Tips from Korea (SKY universities)

Hi.

I'm Min Chae Kim, class of 2020. I've been given the privilege of being able to go to Yonsei University and major in biotechnology, and thus was asked to write some tips. Here they are:

12 years study abroad program (12년 특례)

Okay, so in Korea, there is a program where if you have studied for more than 12 years abroad, you get to be in a different criteria than the other Korean students, making competition easier. This created a pretty bad image for those who got in through this program, since there were some "unqualified" students that got into prestigious universities. However, honestly this is all old news.

Now, (especially with the coronavirus) the competition for the 12 years program is much more harder than it was a few years ago. Yes, it still is easier compared to those in Korea, but it definitely is much harder to get into the top 3 Korea universities than most of the top 20 universities in the world. For example, if you want to get into the top 3 universities in Korea with the 12 years program, you need enough specs to be able to get into the top 50 universities in the world. So here is my warning, if you are Korean and you want to go to the top 3 Korean Universities, prepare yourself as if you're going to the top universities of the world. Don't just lay back thinking that you'll get in using the 12 years program.

Application process

It's sickening in Korea. I'm not sure if it's because Korean Universities have doubt, but the amount of paperwork and requirements that they want is absolutely sickening. I took only 30 minutes to apply to UCs, but it took me days and days to prepare for Korean application processes.

First, you have to wait until the universities release what type of paperwork they want and prepare it in time so that you send the files to them right on time. Or else you're out. They also have a certain type of questions that they want answered for their teacher recommendation, so you have to get those early and ask your teachers to fill them out early too. College essays are pretty much the same as you would write for any other universities, except that you have to write much more. I remember writing 15 pages for 3 prompts for one of the universities because they wanted around 20 pages. Yes. That is alot for 3 prompts.

SAT's

I know some people tell you that you can start your SAT's in your junior year. No. Stop. That's not true. One of my biggest regrets for my SAT score is that I didn't start earlier. There's no need to start in the freshman year, but I would recommend looking at some practice problems in your sophomore year. I did get my goal score (1510), but it took way too much time than it should have, which was during the winter of my senior year. If I had gotten this score earlier, then I would have had the time to prepare for SAT 2s, which would have been much better. So for SAT's, I would recommend looking at practice problems early (around sophomore year). And for studying, try taking the same practice problems until you get the same questions 100 percent correct all the time.

Which classes?

This solely depends on which major you want to go to University. I know some people tell you that taking too many APs and tanking your grades would be worse than taking easy classes and managing your grades, but I think differently. For me, APs actually helped me bring up my poor grades in my freshman year. The scale for APs is much more giving, and you get more for the same grades that you get in normal classes. I was actually kind of sad that I wasn't able to take more APs than I could have in my junior and sophomore year. (I really wished that I could have taken at least 1 AP in my sophomore year). Yet, this really depends on who you are, so think wisely when deciding classes.

If you have any extra questions, feel free to ask me:

Insta:mckim1103

email:mckim1103@gmail.com