Seoul National University

Location: South Korea South Korea’s second offering in the Asia ranking is Seoul National University , which falls four places compared to last year. Seoul National University currently ranks 31st in the world rankings, and is well-known as one of the leading universities in South Korea. Established in the capital city of Seoul in 1946, it now also has campuses in Gwanak and Daehangno. It boasts Korea’s largest campus and as of 2014, was home to 16,500 undergraduate and 11,500 graduate students. Internationally ranked in 35 subjects (out of the 36 currently covered by QS) and in the top 50 for 25 of these, Seoul National University’s strongest fields include architecture, chemical engineering, modern languages and pharmacy & pharmacology.

Pre-establishment[edit] Seoul National University originates from various education institutions which were established by King Gojong of the Joseon Dynasty. Several of them were integrated into various colleges when later Seoul National University was founded. To modernize the country, Gojong initiated the establishment of modern higher education institutions. By means of the issue of a royal order, the law academy Beopkwan Yangseongso has been founded in 1895. It produced 209 graduates including the later envoy Yi Jun. Hanseong Sabeomhakgyo (established in 1895), a training school for teachers and Euihakkyo (1899), a medical school, are also considered the origins of respected colleges. After the proclamation of the Empire of Korea in 1897, Gojong, meanwhile emperor, was motivated to create more modern education institutions. In 1899, a medical school was established. This school changed its name several times to Daehan Euiwon Gyoyukbu and Gyeongseong Euihak Jeonmunhakgyo (Gyeongseong Medical College) and finally became College of Medicine of Seoul National University. In 1901, a department for nursing was established, which was the forerunner of the later College of Nursing. During the Japanese rule, Keijō Imperial University was established as one of Japan's nine imperial universities. After World War II and the independence of Korea, the name of the university was changed from Keijō Teikoku Daigaku (京城帝国大学) to Gyeongseong Daehak (경성대학, 京城大學, Gyeongseong University). The Hanja letters, that were used in the name, were pronounced in the Korean reading and the attribute "imperial" was removed. Establishment[edit] Seoul National University was founded on August 27, 1946 by merging ten institutions of higher education around the Seoul area. The schools which have been merged were: Gyeongseong University (Gyeongseong Daehakgyo, 경성대학) Gyeongseong College of Education (Gyeongseong Sabeomhakgyo, 경성사범학교) Gyeongseong Women's College of Education (Gyeongseong Yeoja Sabeomhakgyo, 경성여자사범학교) Gyeongseong Law College (Gyeongseong Beophak Jeonmunhakgyo, 경성법학전문학교) Gyeongseong Industrial College (Gyeongseong Gongeop Jeonmunhakgyo, 경성공업전문학교) Gyeongseong Mining College (Gyeongseong Gwangsan Jeonmunhakgyo, 경성광산전문학교) Gyeongseong Medical College (Gyeongseong Euihak Jeonmunhakgyo, 경성의학전문학교) Suwon Agriculture College (Suwon Nongnim Jeonmunhakgyo, 수원농림전문학교) Gyeongseong College of Economics (Gyeongseong Gyeongje Jeonmunhakgyo, 경성경제전문학교) Gyeongseong Dentistry College (Gyeongseong Chigwa Euihak Jeonmunhakgyo, 경성치과의학전문학교) The first president was Harry Bidwell Ansted.[13] For over a year and a half, there was a protest movement by students and professors against the law of the U.S. military government in Korea merging colleges. Finally, 320 professors were fired and more than 4950 students left the school. The university's second president was Lee Choon-ho (이춘호, 李春昊), who served beginning in October 1947. The College of Law was founded by merging the law department of Kyŏngsŏng University with Kyŏngsŏng Law College. The university absorbed Seoul College of Pharmacy in September 1950, as the College of Pharmacy. This had previously been a private institution.[14] During the Korean War, the university was occupied by North Korea and Seoul National University Hospital Massacre occurred,[15] then temporarily merged with other universities in South Korea, located in Busan. Relocation[edit] Originally, the main campus (which embraced the College of Humanities and Sciences and College of Law) was in Dongsung-dong, Jongno. After the construction of a new main campus in Gwanak in February 1975, most colleges of the university relocated to the new Gwanak Campus between 1975 and 1979. Part of the former main campus in Jongno is still used by the College of Medicine, the College of Dentistry and the College of Nursing and is now called Yongon Campus. In 2012 lawmakers reported that the ruling Saenuri Party, ahead of the December presidential elections, seriously proposed a plan to relocate the university to the newly established special autonomous Sejong City.[16] The move came as part of an overall effort to decentralize the capital's governmental apparatus. Originally the national government had approached the university in 2009 to host the building of a satellite campus.[17][18] It was reported the following year that the university had considered withdrawing from the Sejong plan.[19] Academics[edit] The main gate of Seoul National University, known by its nickname, the Sha (샤) gate. The shape of the gate is formed by the characters ㄱ,ㅅ,ㄷ, the initial letters of its full Korean name (Gungnip Seoul Daehakgyo). Admissions[edit] Admissions to Seoul National University is extremely competitive. From 1981 to 1987, when an applicant could apply only to one university at a time, more than 80% of the top 0.5% scorers in the annual government-administered scholastic achievement test applied to SNU and many of them were unsuccessful. Students are admitted by major instead of into a general freshman pool. Academic structure[edit] Sixteen colleges of the university offer 83 undergraduate degree programs.[20] For master and doctoral programs there is one graduate school with 99 programs from five fields of studies. The interdisciplinary programs are the ones invented and operated by more than two departments.[21] In addition to that, there are nine professional graduate schools.[22]