10 Best K-Dramas About School & College

The rising popularity of K-drama has exposed international audiences to incredible South Korean TV shows, many of which take place in high school or college. While there are great K-dramas from all genres, there’s no setting as dramatic and hectic as the complexities of schools and colleges. High-school dramas often have a perfect blend of romance, comedy, character growth, and coming-of-age stories, making it a popular setting for compelling yet lighthearted shows.

There is no shortage of K-dramas filled with young love, friendship, and teen angst against the backdrop of a high-stress academic setting. These K-dramas can touch on important themes like bullying, class inequalities, and the ups and downs of growing up. K-dramas set in school or college can range from heartwarming stories filled with friendship and romance to thrilling and suspenseful series that keep audiences on the edge of their seats.

10 Live On (2020)

A Teen-Drama show With Plenty Of Mystery

The coming-of-age drama Live On follows Baek Ho-rang (Jung Da-bin), a high school student who joins the school’s radio broadcasting club to hunt down the anonymous person who is threatening to expose her secrets. With its intriguing plot, Live On transforms the teen-drama show into a high-stakes mystery as the protagonist Ho-rang navigates friendship and love.

Live On also delves into how social media influencers like Ho-rang navigate their privacy and safety while maintaining an active digital persona. Jung Da-bin’s brilliant portrayal of Ho-rang, a young girl determined to find her cyberbully, makes her a compelling and sympathetic lead character who propels the show forward.

Live On keeps audiences entertained with the overarching mystery, lovable friendships, and the romantic tension between Ho-rang and Ko Eun-taek (Hwang Min-hyun), the perfectionist leader of the broadcasting club. Live On is an easy and entertaining watch that could’ve been elevated if the show added depth to the characters and themes.

9 Love Alarm (2019-2021)

Explores Love And Its Implications In The Digital World

Love Alarm is the quintessential love triangle teen K-drama set in a high school. The romance series is set in a world where a mobile app alerts users if anyone in their vicinity has romantic feelings towards them. Love Alarm is a surprisingly unique K-drama with a riveting blend of teen drama, romance, angst, and mystery.

It is a K-drama that forces audiences to explore what it means to love in the digital world.

Despite appearing like a generic romance-focused K-drama, Love Alarm has hidden depths and explores the ethics of an app that exposes people’s romantic feelings, privacy concerns, and the impact of social media on society. The portrayal of the titular app as becoming entrenched in South Korean society and its subsequent social ramifications gives the show a dystopian feel.

Love Alarm doesn’t shy away from the ethical implications of having social media become a huge part of life, love, and society. While the show initially suffered from a slow start, Love Alarm found its tone. It is a K-drama that forces audiences to explore what it means to love in the digital world.

Extraordinary You is a fantasy romance K-drama about a high school girl who realizes she’s an extra in a comic book and sets off on a mission to change her fate. After Eun Dan-oh (Kim Hye-yoon) discovers that she’s an extra character whose destiny is having a life-threatening heart disease and being engaged to someone who hates her, she takes matters into her own hands and challenges her circumstances.

Dan-oh unexpectedly repeatedly runs into a nameless extra, who she later names Ha-ru (Rowoon) and the two slowly gain awareness and fall in love. Extraordinary You stands out from other K-dramas with its usage of creative visual storytelling to distinguish the world from the comic world.

The stylistic differences ensure that the show remains easy to follow as it flips between worlds. Unfortunately, despite a strong premise, incredible visuals, and passionate romance between the leads, Extraordinary You suffers by becoming repetitive and slow throughout the 32 episodes.

7 Reply 1997 (2012)

The Original Show That Inspired Two More Versions

Reply 1997 is the perfect K-drama for lovers of K-pop and teen dramas. The first series in the Reply anthology, Reply 1997 follows a group of six friends living in Busan across two timelines, from their school life as 18-year-olds in 1997 and their present-day lives as 33-year-olds at their high school reunion dinner in 2012.

The romance comedy K-drama explores the fan culture that blossomed in the 1990s as K-pop grew popular through the eyes of a teenage Sung Shi-won (Jung Eun-ji). Reply 1997 secured itself as a beloved K-drama with its LGBTQ+ representation, realistic and heartwarming portrayals of friendship, lovable characters, and hilarious comedic moments.

By jumping between two timelines, Reply 1997 built suspense and revealed information through flashbacks, keeping the show fresh and compelling. While the mystery of present-day Shi-won’s partner had a disappointing conclusion, the grounded friendship between the main characters throughout the years solidified the show as one of the best high-school K-dramas.

6 True Beauty (2020)

A Must-Watch K-drama That Doesn’t Minimize The Struggles Of High School

True Beauty is a coming-of-age romance K-drama following Lim Ju-kyung (Moon Ka-young), a new high school student who was relentlessly bullied at her previous school for her appearance and transforms herself for the new school. Ju-kyung masters her makeup ability and is able to convince her new classmates that her new look is completely natural and hides her real face.

Armed with her transformed appearance and confident personality, Ju-kyung navigates her new life in school and a love triangle between two former friends, Lee Su-ho (Cha Eun-woo) and Han Seo-jun (Hwang In-youp). While the K-drama True Beauty can be criticized for being predictable and filled with classic tropes, it artfully succeeds in exploring important themes of self-love and self-acceptance.

