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Seoul National University

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50= 76  Arts & Humanities31  Natural Sciences
43  Engineering & IT33  Social Sciences
World Rankings40  Life Sciences & Biomedicine
51=91  Arts & Humanities38  Natural Sciences
56  Engineering & IT57  Social Sciences
World Rankings46  Life Sciences & Biomedicine
63      
    
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From the Start of the New Nation
Korean people have always maintained their faith in the power of education, even through colonial occupation and war during the tumultuous first half of the 20th century. Thus in 1946, just months after Korea regained its independence, Seoul National University was established as the first piece of the educational foundation for the new nation.
After a few short years, the campus had to be abandoned at the start of the Korean war in 1950, as civilians fled south to escape the frontlines. But the passion of the professors and students sustained the school through the war, with classes held outside refugee camps.

Comprehensive Research University
Thanks to this 'education fever', Seoul National University has grown remarkably in the past six decades. Now comprising 16 colleges and associated graduate schools, 6 professional graduate schools, and 65 research institutes, the SNU community has expanded to nearly 23,000 students and 2,500 faculty members. It has moved to Gwanak campus which has 192.366km2 of campus and 300 of buildings for education and research. SNU is in building new campuses outside of Gwanak such as 'Bio information technology port at Cheongna(0.6km2, by 2017), Advanced institute of convergence technology (0.1km2, by 2008) and Greenbio research complex (by 2010).

A Tradition of Academic Excellence
SNU trains the most outstanding students in Korea in a wide array of areas in the undergraduate, masters and doctorate programs. 22% of Its freshmen belong to the top 1% of those who take the National Entrance Examination which is similar to American SAT. At SNU, one out of five students study on until they get doctoral degrees. In the result, 27% of all the tenure-equivalent professors in Korean universities are SNU alumni. (last counted in 2002)

Best Education with Moderate Expense For a Select Few
SNU keeps its class size as small as 15 to 30, but still costs 1/8 of American private universities and 1/2 of Korean private universities with sustainable help from the Korean government.

Cutting-edge Research
The achievements of the Korean people in semiconductors, automobiles, IT, and Bio technology are drawing the worldÂ’s attention. Research efforts of Seoul National University has been at the forefront of them. Inter-university semi-conductor research center supported by Samsung and Automotive research center supported by Hyundai are representing SNU-industry relations.

Powerful Alumni
The founders' vision of the role of an educated public has come to fruition. The half of the lawmakers in current National Assembly of Korea are SNU alumni. Judges in the high court and Supreme court are mostly from SNU, which is 88% of all. More than half of cabinet members in the present ministry are also SNU alumni. 55% of CEOs of top 500 companies in Korea are SNU graduates.

Internationalization
Since the foundation, SNU has been the academic pinnacle in Korea. But resting on our laurels is not our style, and the globalized flow of people and ideas has opened up new possibilities. SNU has focused on internationalize its members and curricula, and now it has 2,000 international students and the acceptace rate of international admission is 20%. Of all the courses, 460 courses are conducted in English.

