Seoul National University
서울대학교
Korea's flagship national university, drawing its freshmen from the top 2.5% of the national entrance exam.
- Students
- 30,638
- 17,439 undergraduates
- Tuition
- ₩2.4M
- From · 2026 rates (applied to 2027 entrants as published)
- Founded
- 1946
- QS World Ranking
- #38
- 2027 edition
About SNU
Seoul National University was created in 1946 by merging ten higher-education institutions in and around Seoul, and it has been the top destination for Korea's strongest high-school students ever since. The university says its freshmen come from the top 2.5% of national entrance-exam takers, and its graduates fill a large share of the country's courts, ministries, National Assembly seats and boardrooms. Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Fields Medalist June Huh are both alumni.
Most undergraduate life happens on the Gwanak Campus in southern Seoul, a large hillside campus at the foot of Gwanaksan. The medical school sits on the Yeongeon Campus in central Seoul, and there are further research sites in Pyeongchang, Siheung and Suwon. Teaching is organised into 15 undergraduate colleges, from Humanities and Natural Sciences to Engineering, Medicine, Music and Veterinary Medicine, plus SNU College, which runs a common first-year curriculum and an open-major track. As of April 2026 SNU enrolled 17,439 undergraduates and 13,199 graduate students.
For international applicants, the key thing to understand is that SNU is a Korean-medium university. You can apply with either Korean or English proficiency, but whether English-taught courses exist in your department is decided by each college, and admitted students may be tested in Korean. It suits self-directed students who want Korea's deepest academic bench and are ready to become functional in Korean.
Veritas Lux Mea
“The Truth is My Light” — university motto
Why students choose SNU
SNU is Korea's highest-ranked university in QS 2027 (38th), with strength across the full range from humanities to medicine.
Foreign students have two admission rounds a year (spring and fall entry), each with a short online window and no entrance exam, just a document review plus interviews for some applicants.
The Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) route to SNU covers full tuition for 8 semesters, a monthly allowance of 1,200,000 KRW, airfare and a year of Korean language training.
The alumni network is unusually concentrated: in 2017 SNU graduates made up one in four CEOs of Korea's top 100 companies and 72% of Supreme Court justices, according to the university.
Admissions
International Admissions (Global Talent special admission) for Spring 2027 and Fall 2027 entry
Selectivity
International students are admitted outside the regular Korean quota with no fixed number of places. SNU states that it does not publish applicant numbers or competition ratios. Domestic freshmen come from the top 2.5% of national entrance-exam takers.
Typical entry requirements
| Track I (International Admissions I) | Applicant and both parents hold non-Korean citizenship; high-school graduate or equivalent by 28 Feb 2027 (GED, homeschooling and online schooling not accepted) |
|---|---|
| Track II (International Admissions II) | Korean or foreign citizens who completed all primary and secondary education (grade 1 to 12) outside Korea; applicants to most colleges may be invited to an online interview after the document review |
| Language (either one) | Korean: TOPIK level 3+ or level 4 at a Korean university language institute; English: TOEFL iBT 80+, IELTS Academic 6.0+ or TEPS 269+ |
| English language | IELTS 6 · TOEFL iBT 80 Korean OR English proficiency is required, not both. TOEFL tests taken on or after 21 Jan 2026 need a 4.0 on the new scale. TOEFL MyBest and Home Edition accepted; ITP not accepted. IELTS One Skill Retake and Online accepted; Indicator not accepted. Admitted students may have to sit SNU's Korean proficiency test, and results can restrict which courses they take. |
Deadlines
- Spring 2027 entry (closed) Non-binding PassedJuly 9, 2026
Closed. Online application ran 6 to 9 July 2026 (recommendations by 10 July). Track II online interviews were held on 18 Sep 2026; preliminary results 16 Oct 2026; final results 20 Nov 2026.
- Fall 2027 entry Non-bindingEarly March 2027 (exact dates to be announced)
The fall round runs early in the calendar year. For Fall 2026 entry, online applications were open 3 to 5 March 2026, with recommendations due 6 March; check SNU's admissions announcements for the Fall 2027 guide.
Application windows are only a few days long. The Spring 2027 round has closed; the next opportunity is Fall 2027 entry, whose guide SNU typically publishes ahead of an early-March application window.
How to apply
Online application on the SNU admissions site (application fee 70,000 KRW), with a personal statement and study plan (up to about 800 English words), one teacher recommendation submitted online, transcripts, graduation certificate, proof of nationality and language scores. Optional: standardized test results, school profile and up to 10 activities or awards. Fine Arts and Music applicants submit portfolios. Originals with Apostille are posted after the preliminary result. You may apply to only one program per round.
What admissions looks for
- Academic ability, judged from your full high-school record and any standardized results you choose to submit.
- Aptitude for your chosen major (the admissions unit).
- Language ability in Korean or English.
- Academic and non-academic activities, evaluated together in a holistic document review. Any school-violence record is assessed qualitatively.
Tips for applying to SNU
- 1 Choose your track carefully. Track I requires you and both parents to be non-Korean citizens (Korean nationality renounced before the deadline). Track II is for students who did all 12 years of school abroad, and applicants to most colleges may be invited to an online interview.
- 2 Use the optional uploads. SNU lets you add standardized scores, a school profile and up to 10 activities or awards, and only uploaded files are evaluated.
- 3 Ask your college whether it offers English-taught courses before you apply. SNU tells applicants to check this directly with each college or department.
- 4 Start Apostille or consular authentication of your diploma and transcripts early. Preliminary admits must post the originals within about two weeks.
- 5 Even if you apply on English scores, build up your Korean. Admitted students may be tested, and a weak result can limit which courses you can take.
