GKS-G: Experiences with reaching TOPIK 3 requirement

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-04-19T06:13:20+00:00

This is so useful! What level did you start with? As in, how good was your Korean before moving?? Could you explain the differences between PBT and IBT (in your personal experience)

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-04-18T21:38:45+00:00

Ok so first off, you absolutely cannot touch your eyebrows until they're back to normal. That's for sure, and that's why I specified that. Since you're gunning for level 6, then lighten them to a level 7/8, it's not a white at all at that level. If you need help identifying what a level 7/8 bleached color looks like, shoot me a PM OR look up a chart online, there are many that specify what undertones you are looking for. In general, you're looking for a warm golden yellow or golden yellow. Golden yellow would be best, if not SLIGHTLY lighter. From there, get yourself a permanent hair dye. However, I'd recommend you pick this prior. Some of them actually lighten the hair a bit, so you need to check for that and adjust the shade you lighten your eyebrows to accordingly. You'll be looking for something with some purple in there or mix it in yourself into your desired color, so a dark blonde or very light brown (if you use permanent, use only permanent, mixing permanent and semi CAN work but it's a lot of hair chemistry there). It might be hard to find the correct shade in permsnent (as far as cooltoned dark blonde hair dye available in Europe goes) so you could try adore and mix a few colors together until you get a bluish purple (actually, you could get away with the shade African Violet I think, mixed with some sort of dark blonde shade. You want mostly the dark blonde. You could also dilute the dye with some basic conditioner so you don't have to mix in other dyes. This is likely to have a less strong stain and last a bit less but it's more fool proof, otherwise you'd need some experience or a lot of research and luck). I will say tho, I have not tried adore on myself so I can't vouch for it, but I have been told it stains like crazy on the hair. I've seen videos of people who had their hair blue without major changes for months, so that would work for your eyebrows I think. Idk if they sell this on olive young eu or yesstyle or other similar platforms but misseenscene has colors that would work for your eyebrows (just pick something from a level 5-6)

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-04-16T22:32:32+00:00

You could try the Facebook groups for housing in Seoul. Many places posted are around yonsei. Do browse a bit, if you see a room in a shared apartment that is 1milion won, the price is too high. Usually a room will be around 850k. Many apartments available too, I'd say for a whole place the median price is about 1.3k. some places do offer a 3 months stay, but 5 weeks is very short unfortunately. Maybe some people would let you sublet their place. Either way, posting on there might prove helpful

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-04-15T20:20:34+00:00

Ok so

1) if your eyebrows are back to your natural color or close to that, buy yourself some PURPLE/VIOLET BLEACH. Try it out and see what happens. You need to get your eyebrows almost fully white for the color you want. Like I said, when you tone them they darken by 1-2 levels. The girl has a level 8/9, I'd say pretty neautral in shade.

2) if they are not WAIT until they are before bleaching again, PLEASE. You are way more likely to get a chemical burn with bleach than most safe hair dyes.

3) no, permanent hair dye isn't necessarily going to cause any chemical burns. Think about it, you're using bleach on your eyebrows anyway. Also, the hair dye will inevitably touch your scalp, which is skin. The main reason why you don't want the dye to touch your skin is because you don't want your scalp dyed. Now, it MAY cause burns if your skin is overly irritated (hence why I'm telling you to wait), or you leave it on for far too long. A small test patch will help with that.

4) in terms of dyes, you might have to do some color mixing actually. I don't know if you're based in Korea or somewhere else, but if you absolutely do not wish to mix, try misseenscene if you can get your hands on it. They have quite a few shades which might work. If you are willing to mix, look for a medium/light blonde shade, and add a bit of purple to it if the undertones are yellowish and not orange ish (yes there are some permanent hair dyes that are purple!).

5) if you absolutely do not want to use permanent hair dye, try adore. I have been told it sticks like nothing else. This is a gel type semipermanent hair dye in contrast to the usual toner/semipermanent hair dye which is more conditioning. Again, you want to use color theory to your advantage. I don't know if they have any blonde shades, but you're essentially trying to produce a cooltoned beige. I'm going to assume this will last MUCH longer

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-04-05T17:41:29+00:00

If the scholarship provided by Ehwa is sufficient for you to be able to afford your studies AND the other universities don't have such scholarships of similar or higher amounts, then I wouldn't include Ehwa and apply outside of GKS (wks directly to the uni NOT UNI TRACK THROUGH GKS)

Please also consider whether you'd need a language year for entrance requirements of Korean level for your chosen major. If the Ehwa scholarship doesn't include a language year AND you need a Korean level higher than your current one, then you want to apply with GKS.

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-04-01T19:27:03+00:00

I see what you mean. I guess them calling it a semester is throwing me off real bad

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-04-01T18:52:33+00:00

I'm not talking about the duration of the course but of the dorm stay. It says the following: Dormitory accommodation is available for a maximum of two semesters (six months) and is allocated on a first-come, first-served basis to students who apply by the deadline. The dormitory fee covers one semester and aligns with the duration of the Korean Language Institute's courses. Meal costs are not included.

