Medical Scholarship in South Korea for International Students

In South Korea, more than 50% of international students who are admitted will receive a scholarship in 2024. This process of getting a scholarship is done at the same time as admission and automatically. So, you don’t need to contact the department to ask for a special recommendation. In this article, I am going to provide you with the current medical scholarship in South Korea for international students.

Medical Scholarship in South Korea for International Students 2024

So, I’m going to walk you through the top scholarships you can get right now as a medical student in South Korea.

1. Yonsei Graduate School Scholarship for Medicine

Yonsei University Graduate School is dedicated to fostering global excellence and encouraging creative thinking. It has 6 academic divisions: Liberal Arts and Social Science, Natural Science, Engineering, Art and Physical Education, Medical Science, and Interdisciplinary Programs. Currently, over 8,400 students are enrolled in its various graduate programs. The number of courses offered in English depends on the major. So, not all the courses are taught in English, unfortunately. If you also plan to stay back and work here in South Korea, you have to learn to speak Korean. Nevertheless, Japanese, English and Mandarin are also widely spoken and understood here.

This Graduate School at Yonsei consists of 81 departments, 30 interdisciplinary programs, and 26 joint programs with well-known research institutes in Korea.

The scholarships available for international students at Yonsei are mainly based on academic merit. I have covered the scholarships in this article about Yonsei scholarships for international students. Make sure you check it out because you might be eligible to apply for any of them and study for free.

2. Korea University Graduate School Scholarship for International Students

The College of Medicine has a special scholarship for foreign students which pays for 75% of the tuition. Here’s what you have to do to apply for the medical scholarship in South Korea for international students, as listed on their official website.

International Students Scholarship A

• A minimum GPA from your last school: at least 4.0 out of 4.5, 3.83 out of 4.3, 3.57 out of 4.0, or 90 out of 100.
• English language test scores are needed: TOEFL (PBT) must be 577 or more, TOEFL (CBT) 233 or more, TOEFL (iBT) 90 or more, TEPS 700 or more, IELTS 7.0 or more, or TOPIK level 6 or more (this is also required for native English speakers).
• You must have a departmental recommendation and the graduate school dean’s approval.

All three of these requirements must be fulfilled to be eligible for a scholarship. Don’t bother with this application if you don’t meet the eligibility requirements. Speaking for experience, we’ve seen a lot of students applying for scholarships they don’t qualify for. You’re only making the filtering jobs tougher for the supervisor. Some applications are now being filtered out automatically so we are left with just a few qualified ones to go through and see the best ones that meet the requirements.

International Students Scholarships B and C

For both Natural Science and Engineering Areas, you need a departmental recommendation and the graduate school dean’s consent. This means that you’ll contact your Head of Department about writing you a recommendation letter. It can be any professor in your school. And then you have to meet your faculty dean for approval as well. With that, you are ready for this application. All of it matter because they’ll be checked during the application review process.

Benefits of the Scholarship

For the medical scholarship in South Korea, master’s and doctoral students will get the scholarship for four semesters. Students in combined master’s and doctoral programs will get it for eight semesters.

International Student Scholarship A

This scholarship covers all the entrance and tuition fees. You technically only need funds for your living expenses and books. The scholarship covers most of your important expenses already as you can see.

International Student Scholarship B

This one pays for 60% of the entrance and tuition fees. Mathematically, you get to cover only 40% of your entrance and tuition fee expenses.

International Student Scholarship C

This scholarship offers a 75% discount on tuition fees. As for C, you only have to cover 25% of your expenses. A lot of applicants are going to go after ‘A’ which is why it is always more competitive. You could aim for B, but if you have no money at all, aim for A. You might still get it.

How to Retain Your Scholarship

To retain the foreign student scholarship, you need to have a GPA of 3.5 or more, as the College of Medicine requires.

International Student Scholarship A

• Keep your GPA at 3.8 or above.
• If your GPA is between 3.0 and 3.8 for two semesters in a row, you’ll get a 75% scholarship. If you then raise your GPA to 3.8 or more, you’ll get a full 100% scholarship.
• If your GPA is under 3.0 for two semesters in a row, you’ll lose the scholarship. But, if you improve your GPA to 3.0 or more later, you can get a 75% scholarship.
• Once Scholarship A is lost, it can’t be given back.

Scholarship A is a lot more demanding and competitive, obviously. You’re not here to play, you know. You have to focus on your studies and amass all the needed grade points to retain your scholarship.

International Student Scholarship B

• You need to maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher.

International Student Scholarship C

• Also, keep a GPA of 3.5 or more.

A professor who teaches Natural Sciences or Engineering might offer special students extra money from their own research funds.

Conclusion

It’s really a good move to take advantage of the medical scholarship in South Korea for international students. Try your best to keep this scholarship for your whole time at school. If you have plans to study and work at the same time, it might affect your performance—that’s the downside with work. You can work up to 20 hours per week during the academic semester and full-time during semester breaks.

While in South Korea, make it  goal to learn Korean, especially if you want to stay back after study. You can learn Mandarin or even Japanese—just any one of them you can learn will do but Korean is the best.

Read also: India Scholarship for African Students