personal statement gks graduate

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How to write your personal statement and SOP for GKS-Graduate Scholarship. Tips for interview!!

January 21, 2024

By Smriti Ekka

Writing an effective Statement of Purpose or Personal Statement is a frequently asked question among the students who apply for a GKS Scholarship for the first time. The main purpose of this article is to help you write such a statement.

So today I have mentioned some points that I have broken down into small segments which will be easy for you to understand how to write your own personal statement and statement of purpose. ALSO some tips for the interview that will make you sound more promising while applying for the GKS 2022 scholarship for Masters and PhD in Korea.

To check the GKS Field of study and guidelines click HERE !!

PERSONAL STATEMENT

Like the word suggests. The student should write his/her experiences, achievements, values. The reasons to study abroad and apply for the scholarship might not be so unique, thus, the way it is written should be impactful.

The following key question can be formed and written in a way that would sound promising and you can include the following questions like :

Why did you decide to go to graduate school ?
Why you chose Korea and what you can do in Korea after your graduation ?
How GKS benefit in your field of study ?

Things should be mentioned in detail. Analysis on all those parts can further be broken down into small segments for easy evaluation and understanding.

The first part can be very idealistic.
Second part should be practical.
Third part can include all the summary of what you have mentioned above.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

A real Statement of Purpose shows that you have thought through why you are doing the course, rather than exclaiming a wish to be one day employed. Even if you have fully considered your reasons for undertaking further study, it is not uncommon to feel a certain self-consciousness about writing about them.

Statement of purpose definitely contains your goal of study. Statement of purpose definitely contains your goal of study.

The first part could be started with a quote. That's done by most of the people. Followed by explaining what you'll do in " that " specific University !!

The answer shouldn't be like " You wish to study with that professor." Those types of answers are always along the line. But your answer should be more promising like, how you will be generating more knowledge together. With the help of such a good facility how will you be able to contribute and take advantage of such opportunities given to you.

You can explain how being able to get such knowledge you can help others and expand your field of study and contribute much more.

The second part of it can include the research interest. How is it going to help you in your field of interest?

Since Korea is among the top 5 OECD countries that spend most on research & development studies constituting 4.46 percent of South Korea's GDP. Hence a lot of the students around the globe are interested to study in Korea because of the facilities/benefits provided which includes

Monthly allowance
Two way air fare
Monthly allowance which will be enough for you to survive in Korea.

See Also : Things to prepare for GKS Scholarship 2021

With all these facilities they want you to focus solely on the research and provide the best result afterwards. Your focus should be to fully invest your time in the research and make use of the guidance by being under the professor of your department.

The third part could be the research topic. After the research topic you need to explain about the research topic
You can include why you have the necessary aptitude to succeed in GKS ?

Things that will ultimately make you stand out from the rest of the students after you have completed your graduation. You have to convince and prove your worth and give that commitment to the professors in writing what you will ultimately be providing them in the end.

To stand out from the rest of the students if you have already done some studies in your field or have published some papers already or doing some work in some specific areas. Chances are that your worth could be easily measured looking at those results.

In the future plan. You can break it down into two parts:-

Long term goals and short term goals.

In long term goals you can write keeping in mind about the next five years and short term could be what you can achieve in the coming few months maybe.

For the short term you can mention how KGSP will help you in achieving those dreams. It shouldn't include what you want to do after kgsp BUT how can KGSP help you to achieve those goals of yours !!

There's a difference between the two and mentioning the latter can increase your chance immensely !! You can also list down the goals down below which should be closely linked to your graduate studies.

For the long term goals you can also mention in detail about how long you'll be staying in Korea and what will be your field of study after graduation and then probably going back to your country, you will continue working in the field of yours.

Eventually you have to mention how the KGSP is going to help you to achieve those long-term goals of yours.

You can easily write about your long term goals by adjusting what you have already mentioned in the short term goals and try to add two or three points in it to make it sound appropriate . It shouldn't be lengthy. Just explaining two or three points would be enough.

