Global Korea Scholarship (Undergraduate) Application Guide: General Guide and Interview Tips

Advice from a Global Korea Scholarship alumnus.

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

Introduction:

Having completed my journey as a Malaysian Korean Government Scholarship Program (now known as the Global Korean Scholarship) undergraduate scholar, I thought it is about time to document this period of my life. I remember the KGSP application process to be overwhelming and confusing and hope this step-by-step walkthrough helps make things easier for future applicants, especially Malaysians.

In this guide, I’ll explain what I have done to be successful in my application, but bear in mind that I cannot guarantee this is the correct way to do things and strongly recommend you to check with the Korean Embassy in your country for clarification.

This guide is divided into the following sections:

1. Personal background at the time of application
2. Step-by-step application guide
3. Tips for filling out Form 1
4. Tips for your letter of recommendation
5. Interview pointers

1. Personal Background at Time of Application:

• Scored 10 straight A’s for my SPM (not all A+’s)
• Doing Cambridge A-Levels at a local college on a 100% tuition scholarship, granted automatically for those with 9A’s and above
• Won an essay competition at the national level, achieved Grade 8 in a musical instrument, committee member of several clubs & societies in my high school and also awarded a co-curricular excellence award by my high school
• Non-existent Korean language knowledge; did not submit TOPIK or English test score
• Never travelled to Korea before
• Applied for (in order of preference):

1. Yonsei University — ACCEPTED
2. Korea University — ACCEPTED
3. Hankuk University of Foreign Studies — ACCEPTED

• Subject: Social Sciences

Winter at my Korean Language Institute, 2014

2. Step-by-Step Application Guide:

1. Follow the Korean Embassy page on Facebook to get instant notification when the application starts for the year (usually early September)
2. Visit the Korean Embassy website to download the application form. Information on eligibility, country quota, important dates, required documents are all included in the same form, so remember to read everything carefully!
3. Go through the application, fill in the easy parts ASAP. There are 6 forms in total, which may seem daunting, but trust me, it’s easier than it seems. Form 5 is the Applicant Agreement that you simply have to sign, and Form 6 only needs to be submitted after you pass the 2nd round of selection.
4. Prepare the required documents. Even though the embassy requests for original documents to be sent, I strongly advise against this because they do not return your documents. Instead, photocopy the document and have it certified as a true copy, then submit it as the Original Document set. If your document is not in English, get it translated and have the translated copy notarized too. (In my case, I translated the documents by myself and just asked my school to certify them because I am a cheapskate and had no idea what a notary is, but I discourage you from doing the same. Better be safe than sorry, and they might be more stringent with the application process now compared to a few years ago)
5. Research on Korean universities. Also, if you have never thought of what you want to major in, now is probably a good time to sit down and think. But more on this in a separate post.
6. Outline the structure for your Personal Statement and Study Plan. It is impossible to get everything done in one sitting, so take your time, but plan wisely. The worst thing to do is to procrastinate and rushing things at the last minute.
7. Get in touch with your recommenders. You should allow them ample time to write their recommendation. I suggest doing this after you’re complete with your personal statement and study plan because some recommenders prefer going through your essays to have a good idea of what to write in their letter. Also, you can ask for their feedback! :)
8. Once you’re done with the forms, arrange them as per the instructions and send in your application. I recommend submitting the application in person to the embassy, just so you know that it has been received, but if it is unpractical for you, post your application early via trackable mail, lest it gets lost/delayed.

Hangang Park, 2016

3. Tips for filling out Form 1:

Form 1 asks for the personal & family background of the applicants. As the application form is standardized globally, I’d like to try to clarify some parts which are non-applicable/confusing for Malaysians:

• High School Education: Korean high school years are equivalent to our Form 4, 5 and 6. As my high school was using a non-convertible grading system, at my time of application, the Korean Embassy instructed me to fill in n/a for this and just submit my SPM certificate as academic evidence. (I also included my AS Level results, but don’t think this was very significant) I highly recommend you to check this with the embassy in case their procedure changed.
• I strongly recommend you to type out, then print your application, especially if your handwriting is messy and illegible.
• When they say ‘write in English only’, they mean Roman alphabets.
• Don’t leave any parts blank, if it’s non-applicable, fill in with ‘n/a’ (non-applicable).

