Found My Seoul

Just a university student who got the amazing opportunity from both the Freeman Asia and Gilman Scholarships to make her dream of studying abroad in Seoul, Fall 2017 a reality

[foundmyseoul]

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[foundmyseoul]

Fees, Fees, MORE FEES?

Similar to most card using societies, credit and debit cards are primarily the most commonly used methods of payment in Korea. If you are studying there for a year, it is definitely worth opening up a Korean bank account. If you are only studying in Korea for the Semester however, setting up a Korean bank account is not as worth it. 

Here are the two cards that are rated best for use abroad:

Charles Schwab Bank:

No fee when used at an ATM overseas

No currency conversion fees for transactions

If the out of network ATM used charges a fee, Charles Schwab reimburses you each month

Connect this account to your regular debit card you use in your home country as an external account and you can move money back and forth

Capital One 360

No currency conversion fees for transactions

No fee when used at an ATM overseas

If out of network ATM charges a fee, Capital One will not reimburse you

My personal experience:

Because I knew I was only going to be abroad for the semester, I felt that it would be a waste to open a bank account and have to either wire all my money (super expensive), or exchange all my USD to KRW and then back to USD when I left (inconvenient&expensive in the long run.) When looking into my options and the best cards for use abroad, I decided that Charles Schwab made the most sense to me. No fees + reimbursement if an out of network ATM charged me a fee? Yes Please! 

How to sign up for Charles Schwab:

Signing up for Charles Schwab is easy and simple! You can either go to a Charles Schwab location near you and sign up in the bank itself, or sign up online. After you get that done, you can make your regular bank account an external bank account on your Charles Schwab account and transfer money to and from each account when you need it. Then you won’t have to worry about pesky international fees, crazy wire transfer fees, or the hassle of having to convert your USD to whatever currency you need! 

[foundmyseoul]

Choosing Courses...Simple Right?

Is what I thought!

Yonsei has a very different way of selecting classes than my home university. Hopefully this explanation of their course selection can make the process a bit less confusing for you, than it was for me! 

After you receive acceptance from Yonsei, you need to upload valid proof of insurance in order to register yourself as an international student. Once you have successfully registered before the deadline, you will be able to access the course selection portal. 

Registering for classes at Yonsei

Mileage System: 

Every student is allotted 72 points to use to bid for their desired courses during the designated time frame

You are able to bid for each course 12-36 points out of your total allotted 72

You can check from past semesters what average mileage result of your desired courses here

Make sure to check if the course you want is available to exchange students and whether or not it is taught in English. You can find that information on the link above as well.

Classes offered by certain departments such Business Administration are open only to that majors students and even they can only take up to 3 courses from that department 

Choose the courses you desire before hand and add them to your wish list. You can also allocate your mileage for each class in the same wish list tab. 

This wish list will be saved and can be used for the second round of registration if you did not get into all desired classes in the first round.

~Tip: Check the average mileage result for each course you desire and allot accordingly!! I took 4 courses and allotted the most points to my most popular course choice and divided the rest of my points evenly for each class. 

Waiting Number:

On the first round of class registrations is over, log onto the registration portal at the designated result release time to see what classes you got into! 

If you didn’t get into every class you wanted, you still have a chance in the second round.

This round is first come, first serve so be sure to be on the site waiting to click as fast as you can!

~Tip: log in early, and use your same wish list from the first round to increase your chances of getting the classes you want!

Appeal System:

This is the last and final way to gain entry into your desired class after both rounds of registration end.

Once you have registered as a student in the SAY program, you will receive a confirmation email. A PDF file is attached with all the course registration instructions and lastly, a form that can be used to appeal to get into courses you were not able to during regular registration. 

In order to appeal, bring the form to the first class of the semester of your desired course, have the professor sign it and submit it to the International office in Baekyang Hall before the add and drop period ends. They will then add you into the course.  

~Tip: Get this done quickly and don’t try to rely on emailing the professor for an answer. In my experience, Many professors DON’T email you back!!!