It is actually mentioned that you have to score TOPIK 3 and above to give you an extra 10 points while selection. BUT as long as you have something that makes you stand out from the rest of the students that would be enough for you to get into any university. For example fluency in Korean, research skill or entrepreneur skills.

Tips for the Interview !!

Mainly the interview is very nerve wracking and people are very nervous before giving the interview keeping in mind that it's for the research and professors may ask you questions regarding your field of knowledge and you should be thoroughly prepared for it.

Questions linked to your major.
Questions related to the documents that you have provided.
Question can also be a close link to why you have chosen that particular University auditor field of study and why Korea was your destination for studies.

Confidence is the key and how you articulate your thinking well enough for the professors and teachers to pick you from the crowd.

The key point would be to emphasize on the things that you are actually good at and make it your key point.

The best suggestion I will give you is to prepare something in Korean even if you don't speak it properly.

Having some knowledge of Korean will always give you that " extra edge" even if you are preparing to go to Korea in general. Not to mention it is highly appreciated if you're doing any kind of studies in Korea.

They might ask you to introduce yourself in Korean so prepare small sentences that you would be confident in.

Since you are applying to learn and improve your abilities, it is important to make that goal clear in the statement of purpose.

Those were the few points that would be helpful in writing your personal statement and statement of purpose. Hope you found this article helpful. Please write your doubts below if you have any.

Thank you !!

Smriti Ekka

Smriti Ekka graduated in Commerce and Library science, and currently she is working as a content writer at TOPIK Guide website. She is a Korean language and culture enthusiast and has been working across multiple disciplines which broadly addresses narratives of similarities between Korean and Indian culture. Apart from being a content writer at TOPIK Guide she manages Annyeong India website and has had her pieces published in Learn Korean in India website as well. In her other life, she is a singer, rising entrepreneur, life enthusiast and a learner.

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A Journey to KGSP/GKS: Personal Statement

Finally, here is my third post on A Journey to KGSP/GKS Series. Previously, I wrote about my experience in preparing for the KGSP/GKS application back in 2016 and just before this post I wrote about how to fill in the KGSP/GKS Application Forms . This time, I’ll be sharing my two cents on how to write a Personal Statement, one of the essays of the GKS Application. When I prepared my application, it took me around 3 months to finish writing both essays. I remember starting to write as soon as I decided to apply for the scholarship in November, putting it off for a month or so, coming back and forth for the revisions, and finishing it a few days before the application closing date.

The GKS application forms have included the essay template with instructions and points to include which I found very helpful. I always enjoy writing, but writing an essay in English for studies back then was especially hard because English isn’t my first language and I never learned writing academic English properly. Here are some tips that I did and I wish I had known when writing my essays for the GKS Application.

Personal Statement template (2021 GKS Application)

First, find your application’s identity. “Why do I want to study in Korea and apply for this program? Why should the reviewer choose me among hundreds of applicants?” These questions are the ones that I kept coming back when writing my Personal Statement. As I kept digging the reasons, I somehow found the identity of my application, a statement that will clearly describe me and hopefully will leave an impression for the reviewers.

I see Personal Statement as a stage to promote myself. It tells a story about me, my personal values, and significant events that happened in my life which lead me to aspire to study in Korea and apply for the GKS. The goal is to convey my story in the most impactful way possible that no matter how ordinary it is, the reviewer will still remember me after reading other hundreds of similar or even better stories. To do this, I don’t think I can merely rely on a list of achievements and experiences I have because they probably aren’t so outstanding among other applicants. That is why I need to put an identity into my application, to make my story stronger than my own name.

In my case, “an applicant majoring in Family Studies” is the identity that I highlighted. Given that Family Studies is not a common field of study especially in Indonesia, regardless of how important it is for our society (don’t get me started into Family Sciences 101. Lol.), I guess it was the strongest point of my application that granted me a seat for an interview in the Korean Embassy. I could be wrong, but the interviewers asked about it during the whole interview session.

