[GKS-G 2021] #2 - University choice? Embassy track or University track?

There is no definite way to determine which track is better or which has a higher possibility of getting the scholarship. However, through my research, observation and experience, I might be able to share my thoughts on which track is more suitable depending on your qualifications and university choice.

University choice

You will be able to find a list of all participating universities for the year with fields of study available for application together in the GKS application notice. The list for GKS 2021 has been improved and much more well-arranged compared to previous years, it should be fairly easy to go through it. PS: The list of participating universities and fields of study might have slight changes every year so make sure you check if the university and field of study of your choice are available for the year.

Points to note:

1. Medium of instructions: Korean 100% - taught fully in Korean

                                            English 100% - taught fully in English

                                            Korean/ English - taught in Korean and English

2. Master's/ Doctoral: O - offered, X - not offered

3. Remarks: Some courses will require specific qualifications during application for example TOPIK Level/ English proficiency test. Some courses are only open for application through the embassy track.

Example for Yonsei University 

Example for SungKyunKwan University

My recommendation would be to go through all the universities and find out which one offers the field of study of your choice and then narrow it down to 3 universities (embassy track) or 1 university (university track) of your choice. If you do not already have a rough idea of which university you want to go to, you should check out the websites of all the universities and go through the course description, syllabus, list of professors, the history of the universities... from there, you will be able to find the university that suits you the most. 

For me, I did also reach out to quite a few past scholars who are currently enrolled in the university that I was interested in. I was able to get very personal advice, timely information and useful past application experiences from the scholars whom I am very grateful for taking their time out during their very busy schedules to answer my questions. 

Embassy track or University track

Embassy track

Apply through embassy (with 3 university choices) > Document screening > Embassy interview > 1st round Interview result > NIIED Document screening > NIIED screening result > University interview > 2nd round Interview result > Final round result

Pros:

- 3 universities of your choice

- if you can pass the embassy interview, % of getting through university interview is high

- able to secure scholarship as long as one university accepts you (not very likely to fail all 3 universities interviews & NIIED document screening round)

- compete within your country applicants

Cons:

- 2 rounds of interview

- % of passing public university graduates is higher (downside if you are a private university graduate)

- prefers science majors as opposed to a business major

- 4x copies of documents to prepare: 1x for embassy and 3x for 3 universities (cost of getting documents printed, notarized, apostilled will cost more than you expect, but it will be worth it!)

University track

Apply directly through university (only able to apply to 1 university) > Document screening> University interview > 1st round interview result > NIIED Document screening > NIIED screening result aka final round result

Pros:

- 1 round of interview

- only 1x copy of documents to prepare

- acceptance rate of major depends on each university every year

Cons:

- only can apply to ONE university (disqualification if found to apply to more than one university)

- compete with applicants from all countries

- documents to be sent directly to the university in physical copies (no online/ email submission)

- large applicant pool will be cut off at the NIIED document screening round (apparently it is getting harder to pass even the first round of university document screening/ interview round, at least for Yonsei it is)

Below are my personal recommendations for applicants who are still deciding which track to apply through, kindly take it with a grain of salt:

1. Public university graduate

2. Science major

3. Interested in a few universities

4. Korea-related curricular activities

→ Embassy track

1. Private university graduate

2. Business/ Art major

3. Have a definite choice of university

→ University track

I hope this helps! :)