Would it be better to apply to college in the US or in Korea (SKYU)?

Hi there, thank you for reading this; I’m not very well-versed in international studies, but I recently became interested and wanted to look into it a bit more. After doing my own research (which was fairly fruitless), I still have a few questions, specifically about applying as an international student to one of Korea’s SKY Universities from the United States.

  • What are the SKY Universities known for?
  • What do the SKY Universities look for in international students? (Would I qualify?)
  • If I returned to the States after receiving a degree from one of the SKY Universities, would this degree be equally helpful/respected as one received in the States?
  • Is it worth going to university in Korea versus university in America based on education alone? (See my list of colleges below)
  • Aside from the ACT/SAT and the TOEFL/IELTS, are there any tests I should be aware of? Building off of this, how important is the TOPIK?

Here are my current stats.

  • 5 math, 5 sciences, 4 english (+2 ENG dual enrollments), 7 social studies, 4 arts, 4 language classes.
  • All honors, 11 AP credits (National AP Scholar), 6 college credits (community college, dual enrollment).
  • 3.96/4.0 Unweighted, 4.63/5.0 Weighted GPA; top 10%.
  • 34 composite ACT, 780 Math I and 800 Math II SAT Subject Tests.
  • NHS (2 years), NAHS (4 years, 2 years officer).
  • 4 years of softball, 1 year JV captain, 2 years Varsity captain.
  • Virtually no service hours. (~12?)
  • Complete fluency in English and Latin. Semi-fluency in Spanish and Japanese (I can communicate, but not well, or accurately).
  • Rural background, unknown Asian ethnicity.

Some of the colleges in the United States I am considering applying for are as follows.

  • University of Chicago
  • University of Virginia (Charlottesville)
  • University of California (LA, Berkeley)
  • University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill)

Some insight could really help me out. Thanks so much~!

I am not familiar with Korean universities in particular, so I’ll just talk about the general disadvantages of completing an undergraduate degree outside of the US.

Most college graduates will find an easier entry into the US labor market with a degree from an American university. That’s because so many “desirable” entry-level jobs are filled through relationships: through university-based career fairs, recruitment from previous summer internships, referrals of current employees, etc. You’d miss out on most of the local connection-building while living abroad for several years. (You might not even be able to participate in US summer internship programs; Korean universities appear to be on a different academic calendar.)

You might also handicap yourself for applications to American graduate programs, if that is something you desire. For example, in order to apply to medical school, you’d need to complete a set of pre-med courses in addition to your major - most foreign universities wouldn’t give you the flexibility to take random classes in other fields that don’t contribute to your degree. If you want to apply to PhD programs, undergraduate research experience and letters of recommendation are very important. The former can be difficult to come by at a foreign university, and the latter will count for less when Americans readers mistrust the source.

On the flip side, there’ll probably be other doors that will be opened for you by getting a degree from Korea. Some international organizations might value your experience, or maybe you’ll be inspired to do something new that might have never even occurred to people who have gone the “conventional” college path.

Making new connections in college is also a lot less important if you are lucky enough to be part of a family that has connections already.

Remember that virtually all American colleges have study-abroad/exchange programs. If you really care about SKY, research which American colleges they have exchanges with.

Unless you want to make your life in S Korea after graduation (if that is possible for you; seems like the answer would be “no” if you have zero ties to S Korea), I would advise against going to SKY for undergrad.

BTW, most Americans are very ignorant of the world outside the US (parochial, I daresay). I reckon most college-educated Americans know Oxbridge are prestigious. After that, a smaller number would know LSE, UTokyo, the grande ecoles and (recently, with the heavy influx of Chinese and Indian immigrants to the US) PKU, Tsinghua, and the IITs are.