University of Sheffield

Sheffield

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Last Minute Application

Hikari

Hey

Well basically i'm in a pickle :frown:

My firm [SOAS] for Japanese & Korean has rejected my due to not getting ABB at A2 level. However, I know that Sheffield offers Korean/Japanese at BBB [which I have met]

I called today asking if there was any way of getting on, even though it isn't in clearing, and they said that it's full. I was just wondering if I call again next week, and maybe once a week for a few weeks, will a place open and I may be able to obtain a seat in the degree course?

Thanks for any advice :smile:

Reply 1

RosiePosiePuddingAndPie

You could phone again and ask them if your idea of phoning every week might work. If they say no, you can start planning a gap year or whatever else you might want to do :smile:

University of Sheffield

Sheffield

Reply 2

quue2

Hmm, Sheffield as well as SOAS are possibly the best institutions (outside of Oxbridge I guess?) for east asian languages in general -- You should have put Sheffield down as insurance :frown:

Anyway there is no languages at all for clearing in Sheffield, I think with BBB (what subjects did u do?) you could've gotten a place even though the requirements are actually ABB.

Reply 3

Hikari

The thing was, that when I first applied I only wanted to do Japanese.. I only changed my mind around April of this year. For some reason Sheffield never came into the equation for me [I don't know, I actually really like the look of it]

Though the requirements actually dropped to BBB now:

1. Korean Studies with Japanese - BA
UCAS code: T4T2
A Level requirements: BBB
Duration: 4 years
Description: Sheffield is one of only two universities in the UK that offer a dual degree programme in Korean Studies with Japanese. In this programme, you will take three years of Korean language modules and lecture-based modules on Korea and ...

Reply 4

quue2

http://www.shef.ac.uk/prospectus/courseDetails.do?id=3635412009
^Still says ABB? Ah anyhoo, like SOAS it's most definitely booked up. I guess you have 2 options: remark/resit to go to where u originally wanted to go to (and there's no guarantee of meeting your original requirements but it's possible) or keep your grades, do whatever during the gap year and reapply for Sheffield in 09. (The site still says ABB though.)

Reply 5

Hikari

Ah,, I see where the miss-understandingis.. I'm doing/hoping to do Japanese with Korean, not straight Japanese :p:

Thanks your advice/hep guys :smile:

Reply 6

gaijin

Hikari

Hey

Well basically i'm in a pickle :frown:

No. Its very competitive and with the sole exception of Chinese Studies (which normally has small figures) SEAS seldom make offers for Korean and Japanese during clearing. Unless you happen to be an international student in which case there are usually vacancies for Korean and Chinese majors but not Japanese.

Japanese is a very competitive course with an increasingly high intake of students each year.

Best bet if you want to want to do Japanese with Korean is to ring up SEAS and ask if they will accept for you for next year (2009) on your current A-level grades. I would say e-mail the living crap out of Rick Siddle, but seeing as he's off for a year in Japan and I have no idea who is the friendly academic face in charge of accepting you in the department and who you can butcher over the web.

I mean, I think Sheffield would accept you for Japanese w/ Korean on BBB, but just not this year. The Koreans would love to have you, but the lead department (i.e your major - Japanese) would not be willing to take you on this late.

Love gaijin - your friendly SEAS student representative. :cool:

Reply 7

Hikari

Wow, thanks for the advice :smile:

So really, any attempt of trying to get in for Sep 2008 is an inevitable no?

I'd probably be applying to soas as well, so I don't know whether it's best to go through ucas like I did last time, though i'll try calling SEAS again and see if they'd accept me as BBB.

One more thing: isn't Korean the major, with Japanese being the minor [I was under this impression, as looking at the course modules there isn't any Japanese done until the third year, and you spend your year abroad in Korea.]

Reply 8

gaijin

Hikari

Wow, thanks for the advice :smile:

As the japanese say, "muri da yo."

Ahhhhh, gomenasai yo. They have scrapped (Japanese WITH Korean) this year due to low figures. I think only two people have ever completed this course in the past ten years or so - its not very popular. One of them is posing on the website I think. What a tease eh?

