In order to be eligible for graduation, MA students must meet the following criteria:
1) Coursework
· Students have to obtain a minimum of 24 credits and achieve a minimum overall average of GPA of 3.0.
· Students may take courses across different discipline, including Political Science, History, Art History, Geography, Development Studies, and Sociology.
· The courses cover various countries of Southeast Asia and also provide trans-national, trans-regional and comparative perspectives.
· Students can take courses offered by our graduate program and other departments at Sogang University, Yonsei University and Ewha Women's University. No more than 50% of the credits (or 12 credits) may be obtained from courses outside Sogang University, up to a maximum of 6 credits per semester. Before enrolling, please consult your supervisor or program director.
2) Qualifying Examinations
In order to progress to the dissertation stage, students must pass two types of qualifying examinations.
1 - Foreign language examination
Foreign students who qualified one of the criteria below-mentioned, can be apply exemption of the foreign language test (expired test results will not be recognized)
- TOEFL IBT score over 79 (PBT score: 550, CBT score: 213),
- TOEIC 730,
- TEPS 600 (New TEPS 327),
- IELTS score over 6.0,
- S-TOPIK (Standard Test of Proficiency in Korean) - above Level 5*
- KLPT (Korean Language Proficiency Test) over 400 (equivalent to TOPIK Level 5)*
*not applicable to students with Korean nationality
2 - Comprehensive examination
Students are allowed three attempts at the comprehensive examination and must pass three out of the four subject areas - Culture, History, Politics and Society,
3 - MA Dissertation
· Upon passing the qualification examinations, students will commerce on their dissertation and they must decide a dissertation topic in consultation with their academic supervisor.
· Students can opt for field research - also in consultation with their academic supervisor.
Please refer to the Graduate School website for more information on regulations of the MA Program