Vibrant Campus Life
SNU offers a wealth of invaluable academic and cultural resources. Public lecturer and forums are daily events and visits from renowned international speakers are common. SNU is famous as a high technology campus, with its free wireless networks for all students, a high-speed gigabyte backbone network for general operations, and a Super Computer facility for research.
Faculty
Number of Faculty Staff Headcount: 6,039 FTE: 4,143
Total number of academic faculty staff who are responsible for planning, directing and undertaking teaching only, research only or both teaching and research. Please include: vice-chancellors, deputy vice-chancellors, principals, professors, heads of school, associate professors, principal lecturers, tutors or postdoctoral researchers. Please exclude research assistants*, PhD students who contribute to teaching, and exchange scholars or visiting professors who are members of another university. * The important distinction for us is that staff counted as ‘research only’ should be academically involved in that research and should be likely to publish research outputs. A research assistant, in our understanding, is any individual who is not doing own research and is therefore not likely to publish own research outputs. Said individual is (only) involved in research in terms of operation execution , such as lab technician or equipment operator.
Number of International Faculty Staff Headcount: 342 FTE: 281
Number of academic faculty staff who are of foreign nationality. The term ‘international’ is hereby determined by citizenship. For EU countries, this includes all foreign nationals, even if from another EU state. In Hong Kong, this includes professors from Mainland China. Inclusion and exclusion mirrors those for academic faculty staff.
Number of Inbound Visiting Faculty Staff Headcount: 400 FTE: 199
Number of academic faculty staff contributing to teaching or research at your university in the last 12 months who are visiting from an overseas institution for a minimum period of at least 3 months.
Number of Outbound Visiting Faculty Staff Headcount: 141 FTE: 141
Number of academic faculty staff employed by your institution contributing to teaching or research at an overseas institution in the last 12 months for a minimum period of at least 3 months.
Undergraduate Information
Number of Undergraduate Students Headcount: 16,512 FTE: 16,512
Number of students pursuing a BachelorÂ’s level or equivalent degree. This excludes certificates/diplomas and associateÂ’s degrees.
Number of International Undergraduate Students Headcount: 1,805 FTE: 1,050
Number of undergraduate students who are foreign nationals. The term �international� is hereby determined by citizenship. For EU countries, this includes all foreign nationals, even nationals of other EU states. In Hong Kong, this includes students from Mainland China. Please exclude all exchange students. As for language students, if the language students take up a particular language course that is outlined as ‘undergraduate degree program’ they should be included under ‘international undergraduate students’ . Language students who take part in a course not contributing to a degree qualification should be counted under ‘Total International Students’.
Number of Inbound Exchange Undergraduate Students Headcount: 175 FTE: 175
Number of undergraduate students attending your university on international exchange programs for at least 1 semester in the last 12 months.
Number of Outbound Exchange Undergraduate Students Headcount: 158 FTE: 158
Number of undergraduate students registered at your institution who have attended another institution abroad for at least 1 semester on an exchange program in the last 12 months.
Average International Undergraduate Fees $ USD 3,730
Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that an international student would be expected to pay for an undergraduate program, with ‘program’ referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?
Average Domestic Undergraduate Fees $ USD 3,730
Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that a domestic student would be expected to pay for an undergraduate program, with ‘program’ referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?
Average Undergraduate Class Size 33
The average size of class across all undergraduate programs. The term ‘class’ refers to an unit of instruction or taught session in which a teacher has pre-defined material to cover. It does exclude tutorial seminars.
Graduate / Postgraduate Information
Number of Graduate / Postgraduate Students Headcount: 9,439 FTE: 9,439
Students pursuing a higher-level degree (Master and Doctorate), including both taught and research postgraduates (e.g. PhD students)
Number of International Graduate/Postgraduate Students Headcount: 821 FTE: 710
