How to apply and receive the KGSP Scholarship(Graduate)Part 2
This is a continuation of my previous article, which is a guide on how to apply for the Korean Government Scholarship Program. In this section, I will speak more about the embassy interview, potential questions, and passing the second round.
Round One Interview (Embassy Track):
My interview was at the Korean embassy of my country and had a panel of three Koreans ,who were embassy staff, and one Native professor from a local university. They were equipped with evaluation forms and did check-marks on these forms as the interview progressed.(This is just my experience and might be subjected to change especially with COVID-19).
They asked questions like “Can you speak Korean?”, “Why do you want to study in Korea?”, “Are you confident in your ability to study in Korea?”, basically, similar questions to what you would have answered in your Personal Statement Form. Questions that were not on the essay that they also asked were: “Have you ever lived in another country before?” , “Do you like Korean food or Spicy Food?”, “Korea has four seasons, are you comfortable with experiencing winter?”, “Why did you choose these Korean Universities?” etc. Make sure that you answer as closely to your essays as possible for the similar questions and as best as you can for the non-related questions.
They also queried any “bad” grades on my transcript and noted my “A’s” in French and assumed I will do well in Korean based on my language classes grades. If your study area is different to your Bachelor’s degree, you may also explain the change to your panel. I think the turning point for me in the interview was when they asked “Will you work hard on your studies in Korea?” and I answered; “I will be the first person in my family with a Master’s degree if I receive this scholarship so I will work extremely hard at it.” and they all nodded and I saw all of them do a check-mark on their evaluation forms at that moment.
That moment also concluded the interview and they thanked me for my time. A week later, I received email confirmation that I had passed the first round and that they were submitting my documents to NIIED. I am not entirely sure if you are interviewed for the first round if you submitted for the university track, but most likely if you are, it will be one professor and they will ask similar questions.
Round Two:
Firstly, there is nothing you can do to increase your chances at receiving the KGSP Scholarship in the second round, unfortunately. Everything you have done in the first round is what is used to evaluate you in the second one. But you must have questions like “What is the second round then?” and “How is it evaluated?” .
The second round is conducted by NIIED. Each country has a quota of the amount of students who can receive this scholarship. Universities and Embassies usually accept double the quota and send those applications off to NIIED, NIIED then chooses the most suitable candidates for the required quota amount. University track and Embassy Track both have different quota amounts. Overseas Koreans also have a separate quota. So as an example: If Ethiopia has a quota of 7 for embassy track, the embassy will submit 14 candidates and the NIIED will choose 7 out of those 14 who they believe are best suited for the scholarship, so write some great essays so that you may stand out!
After that you just wait for the results to be announced for the second round on the studyinkorea noticeboard around May of the applied year.
If you have succeeded the second round, your name will be on the list of the document corresponding to which track you applied on. If you didn’t succeed, do not despair and apply again next year! There are no limits on how many times you can apply for KGSP once you are qualified to apply.
For the second round announcement, they will upload more files for you to submit in order to receive the scholarship. They consist of : (a) Official Medical Examination Form. (b) University Final Choice Form. You are also required to submit a photocopy of your passport at this point.
You are required to have the Official Medical Examination Form filled out by a doctor of a hospital or health center in your country. You also have to submit results for X-rays( I submitted a photo of the X-ray) and test results for STIs (including HIV/AIDS) and Drug Tests. It is best that you submit authentic results as you are required to do another Medical Examination a few days after you enter South Korea.
If you have applied through the university track, you just need to submit the Official Medical Examination Form and if nothing on the medical form disqualifies you: Congratulations! You have successfully passed all rounds of the KGSP and can wait for the final results!
If you have applied through the embassy track, you need to submit the Official Medical Examination Form and the University Final Choice Form. When you made your application for embassy track, you would have chosen three universities from the approved universities list. After the second round results, the universities will conduct another selection, where they accept or reject your application, this is the third round.
Round Three (For embassy track only):
After the second round results, while you are getting your Official Medical Examination Form, the third round is conducted. A representative from each of the three schools you have applied to will reach out to you via email to find out more information about you and conduct interviews for your major if necessary.
DO NOT APPLY TO ONLY THE TOP SCHOOLS IN KOREA IF POSSIBLE. (SNU, KU, YU, called the SKY universities). These schools usually receive hundreds of applicants and have a tougher criteria to get in, if you fail to receive admission from all of the three universities, you lose the KGSP Scholarship.
If you have received admission from 2–3 of the universities, make a final choice for your university and major, if you have only received one admission, fill in your university and major and submit the University Final Choice form.
After submitting these forms, you wait for confirmation that you weren’t disqualified by your medical results, which is posted as the final result on the studyinkorea noticeboard (where you checked the second round results) around June/July of the year of application.
This concludes part two of “How to apply and receive the KGSP Scholarship(Graduate)”. In part three, I will relay my experience with the procedures post-scholarship, which includes visa applications, plane tickets, preparing funds, documents, clothes etc. for moving to South Korea.
Thank you so much for reading and I’m glad if you have made it this far! Share with your friends if this has helped you and feel free to ask more questions in the comments sections.