4. Tips for your Letter of Recommendation:

• Ask a teacher/ someone who understands you well and can attest to your academic capacity/leadership qualities to write the letter.
• If your recommender asks you to prepare a draft of the letter for them, my advice is similar to writing the personal statement:

1. avoid being factual to the extent that you only seem to be reiterating what is in Form 1
2. use anecdotes to exemplify your best qualities

• But of course, you do not want your recommendation letter to be indistinguishable from your personal statement, so even if you’re describing the same event, try to show other qualities through it. (Say, for example, you won this national level swimming contest — if you wrote about how this exemplifies your time management skills in your personal statement, use the recommendation letter to talk about other positive attributes like discipline, determination etc. Remember: emphasize, do not repeat.

5. Interview Tips:

If you’ve received an email notifying you to attend the interview session (I got mine towards the end of October), let me first congratulate you for being one of the top applicants for the year. Now comes the make or break factor, which is the interview round! I’ve tried my best to recall my own experience, but keep in mind that since it was years ago and I am not part of the scholarship selection committee (i.e. I do not know how much the interview process has changed since), your interview experience can differ from mine.

1. Dress appropriately: Like it or not, Korea is a nation consisting of very appearance-oriented people. While dressing well may not give you brownie points, dressing inappropriately will take a toll on the interviewer’s first impression of you. Do not wear jeans, T-shirts or sports shoes. For girls, I recommend a blouse/dress shirt+ slacks/skirt+heels/flat combination. Shoes must be toe-covering, and make sure that your skirt/dress is at least knee-length. For guys, you can’t go wrong with a dress shirt+slacks+tie+leather shoe combination.
2. Prepare & practice: If you’re just like me and get nervous at the thought of having to tell stories of your life to a panel of strangers (because of lack of self-confidence/you’re not very good at conversing in English etc.), the biggest favour you can do to yourself is to prepare beforehand by drafting your answers for the most common interview questions (Please introduce yourself/ Talk about your strength & weaknesses/ Why do you want to study in Korea/ Why should we choose you/ How would you contribute to your home country & Korea if chosen). The logic is simple — while you’re preparing you would already have in mind a clear idea of how you would answer this question during the interview, which means when you’re actually asked you would not have to worry about leaving out important points that you want to include. Prepping for the interview does not make you less authentic or insincere but remember you shouldn’t memorize your answers word by word because you want to sound natural and confident.
3. Korean language skills: Now, if you mentioned that you’ve learned Korean or have taken TOPIK before in your application, you might be prompted to answer questions in Korean during the interview. (I was not because I made it clear that I did not speak Korean at all.) Hence, I discourage you from disclosing about knowing Korean if your proficiency is below conversational level because it might disadvantage you if you fail to understand/answer the question. On the other hand, if you have TOPIK Level 3 & above or have used Korean in professional settings, definitely prepare to answer the common interview questions mentioned above in Korean. Even if the interviewers don’t prompt you, you can take the initiative to ask if you can answer in Korean if you are well-prepared. If I have not made it clear enough already, yes, being able to speak in Korean definitely gives you an edge during the interview.
4. My experience: There were around 10 candidates who were invited to the interview stage, and for my year there were only 2 allotments for my country. The interview was conducted on a personal basis. I encourage you to just mingle with other candidates before the interview instead of practising further to ease your nervousness. If I’m not mistaken, the panel consisted of 2 Koreans and 2 Malaysians. Everyone was friendly, polite and encouraging, so none of the ‘interviewer from hell’ experience where they just try to tear you apart. Apart from the questions listed above, I was interviewed mainly based on my personal statement and study plan, so remember to go through these 2 documents before your interview. (Nothing subject-specific, but I’d imagine this would be different depending on the panel) All in all, nothing out of the ordinary and it was not very difficult, but since these were standard questions that were probably directed at all interviewees, think well about your responses to make sure that you make a strong impression.

For those of you out there who failed the first time, do not hesitate to try again! I actually applied for the KGSP twice. The first time I made it to the interview stage but was not shortlisted as a final candidate. So I applied again the following year and disclosed during the interview that I failed the past year, and if I do not get the scholarship this time, I would try again next year. More than anything, I think it was this perseverance that made me stand out and helped me win the scholarship. (Fairly certain that my academic results were not in the top 2 among the finalists)

I think the interview stage holds equal importance as your application essays, so put as much effort in preparation for your interview as you did for your application. And most importantly, remember that luck plays a huge role in this opportunity, so don’t beat yourself up if you’re not selected. As for the probability of reserve candidates being offered the scholarship, this depends on your country and the budget of the Korean government for the year, but I can tell you that for the past 5 years Malaysian reserves did eventually get accepted for the scholarship.

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.

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