Second, make your essay hook. If you put yourself in the reviewer’s shoes who has to deal with a hundred applications, how will you sort it out? There are sure other considering points such as grades that are quite easy to determine. But, when it comes to essays, how will you rate it and choose from a pool of applicants? Just like its name, a Personal Statement should be personal yet interesting. Personal; it tells who the applicant is, his/her experiences, achievements, values. Interesting; no matter how different every applicant’s life story is, the reasons to study abroad and apply for the scholarship might not be so unique, thus, the way it is written should be fascinating and impactful. That is how an essay hook will make your application stand out and assure the reviewers that you deserve one seat until the final round.

There are many ways to write an essay hook; quotation, question, strong statement, metaphor, etc. You may try many different ways before finding the one that matches the big picture of your essay. An essay hook is aimed to attract the reader since the beginning of your essay. This is also related to the whole picture of the essay and the information in the next paragraphs. As I decided to emphasize my major in Family Studies, I open my essay with the story about my own family and what values I was grown up with. I also wrote about how people used to ask what my major is about and whether it really is necessary to learn about family sciences at university. I keep this point as the whole idea of my essay which helped me to explain why I had to go to a Korean university.

Third, be reflective. Reflecting is such a habit to me. You know, that tendency to lay awake in your bed and replaying what has happened that day in your head and what you could’ve done to make it better, or at least, to make yourself feel better. Well, I learn that doing it isn’t always good. But, when it comes to reflecting on your past experiences and achievements in your Personal Statement, I can never stress enough how important it is. After mentioning all your precious achievements and writing how eventful your life is, you need to explain what lessons learned that you get, what skills you learn, and how they contribute to who you are today. It might sound cliché to write about how your leadership skills have been sharpened through many organizations, but I don’t think it will do you bad to show that you have learned from your experience.

Fifth, make an outline. To me, an outline always does wonder. You might have ever practiced it for school assignments. It’s really as simple as starting from the points mentioned in the essay instruction; (1) family background, (2) latest education, (3) significant and relevant experiences (working, internship, organization, clubs), (4) motivations to study in Korea and apply for the GKS. You can write down ideas for each point and add a few sentences for the explanation. As you develop each point, you may want to write it in 1-2 paragraphs and keep it as your main idea. This will surely help your writing stay on track, lead the plot and transition from one idea/point to another without jumbling up.

Sixth, don’t expect to finish it in one night or even one-seating and then submit it on the next day. Only after giving it some time and re-reading it a few days later that you’ll notice every mistake in your essay, those misspellings-wrong tenses-wrong expressions, even if you’ve been very meticulous especially when it comes to writings. Also, I can never stress enough how you should stop yourself from editing those punctuation marks or misspellings while typing because it will put your idea on hold and take much time to finish your first draft.

Finally, ask someone to proofread your essay and give feedback. I received a lot of help from my English tutor who gave valuable feedback on my essays. Having someone read your essay sort of allows you to get through the pre-review and the nerve-wracking of the application screening process. Also, your essay will look different from someone else’s perspective so it’s important to get their feedback even if it’s as simple as word choices. Especially, because Personal Statement is an essay about ourselves, we can easily understand it but it can be hard to be objective. Your best friend will tell you some confusing parts, things that you should explain better, or simply tell whether the storytelling is interesting enough.

There are a lot more awesome tips all over the Internet on how to write a great Personal Statement essay. These are basically what I did when I wrote my own for the GKS application. I have no idea exactly which part of my application that granted me the scholarship, but I believe that the Personal Statement had its big share. For another essay, Study Plan/Statement of Purpose, you can check my post about it here .

@ bonaintan / bonaintan.tumblr.com

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How to write your personal statement and SOP for GKS-Graduate
How to write the GKS(KGSP) Personal Statement!│GKS personal statement
GKS How to Write Personal Statement (Global Korea Scholarship Graduate)
How to write your personal statement and SOP for GKS-Graduate
How To Write A Personal Statement For GKS/KGSP Scholarship
Personal Statement