Apply Master Degree at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)

Well, holla~

안녕하세요? ㅋㅋㅋ

I will continue my story after getting scholarship from one of institute in Indonesia, LPDP.

I want to pursue master degree in overseas university but I have some constraints to choose which university I want to apply:

1. It must be on LPDP list (because I am too lazy to write any mails and arguments to change my chosen university).
2. I do not want to go to England because it only has 2 semesters to graduate.
3. I do not wish to go outside Asia because eastern culture is somewhat less crazier then western IN MY HONEST OPINION ONLY (please do not take it to heart).
4. I want to go to a country where I have interest in culture and language.
5. I want to go to a country where I could do a travelling during my stay.
6. I want to take master degree where I can start to learn programming (again), learn how to dealing with data, and improve my analysis and design thinking.

According on my list above, I had this one country in my head, South Korea. In the list (according to Batch 1–2016) there were only 6 universities and KAIST programs are offered in English.

Maybe it was too late to register for fall semester on March 2016 but I still gave it a try. So here’s what I do:

1. Do online registration

This the first step. Go to https://apply.kaist.ac.kr. I used my documents for LPDP to help me to fill in the forms. If you already have TOPIK score, you can add it to your form. If you do not have any English score test, please do take it 2–3 months before registration.

2. Ask your supervisor (at office) or your academic supervisor or any lecturers you know to give recommendations

Well, I have to send 2 Letter of Recommendations from 2 lecturers so I have to ask them before hand and write the draft. It will be a lot more easier for them because they are busy with academic thing.

3. Notarize Your Documents or Prepare your Apositille Documents

Many university in Korea will ask you about it. At first, it is not necessary for registration but once you have admitted, you must have it. University will ask your diploma certificate and transcript to be apostilled. For Indonesian people, you can get the apostille stamp if you have notarized your documents first and ask Korean Embassy to legalize your document as an apostille document. If you only have school’s stamp on yout document without stamp from public notary then it will only be considered as “translation”.

4. Write your Essays KISS.

Like any other university registration, you will be asked to write some short essays. For KAIST, it will be a very short essays. Just write it well. Keep It Simple! Because it has character limitation and you will not able to write anything if you surprass the limit.

That’s all from me. If you have anything to be asked or added, please let me know!