4 in November and am hoping to participate in KU's academic Korean language program for a few semester's before going to graduate school. I read that this particular program is meant for students who want to complete high education programs in Korea, so students are taught how to write reports, give presentations, participate in discussions, etc. I really hope their program is as good as I'm hoping it is haha

May I ask what you thought of Yonsei's program?? I heard they have an academic Korean language program too, but I haven't found anyone who's participated in it...

[MimiAhjumma]

I just discovered this video from a GKS facebook group! This is a very much needed content for future GKS applicants, i get surprised every time seeing people applying to programs taught in 100% Korean with zero knowledge on the language/country itself. People really shouldnt underestimate korean language by applying to study there with zero korean knowledge, at least make some effort to learn the language & the country itself.

I'm a fan of korean entertainment, their history & economic development for years so naturally i thought my korean vocabs are better for a non-native speaker. I thought im already at the intermediate level of korean language, but when i did TOPIK practice, i was surprised there are still a number of words i never came across, and that was just TOPIK practice for beginner level😂

I hope more content creators will talk about this more, and not just show only the good side of studying there. So that more people will be more aware bout this. Thankyou for this video!

I wonder about the dropping out rate, is that a lot among GKS/other scholarship applicants? Also not sure if you've done this, but i hope you'll make a video for korean universities' grade scoring method, bcs heard there are quite a few method for it or is it just one.

P/s: anyway love your content, looking forward to binge watch your contents this weekend!😊

[IanPaulSaligumba]

Wow! This is such an eye opener! I’m planning to apply for GKS but this vlog made me realize that I really should improve my Korean Language skills especially that I am planning to apply for a PhD degree.

[LullyJo]

Honestly, this is really good information that a lot of people need to hear. My past self included.

I'm also reminded of a personal pet-peeve regarding content creators on YouTUBE implying that they learned Korean in 6 months. This kind of statement is super misleading and gives other people who aspire to learn the language a really skewed idea of how learning the language will look or even how long it will take them to achieve true fluency. Survival phrases are not equivalent to fluency. As someone who has been learning the language since 2015, has studied abroad, has had Korean friends who I only speak Korean with, and have also done the Korean program for the Critical Language Scholarship, I still do not have fluency and I sure could not take graduate-level classes in the language.

I always love your videos, Sarah. Hope you're doing well despite everything going on ~

[mathabit]

Thank you so much for this, Sarah!
Right now I’m almost finishing my undergratuate in Brazil and I’ve been thinking for so long whether I give it a shot or not to GKS scholarship (and I just have Topik 2 🤣).
Going to Korea to study has been a dream for so long that made really hard to give up on this idea, but after this, never felt so sure about what will be better for me.
You are amazing and I hope you keep showing the facts cause people nowadays really need to hear this!!!
Thank you thank you thank you ❤️

[waygirly]

you're a real boss. thanks . I like people who are willing to be real in a loving way. All the best to you!

[louiseraskin]

So true! Thank you for sharing this. This is why I'm considering an English program even though I went to language school for a year and have topik 5...

[andresvelasquez]

Literally... thank you, words cannot describe how much this message positively warned me before even applying to Korean graduate school 🙏

[monsterjet]

This is the best video I have seen about studying in Korea, I worked at the Korean Cultural Center in Mexico City and I had the possibility of talking with many students from Korean universities and everyone told me the same, it is better to choose a program in English.

[dane]

Really approeciate this. Beeng looking into Global Korea Scholarship and this is really helpful.

[yahs]

Although I completely agree with most of your points in some level, I do believe a TOPIK 3-4 is what it takes to communicate in a "living" in korea situation. Solve basic problems. So a bit above the elementary school level. But yes, not even near what you want to a academic study. A good solution for this would be enrollment in the universities with GSIS programs. Either way, I love how you went straight to the root of the problem a lot of students go through when going for grad studies in Korea. Even undergrad. Congrats for the video.

[momentfleeting]

사라님 저는 한국인인데도 국어가 어려워요ㅎㅎㅎ한글이 한자에서 파생된 단어가 많아서 한국인들도 한자 열심히 공부하지 않으면 깊이있는 인문학수업 듣고 아웃풋하기 쉽지 않아요 ㅠㅠㅠ서울대 대학원생이면 대부분이 우리나라에서 날고기는 강남에서 사교육으로 무장한(armed) 엘리트 학생들인데 외국인이 한국생들과 경쟁다는게 말이 안되는거죠..?그리고 한국학생들은 경쟁심이 강해서 외국인이라고 봐주지 않아요 SKY castle 봐봐요ㅠㅠㅠ😪😪😪😪·사라님의 도전자체만으로도 정말 대단한거에요👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[tatianemartins]

I came from Facebook.
Thank you for the advices, few people detail and expose the harsh side of studying in Korea.
What you said about taking full Korean lessons, I see that is absolutely true comparing the experience of a foreigner (same country as me) who can't understand properly the classes and is overwhelmed by the amount of books written in Korean, so her major program is almost ruined (even tho the is about TOPIK 3)

[EstrellaViajeViajero]

I'll probably never go to Korean Graduate school, but this video seems like solid advice. I know from teaching Chinese students that a lot of Chinese in the US have similar problems that you describe for foreigners in Korea.

[bus]

SNU is like HARVARD in Korea.
It's not easy even korean to study in snu graduate school. I also experienced same frustration in US Graduate school.
I respect you as a pioneer for foreigners who want to study in Korea.