Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) Scholar Jannatul Ferdous from Bangladesh Shares Her Journey of Securing a Fully Funded Bachelor's Degree at the Semyung University, South Korea

Hi , I m jannatul Ferdous. I was born & raised in the Dhaka, Bangladesh. Recently graduated from semyung university, South Korea. I did my 4 year bachelors on bio pharmaceutical science. Well my first priority was studying in healthcare sector. Right  after finishing high school I did some research & later on I decided to go with biomedical science as im interested into research , spending time to doing something meaningful.

Global Korea Scholarship Details

I won the Global Korean Government Scholarship 2021 through the university track.

Language Institute: Konyung University

Bachelor's Degree Program: Semyung University.

It was fully funded, and I had to maintain the university GPA requirement & some follow-up rules & regulations. Each semester tuition cost was around 3,600,000 ₩, which was directly paid to the university. As well, we received a monthly stipend of about 1,100,000₩ to use for our food, living costs, transportation, maintenance fees, books, and health insurance.

Were You Offered Any Other Scholarships?

As a Korean govt. scholar we aren’t eligible to apply for any other scholarship at the time. But we can receive our own university scholarships in some cases. For example, I participated in student union activities for promoting events and arranging club activities. I received a scholarship from my university each semester, about 350,000₩. I joined on campus part-time in our dormitory, getting paid for that for each semester about 700-750,000₩.

Educational Background

I finished my high school take a year break before going for a bachelor cause I was determined I want better education, and I'm going abroad for studies. My high was in science, and I wanted to specialize on health care sector as it’s the most basic human needs for anywhere in the world. My high school GPA was 4.25 out of a 5.00 scale. I did first aid courses, and some hospital volunteering as my extra activities.

Most of the time, people featured the best student, so some of you might be disappointed, like I can’t be there. Here I am, I ain’t the best student, but I tried my best. I'm one of those kids outside the limelight. My overall GPA was 90.50% out of 100% scale.

Did You Take Any Standardized Tests? If So, How Did You Prepare for Them?

I actually googled about fully funded scholarships and found out about Korean govt scholarships unexpectedly. While the scholarship portal offers a list of the university and the courses it is offering. Download it and read it over 3-4 times to get a better understanding.

Yes, I had an IELTS score of 7.0 while applying for the scholarship. I actually prepared everything by myself. That’s why I didn’t get 5he best score, but it worked. All thanks to the online, u can prepare for IELTS all by yourself as the internet offer bunch of free courses

How Did You Prepare to Apply for the Global Korea Scholarship?

I had 8 month in my hand before applying, I did everything one by one, and also signed up for a paid mentorship to get better support specifically for the Korean govt scholarship. At that time, the mentorship was about 25$ so I took the offer.

How is Your Experience at Semyung University?

You need to be outgoing to find what’s going on campus. So one of the best things that one of my friends taught me was to check the university portal notices each night. It can be very important for your department, sometimes for all the students. Our uni portal was really organized, but one con was that it’s totally in Korean, you need a better understanding in Korean language to get access.

How Do You Rate Semyung University Academically?

As a GKS scholar, we must maintain our GPA above 2.5 each semester out of 4.5 scale. As per graduation requirement in general, you have to complete 130 credits for a single major, but in the case of a double major, you need to complete 150 credits. In my department, we can do a double major under 130 credits as well; we just need to select our courses based on the major we prefer. You need to be mentally well prepared always for the surprise test, long lab hours, and repeating failed experiments sometimes. Overall, you need patience, consistency, and always give your best.

For class notes, we usually had ppt before the class starts. So when the lecture is ongoing, we just take notes on them marked the important topics for the exam if the prof is mentioning about anything. You can ask ur prof to repeat any confusing topic they are always giving and asking short questions during the lecture so students keep engaging. We do have group presentations time to time, group lab experiments which entirely depende in ur personality type. You're good at communicating u get into the group that u like, otherwise it’s quite the opposite.

For the mid, we had a specific syllabus and focused on the lecture topics, lab experiments we had prepared for the exam. Some of the test was multiple choice, sometimes describing questions, and sometimes it could be just submitting reports on our lab experiments.

How Does Semyung University Support International Students?

There are various international programs happening in university all years around and as govt scholarship students we must attend some mandatory year-end parties. I joined various Korean-speaking competitions & other talent shows at our university.

Are Your Classes Conducted in English or Korean?

It was conducted in Korean, as we had done a 1-year preparatory language course before joining our university. Some courses in some universities do offer English, but in our university, we had only Korean. In 3 courses of mine, I could take my finals in English. But my question will always be in the Korean language. It’s like u need to understand the question in Korean, then you can write the answers in English.

What Did You Pursue After the Global Korea Scholarship?

Currently I'm taking 6 month’s break before going for further study in pharmacology

Would Potential Students Have Any Problems Not Knowing Korean?

Yes, it can be. Around 97% of the courses in my university are in the Korean language

What Do You Think Made Your Application Stand Out?

It can be my motivation letter and study plan.

What Would You Have Done Differently if You Were Going Through the Process Again?

Nothing, I will keep it the same. I know I'm not the best student who always gets 100, so I always try to present everything I have done in my capacity to win. Like 90-92% study, the remaining 8-10%, my social activities, volunteering, or any other extracurricular activities.

What Advice Would You Give Those Looking to Apply for a Similar Scholarship?

Present yourself with everything you own , do everything in your capacity, don’t compare yourself with other, keep faith in you & Give it a shot .