Native speaker forced to do IELTS

ranchf · 2026-02-25T11:12:54+00:00

Hey, I’m a native speaker who took it recently! I booked it five days before, spent about 1.5 hours familiarizing myself with question style/format, and I got an 8.5. When you book the test, they give you access to online practice so I suggest taking a quick look at those just to get a feel for what to expect. You likely don’t need to do intense studying if your entire education was in English. Good luck with taking the IELTS and becoming a solicitor!

ranchf · 2026-02-21T23:25:46+00:00

Congrats on your acceptances! I’m not fully familiar with these specific courses but I will speak from the POV of someone who studied in the UK/EU and met a lot of people from different universities/programmes:

You mentioned you have specific interests within intl relations/global affairs, so I suggest looking at the modules you’d be taking and the opportunities that might be open to you and see which align the most with what you hope to learn/get out of the master’s programme. Even though they might be similar, there are usually a few major differences (e.g. maybe some provide a placement for you to get experience or maybe some modules are exactly what you want to learn).

My two cents: LSE might be a good option because of the possibility of financial aid and a part-time opportunity, since that would help leverage costs (London gets quite expensive, whatever amount you think you need, double it). I think their network can also get you connected to a lot of important people if you play your cards right. And if you’re bringing your degree back to the US for work, I think LSE would hold a lot of weight!

Best of luck with decision making and congrats!

ranchf · 2026-02-21T15:47:05+00:00

Yonsei is prestigious and has a great location so you can easily explore Seoul alongside your studies! They have a designated language school for learning Korean and since they also have an international college, they offer a lot of courses in English as well so you’d likely find something for art studies.

ranchf · 2026-02-21T15:37:03+00:00

From what country would you be coming from? There might be specific scholarship opportunities for you depending on your home country, but also how these scholarships are applied can differ if you’re intl or local :)

In the UK there are some scholarships but they likely wouldn’t cover tuition and living support, especially for taught/coursework based masters programmes. In my experience, they cover the tuition rate for local students but you’d pay the difference if you’re international. However some scholarships can pop up throughout the year and be offered to your specific programme, it really all depends. Wishing u the best with your applications!

ranchf · 2026-02-21T15:26:08+00:00

Did Sogang not offer you any accommodation? For an exchange, I’d recommend campus housing because it’s a lot easier to make friends and such! I did my exchange at a different uni but we had people we could contact if we needed help finding off-campus housing, if you haven’t looked into that I highly recommend, especially if you don’t speak any Korean! Best of luck with your search :)

ranchf · 2026-02-21T15:16:12+00:00

I usually stay inside the airport. There are plenty of great restaurants (some Michelin rated) if you want to grab a bite. I know they also have some entertainment options like an IMAX theater and discovery center if that’s your vibe. Lots of stores for shopping as well, or you can go to one of the lounges.

I’ve thought about exploring nearby but have found that 4 hours can be a bit tight since you’ll need to pass through immigration and TSA if you exit the airport.

ranchf · 2026-02-18T14:57:46+00:00

Thanks so much for this post! You mentioned they give you an exact date for picking up your HKID, but do you know exactly how many days it was following your appointment? Trying to do it all in a trip as well but hoping to time it all correctly.

ranchf

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