Sorry it has been so long since an update! Currently in my last semester and it has been hectic! 

In my next post, we’ll be talking about the best cards to have in Korea to avoid fees.

[foundmyseoul]

Housing pt.3

The housing result came out and as expected, I wasn’t accepted into dorms. I immediately emailed Yonsei SK Global House and asked if there was anything they could do for me because of the housing application issues I had experienced, which were not my fault. The director promptly emailed back that they put me on a waiting list and that if anyone dropped out of housing, or did not pay in time I would be notified at the beginning of August but to plan for alternative housing just in case. 

After looking into all my housing options, I decided to go with the middle ground option, a sharehouse through Borderless House http://www.borderless-house.com/kr/all/. As I spoke about earlier, I felt that the price point was more affordable than an apartment, and you get the added bonus of living with other people in a new country.

Borderless Houses:

Living with other foreigners as well as native Koreans

Convenient and centrally located locations

Ability to stay at other Borderless house locations for free in other countries during your stay

My experience:

I was in a kind of dammed if you do, dammed if you don’t situation. I didn’t want to leave finding alternate housing til last minute because areas close to campus fill up quickly with students unable to find housing on campus and also tend to increase in price closer to the beginning of the semester.  Because of this, I went through with finding a sharehouse through Borderless House and paid my nonrefundable deposit, and management fee and secured a home to live in for my semester abroad! 

Yonsei however, did get back to me the around the 2nd week of August letting me know a double room in SK Global House had opened up and was mine if I wanted. Knowing that living on campus would be way more convenient for me, I went with that and spoke to Borderless House about cancelling my reservation. They were kind enough to give me back half of my deposit because of the situation I was stuck in, though their policy is no refunds on canceled reservations. 

Though I didn’t end up going with Borderless houses because I was fortunate enough to get a dorm room last minute, I would still definitely recommend Borderless houses as your dorm room alternative!

On my next blog post, I’ll be speaking about choosing classes at Yonsei!

[foundmyseoul]

Update

As the leaves fall, degrees drop, and it begins to snow, I’m struck with the realization that time has seriously gotten away from me. And just like that, a whole semester flew by in the blink of an eye! 

Now that I’ve been back from Korea for about a week (so sad ㅜㅜ), I will be updating this blog much more frequently about all the amazing adventures and experiences I had during my amazing semester at Yonsei University!

Stay tuned for my last blog in my housing horror story series, pt.3! :)

[foundmyseoul]

Housing pt. 2

A month for a decision isn’t too long... 

Is what you thought! 

My experience: 

Waiting was killing me because of all the drama that I went through with submitting my application. Since housing comes on a first come first serve basis, my housing application number of 823 was not impressive. I came to the realization pretty quickly after thinking about the fact that Yonsei University reserves a certain numbers of rooms for certain programs they have agreements with, students extending their stay from the previous semester, students participating in their KLI program, and for other things as well, that I was definitely not getting housing on campus. 

This knowledge led me to start thinking seriously about alternative housing arrangements. Knowing basically nothing about living arrangements in South Korea, I started looking online, watching youtube videos, and consulted a wonderful friend I had met online who was going to the same university as I was named Bori. I’ll share what I learned from these three sources here:

Alternative Housing Arrangements:       1. Apartments are fairly cheap monthly but most require a year stay minimum and key money which is basically a sizable sum of money usually about $2,000-$10,000 USD. This key money is usually refunded once you have moved out. This option gives you a bit more freedom because you will likely be living alone, can have guests over, and have overall much less rules than a dorm, goshiwon, or a sharehouse. 