Number of graduate / postgraduate students who are foreign nationals. The term �international� is hereby determined by citizenship. For EU countries, this includes all foreign nationals, even nationals of other EU states. In Hong Kong, this includes students from Mainland China. Please exclude all exchange students. As for language students, if they take up a particular language course that is outlined as ‘postgraduate degree program’, they should be included under ‘international postgraduate students’. Language students who take part in a course not contributing to a degree qualification should be counted under ‘Total International Students’.
Number of Inbound Exchange Graduate/Postgraduate Students Headcount: 86 FTE: 86
Number of graduate / postgraduate students attending your university on international exchange programs for at least 1 semester in the last 12 months.
Number of Outbound Exchange Graduate/Postgraduate Students Headcount: 8 FTE: 8
Number of postgraduate students registered at your institution who have attended another institution on an exchange program for at least 1 semester in the last 12 months.
Average International Graduate / Postgraduate Fees $ USD 4,893
Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that an international student would be expected to pay for a graduate / postgraduate program, with ‘program’ referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?
Average Domestic Graduate / Postgraduate Fees $ USD 4,893
Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that a domestic student would be expected to pay for a graduate / postgraduate program, with ‘program’ referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?
Average Taught Graduate / Postgraduate Class Size 10
The average size of class across all taught graduate / postgraduate programs. The term ‘class’ refers to an unit of instruction or taught session in which a teacher has pre-defined material to cover. It does exclude tutorial seminars.
Students
Total Students Headcount: 25,951 FTE: 25,951
Total number of students.
Total International Students Headcount: 2,626 FTE: 1,759
Number of students who are foreign nationals. The term ‘international’ is hereby determined by citizenship. For EU countries, this includes all foreign nationals, even nationals of other EU states. In Hong Kong, this includes students from Mainland China.
Total Outbound Exchange Students Headcount: 166 FTE: 166
Total number of students registered at your institution who have attended another institution on an exchange program for at least 1 semester in the last 12 months.
Total Inbound Exchange Students Headcount: 261 FTE: 261
Total number of students attending your university on international exchange programs for at least 1 semester in the last 12 months.
Average International Student Fees $ USD 4,311
Average tuition fees per year that an international student would be expected to pay for any course
Average Domestic Student Fees $ USD 4,311
Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that a domestic student would be expected to pay for any program, with ‘program’ referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?
Average Class Size 22
The average size of class across all programs. The term ‘class’ refers to an unit of instruction or taught session in which a teacher has pre-defined material to cover. It does exclude tutorial seminars.
Number of Male Students Headcount: 15,617
Number of students who are male out of the total number of students studying at your university
Number of Female Students Headcount: 10,233
Number of students who are female out of the total number of students studying at your university
Graduate Output
Proportion of Graduates Pursuing Further Study 29%
Proportion of graduates from undergraduate programs pursuing further study at your own institution or any other within 6 months after graduation.
Proportion of Graduates Employed 73%
Proportion of graduates (excluding those opting to pursue further study) in permanent employment within 6 months of graduation
Number of PhDs Awarded 1,015
Total number of PhDs awarded in the last 12 months
Entry Requirements
Avg Entry Requirements 4
Please express the average academic achievement entry requirements for your institution. Please convert your domestic requirements to the US Grade Point Average system. The five-point numerical scale is typically correlated with the A-F/A-E quality index. (A=4.0, B=3.0, C=2.0, D=1.0, E or F = 0.0) In our context, a value of 0 will imply to us that your institution has an "open access" admissions policy and will in no way count against your institution in any future table built upon this data. You can use World Education Services (WES) Toolkit as guidline: http://www.wes.org/gradeconversionguide/index.asp (copy and paste)
Research Productivity & Quality
Number of Papers 24,411
Total number of papers published in ESI indexed journals in the past 5 years
Number of Citations 148,148
Total number of citations for papers published in ESI indexed journals in the past 5 years
Range of Fees

