What should I confirm before moving from a language course to a degree program at the same university?
I have been studying at a university language institute in Daegu and hope to enter a degree course at the same school next year. The institute and the admissions office seem to handle separate steps, and I do not know which one to approach first. What should I confirm about application timing, required test scores, and my current study status?
Note: This is an editorial persona question created from common experiences of foreign residents in Korea.
1 Answer
The two offices really are separate, and the order matters. The language institute only manages your D-4 status, your class hours and your attendance record. The degree application is handled by the admissions team inside the international office, usually called 국제교류처 or 국제처, and they will not look at your file simply because you study in the same building. Start there, and start earlier than feels necessary.
On timing, Korean universities admit international students twice a year, in March and September. Applications for the March intake generally open around September and close in November, and for the September intake they run roughly from April to June, often in two rounds. Ask the admissions team for this year's 모집요강 for international students, because the dates shift a little every year and the second round sometimes offers fewer departments.
For test scores, most Korean-taught programmes want TOPIK level three or four to enter, and many schools also require level four before graduation. This is where being an internal student helps, since a fair number of universities waive or reduce the TOPIK requirement for students who finished level four or higher at their own language institute. Ask that question explicitly rather than assuming it applies. If the programme is taught in English, IELTS or TOEFL replaces TOPIK and a language institute certificate will not substitute for it.
The part people forget is attendance. When you change from D-4 to D-2, immigration looks at your attendance record at the institute, and a low rate causes real problems even after the university has accepted you. Keep it comfortably high, do not let the D-4 expire while you wait for the result, and once the acceptance letter arrives apply for the status change at your local immigration office rather than leaving the country and re-entering. Ask the international office whether they submit the change as a group for internal students, because many schools do and it saves a lot of queuing.