Recently, Jinoo Im, a senior student in CDS, was accepted to Seoul National University. He is the first student from CDS to be accepted to SNU. He also hosted Dalton Model United Nations (also known as DalMun), where each delegate represented a country to express its opinion on an issue. With Jinoo becoming a hot issue in school, many people wonder how he was able to enter SNU and what he did to prepare for it. Now, let’s ask to Jinoo about his story.
Q. First, congratulations on entering SNU. How did you prepare for college?
A. Thank You. I think there are two parts in college preparation: how and what you did before writing the application, and writing the actual application for the college. When I was preparing in my high school, I set a high GPA as my number one priority. Also, I prepared many specs and activities that suited my major. I always wanted to major International Relations, and in order to prepare for it, I’ve attended to numerous MUN conferences with various languages, studied and reinforced my language skills (ex. Japanese and Chinese), as well as doing research on current issues. When you write the application, you need to work over and over with your counselor. The better the application, the more chance the college would accept you. You want to look carefully at the information given by the admission of each college and fully understand the method you are applying with. Different methods require different specs, and understanding what you are applying for really helps you get accepted to the college.
Q. While preparing for college, what challenged you the most?
A. I think it was the interview. Some people may think, ‘What? Interview is hard?’ but trust me, the interview you expect is whole lot different from the interviews the colleges are doing. The college interview in Korea is to solve open-ended questions based on given excerpts. For example, in SNU you have 30 minutes to prepare for two excerpts, with each excerpt including 1 to 2 questions. Most of the time, questions and excerpts are really challenging. You may struggle in this section, but you are not the only one.
Q. Did you ever think you’d be accepted to SNU?
A. Well, I would say both yes and no. Yes, I imagined it would be great to go to SNU, but I had no image of being accepted to SNU. Sometimes, when I was a freshman, I said that I would go to SNU as a joke, but when I got old enough, I realized that getting accepted to SNU was really, really hard. I was gradually losing my confidence and image of being accepted to SNU.
Q. How does it feel now that you’re accepted?
A. The moment I saw the certificate, I was actually bewildered, but now, I feel proud in many ways. I am proud to be accepted to SNU, especially as the first Daltoner. However, I do have some burdens as well. Since I am the first Daltoner to be accepted to SNU, my performance in the college will matter a lot. If I do well, more students from CDS will likely be accepted to SNU but if I mess up, SNU might look down on CDS students. Moreover, I have burdens because now whenever someone hears my name, they think of SNU rather than my name or my characteristics. That definitely adds on to my sense of burden.
Q. Do you have anything to say to those who are preparing for SNU like you did?
A. For those who are planning for early graduation, if you are not certain that you will get accepted to the college you are applying for, I would not recommend early graduation. For me, I did early graduation as a sense of trial. If I didn’t get accepted, I would have had one more chance. However, when I actually began writing the college application, I couldn’t think of other things. It was stressful. My grade went down and basically if I didn’t get accepted to college, I would’ve totally ruined my senior year. So if you are not confident, don’t do early graduation and wait for one more year. Secondly, start preparing applications and personal essay several months in advance. The more time you have, the better your application and personal essay will be. Lastly, choose one major and have your activities center around that. For example, if you are applying for business, you may want to participate in business competition or plan for your own business. Doing sports or musical activities helps as well. That shows you’re not only good at studying but also at other things. Lastly, don’t stress yourself too much and enjoy your high school life.
Heumil Wang (10)
Q. First, congratulations on entering SNU. How did you prepare for college?
A. Thank You. I think there are two parts in college preparation: how and what you did before writing the application, and writing the actual application for the college. When I was preparing in my high school, I set a high GPA as my number one priority. Also, I prepared many specs and activities that suited my major. I always wanted to major International Relations, and in order to prepare for it, I’ve attended to numerous MUN conferences with various languages, studied and reinforced my language skills (ex. Japanese and Chinese), as well as doing research on current issues. When you write the application, you need to work over and over with your counselor. The better the application, the more chance the college would accept you. You want to look carefully at the information given by the admission of each college and fully understand the method you are applying with. Different methods require different specs, and understanding what you are applying for really helps you get accepted to the college.
Q. While preparing for college, what challenged you the most?
A. I think it was the interview. Some people may think, ‘What? Interview is hard?’ but trust me, the interview you expect is whole lot different from the interviews the colleges are doing. The college interview in Korea is to solve open-ended questions based on given excerpts. For example, in SNU you have 30 minutes to prepare for two excerpts, with each excerpt including 1 to 2 questions. Most of the time, questions and excerpts are really challenging. You may struggle in this section, but you are not the only one.
Q. Did you ever think you’d be accepted to SNU?
A. Well, I would say both yes and no. Yes, I imagined it would be great to go to SNU, but I had no image of being accepted to SNU. Sometimes, when I was a freshman, I said that I would go to SNU as a joke, but when I got old enough, I realized that getting accepted to SNU was really, really hard. I was gradually losing my confidence and image of being accepted to SNU.
Q. How does it feel now that you’re accepted?
A. The moment I saw the certificate, I was actually bewildered, but now, I feel proud in many ways. I am proud to be accepted to SNU, especially as the first Daltoner. However, I do have some burdens as well. Since I am the first Daltoner to be accepted to SNU, my performance in the college will matter a lot. If I do well, more students from CDS will likely be accepted to SNU but if I mess up, SNU might look down on CDS students. Moreover, I have burdens because now whenever someone hears my name, they think of SNU rather than my name or my characteristics. That definitely adds on to my sense of burden.
Q. Do you have anything to say to those who are preparing for SNU like you did?
A. For those who are planning for early graduation, if you are not certain that you will get accepted to the college you are applying for, I would not recommend early graduation. For me, I did early graduation as a sense of trial. If I didn’t get accepted, I would have had one more chance. However, when I actually began writing the college application, I couldn’t think of other things. It was stressful. My grade went down and basically if I didn’t get accepted to college, I would’ve totally ruined my senior year. So if you are not confident, don’t do early graduation and wait for one more year. Secondly, start preparing applications and personal essay several months in advance. The more time you have, the better your application and personal essay will be. Lastly, choose one major and have your activities center around that. For example, if you are applying for business, you may want to participate in business competition or plan for your own business. Doing sports or musical activities helps as well. That shows you’re not only good at studying but also at other things. Lastly, don’t stress yourself too much and enjoy your high school life.
Heumil Wang (10)