Spring 2027 Admission in Korea: Not Too Late for International Students — Deadlines at 12 Universities Taking Applications From November to January

International applicants aiming to enter a Korean university in March 2027 who missed the first application window still have a chance. Several universities are accepting 2nd- and 3rd-round applications for international students between November 2026 and January 2027. Yeungnam University takes undergraduate applications until Jan. 6 and Dongseo University until Jan. 3, while Catholic Kwandong University's graduate school accepts applications until Jan. 7 and Keimyung College University until Jan. 20.

Later rounds, however, often come with conditions. Eligibility narrows or fewer departments recruit. Results are announced between mid-January and mid-February, and issuance of the standard admission letter (Certificate of Admission) is pushed back to late January–February. This article compiles schedules confirmed in official university admission guidelines as of Nov. 6, 2026. Amounts are given in U.S. dollars first, with Korean won in parentheses (Hana Bank base exchange rate on Nov. 3, 2026: $1 = KRW 1,341.10).

Deadlines in December–January

Universities whose application deadlines fall in December or later are as follows.

Three conditions in the table are easy to miss.

• Dongseo University, 3rd round. Only applicants to special programs with overseas universities or institutions, or people staying in Korea, may apply. For general applicants overseas, the last chance is the 2nd round (deadline Jan. 3).
• Kyung Hee graduate school rolling admission. The guideline labels it 'su-si' (rolling admission). Only science and engineering fields at the Global Campus are recruiting. If other fields are added, a separate notice will be posted on the international admissions team's website.
• Yeungnam University, 2nd round. The application deadline (Jan. 6) and the document submission deadline (Jan. 8) are different. Both the application fee payment and the document submission must be completed within the deadlines based on Korea time. If you can move quickly, the 1st round, which closes Nov. 11 (results Nov. 23), leaves more room in the visa schedule.

Keimyung College University's 3rd round holds interviews on Jan. 23, after the application period. Parts of the school's guideline still carry the label '2026 academic year,' so applicants should reconfirm the schedule with the school before applying.

Deadlines in November

Many universities also close applications within November. Depending on when you read this, some may already have closed, so check the dates first.

A '—' in the table marks an item that could not be confirmed in public announcements.

Language Requirements and Application Fees

An additional round does not mean lower language requirements. None of the guidelines reviewed set standards different from the 1st round.

Undergraduate programs set TOPIK Levels 2 to 4 as the benchmark, with Level 3 the most common.

• Yeungnam University (freshmen). Applicants must meet one of six criteria, including TOPIK Level 3 or higher, completion of King Sejong Institute Intermediate 1 or higher (online courses excluded), completion of Level 3 at the Korean language institute of Yeungnam or another Korean university, and completion of KIIP Level 3 (or a KIIP pre-assessment score of 61 or higher). Passing Yeungnam's own Korean test (YU TOPIK) is also accepted; the last test of 2026 is on Dec. 18. Students admitted through a route other than TOPIK must take an additional 300 hours or more of Korean language training during their first year after enrollment.
• Dongseo University (Korean track). One of TOPIK Level 3 or higher, completion of KIIP Level 3 (or a pre-assessment score of 61 or higher), or King Sejong Institute Intermediate 1 or higher. For the English track, options include TOEFL iBT 3.5 (59 on the previous scale), IELTS 5.5 and CEFR B2.
• SeoulTech. TOPIK Level 3 or higher (PBT or IBT) is the baseline, and the Department of Creative Writing requires Level 6. The 2nd round also accepts scores from the 15th TOPIK IBT, held Oct. 24, 2026.
• Hansung University (Korean track). TOPIK Level 3 or higher is the baseline, while two departments, K-Video Content and Fashion Beauty Creation, require Level 2. Transfer into the fourth year requires Level 4 or higher. English-track applicants must submit an official language score valid through March 31, 2027, within the application period; applicants cannot apply while still awaiting scores.
• Jeonbuk National University (Korean track). Options include TOPIK Level 2 or higher (IBT included). Students admitted with Level 2 must take two semesters of Jeonbuk National University's Korean language training course immediately after enrollment, and cannot graduate without submitting TOPIK Level 4 or higher.
• Chung-Ang University. The admission standard is TOPIK Level 4, with Level 3 or Level 5 for some departments. The School of Integrative Engineering requires Level 5 or higher. Applicants who fall short may receive 'provisional acceptance.' Provisional acceptance is not an admission. To be finally admitted, applicants must obtain TOPIK Level 4 (or complete Level 4 at Chung-Ang's language education institute) within two years and then reapply to the same recruitment unit.
• Keimyung College University (junior college). One of TOPIK Level 2 or higher, KIIP Level 2 or higher, King Sejong Institute Beginner 2B or higher, or TOEFL iBT 59 or IELTS 5.5, among others. Check with the school on how new-scale scores from TOEFL tests taken on or after Jan. 21, 2026, are evaluated.

At the graduate level, requirements vary by department. Kyung Hee University's general graduate school requires whichever the department specifies: a basic Korean qualification such as TOPIK Level 4, or an English score such as TOEFL iBT 80 (4.0 for tests taken on or after Jan. 21, 2026) or IELTS 6.0.