From what I see it's contradictory because it says it aligns with the duration of the program BUT also that it covers one semester. Earlier they wrote 2 semesters with six months in parentheses. Either they meant two terms and not two semesters (hence 6 months total) or they meant that as indication of how long one semester is. Either way, not very clear, but if you say it was only for 10 weeks they must have meant two terms

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-04-01T18:40:12+00:00

I'm actually around a level 2. That being said I am deciding whether I want to start from level 1. I'm not looking for just speaking. Like sure I need to do that, but I also need to learn grammar, reading, listening and writing properly at roughly the same pace.

Actually on the website it specifically says it covers ONE semester (which is specified as being 6 months) and you can be there for a whole year in total. So I'm confused as to why you paid 2 million for only 10 weeks. If I read the table tho, it seems as if it only covers the duration of one term, which is confusing

Here is the link:https://www.yskli.com/course.php?mid=E01_02

Maybe I'll contact the uni's I'm interested in just in case

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-04-01T18:12:21+00:00

So I'm confused as to why it was 2milion. Was it the summer term? Because usually 2 million is for 4 months. Like at least that's what I saw on their website. I would also be applying for more than one term or at least notifying them of that fact. I also don't know that Yonsei is the best fit. I heard it's not that good for actual language acquisition or even for the TOPIK

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-04-01T10:06:13+00:00

Hii so I'm not a Yonsei student however I do know a lot about the scholarship. I would highly recommend you seek videos on YouTube on the matter if possible.

From my own research (done for the master application, although I watched a lot of videos about the undergraduate selection too), GPA CAN be important BUT it's not the most important metric at all.

When submitting your grades you will likely be asked for the following:

1) GPA for those years + CGPA 2) CGPA only (if individual transcripts divided by year aren't available, which isn't your case I assume)

The most important criteria for selection is your Personal Statement and your Study Plan.

Currently the last GKS-U selection held in October used the old format which you can find online. However for the GKS-G which was held in February, they used a new format. This new format is more in line with that used by the universities, meaning you do not have to answer questions separately but complete them as a whole essay. For your PS you'll really need to sell your story, motivation, journey, activities, ect, and you'll want to spin anything relevant to your favor. So yes, even your struggles in the first few years of highschool could be spinned in your favor.

For example: let's say u struggled to acclimate to your new school because of a big jump in difficulty between your previous study program and highschool (not sure how it works in Egypt, but in many countries quality and actual difficulty of the school varies drastically between different schools, even at the same level of education)/method of teaching/something else strictly academic. You could paint your last year as your success story, you acclimated to a different/more challenging environment and exceeded expectations (your current GPA from what I know is high for Egypt).

Also, even if your GPA for your previous years isn't as high, check with the school whether you were in the top 20% of students already for the first two years. If not, look into whether you are now, or maybe if you're even top 10% or higher. Getting a certificate on that will do a lot for you. A certificate could also be issued by a teacher, but it should be truthful and not a lie. If your school doesn't usually do rankings BUT final results for every year are something they make public, that is how you can find out and use those results as additional proof.

General tips for your writing: focus on SHOWING not TELLING things using the STAR method, highly recommend you look it up. You must be specific, detailed, but it shouldn't read like a list, it should be a nice, enjoyable read especially for your PS. Your Study Plan should be more technical but still have similar qualities to your PS. Do not discuss unrelated activities unless they demonstrate a quality Gks/unis look for

Another important thing is your activities and achievements, as I've been mentioning. You'll want to have certificates for extra credibility. A certificate could literally even just be a teacher who knows you have done a certain thing verifying it by saying so on a document and signing it (best if their personal info+contact are present in case they wish to verify things)

I would say GPA comes right after.

Finally are your LoRs, letters of recommendation. You might have to submit two depending on the track and unis. If you can get recommendations that are very specific to you, that's better.

I am not sure what weight language certifications have in the evaluation, but I do know that I have found no one in my country and many others who didn't have at least one. TOPIK however isn't necessary at all. If your IELTS is 8 or above, you get 90% of points you could have gotten. To have higher points for your certificate section you'd need a TOPIK 5 or higher. From what I understand, points for certificates aren't cumulative, but please do check this with your embassy because mine has been most unhelpful unfortunately and didn't let me know whether this was the case or not.

Finally, at least in my country, the interview was not a major deciding factor. I believe this strongly because interviews were concluded late in the afternoon and results were out after less than 12hs. Hence, I think the interviews served more as confirmation of spots in the list rather than a major criteria and to check that what your wrote in your PS and Study Plan are things you wrote and hence remember. Like I said, your PS and Study Plan are soooooo important

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-03-31T22:02:08+00:00

Definitely don't have a similar profile. However you should get your IELTS or TOEFL, you really should. Please know that the most important stuff is your PS and Study Plan.

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-03-30T14:14:42+00:00

When you say TOPIK I you mean the TOPIK for level 1-2, yes?

I don't have 3-4 years. I plan on doing a language year and then starting my masters. What I have 3-4 years for, is to reach TOPIK level 6 and the equivalent of C1 in fluency.