      2. A Goshiwon is basically a really small room that sometimes comes with a bathroom/shower sink in it or a small room with shared bathroom facilities, a desk, a bed, and a chair for very cheap. A typical goshiwon looks like this: 

You can search for goshiwon’s while still in your home country on this website: https://goshipages.com 

      3. A ShareHouse is exactly what the name implies. It is a house that is shared with a group of people, sometimes coed, sometimes all one gender, with options for single rooms, double rooms, and sometimes triple rooms where certain rooms have their own bathroom, some share bathroom facilities, and everyone shares the living areas and kitchen. It’s a really great alternative to living on your own in a new country and a nice middle ground in price point between an apartment and a goshiwon. 

There are many different share house options in Seoul, but the one I went with was Borderless House. Borderless House is a great option if the university you are exchanging to doesn’t have room to accommodate you on campus. The staff is very kind and reply promptly to all email inquiries, and are also able to communicate fully in English, Japanese, Korean and Chinese as well. You can find more information on Borderless House and what kinds of facilities they offer here: http://www.borderless-house.com/kr/all/

I’ll also be posting a separate blog post on Borderless House to give you all the ins and outs on why they are such a great company to go with if you ever need long term housing in Seoul! 

[foundmyseoul]

Housing pt.1

So you’ve been accepted to your 3rd party program, gotten approval to go from your home university, been accepted to everything, gotten your visa and applied for and hopefully have gotten lots of scholarships... what’s next??

You thought you were done with applications but you’re not!

Housing application:

In your acceptance email from your host university there will be information about when the housing application opens, what username you have been given, what password, etc. 

Every program is different and so I can only speak about the one I am attending on exchange.

Much like Universities all over the world, South Korea has some of the most crowded universities and because of this, many students don’t make it into dorms. Because of how competitive getting a dorm is, it is extremely important to remember the date housing applications and remember that everything is sent in Korean Standard Time. This basically means that if the email says that the application opens up on June 10th 2017 at 9am, it’s 9am on June 10th 2017 KST. I live in south Florida so this meant I had to be on my computer ready to click apply at 8pm on the 9th of June because of the 13 hour time difference.  

My experience:

The application was quick and easy and worked best through chrome or internet explorer. However, my experience was very frustrating. My boyfriend, myself, and a friend studying through the same program all tried to submit my application during the entire process and it would not work. I submitted my housing app through email to the people in charge of housing and detailed my trouble. I was sent back an email 2 days later saying that there was a glitch in their system and I had two housing accounts but that unfortunately an emailed submission would not be accepted and I had to reapply that day! This led to me being in the 800s with a realization that I was so not getting into housing!

But all that was left to do was wait.... about another month until results came out!

[foundmyseoul]

Flight Tips

One frustrating thing about the process of studying abroad is the fact that it takes a while before you can safely book a flight. 

Before you book your flight.... 

You need to wait for acceptance from your third party program, home university, and host university. 

The host program can and usually does update and change program dates, which means booking too early can make you arrive before the new move in date. 

While looking for flights, I couldn’t believe how much costs had gone up from when I initially started looking in November of 2016. 

Tips:

Search for flights on weekdays such as Monday and Wednesday

Search for flights during the Morning time

Search for flights on discount student websites such as; https://www.studentuniverse.com/ , STATRAVEL.COM , etc

Ask your bank about travel cards that are best for airline points

What I did:

While searching for flights I found great deals in early November for 900 USD round trip but because of the factors I listed above, I wasn’t able to book my flight. Fast forward to late May when all of these acceptance letters came out and program dates were finalized, prices went up to about 1200 USD- 1400 USD round trip. What a big difference from the original 900 USD I saw for the same flights originally! 

My boyfriend had a credit card (Chase Sapphire Reserve) that was useful for racking up points for travel and we decided to buy it with those points! We looked for a flight on a Wednesday Morning in the Chase Portal and were able to find a flight for 1056 USD or 78k points! 

Thanks to my wonderful boyfriend spending his points on me, I was able to find a cheap flight with only 1 layover! 

Hoping you all find affordable flights with ease~

[foundmyseoul]

Student Visa

Depending on the country you are studying abroad in, there more than likely will be a requirement for you to obtain a student visa before you go. South Korea requires a visa for anyone staying in Korea from the U.S. for over 90 days. 

