Annyeonghaseyo (μλ νμΈμ), hi there!
Amalia here! I thought today I
wanted to give a tip or an advise that I wish I knew before I decided to which
university I wanted to join, and before I started my PhD program so I could be
mentally prepared. I was one of the people blessed to have received the Korean
Government Scholarship Program in 2018, chosen as a recipient through the
embassy track for Malaysia. I was and am still very thankful for the
experiences I have gotten while I was in Korea. It was an amazing experience,
an eye-opener, something I will never have encountered if I did not step out of
my comfort zone of a secured job. It is absolutely a different feeling being
away from home alone in a country you do not speak the language (yes, very
different than my years in the United States). But now that I am where I am, I
see that it was a huge part of my growth! I am so different from the person I
am 2 years ago, a person with so much more colors... not just white, red and
blue, but green, orange, grey and black.
Korea is a beautiful country, I still
crave for the beautiful landscapes as seasons pass, the parks and the well-made
infrastructures, the very efficient public transport systems and how convenient
it is to travel and the amazing coffee shops you would see every 500 meters.
But let’s get real, when you go for studies, it’s not like going for holidays,
and I think it is best to take note and be well prepared before starting the
program!
As an embassy track applicant, we
were asked to apply for three universities. I applied to Seoul National University
SNU (μμΈλνκ΅), Yonsei University (μ°μΈλνκ΅)
and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology KAIST (νκ΅κ³ΌνκΈ°μ μ)
and got offered into SNU and Yonsei. At that moment I already had a potential
supervisor in SNU so I just immediately thought of accepting SNU’s offer. Don’t
get me wrong, I did not regret my decision, because it made sense at that
particular moment. However, I wished I knew that I should have considered these
things properly before really deciding:
1.
Availability of a GOOD International
Student Support
It is important, in a country where English is not the main language, to choose
a university that has a strong international student support. Trust me, this is
EVERYTHING. Especially when you’re not that fluent in Korean (even after
passing your TOPIK 3 as required as a GKS scholar, handling or dealing with
documents or very complicated situations, it’s hard to speak in a language you
just learned). Find out by talking to alumni, or go through the GKS student
facebook groups. Trust me, researching on websites is not enough. Personally,
SNU has a very good international student support system, especially with SNU-SISA
on campus, however… I was a college of medicine student and our campus is
different from the main campus. Being away from the main campus was a struggle
as a medical/biomedical science student, because there was no international
support in our campus. Which comes to the second tip…
2.
Know what things are like in the field of
study/your faculty in your university of choice
Find out not just in general how the university is, but
also how it is like in your faculty. Knowing how the conditions are, whether
the classes are conducted in English or Korean, the research environment, the
university environment… will help you decide what is best for you as well as
help you be more well prepared. I thought my classes were in English, as indicated
in the website (and also my assumption that medical courses would be in English),
however none of my courses are in English. They were fully in Korean. Which in
the end, you will have to adapt to, which is fine… but knowing this ahead of
time, also in the case where some universities might offer the subject in
English, might be your deciding factor.
I must highlight the part where you would want to know your
university environment per faculty, because for me being apart from the main
campus was a bit lonely. There was no campus life, and if that is an important
or essential choice for you, you might need to consider these in your decision.
SNU hospital (μμΈλνκ΅ λ³μ) where μμΈλνκ΅ μκ³Όνκ³Ό is
in Daehakro (λνλ‘) though, you could meet potential actors
there hahaha.
As a PhD student doing research I also wanted to advise
this, as it was something I had in confusion when I was transitioning from
language school to my PhD.
When do I start searching for a supervisor (SV)?
Especially if you are in the line of research where you work
in the lab, and depend on grants, it is actually important to find a supervisor
ahead of time (before you actually go in for your PhD). I do not know how it works
for other universities, I heard from some of my friends that they get their supervisor
(university chooses for you). But in SNU, you have to have a supervisor prior
to your studies, or you would not be able to join your PhD program, and eventually
you will be dropped-out. Hence tip number three is..
3.
Find a supervisor at the end of your
language school before your transition to your postgraduate studies (note –
applies to research students that work in the lab only).
In my case, what happened was I told you how I had a
supervisor when I decided for university right? Well right before the
transition, my supervisor apparently resigned, which left me SV-less. I had to
email every single potential supervisor in the line of immunology because when
I was asking for help from my department to assign me a SV, they told me no. I
had to find my own SV before starting, or not… goodbye! I thankfully, Alhamdulillah
after going mad, and having to change my line of study, got an SV after.
These are the things, or tips that I wish I knew before
deciding or before actually starting my postgraduate studies. I hope these tips
are beneficial for those currently deciding where to go, or are transition from
their language school to postgraduate studies. I wish you all the best and hope
that you get the best out of this experience! HAVE FUNNN!
TLDR version:
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