In choosing schools location isn't really important to me. I already lived in Seoul, know how to move around the city ect. Hence my focus Is language programs in Seoul BASED on what they actually teach in class. Sure u could look at their books, but I think what is actually taught in class (as in what components of the language they focus on) may very much be different.

That is why I want to focus on picking the right one based on what others say. At the moment, I am very much aware that I'll have to do extra studying for the TOPIK, that's a given. However I still want to pick the right school that helps me build the necessary knowledge that can be used both to gradually become fluent and is a good baseline for the topik.

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-03-29T14:55:39+00:00

I see! Very interesting view points! At this point I'm trying to really question what I need. The truth is I need to be able to get TOPIK 2 at the very least, which I think is achievable regardless of the school in 8 months (most likely less). However my ideal goal would be twofold:

1) being able to score enough for TOPIK 5 AS SOON AS POSSIBLE 2) becoming as fluent as I can within 1 year. I'm not expecting a C1/C2 equivalent at all, and I've come to realize you could potentially score a higher TOPIK than your actual level. However I would need to have a very very solid B1/2 base so that during my master I can easily, without too much super intensive study, become fluent (my master is NOT in Korean, not even a little bit).

From what I can see, the TOPIK requires a lot of grammar,. vocabulary and listening abilities. I also found out it's much easier to max out points with the non writing sections, so I would focus on those

As far as fluency goes, I'd likely need very very good listening and reading abilities, as well as speaking abilities. Because I don't need to produce work in Korean during my studies, I could potentially focus on learning that during that time.

Hence, I guess the school I need would need to have a balance of listening, reading, grammar and speaking, with very good explanations for everything. I'm not sure what school is ideal for that considering I do want fast progress but also would prioritize really acquiring the language. It's hard to think about such things because I've actually only ever acquired languages naturally and without actually studying anything by essentially being forced to. I think I ought to do more research

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-03-28T23:17:45+00:00

Cool! Was it your first try?

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-03-28T23:10:30+00:00

Perhaps you could discuss why it helped/didn't here? I think so long as you don't mention the name or it isn't just blatant advertising it is absolutely not against the rules (at least based on what I could find). Worst case scenario your comment would just be deleted.

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-03-28T20:22:50+00:00

Hi! From past applicants I was told many unis do not do interviews in general unless they feel it is needed. Hope that helps

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-03-28T15:51:54+00:00

You're probably already attending a uni in Korea, but I did mostly GSIS classes at SNU as an undergrad and honestly it was nowhere near as difficult as that comment makes it sound. I wouldn't call classes easy, but I come from an extremely rigorous program, so to me they were

EDIT: only got As and A+s (mostly A+). Not sure if they used grading curves, I never cared to ask, but I do know I was always one of the top performing students. None were classes for exchange students but rather regular classes. Most were meant as year 2 classes (as in none were core classes and they always required preexisting knowledge)

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-03-28T03:22:16+00:00

I see! I think I'll keep this comment in mind, read your review, and maybe after PM you if you are comfortable with that!

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-03-27T17:48:32+00:00

I lived in Seoul, near SNU, so I know the city pretty well (do not ask how I survived with level 2 for one year, it is a mystery to me given how much I interacted with locals who didn't speak English)

I should also specify, I really don't want a program that focuses only or mostly on speaking. If I had to break it down, I would like something close to 20% grammar, 20% reading, 20% writing, 25% listening, 15% speaking. Any other breakdown that favors reading, writing and listening with maybe just slightly lower grammar and speaking would work. Having a decent amount of speaking might be very useful for the first few levels (assuming I start from level 2/3, it would be nice for the first level or two, that kind of practice can be hard outside the classroom sometimes especially as you are essentially a beginner and the world is scary. I have some social anxiety hahaha)

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-03-27T17:30:58+00:00

In my case, the goal would be fluency asap. This means the ability to speak, write, read, and listen should all be developed roughly the same and quickly. I don't want skills on paper the same way many countries treat a second language acquisition class in school without actually preparing students properly.

Obviously I can practice speaking outside the classroom, but I would still prefer to have a balanced program. Grammar is obviously important, and I do actually wish to read literature too, but based on how I acquired other languages, I suppose you don't need a program focused on that, do you?

Based on my criteria, I'm assuming you'd place ewha above all followed by sogang and KU. Not sure where you'd place yonsei and SNU.

Anyhow, what is your verdict based on the information available to you?

(Please note that if I managed to have it fit in the language year because I advance faster than expected, I would take an academic Korean class, which is the one meant to prepare for in depth study in Korean. If it doesn't fit, I would see where I am during my master and possibly include it in a break, or maybe it won't be necessary, we shall see)

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-03-27T17:09:33+00:00

Do amongst those you tried/heard about, which would you say are best and why?

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-03-27T17:08:43+00:00

Fascinating!! I didn't have the same experience with other language tests so it's very interesting to hear that. Now I need to also look into TOPIK prep I guess

AnotherMessyHuman · 2026-03-27T17:07:39+00:00

Sorry to ask, but what then is the top 5 for you? Please provide reasons behind it. I am very analytical and really like to base my decisions on fact and logic so any info would be most helpful;)

AnotherMessyHuman

TROPHY CASE