As an exchange student, what visa is best for you? For South Korea, the visa you need is a D-2 visa which is a Student Visa. 

Here are the requirements:

Visa application form

Valid passport (valid for 6 months and with atleast 2 blank visa pages)

ORIGINAL Certificate of Admission issued by the college or university

1 Passport Photo

Payment receipt or Bank Statement

Transcript or Diploma

Non US citizens must also submit a copy of : valid US permanent resident card or (a) valid U.S. visa (b) I-94 record (www.cbp.gov/i94) (c) I-20 or DS-2019 that has been recently signed for travel (F-1/2 and J-1/2 visa)

Tuberculosis (TB) Test

Visa Fee (45$ for U.S. citizens)

My experience: The visa application form is fairly easy, but some requirements took longer to acquire than others. The whole visa experience took me about 3 weeks to complete, between doctors visits, waiting for results, forms, and receiving answers back to the questions I had.   

Tips on some of the requirements I found challenging or had questions about: 

Visa application form: 

Fairly easy to fill out but had a few portions that I did not understand. 

National identity number: social security #

Guarantor or reference in Korea for students going abroad: The host universities; name, business registration #, relationship to you, address, and phone number all go here. 

Payment receipt or Bank Statement: 

Because I received financial aid and scholarships to assist me in my journey to study abroad, I had to submit a financial aid deferment form that basically stated how much I would receive in financial aid and scholarships and then pay to the third party program once I received these funds. 

Because I didn’t officially pay for my program, or have enough in my bank account to show 5,000 dollars for the semester or 13,000 for the year (what the Korean consulate requires you to have in your account at minimum for them to grant a visa) I sent in my financial aid deferment form and it worked like a bank statement. 

ORIGINAL Certificate of Admission issued by the college or university

This is sent by the Host University to either your third party program, home university, or in rare cases your personal address. Either your third party program or home university will send this packet of certificates of admission, Business registration, and other forms you will need to send with your visa application. 

Transcript or Diploma

Depending on your university this may take a few days to acquire. 

Leave yourself enough time to order and receive your transcripts!!

Tuberculosis (TB) Test

There are two types of TB tests:

1) A skin test where they inject you and record how high the skin welts in reaction to what they inject into you. 

2) A chest x-ray, (which is what I had to do) where they do an x-ray of your chest and determine whether or not they see signs of TB. 

 If you were born outside of the U.S. in a 3rd world country like I was, you more than likely got a TB vaccination when you were smaller. If that is the case, you will show positive for TB through the skin test though you are not positive. 

Since these tests take a few days to come back and doctors offices take a bit to get appointments for, leave yourself enough time to get this done! 

In the next blog post, I’ll be talking about applying for Housing and my personal experience. 

The worst is almost over guys,  화이팅!! 

[foundmyseoul]

You’ve applied for scholarships... what’s next?

So you’ve been accepted to your chosen program and applied for lots of scholarships. Where do you go from here?

Start budgeting and understanding just how much all of this will cost you. See if your third party program or university led study abroad webpage has a budget sheet that breaks down the price of everything you’ll need while abroad. 

My experience:

The third party program I went with, USAC, does have a budget sheet that breaks down how much the program itself costs and the overestimated average of what students on this program have spent on things like food, personal expenses, transportation, etc. 

An example of how much studying abroad costs:

Program Fee: 7,480

Housing: 1575

Meals: 1430

Airfare:1400

Personal Expenses:1324

Textbooks/supplies: 400

Local transport:88

Transport to and from program site: 50

Student Visa: 45

TOTAL COST: 13,455

Remember to factor in the fact that any bills you pay back home still need to be paid while you are abroad! So don’t forget to add that to your budget sheet as well. 

[foundmyseoul]

Scholarships

Studying abroad is expensive and that makes it seem almost impossible to figure out how you, as a broke university student can afford it. The key to this dilemma is applying for as many scholarships as you can!

