attention: changes in EPIK requirements

ATTENTION!

EPIK has changed its requirements for application and acceptance, effective for the August 2015 start date. Here is the list:

1. TEFL/TESOL/CELTA certificates are now mandatory for all applicants unless you hold a BA or Master’s in Education OR if you have a teaching license. There are no exceptions to this requirement. Please see the attached revised pay scale chart for reference.

2. If you have a BA in anything besides Education + one year of teaching experience, you are also now ineligible to apply unless you receive a TEFL certification.

3. Korea now requires proof of your in-class hours. You will need to obtain a letter from you TEFL provider stating exactly how many in-class hours your course had.

4.  All TEFL Courses need to be completed by July 15^th, but those with completed TEFL courses are given more priority, so get started on yours NOW.

One of the reasons for these changes is budget cut-backs. EPIK wants to try to hire native Koreans to teach English rather than pay the extra expense to bring in foreign teachers. It's understandable, though many companies and business worldwide want students who learned English from native speakers. That aside, the rules to get in are becoming more stringent and, I expect, only going to continue to be more difficult.

This is a highly competitive program, so if you are looking to apply START NOW. This is done on a first come, first serve basis. It doesn't matter if you get you things in two days before the deadline because it is possible that all of the positions will be filled.

I wrote in an earlier post that I wasn't going to apply to EPIK because it just didn't feel right and that my path needs to go in a different direction. Interesting, isn't it, that I wouldn't have fit the new requirements? Even though I have a TEFL certificate, none of it was in-class and therefore, not taken seriously. When I was first looking into EPIK, I asked if I could put down my i-to-i TEFL certificate and the fact that I would be doing CELTA (160 in-class hours) in July. I was told that it was okay. 

Now, as you see, all certificates have to be done by July 15th. 

Therefore, I am glad that I pursuing other things right now and can put EPIK on the back burner for a few years. I'll probably get a master's degree first, anyway.