Kaist or UVA

International Students
1

Hello, I am a student who currently attends UVA, and I have an opportunity to attend Kaist this coming fall. I am interested in Mechanical Engineering, so you see why I am considering Kaist. Some background information on me is that last month, I went on an internship at Kaist, and I am also fluent in Korean (not so much writing, however). I am a Korean native, but I have lived in the U.S. for most of my adolescent and teenage years and now into young adulthood.

I have heard many things about why I should attend Kaist, from the tuition free education that allows for more money in the bank, the contacts in Korea that I will have upon graduating, the recognition in both U.S. and Korea, potential job opportunities in Korea should I choose to stay there, a rigorous STEM education, etc.

But the point is I find those statements very generalized and flawed, and I wanted to know what others think.

For one thing, how useful will undergraduate contacts be if I want to work in the United States (which I do) upon graduating (also, people tend to throw around the word “contacts” so widely that I don’t think even they know what it really entails).

In addition, Kaist is not well known outside of Korea, not to mention the fact that despite a rigorous STEM general education that Kaist offers, the reality is that your skills are honed by partaking in various engineering clubs outside of the classroom, something that I have found little of on Kaist’s website (maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough). If the STEM education is so overbearing that it eats up so much of your day (according to various people who have gone there) how can you really spend time learning and cooperating with others in practical club setting?

In addition, I’m also concerned about group homogeneity that exists at Kaist (90 % Koreans and 10% internationals) and how that affects every day interactions. With only 10% internationals, I’m afraid that I won’t have the diversity of culture that I have grown accustomed to while living in the U.S.

I am aware that there are threads that compare Kaist to places like Oxford and Harvard, in which case a lot of people say go to the latter. But in my case, it is UVA. I feel UVA and its engineering is well-rounded and offers a lot of the subtle things Kaist is lacking, and I feel that the degree there, at least undergraduate, would be enough to compete with Kaist should I choose to work in the U.S.

My perception may be really limited, and I have very few people to talk to on this matter, so any advice would be greatly and thankfully appreciated.

2

Hello, I am a new member on this college confidential site but I would like to put my opinion on this matter of yours. In 2016-2017, Thomson Reuters, the founder of “Canada’s leading corporate brand” (founded in Toronto) ranked KAIST as the 6th most innovative university in the WORLD. KAIST was ranked #21 in the world for their Engineering and IT programs compared to UVA who was ranked #41 in the world for the engineering school. Now since you are majoring in Mechanical Engineering i have found that KAIST is #15th according to the QS University Subject Rankings. Saying KAIST is unknown outside of Korea is stretching it out of proportion since every official ranking puts KAIST (For your major) above UVA (For your Major). It is true that you have an advantage in both Korea and America in the future since KAIST was ranked #1 in Korea multiple times but you also have the chance to go to America for your Graduate program since you wish to pursue a life there. Since KAIST is a research oriented science and engineering school there will be multiple clubs focusing on different projects and if there aren’t, without a doubt you would be exposed to more “On hand” experiences that you would not have as an undergraduate in UVA since the school itself does not majorly focus on engineering or science at all. During your internship at KAIST, how long were you there for?, were you limited to the people you interacted with?, were you with people around your age group or were they graduates and etc people? Getting accustomed to Korea will take time but you cannot rush it since it is a new place for you considering you have spent most of your life in America. There will always be a group of people who will feel like they are superior due to their race, you would even find them in America, but that does not mean you will find not find anybody to hangout with since that’s just how life works. If I were in your shoes and were really serious about Mechanical Engineering, this opportunity should not be passed and would take it in an instant.

3

Hi, I’ve been thinking about what you said, but although Kaist is high up on the rankings, many HR reps for not-as-well-known entry level companies might not know what Kaist is about. If that’s the case, then it boils down to what skills you can sell yourself in the job interviews and resume. I agree Kaist will give me a much more intense STEM education than UVA (in terms of brute knowledge and studying), but as far as I’ve researched, many of the hands-on opportunities provided by Kaist relates to research-oriented work under professors and Masters/PHD students (less clubs run by students, upon my understanding of their website). My internship that lasted a month was kind of like that, but I realized that in such settings, it’s very difficult to have those seniors guide you personally with materials/knowledge and catch you up to speed with what you need to know (probably because they know so much and they are so busy).

I’ve already been talking to a robotics club I want to join at UVA, and there was an immediate willingness on their part to set up things I could immediately get to work on with my knowledge and skill set and build upon them. Essentially, the club seniors were very open to get me into their workshops or talk individually with their Python scripting experts, for example, so that I can contribute seamlessly. This was not the case working in a research lab setting, where the Masters and PhD students were very occupied with their own individual theses and fast-paced work environment to help guide someone like me, much less expect me to contribute anything significant to what they were doing well themselves.

In addition, I’ve realized that many people talk about how lectures can be diminished by the lack of fluency with which Korean professors can speak English, and the majority of the students there (Korean), I’ve noticed, are not comfortable with going over materials in English, meaning more likely than not, the terminology and understanding will be confusing to decipher on even simple concepts should I try to join a study group for example (I’ve noticed this problem as I was asking questions to the Masters and PhD students, who themselves had attended Kaist undergrad) Of course, if push comes to shove, I’ll do it, but why force yourself to go over the materials in English (through the use of international books) when the majority of information circulating will go back to Korean (among the other students)? One could dismiss the issue, but if this is the daily outcome, what long term impact would it have on the ease with which I can understand more complex and difficult subjects?

Also, I plan on choosing the states for my internship destination, but given that Kaist has 1 1/2 months of summer and 3 months of winter, wouldn’t it make it difficult for me to secure any internship? (Given that there are fewer Winter internships in general with most being in the summer, and the given 1 1/2 month time frame in the summer might not cut it well with when the company expects me to be on call for starting mid-May for example) Why would I not choose any internships in Korea? That’s because it would force me to stay in Korea for the internship duration, and I would rather go on trips or such with my family and visit some friends back home if I can.

Further, I’ve heard of cases where people from U.S. chose not to attend international schools such as Kaist because they realized they planned on choosing a graduate school in the states. Although you are right in that I could most definitely apply regardless, wouldn’t there be smoother transition if I stay in the states?

I know UVA is not the “ideal” STEM school, but I chose it for financial and overall general quality of education factors (besides the brute academics). I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and your post made me really reconsider everything, even though I’ve already done so before, but still I keep coming back to is it really as clear cut as what the academic rankings make it out to be?

I would love it once more if you could give your thoughts on what I said. Maybe I was too vague in my first comment and came off kinda dismissive (or maybe I am still being quite as such). Thank you for your input.

4

Hello, I am replying to your post so that you can look at my post

5

Kaist is going to be a tough transition for an American schooled student. As far as pure tech, I have no doubt you will get much more more, IMO, there. What you will miss is the American college experience that so used to sardonically refer to as “part half-way house, part Disney World. I think you know that too. For top of the top tech trading, it’ll be like taking a sip from a fire hose is what I’ve been told about some of those powerhouse programs in Asia. Yes, if you can do well in them , get through them, you’ll be in a great position job wise as an American with this training.

Not the answer you want, but UVA is ClubMed as compared to Kaist. The problem here is you don’t want to do Kaist

6

KAIST is one of the great tech schools in the world. Carries a much bigger name than UVA would, and that’s not to say that UVA is a bad school. I know that all Silicon Valley companies will know about KAIST.