I am really grateful that I decided to continue my undergraduate study in South Korea not only because of the super-advanced technology and the clean environment, but this country also provides a lot of scholarships for international students as the government is encouraging more and more foreigners to study in South Korea. Since I will graduate in a few weeks with a bachelor degree in International Commerce from Yonsei University, I guess this is the time to share what kind of scholarships I have received for the last 4 years of my study. It is definitely not easy to get all of the scholarships I list below, but trust me, hard work pays off. Do check each scholarships in details, application process and requirements, and don't miss the deadlines! It's always a good thing to break away from financial dependence on your parents ^^
Global Leadership College is a college under Yonsei university that I attended and only foreigners and Korean overseas students (either those Koreans who were born in a country outside Korea or those whose parents are mixed Korean and non-Korean) are admitted to this college.
Yonsei GLC provides 3 kinds of scholarships:
a. Full Scholarship for 4-year Tuition Fee
This scholarship is awarded for students who perform outstandingly during their studies in high school. This scholarship includes tuition fee for each semesters (4 years, 8 semesters), admission fee and the miscellaneous fee. I am not sure how to get this scholarship but what I heard from my friends who received this scholarship, the university just reward them when they are admitted. I guess those who score the highest in high school, and those who are academically and non-academically outstanding are eligible to this scholarship.
b. GLC Honors Scholarship (진리장학금)
This scholarship is based on GPA for each semester. If you are able to maintain the high GPA every semesters, then you can get the scholarship in which you don't need to pay the tuition fee at the beginning of the semester. You don't have to apply, they will reward you this scholarship if your GPA is high enough. I am not sure what is the minimum GPA you have to achieve since it is decided based on the average GPA of all students for every semester but I suggest you to maintain the GPA at least 3.7 out of 4.3. (However, if the average GPA of all students is very high let's say 3.8, then you will need to gain higher GPA which is above 3.9?) The amount of the scholarship itself is based on your GPA, it ranges from 25% to 100% of total amount of tuition.
c. GLC Financial Aid (자유장학금)
GLC also offers financial aid for those who have financial difficulties. You have to apply for this scholarship every semester and you have to submit some documents such application form, proof of family relationship, parents' income statement and other supplement documents, all of the documents have to be in either English or Korean. The announcement is on GLC site and it is usually posted at the end of each semester. The amount of the scholarship ranges from 25% to 100% based on your financial background.
Korean Government supports international students who are on the second year or higher by providing living expense KRW500,000 every month for 12 years. This scholarship can be competitive as the government usually only select more or less than 10 students for each university. The qualifications are: both the cumulative GPA and the GPA from previous semester must be higher than 80 out of 100, TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) level 4 or above, application form which includes the reason for application (you have to write the self introduction and study plan very well!), recommendation letter, and it will be better if you have other language certificates.
How to apply? Apply online on www.studyinkorea.co.kr > go to notice (the application usually opens from the last week of January) > GKS외국인 우수자비 장학생 모집 (Korean only)
Lee&Won (리앤원) is a private foundation that is established to support academic affairs in humanities, and helping underprivileged classes,in the region of Asia. One of the programs that is supported by Lee&Won foundation is called Lee&Won Asian Fellowship which is established in 2009. Unfortunately only those from Asian countries are eligible to apply for this scholarship. If you manage to get the scholarship, you don't only receive the money but you will also get some educations and activities that you have to participate every month in a year.
How to apply? Visit www.leeandwonfoundation.org > Download the application forms > Submit the required documents through mail > If you pass the document screening, group interview (in Korean ) is the next process
Documents to be submitted: application form, student's transcript, TOPIK certificate
The application period is usually from Dec 31 to Jan 31 and you can also see the announcement on some universities website such as Yonsei Univ. , Korea Univ. , Seoul Nat'l Univ , etc.
This scholarship is only for Indonesian and Vietnamese students who are studying undergraduate and master in South Korea. The scholarship is provided by KB Insurance but the program is managed by a non-governmental organization called 함께하는사랑밭. As the number of Vietnamese and Indonesian students in Korea is increasing every year, it can be very competitive because they only grant the scholarship for 10 students. I was the first batch who managed to get this scholarship and out of 10 students, they only picked 2 Indonesians, the rest are all Vietnamese.
How to apply? I applied on Hanyang Univ. website but I am not sure if they are still giving the scholarship this year.
KT Dream School Global Mentoring is a program established by KT Dream School (one of the affiliates of KT group) and Seoul Global Center. It is actually a program where International Students take role as a mentor to teach a foreign language (English, Chinese, or Japanese) and a foreign culture to a Korean elementary school student. The one-to-one teaching program is online, twice a week for 6-7 months, but there are also several offline programs that we have to participate such as orientation, where the mentor and the mentee meet for the first time, and some volunteers. The scholarship is awarded at the end of the program based on each student's performance. If you teach well and actively join all the programs, full scholarship will be rewarded. However, they might reduce the scholarship if you don't proactively join the program based on certain evaluations.
How to apply? Visit www.ktdreamschool.org (Korean only) > Community > Notice > 글로벌멘토단 모집 공고 > Download the application form > 1st Round: Document Screening > 2nd Round: Group Interview (in Korean)
The application period (document and submission and interview) is usually from January until February.
Kwang Dong is one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in South Korea, the founder of the company, Gasan Soo Boo Choi (가산 최수부) establised a foundation to academic financial supports for high school and university students. In 2018, for the first time the foundation offers scholarship for international students who are studying in South Korea. In my batch, there are 10 students who received the scholarship and I was the only Indonesian, and the others are from China, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Japan. There is no any program that we have to participate and they grant the scholarship all at once after we pass all of the application process.
How to apply? I applied on Sungkyungkwan Univ. website and I doubt they announce it on their own website: gasanfund.org . The application processes are quite similar with other scholarships which are document submission for the first round and group interview for the second round.
Together with Lotte Duty Free, Mediheal, one of the biggest Korean beauty company, supports financial aid to the international students who are on the senior year and studying in Yonsei Univ. , Korea Univ. , Seoul Nat'l Univ. , and other 10 universities in Seoul and Busan. My batch is the first batch and in 2018 Mediheal established a foundation to provide academic supports for the International students in South Korea. Even though the scholarship amount is lower than the others, but for my batch, they provided scholarship for more than 400 students. The application process was quite easy, it was only document screening without interview. There isn't any program you have to participate but in the middle of the year you have to submit a report related to Korean culture. If you don't submit or miss the deadline, they will not continue providing the scholarship.
How to apply? I applied on Yonsei OIA site: www.oia.yonsei.ac.kr . For more info visit mediheal foundation site: medihealsf.or.kr
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