Korean/Japanese Studies 2024 Applicants

Wow, thank you so much! No need to apologise for the length, I appreciate the detail a lot! The split groups are interesting, I had wondered how different proficiencies were handled considering the proficiency test. I also appreciate a bit of intensity and competition, so that sounds perfect - thanks again!

No worries! Have you heard back yet? I just got my offer today!

Actually, the course I'm doing this year includes putting in our UCAS applications this week/term, so much as I wanted to do it sooner I'm only able to apply now. Serious congrats on your offer, though!!

Hey! I just wanted to see if there was anyone one else applying to study Korean or Japanese at university for 2024 entry?

I'll be applying to Sheffield, Leeds, Edinburgh, Cardiff, and SOAS )

Hi, I'm applying for Korean Studies at Sheffield, Warwick and SOAS but I'm having a really hard time with what super curricular stuff to look at and i have no idea how its relevant to the A Levels I'm doing now, (French, History and Drama). Does anyone have any tips?

Hi! I most likely will be be applying for Japanese 2024.
Out of your list our common ones are: Sheffield & Edinburgh.

(I am still apprehensive about applying for Japanese as I also like acting!)

That's so cool!! You could always join an acting society at uni as well since I'm sure they'd have them ^^ Maybe studying Japanese could also give you a wider range of acting opportunities as well!!

omg, I'm doing Spanish, History and Drama.
For super curricular I would recommend any interesting academic articles perhaps in relation to Korea and you could then talk about what you've found interesting from it and what else you would like to learn as a result. I too struggle a little with this

Thank youuu! I'm glad I'm not the only one struggling. I'm really excited for it tho. Where are you applying to? 😊

Hi, I'm applying for Korean Studies at Sheffield, Warwick and SOAS but I'm having a really hard time with what super curricular stuff to look at and i have no idea how its relevant to the A Levels I'm doing now, (French, History and Drama). Does anyone have any tips?

Also, are any of you guys on gap years?

Hi Francesca, I did my A levels last year and just got my offer from SOAS to study BA Japanese, but my A levels have nothing to do with the subject. I took Philosophy, Psychology and English literature. I got ABB overall and was accepted to SOAS. I don't have any formal qualifications in Japanese just a passionate interest for the language and culture that I talked about in my personal statement. The main thing isn't what you are currently doing, I believe it is about the passion you have about what you want to do. If you've got that (plus are studying a language already even if it is not related) you will get in just fine! If you do want some extra curricular though, I would highly recommend doing some sort of elementary course in Korean even if you just self teach. Find a good textbook to learn some basic grammar and Hangul, maybe learn a few hundred to around a thousand words and just enjoy consuming Korean media with English subtitles (this just keeps things fun)! Obviously don't let it distract from your A levels, my grades are lower than they should have been as I got distracted studying Japanese during year 13. Best of luck! Apologies for the long reply

Hi Francesca, I did my A levels last year and just got my offer from SOAS to study BA Japanese, but my A levels have nothing to do with the subject. I took Philosophy, Psychology and English literature. I got ABB overall and was accepted to SOAS. I don't have any formal qualifications in Japanese just a passionate interest for the language and culture that I talked about in my personal statement. The main thing isn't what you are currently doing, I believe it is about the passion you have about what you want to do. If you've got that (plus are studying a language already even if it is not related) you will get in just fine! If you do want some extra curricular though, I would highly recommend doing some sort of elementary course in Korean even if you just self teach. Find a good textbook to learn some basic grammar and Hangul, maybe learn a few hundred to around a thousand words and just enjoy consuming Korean media with English subtitles (this just keeps things fun)! Obviously don't let it distract from your A levels, my grades are lower than they should have been as I got distracted studying Japanese during year 13. Best of luck! Apologies for the long reply

Personally from experience as you are in SOAS right now doing Japanese, do you think it is a good university for it? How about location, accomodation and such?

I'm also on a gap year (my second gap year at this point 😂) I sat my A Levels in summer 2022 but didn't feel quite ready to go to uni and decided to save up some money at my part time job to prepare for potentially living in London ) I also just got an unconditional offer from SOAS to study Korean and Linguistics!! Are you planning on going to SOAS as well?

Omg! Congrats on your offer!!! And yes, I am definitely going to SOAS next year Fair enough with the two gap years, it’s a long story but my gap year was very much not planned and I kinda stumbled into it 😂. I hope you are enjoying your second though!

No worries! Have you heard back yet? I just got my offer today!

Just wanted to follow up (and also share because I'm well pleased), I got a conditional offer today! Really surprised, because my application ended up only going through this week Tuesday morning - I haven't even heard back from my other four choices yet - and the offer is for lower grades than I expected. Still high-marks needed, but it seems attainable, so I'm buzzing a bit, haha; so much so that I'm ironically struggling to focus on getting my assignments done in the first place.