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.

Personal Statement

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.

SOP
  1. 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. 

  1. 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.

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. 

  1. The third part could be the research topic. After the research topic you need to explain about the research topic
  2. 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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  1. May I know how many copies of transcript I need to send for embassy trekking .

    Just one , the original copy or with along 3 photo copies . A total of 4 copies ??

    1. Hello,
      I want to know that is it ok if you are a double graduate and want to apply for GSK by using your first graduation degree.
      As i did my graduation with english honourse in 2015 and after that i persued law and completed my law degree in 2019. And now i want to apply for GSK by using english honourse degree because i want to do my masters in english litrature.

  2. Thank you so much for such a beneficial information! But it is only a format on how to write a SOP! , Can you also post an article showing a written SOP so that the readers reading your article who might be getting confused! N it can also help clearing the confusion! Can you? Please!?

  3. Will gks accept the students who are willing to choose the dance course which is under the entertainment and sports division?

    1. Hi Aswini,
      Actually AMA+ K-arts scholarship accept the students who want to learn dance. It is same as GKS scholarship (I would say only the name differs.). This scholarship is for them who want to learn any kind of art at Korea national university of arts(K-arts). And the rest you can check by on their website. I am also applying there for Animation, that's how I know about it.
      Hope this will help.

  4. What transcript do we need is it only senior secondary school year and can we submitted photocopies of document apostilled

  5. Can I apply for GKS GRADUATE 2024 if I am an expected graduate I will graduate in June . And if yes what certificate should I have instead graduation certificate

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