Moon Ka-young’s skillful portrayal of Ju-kyung made it easy to relate to her struggles with self-esteem, and her inspiring strength and kindness made her a badass K-drama female lead. With strong themes and compelling characters, True Beauty is a must-watch K-drama that doesn’t minimize the struggles of high school.

5 Go Back Couple (2017)

A Married Couple Wake Up In Their 20s Again

Go Back Couple is a thought-provoking K-drama that follows a married couple struggling with adulthood and daily life. As their professional and personal lives deteriorate, their relationship begins to fall apart as well. Choi Ban-do (Son Ho-jun) and Ma Jin-joo (Jang Na-ra) get a chance to fix their relationship after they wake up and find themselves in the past as 20-year-old university students.

Ban-do and Jin-joo are given a chance to relive their youth and reconsider their relationship as they travel to the past. Ban-do and Jin-joo’s relationship is a beautiful ode to the complexities of love and relationships.

Go Back Couple starts bleak as audiences witness the couple’s lives and marriage falling apart, however, the K-drama is also filled with heartwarming and joyful moments as Ban-do and Jin-joo learn to become a better couple. The touching tale of love in Go Back Couple perfectly encapsulates the intricacies of romance and relationships and the joys of navigating young love.

4 Our Beloved Summer (2021)

Strong And Realistic Character Relationships

The slice-of-life romantic K-drama Our Beloved Summer revolves around exes who are forced to reunite after a documentary they filmed 10 years ago goes viral. Our Beloved Summer is a tale of young love gone wrong and has one of the best romance tropes, enemies to lovers. The bickering exes’ tumultuous relationship is a constant source of entertainment and enjoyment, as Choi Ung (Choi Woo-shik) and Kook Yeon-soo’s (Kim Da-mi) bad breakup leaves them at odds with each other.

Our Beloved Summer is a fun and hilarious adventure, elevated by the chemistry between Ung and Yeon-soo. The series follows the exes who learn to heal from past trauma and open up to each other, and their realistic and tension-filled relationship makes them a unique K-drama couple.

Our Beloved Summer has a simple plot and story and focuses on building strong and realistic character relationships instead of relying on plot twists and forced conflicts. With the intriguing couple who fell in love and fell apart when they were younger at the center of the focus, the K-drama solidifies itself as an entertaining and lighthearted show.

3 Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022)

One Of The Highest-Rated Dramas In Korean TV History

Twenty-Five Twenty-One is a bittersweet coming-of-age K-drama that stole the hearts of audiences and became one of the highest-rated dramas in Korean cable TV history. The romantic K-drama follows the trials and tribulations of a young couple balancing their relationship and career.

Twenty-Five Twenty-One tells the story of the couple as flashbacks to 1998 show how the students met, began to fall in love, and how the couple’s relationship deteriorated over the years. Twenty-Five Twenty-One is a beautifully romantic K-drama that doesn’t prioritize having a happy ending over having a meaningful and realistic conclusion.

The relationship between Na Hee-do (Kim Tae-ri) and Baek Yi-jin (Nam Joo-hyuk) finds closure years after it ends, making the finale a love letter and farewell to their relationship. Hee-do and Yi-jin’s incredible onscreen chemistry solidifies them as one of the best K-drama couples, making their ending even more bittersweet.

2 All Of Us Are Dead (2022)

High School Students Try To Survive A Zombie Outbreak

All of Us Are Dead may be the most unconventional K-drama set in a school as it follows a group of trapped high school students as they struggle to survive in the wake of a zombie outbreak. The zombie horror teen drama is a high-stakes and intense coming-of-age story as violence and carnage overtake the halls of the high school.

All Of Us Are Dead
(2022) has an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

All of Us Are Dead transforms the setting of the typical high school into the epicenter of a zombie virus outbreak. In addition, the action-filled K-drama is elevated by the cinematography, making it a visual delight. The zombie K-drama doesn’t ignore the teen angst aspects of being set in high school, as the show is filled with budding romances, well-written friendships, and drama.

All of Us Are Dead creates a unique blend of the bleak nature of zombie thrillers along with the humor and angst of teen dramas. The remarkable K-drama made its mark on audiences and was watched over 464 million hours within the first 30 days of being released on Netflix. All of Us Are Dead season 2 is confirmed but doesn’t have a release date.

1 Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo (2016)

A Weightlifter Finds Love At College

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo is a poignant sports drama and romantic comedy inspired by the life of the Olympic gold medalist Jang Mi-ran. The K-drama follows Kim Bok-joo (Lee Sung-Kyung) as she works toward her dream of becoming a professional weightlifter. Bok-joo is an unconventional yet endearing protagonist who is always ready to defend her friends.

However, inside this tough exterior, Bok-joo struggles with her insecurities, body image issues, and falling in love with her best friend, making her a relatable and compelling lead character. Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo flawlessly captures the newfound freedom and independence experienced by college students as they deal with growing up and falling in love.

The K-drama has it all, a lovely portrayal of genuine and realistic friendships, a lovable and strong lead, and a passionate and adorable romance.

The K-drama has it all, a lovely portrayal of genuine and realistic friendships, a lovable and strong lead, and a passionate and adorable romance. It’s also a K-drama with a satisfying conclusion. The blend of Bok-joo’s journey to self-acceptance along with coming-of-age teen drama makes it the perfect lighthearted college K-drama that keeps audiences hooked.