Application fees vary by school.

Check Whether Document Deadlines Go by 'Arrival' or 'Postmark'

If you are mailing documents from abroad, first confirm what the deadline means. The standard differs from school to school.

• Arrival-based. At SeoulTech, documents must arrive at the Office of International Affairs by the application deadline. At Hansung, only mail that arrives by 17:00 on Dec. 11 is valid. At Jeonbuk National University, originals must arrive by Nov. 27 or copies must be submitted by email. At Keimyung College University, mailed documents likewise must arrive by 18:00 on the deadline day.
• Postmark-based. Chung-Ang University and Kyung Hee's graduate school accept documents postmarked up to the deadline. Kyung Hee lets applicants separately check whether their documents have arrived until Dec. 28, 2026. Catholic Kwandong University's graduate school also accepts postmarks up to the deadline, but documents must arrive within five days after the deadline; if they are likely to be late, submit copies by email first.
• Different deadlines for applications and documents. Examples include Yeungnam (application Jan. 6, documents Jan. 8), Catholic Kwandong graduate school's 3rd round (application Jan. 7, documents Jan. 13), Hansung (application Dec. 4, documents Dec. 11) and Jeonbuk National (application Nov. 20, documents Nov. 27).

At arrival-based schools, it is safer to mail your documents on the same day you submit the application. Follow deadline times exactly as stated in each guideline. Yeungnam, Dongseo, SeoulTech, Sookmyung, Sejong and Jeonbuk National University's graduate school go by Korea time.

After Acceptance: The Standard Admission Letter and the D-2 Visa

In later rounds, the visa is the tightest part. The student visa (D-2) follows a set sequence. Only after the university decides on admission, issues the standard admission letter and registers it in the Ministry of Justice's foreign student information system (FIMS) can the student apply for a visa. In principle, the application is filed at a Korean diplomatic mission in the country of residence or the country where the applicant's most recent school is located.

Standard admission letter issuance schedules for later rounds are as follows.

• Hansung University 2nd round: visa documents on or after Jan. 27, 2027
• Yeungnam University 2nd round: sent individually in turn starting Jan. 28, 2027
• Kyung Hee graduate school rolling admission: issued on or after Feb. 3, 2027
• SeoulTech 2nd round: expected in mid-January
• Dongseo University: issued in turn after tuition payment. The 3rd round announces results on Feb. 12, with registration by mid-February
• Catholic Kwandong graduate school 3rd round: results on Feb. 5, issued after registration on Feb. 10–12

The semester starts on March 2 at most schools (March 1 at Yeungnam). That leaves roughly a month between receiving the standard admission letter and the start of classes, and for 3rd rounds it may be less than three weeks. SeoulTech advises 2nd-round applicants to take visa processing time into account when applying.

So prepare your visa documents in advance while you apply.

• An apostille or Korean consular legalization of your final academic credentials
• A bank balance certificate. It must be issued within 30 days of the visa application date, so time its issuance accordingly. Some schools also require a bank balance certificate at the application stage. Dongseo asks for an original showing the equivalent of about $11,930 (KRW 16,000,000), issued within 30 days of the document submission date.
• A tuberculosis test certificate (for nationals of applicable countries)

Dongseo requires admitted students staying in Korea on a Korean language training (D-4) visa to complete a change of status to D-2 before the semester begins. The visa application process is explained in our guide to applying for a D-2 student visa after admission.

More Ways to Search, Plus a Checklist

Schools outside this list are also running additional rounds. The Study in Korea online application list (studyinkorea.go.kr) run by the National Institute for International Education (NIIED) shows schools currently accepting or scheduled to accept applications for the spring 2027 semester. However, always cross-check the schedules on that list against the universities' guidelines. To see whether a school you like can admit students on a student visa, refer to how to find Korean universities that accept international students. Deadlines and fees for schools accepting applications in December are in our comparison of universities with December deadlines for spring 2027, and conditions for students about to graduate from Japanese high schools are in regular undergraduate study at Korean universities for Japanese high school students.

If an insufficient TOPIK score means letting this round pass, another option is to study at a university Korean language program first and apply for the following semester. Deadlines for the March term at language programs are summarized in our spring 2027 Korean language program guide.

• I confirmed that the school's round is open to my situation (living abroad or staying in Korea, field of study).
• I wrote down the application deadline, the document deadline, and whether it goes by arrival or postmark.
• I checked the language requirement (TOPIK level or an alternative) against the validity period of my scores.
• I completed the apostille (consular legalization) of my academic documents at the application stage.
• I checked whether the school requires a bank balance certificate at the application stage, and planned to obtain a new one for the visa timed to the expected issuance date of the standard admission letter.
• I reconfirmed the schedule against the latest notice from the university's Office of International Affairs right before applying.

--- Schedules, language requirements and application fees are based on each university's official guidelines and announcements as of Nov. 6, 2026, and visa procedures on the Ministry of Justice's visa services manual (October 2026 edition). Schedules may change depending on university circumstances.