Medical Education for Russians at Seoul National University
It’s not easy with Korean universities.
First of all, their websites are a mess.
(The Seoul National University’s website stands out a lot — it’s understandable).
Secondly, many of them simply do not accept foreigners to medical and veterinary specialties.
The situation is just like with the best medical schools in the U.S. — only for the locals.
Third, nothing is free in Korea.
You should undergo medical training at Seoul National University from 500000 rubles per year, which is comparable with the best universities in Russia (the First, Second and Third Medical Universities).
But there are also costs for accommodation and food, and a lot of them.
On the plus side, however, there are also advantages.
The universities in Korea are quite young and as a rule were built as a single complex, and in some of them you can stay on campus for five or seven years — everything is here: dormitories, cafeterias, educational buildings and hospitals.
Well, in the end, if you stand the study — the salary will be quite decent.
A good surgeon in Korea earns 10000 dollars a month (three times less than in America, but at least twice as much as in Russia).
My questions:
Hello
I am Egor Kugno, a 15-year-old pupil of the 9th grade in Moscow school.
I have a small website — https://kugno.ru / where I write about my studies, exams and publish various answers from Russian ministries (about paying for studies abroad, transferring money for studies and so on)
The first 7 years I studied in an ordinary (good) Moscow school, had additional classes in biology (microbiology) and chemistry; last year I passed through the competition entrance exams to Chemical School #1501 — #10 in the rating of Moscow schools (it is approximately #30 among ALL schools in Russia). The school chemistry was very good — 6 hours a week, all year round (the standard in Russia is 2 hours a week, now there is no chemistry at all in humanities classes), but everything else, except chemistry, was not very good, and I went to 9th grade to school at the Higher School of Economics — (through entrance exams, of course) — where chemistry is a bit less, but everything else is much better)
Although I am still studying 2.5 years, I started researching universities of the world — to understand where I can go to study, what requirements I have to meet, whether to study languages other than English and Spanish that I am studying now at school, and of course — whether my parents will be able to pay for my education.
At the moment I am most interested in medicine (pathology, chemotherapy and hematology), chemistry (more like laboratory management) and pharmacy (more like managing science and research in a pharmaceutical company, but of course with a full understanding of what scientists do, and with a deep knowledge of biochemistry).
Right now I am studying primarily medical education, as it is the most complicated, expensive, there is a lot of information and it is the hardest to find.
Later I will gather information about chemical and pharmaceutical education.
I checked out your university’s website, but I have a few questions for you:
1. Is it possible to enter your university after I finished my 11 years of school in Russia — or do I need to take another course at a university in Russia?
I am studying English (I will graduate with a C1) and advanced chemistry and biology. Starting next year, our school will have compulsory participation in all the Olympiads in Russia for schoolchildren — all in all, it’s a great school.
But, as I wrote, we are only 11, not 12.
2. Do you have any students from Russia who are studying to be a doctor?
3. Are there any quotas for foreigners to study medicine at your university (and are there any quotas for Russians?)
4. Do I understand correctly — I need to study for 6 years?
5. Does your university have dormitories for students for the entire period of study?
5.1 If there are no dormitories (or there is a five-year waiting list), can the university act as a guarantor when renting accommodation?
6. What is the cost of tuition and living in dormitories and all other expenses per year for studying to be a doctor at your university (I mean education-related expenses — i.e. textbooks, labs, etc. — not including food and transportation, of course).
I know that prices are going up, but the overall costs need to be understood early on.
6.1. are there scholarships for Russians to study and/or live in?
7. What exams do I need to take besides English?
7.1 What language certificates do I need to register?
7.2 Is it possible to study in English?
This is an important question because I know that in most countries medical education is done in the national languages of the respective countries and I think that 2.5-3 years of training in any language is enough for level C1 — if taken seriously.
7.3 Are internal Russian achievements recognized and important (participation in Olympiads, successful passing exams in Russian universities)
8. Is it compulsory to take preparatory and/or language courses at your university before entering university?
9. What is the further procedure of training as a doctor after graduation (postgraduate course, residency, specialization) and obtaining a medical license (if you know)?
10. Will I be able to work after graduation?
11. If training to be a doctor is not possible, please tell me if it is possible to study to be a pharmacist (if you have one) and a chemist (biotechnology, as an option — chemical engineering for pharmacy)
Great if you can indicate in your answer if it is possible to study in English for a chemist or a pharmacist)
P.S. Even though I’m only 15 years old, I’ve started seriously looking for a university to get a good education. I have noticed that many universities put information in PDF format on their websites. This, in my opinion, is very wrong. Not everyone REALLY knows English (French, Chinese….), and such guys, going to a university website and not finding information that can be read in Google Translate, will leave forever and not come back.
Sorry for the unsolicited advice))) — But it would be great to have all the information about the university not only in PDF format, but also as plain text on the websites)))
P.S.2. If you have students from Russia, could you give them my email address or forward them my letter?
I would love to talk to them.
Thank you very much again.
Egor Kugno
Answer:
Dear Prospective Student,
Thank you for your interest in SNU and hope this email finds you well.
Admissions for international students are held twice a year for spring and fall entrances.
Regarding the admissions process, you can download our latest admission guide and find more information on our page:
https://en.snu.ac.kr/admission/undergraduate/application
General information such as the application procedure, programs offered, eligibility criteria, requirements, tuition, etc. are stated in the guide.
If the program you are interested in is not listed in our Admissions Guide, it means that it is not open to international students.
Please visit our website to find any other relevant information.
If you still have inquiries even after referring to the Admissions Guide, please email us again.
*The quota for international admissions is not predetermined, and there is no additional selection in case of non-enrollment of admitted students.
However, the College of Education is an exception.
(We offer admission to international students within the limit of 10% of the student quota for each field of study for
the designated year in accordance with the “Teacher-Training Institution’s Quota Regulation” implemented by the Ministry of Education.)
*For inquiries related to particular course information, we kindly advise you make a direct inquiry to the corresponding department.
The contact information of each department is listed in our Admissions Guide.
Courses at SNU are generally taught in Korean, while some are offered in English.
Please note that the number of courses offered in English varies by department.
As this is the case, we are afraid that as the Office of Admissions, we are limited in information to fully answer your inquiry.
Therefore, we would kindly recommend that you contact the department of your interest directly for this matter.
All inquiries specific to the department/major of your interest can be better assisted by the staff at the department.
If you are unable to contact the department of your interest online or via email, the only way to contact them may be by phone.
*For inquiries related to scholarship, please contact:
— Email: intlscholarship@snu.ac.kr
— Tel. +82-2-880-2519
— Web: http://oia.snu.ac.kr
You may also find out about scholarships available for international students at:
https://oia.snu.ac.kr/page/scholarships.php
*Queries regarding on-campus housing should be addressed to the following:
— Web: http://snudorm.snu.ac.kr/en/
— Tel: +82-2-881-9011
Best,
SNU Admissions
Office of Admissions
Seoul National University
Bldg. 150, 599 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu,
Seoul 151-742, Korea
E-mail: snuadmit@snu.ac.kr
TEL: +82 2 880 6971, 6977
FAX: +82 2 873 5009, 5021
Admission Guide→
( 50 megabytes! The English part starts on page 30)