5,200 ~ 10,000 USD a year, excluding boarding fee

Basic TOEFL/IELTS requirements

No basic requirement.

Language Support

More than 10% of courses are offered in English. It is about 500 courses. Graduate School of International Studies offer all the courses in English. English written papers and reporters are generally accepted.

Non-English Language Requirements

More than elementary level of Korean language is needed to be admitted to College of Humanities, Social Scienes and Law.

  • department of Aesthetics
  • department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development
  • department of Anthropology
  • department of Applied Biology and Chemistry
  • department of Archaeology and Art History
  • department of Architecture
  • department of Asian History
  • department of Astronomy
  • department of Biological Sciences
  • department of Biology Education
  • department of Biosystems & Biomaterials Science and Engineering
  • department of Business Administration
  • department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
  • department of Chemistry
  • department of Chemistry Education
  • department of Chinese Language and Literature
  • department of Civil, Urban and Geosystem Engineering
  • department of Clothing and Textiles
  • department of Communication
  • department of Composition
  • department of Computer Science and Engineering
  • department of Consumer and Child Studies
  • department of Crafts and Design
  • department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
  • department of Earth Science Education
  • department of Economics
  • department of Education
  • department of Electrical Engineering
  • department of English Education
  • department of English Language and Literature
  • department of Food and Animal Biotechnology
  • department of Food and Nutrition
  • department of Forest Sciences
  • department of French Language and Literature
  • department of French Language Education
  • department of Geography
  • department of Geography Education
  • department of German Language and Literature
  • department of German Language Education
  • department of Hispanic Language and Literature
  • department of History Education
  • department of Industrial Engineering
  • department of Instrumental Music
  • department of International Relations
  • department of Korean History
  • department of Korean Language and Literature
  • department of Korean Language Education
  • department of Korean Music
  • department of Landscape Architecture and Rural System Engineering
  • department of Law
  • department of Linguistics
  • department of Manufacturing Pharmacy
  • department of Material Science and Engineering
  • department of Mathematical Sciences
  • department of Mathematics Education
  • department of Mechanical Aerospace Engineering
  • department of Medicine
  • department of National Ethics Education
  • department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
  • department of Nuclear Engineering
  • department of Nursing
  • department of Oriental Painting
  • department of Painting
  • department of Pharmacy
  • department of Philosophy
  • department of Physical Education
  • department of Physics
  • department of Physics Education
  • department of Plant Science
  • department of Political Science
  • department of Psychology
  • Department of Public Relations
  • department of Religious Studies
  • department of Russian Language and Literature
  • department of Sculpture
  • department of Social Studies Education
  • department of Social Welfare
  • department of Sociology
  • department of Statistics
  • department of Veterinary Medicine
  • department of Vocal Music
  • department of Western History
  • Library Liaison Research Services
  • Office of Admissions
  • Office of International Affairs
  • Pre-Med Program
  • Pre-Veterinary Medicine Program
Domestic Scholarship for Students from Developing Nations (Glo-harmony). 10 available @ USD 25,000

Newly admitted undergraduate students for spring semester 2008 who are citizens of OECD/DAC recipient country. Full Tuition Fee is provided by SNU from Spring Semester 2008 till Graduation (Maximum 8 semesters)
Partial living and academic expenses, and air fare are provided by The Samsung Equal Opportunity Scholarship Foundation’ s Glo-harmony. Further details will be available upon the confirmation.

Specialisation
All

Application URL
http://oia.snu.ac.kr

Deadline
14th September 2007

Graduate Scholarship for Excellent Foreign Students. 120 available @ USD 36,000

Only students in or from the designated universities are eligible to apply. : Tribhuvan university in Nepal, University of Malaya in Malaysia, National University of Mongolia in Mongolia etc.

Specialisation
created to help graduate students in the 3rd countries to study at SNU

Application Process
Application form, recommendation, study plan & personal statement, transcripts, graduate certificates, degree certificates, test scores(option), Korean proficiency test score(option) should be submitted to SNU office of international affairs before the deadline. Decision announcement is June 22.

Application URL
http://oia.snu.ac.kr

Deadline
20th April 2008

Samsung Global Scholarship Program at SNU. 4 available @ USD 15,000

To support international students to study and complete 2 years of master courses at the school of EECE in SNU with financial aid by Samsung Electronics company.
To cover full tuition, dormitory housing, medical insurance, monthly living expenses(750USD/month), two round trip airplane tickets, internship at Samsung during vacation.
After the completing MS degree, the applicant should work at Samsung Electronics company in Korea for 2 years.

Specialisation
Electronics Engineering

Application URL
http://ee.snu.ac.kr/english

Deadline
1st January 2010

University Scholarship. 300 available @ USD 2,500

University scholarship grant is provided to students with an excellent academic record. SNU spare some portion of university scholarship only for international students. Studetns should apply every semester. 40% of international students receive University Scholarships.

Specialisation
All

Application Process
Application Period
First Semester : end of November
Second Semester : mid June
The application period is announced in the academic calendar each year and in the catalogue made available to freshmen.
Students can apply at the administrative office of their respective college.

Application URL
http://oia.snu.ac.kr

Deadline
30th November 1999

Map: Seoul National University

School Information

Country
Korea, South
Address
599 Gwanak-ro Gwanak-gu Seoul Gwanak 151-742
Website
www.useoul.edu
Switchboard
82 2 8808636
Fax
82 2 883 8632
Email
snuoia@snu.ac.kr