And yes you DID do language modules for both languages in the first year, but like I say they have changed it, because it was too difficult. They have scrapped all the Korean as a minor degrees iirc. It really is very niche.

If you want to study mostly Japanese with some Korean, you have to take Japanese Studies and select your floaters in Korean Language, however in order to do this you have to speak with someone in the department - because its VERY demanding and they may not always accept you. You can only take one per year though and its slightly inflexible because they are taught in Autumn and Spring term - so there is a natural gap between them. Because you can't do 40 free credits in the first year. Like I said they are meant for people on Korean degrees and not floaters for other degrees.

If you study on Korean w/ Japanese you go to Yonsei in Seoul in Year Two and then study Japanese. In the past you studied Korean and Japanese from year one and go up to "Non specialists VI rather than IV."

Sorry about that. Guess I'm not up to speed on these developments. :s-smilie:

If you want to learn two Asian languages at Sheff, its best to study Chinese instead because they still run the non-advanced floater modules in Chinese. I hope this makes sense. :s-smilie:

LOL.

Basically put - its very complicated to study both now. SOAS is probably only your best bet for specialisation in both languages. But like I say it depends on how much you value either language. Going with the Korean will probably not be great for Japanese and likewise, the Japanese course won't be great for your Korean. The reason for this, is that they are stupidly demanding. Even at SOAS only a few people graduate doing that type of degree in about ten years.

Reply 9

Hikari

Wow, two people in ten years!? I'm assuming that either mean either a lot of people dropped out due to difficulty, or just not many people wanted to do it? :p:

Yikes, I always knew it'd be difficult, but I never realised that it would be so difficult that institutions wouldn't allow people to do it o: this scares me a little bit, that I might be diving into water too deep! :frown:

Although I like the idea of a lot of studying.. maybe i'm just weird :p:

It's just that I love the culture and languages of both countries, so to be able to study both [either as a major/minor] is important to me. Everyone always tells me to just choose one and take something like politics or economics, but I couldn't bare to choose one over the other, there'd always be the thought in the back of my mind that would regret it.

Say for example in SHeffield, what sort of hours would Korean w/ Japanese entail? Obviously you don't do both, but if you could give me a rough estimate that'd be awesome :tongue:

also i'm assuming you can't take Japanese floaters in your first two years?

Thanks for your help :smile:

Reply 10

gaijin

Hikari

Wow, two people in ten years!? I'm assuming that either mean either a lot of people dropped out due to difficulty, or just not many people wanted to do it? :p:

Although I like the idea of a lot of studying.. maybe i'm just weird :p:

I'm doing Japanese and Linguistics and am studying Chinese in my spare-time (because I'm going there for 6 weeks next summer.) There are always opportunities to learn Korean outside of your studies as well I reckon. There are probably countless Koreans who would be willing to have some type of language exchange with you.

Actually most Koreans are quite impressed you want to learn their language tbh.

I'm fairly sure it was a mix of low numbers entering Korean as a minor that they decided to scrap the with Korean degrees. But no-one this year (my year) is doing it with Korean and only one girl in fourth year has done it. Its a very niche course. Chinese and Japanese are more popular.

Say for example in SHeffield, what sort of hours would Korean w/ Japanese entail? Obviously you don't do both, but if you could give me a rough estimate that'd be awesome :tongue:

also i'm assuming you can't take Japanese floaters in your first two years?

Thanks for your help :smile:

The problem as I see it with doing Korean w/ Japanese is that you only do Japanese in Year III and then only up to Non-specialists IV - which is the equivalent of one year of Japanese on a major degree. So maybe kyuu3 on the JLPT. At the end, you would probably be efficient in Korean and have a basic grasp of Japanese. I am assuming anyway - it depends on how good you are.

I mean its really hard to tell tbh, Korean needs less attention to read and write although certain elements are more difficult - depends on the learner. On average I do 6 hours a day for Japanese and 1 or 2 for my minor subject.