Global Korea Scholarship (Undergraduate) Application Guide: Form 4 Statement of Purpose

Advice from a Global Korea Scholarship Alumnus

This post is part of my “How to apply for the Global Korea Scholarship for Undergraduates” series.

• Read my GKS application guide & interview tips here.
• Read my GKS Application guide for Form 3: Personal Statement here.

This guide is divided into two sections:

1. General advice for laying out your study plan
2. Examples for the study plan

General advice for laying out your study plan:

1. Be realistic & make feasible plans

Don’t go: “I will achieve TOPIK 6 in 3 months” if you currently have zero proficiency in Korean because it only shows that you have not done your due diligence. Being ambitious isn’t the same as being overconfident.

2. Have measurable goals

Quantify your milestones. Koreans love numbers. Enough said.

3. Be as structured as possible

Show that you have put a lot of thought into formulating your study plan by addressing each of the subquestions in similar length. You can divide your essay into several sections with subheadings for clarity. Put yourself in the shoes of the application assessor and think about how you can make their job easier- one of the ways is by making your main points as obvious and easy-to-catch as possible.

4. Give concrete examples

Cite reliable data/ sources of information to support your claim. Name your resources. (i.e. ‘use Yonsei University’s Korean Language Institute Textbook as main Korean learning material’ is better than ‘study Korean language textbook’ because it demonstrates that you’re very serious about learning Korean and have looked into it)

Dusk of Seoul, 2017

Examples:

A. Study plans to improve foreign languages (Korean, English, etc) required for taking a bachelor’s degree course BEFORE and AFTER you come to Korea.

Self-learning Korean: Define your goals & break down the process of achieving a certain goal

• input-based goal: x hours of Korean per day (the more detailed your timetable the better)
• output-based goal: x chapters of TalktomeinKorean.com material/ Sogang University Textbook per day/ memorize xx new vocabulary per week etc.)
• timeline-based goal: finish TOPIK x material by month x and x
• skill-based goal: elaborate on how you plan to improve your listening, writing, speaking, comprehension skills, such as language exchange through smartphone apps, or watching dramas& variety shows without subtitles, or reading Korean news etc. (if you can name the resources, that will make your plan more convincing)

B. Study plan for a bachelor’s degree course (Please state the reason you choose such universities and departments (or majors), your academic goals, specific plans (including timeline) to achieve them, and future plan after completion of your study. In case that preferred departments (or majors) of the preferred universities are different, please mention about them separately.)

1. Reasons for Choosing x University and x Department/ Major

• The achievement of this university in a certain field coincides with your academic interest
• Heard from friends/ acquaintances who had a great study experience there
• Employability (quote your source of information)
• Ranking (but please, please, please, do not focus solely on this factor because “I want to study at Seoul National University because it has the highest ranking among Korean universities” is the most generic and low-effort reason ever, even if it’s the truth)
• Strong foreign student support in the university (eg. large community, established club/society for foreigners, free Korean language classes for foreigners etc. )
• Want to be under the tutelage of a certain professor

2. Academic Goals, Specific Plans to Achieve Them

• Maintain GPA of x
• Publish academic paper
• Double-major/minor in x subject
• Research internship at the lab
• Go on a summer exchange program

3. Future Plan After Completion of Studies

Since the scholarship has no bond, you are free to do anything you want to after graduation. In my opinion, choosing to stay in Korea, or returning to your home country does not give you any advantage or disadvantage, so just write whatever is your original intention. It is normal for your goals & plans to change for 5 years and it’s not like they will force you to follow through with these goals. This is simply for the scholarship committee to know that you have given some thought to planning for your future. Examples:

• Further studies to Master’s level
• Work in Korea in x industry
• Work in the home country to contribute to national development
• Become diplomat/ work towards strengthening the ties between Korea and home country

Hope these examples help and do not hesitate to drop a comment below if you have questions. Good luck with your application!

If you require further guidance, I offer proofreading/editing services for Personal Statements and Statements of Purpose for the KGSP application. Feel free to contact me @ korealah.my[at]gmail.com for details on price & procedure.

If you find this guide helpful, please feel free to give me a clap or leave a comment below.

I also share content on student life in Korea, Korean slangs and Korean culture on my Instagram: instagram.com/korealah.my