Costs & financial aid
2026 rates (applied to 2027 entrants as published) · figures in KRW
SNU does not publish a need-blind policy. The main full scholarship for new international undergraduates is the government-funded Global Korea Scholarship (GKS), applied for through a Korean embassy, usually in September. It covers tuition for 8 semesters, 1,200,000 KRW per month, a round-trip flight and one year of Korean language training (you must reach TOPIK 3 within that year). Ethnic Korean students abroad can also apply for the Overseas Koreans Foundation scholarship.
- 1,200,000 KRW
- GKS monthly allowance
- Full tuition for 8 semesters
- GKS tuition coverage
- 70,000 KRW
- Application fee
Academics
Academic calendar: Two semesters. The academic year starts in spring (March), and international students can enter in spring or fall.
Liberal Studies Open Major (SNU College)
Lets you start without a fixed major and explore across disciplines through SNU College's common curriculum.
Engineering
SNU says its engineering and natural-science units rank within the global top 20 for SCI publications and citations, and the university compares its research capacity with the top 10 to 30 US universities.
Economics and Political Science and International Relations
Departments with English-taught course lists, and the home of alumni such as Ban Ki-moon.
Medicine (integrated 6-year program from 2027)
From the 2027 intake, the College of Medicine admits students into a single integrated 6-year program, taught on the Yeongeon medical campus.
Mathematical Sciences
Fields Medalist June Huh studied at SNU.
Research
- The SNU 10-10 Project gives 24 billion KRW over 6 years to 20 selected academic fields to push them to world-leading level.
- The Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies holds the former Joseon royal library, founded in 1776, and is a major archive of Korean historical records.
- SNU has partnership agreements with 321 institutions in 59 countries at university level, and 268 of them offer student exchange.
Schools & faculties
- College of Humanities
- College of Social Sciences
- College of Natural Sciences
- College of Engineering
- College of Business Administration
- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- College of Education
- College of Fine Arts
- College of Music
- College of Medicine
- College of Pharmacy
- College of Veterinary Medicine
Student life
Life centres on the Gwanak Campus, a self-contained hillside campus with its own museums, a 5,000-seat gymnasium built for the 1988 Olympics, and trails up Gwanaksan. Gwanaksa, the on-campus residence complex, houses undergraduates, graduate students and families, and it has no curfew. The student body is overwhelmingly Korean, so international students mix through the Office of Global Affairs, exchange programs and clubs rather than a large foreign-student community. Expect an intense, study-heavy culture. Many classmates arrive after Korea's toughest exam race, and club life and department events are how friendships form.
- Gwanaksa residence complex on the main campus, with no curfew
- Kyujanggak royal archives, the SNU Museum and the SNU Museum of Art on campus
- The SNU Gymnasium, a venue of the 1988 Seoul Olympics
- Office of Global Affairs support for international students, including the International Summer Institute and Korean language courses
Housing. On-campus housing is in Gwanaksa on the Gwanak Campus (and Yeongeonsa for medical students). Check the Office of Global Affairs housing pages for current application rounds.
Location
The Gwanak Campus is in Gwanak-gu, in the south of Seoul, on the slopes of Gwanaksan. It has its own subway stop, Seoul National University station on Line 2, which connects you to the rest of the city. Around campus you'll find student neighbourhoods with cheap food and small studio rooms. Seoul is a very large, safe capital with an excellent subway network.
Nearest airport: Incheon International Airport (ICN); Gimpo International Airport (GMP) for domestic and regional flights
Notable alumni
- BK Ban Ki-moon8th Secretary-General of the United Nations
- JH June HuhMathematician, 2022 Fields Medal
- KY Kim Young-sam14th President of South Korea
- LJ Lee Jong-wook6th Director-General of the World Health Organization
- HL Hoesung LeeChair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
- SS Song Sang-hyunFormer President of the International Criminal Court
- LJ Lee Jae-yongChairman of Samsung Electronics
- BS Bang Si-hyukFounder and chairman of HYBE Corporation
Frequently asked questions
Can international students apply to Seoul National University in English?
Yes. You need either Korean (TOPIK 3+) or English (TOEFL iBT 80+, IELTS 6.0+ or TEPS 269+) proficiency, not both. But SNU is mainly Korean-medium, so check which courses your department teaches in English and expect to learn Korean.
When is the SNU application deadline for international students?
There are two short rounds a year. The Spring 2027 round (6 to 9 July 2026) has closed. The fall round runs in early March; for Fall 2026 it was 3 to 5 March 2026, so expect the Fall 2027 window around early March 2027.
What is SNU's acceptance rate for international students?
SNU does not publish it. The university states that it does not disclose applicant numbers or competition ratios for international admissions, and international students are admitted outside the regular quota with no fixed number of places.
How much is tuition at Seoul National University?
Tuition is charged per semester and varies by college. At 2026 rates it ranges from 2,442,000 KRW (humanities, most social sciences, business) to 5,038,000 KRW (the medical course), and engineering is 2,998,000 KRW. Rates for 2027 may differ, especially in Medicine.
Does SNU require an interview or entrance exam?
There is no written entrance exam. Track II applicants to most colleges may be invited to an online interview after the document review, and Fine Arts, Music and Physical Education applicants have portfolio or practical requirements.
Sources & methodology
Figures on this page were checked against official university publications, national application services and ranking publishers in September 2026. Each number is shown with the year or admissions cycle it describes. Always confirm deadlines and fees on the university's own website before applying.
Explore nearby in the world top 100
Universities ranked close to SNU in the QS World University Rankings 2027.