Byun Ji Geunah / Reporter (smt_bgas@sm.ac.kr)
Many Kinds of Scholarships
- I ’m Honored
As many Sookmyungians know, scholarships for excellent students hold the most importance. SMU gives a chance to students who are the most excellent in each department. This scholarship is called ‘Global Honors Program at Stanford’ for which SMU offers all the payments for a summer session of Stanford. The selection criterion is excellent grade, but not language ability. Excellent students will be inspired by global education. President Young Sil Han explained that this program is to train potential global leaders through studying at prestigious universities in the world and to take part in international summer sessions there to compete with international students for eight weeks. All payments except charges for board and lodging are provided by SMU. Some students who are unable to pay all straightly can replace doing an internship in school instead. From June, all participants can register for eight credits.
Strange but Useful Scholarship
-Sookmyung Creative and Talented Students' Scholarship
This scholarship is suitable to SMU’s slogan which is fostering creative and talented students. Those students achieve one of SMU’s four goals: knowledge for humanities, creative expertise, global leadership, and altruistic passion. The scholarship supports Sookmyungians who want to experience the world and introduce Korean culture, which called Sookmyung Global Explore (SGE). SGE selects fourteen teams for each season (summer and winter) to send to other foreign countries. Ha Jiyoung, a sophomore of Department of Law, said “I felt SMU invests in the future of Sookmyungians a lot. Also, I think SGE wasn’t a simple trip to foreign countries, it gave me a chance to study and explore visiting places more deeply. It really satisfies me.”
Merit Based Scholarships for Outstanding Students
The scholarship benefits for outstanding students at SMU are comparatively wider than other schools. The school gives scholarships for students who to the top 20% of students in each division. Sure there are preconditions to get the scholarship. Students who are in their first six semesters should have more than 18 credits, and those past their seventh semester should have over 12 credits. Also, both need more than ten hours of volunteer work. The amount of scholarship payments for the top student in a college is 100% of tuition, 65% for students who are top in their division, and 50% for students who are in the top 5% of students in each division, and 10% for students in the top 20% of students in each division. Our school provides scholarships not just for the top student of the school, but many students who show good effort. Senior of Division of Telecommunication Kim Hyun-a said, “For the top students, they have many ways to get a scholarship so I think the system like giving many students to receive benefits of scholarship is better. ” Also for positive side sophomore of the Division of Korean Language & Literature, Kwak Mong Hye and junior of Division of Telecommunication Oh Bo-ram both said, “By giving scholarship to many students it can improve desire to study because students can feel, ‘If I study little bit harder I could receive a scholarship. ’ So I think the current system is effective. ”
How about other Schools
In the case of Ewha Womans University they gave an all-expenses-paid scholarship to top students of each division who took more than 30 credits last year and have no fails. Also they determine the ranking and for the students who are in the top 2% of all students, they cover 50% of tuition, and if they are in the top 6% of all students, they cover 25%, and last the students who’s grades are more than 3.75 get five hundred thousand won. In Hankuk University of Foreign Students, the president selects students throughout average grades, all credits, and major class credits. They select some students and divide in to two groups with a percentage. After that they cover about 40% of tuition to them. Konkuk University selected students who have over 4. 0 grade at the rate of 150:1 and gave them full scholarships. Also for 2.5% of the more than 3.5 grade students they give 70% of tuition with scholarship. Sungkyunkwan University gives the top 5% of students 70% scholarships and for the next 1.2% students they support 50% of it. Not all universities do, but the most schools think about the top students first. Also, there are the cases like SMU that give benefits for many students, but not an inconsiderable number of schools just think about high ranked students.
Unique Scholarship
Of course, not all scholarships are coming out just with their grades. Also, recently university tuition has continually increased, so many students feel uncomfortable. Many universities have started different scholarships to encourage the desire of study and self development for students. For example in Pai Chai University, they have a mock TOEIC test twice a semester and give three hundred thousand won to one million won for the students who achieve good grades. Also, in Konyang University they regard smoking and obesity as a discouragement of study, so they give a scholarship to students who quit smoking or lose weight. In Hanyang University, they made a program called ‘Hanyang Global Frontier’ which resembles SMU’s ‘Global Explorer.’ They choose 10 teams composed by 3 or 4 students by explorer plans and interview and provide money for backpack trips. These scholarships’ benefits are not so big, but it can make students to upgrade themselves.
To get a benefit from scholarships is one of the rights for students. Nowadays, schools have prepared various scholarships for students. Not just for students who get good grades but for all students of school. So the thing students need to do is find out which scholarships they can get from the school. The most foolish thing is just waiting for a scholarship. Everything is ready for you so why don’t we go in to the homepage of SMU and find the way to get scholarships by yourself.