Things to research:

Sometimes your university has scholarships they offer for university led study abroad programs

Certain third party programs such as the one I used, USAC, offer scholarships and discounts for your study abroad program through them

Here are some links to great scholarships for study abroad:

https://www.iie.org/programs/freeman-asia

https://gilmanapplication.iie.org/

https://us.fulbrightonline.org/about/fulbright-us-student-program

http://www.niied.go.kr/eng/contents.do?contentsNo=78&menuNo=349

https://www.borenawards.org/scholarships/program-basics/boren-scholarship-basics

Helpful tips:

Give yourself plenty of time to complete these scholarship applications! Deadlines come so much quicker than you think!!

Don’t rush on your essays, give yourself time to write one, trash it, rewrite it, and have someone read it over for you!

Be sure to read the guidelines!!! Include everything they ask you to include in your essay to be sure you have the best shot at getting the scholarship! 

Lastly, be yourself in your essay and show how much studying abroad in a country you are interested in means to you!!

My experience:

I’ve always wanted to study abroad but financially, I knew it would be something I’d have to take on myself. I’ve been saving up since I applied for my third party program but studying abroad requires so much more money than I anticipated. The flight, dorm, tuition, books, food, transportation, emergencies, trips, shopping, miscellaneous fees, any bills back home, and other personal expenses add up to a lot more than you think! Thankfully, after a lot of hard work, applications, and waiting, I’ve been given the amazing opportunity by the Gilman Scholarship and the Freeman Asia scholarship to study abroad in South Korea without the worry of financial strain or loans I have to go back home to pay off! 

I just want to thank Gilman and Freeman Asia again, for lifting this financial burden off of me and allowing me the opportunity to explore South Korea and hopefully some other Asian countries, like I’ve always dreamed!

[foundmyseoul]

Finally booked my flight and now everything feels so much realer! The initial process to attempt to study abroad is so tedious and lengthy but once you’ve been accepted everything else goes by in a blur! 

In my next post, we’ll talk about scholarships!! Studying abroad is EXPENSIVE and if you are a poor uni student like myself, applying for scholarships is an essential part of making this dream of yours, a reality! 

[foundmyseoul]

Course Equivalency Form

If you are studying abroad through a third party program, or doing a direct exchange, your university will likely require you to complete and submit a course equivalency form. 

What is a course equivalency form? That is a great question! A course equivalency form basically is your universities way of equating the courses you will take at your host university to courses taught at your home university. 

How courses get equated:

Based on how many hours you spend in the classroom

How many credits the host university deems the course is worth

How many credits that course is worth at your home university

Some things to note:

Certain countries such as Japan have different credit systems and a different requirement in hours needed to fulfill a certain amount of credits. I have a friend who came back from studying in Japan recently who complained about a few of his courses being equated to 2 credits vs the 3 he had been expecting because of his hours spent in class/the credit values his host university sent back on his transcripts. 

Talk to your study abroad and academic advisors about things like this. You want to be sure that if you need at minimum 12 credits completed in one semester, that you will have those 12 credits equated on your transcripts once you are back.

The form requires:

The classes you wish to take while abroad

Alternates in case those are full

The department head of whatever dept the equivalent course would be under’s signature to approve the syllabus of the course your taking

How many credits each class is worth

Whether it will count as; a general elective, major, minor, cert, etc.

My experience:

I can only speak about my personal experience that is biased by my university and my own circumstances. This form was my own personal hell!!!

Department heads took forever to answer their emails, even though deadlines are so real!! I had to hunt down so many dept. heads it was not even funny! 

Because at my university there is no Korean language program head (since Korean language is a visiting program that is not permanent), I got sent all around the Modern language department with different people to see to get my form signed. The department head herself said she couldn’t help me!!! This took me the longest to figure out and get signed. 

Tips:

Don’t procrastinate on this form, it requires signatures from many departments and if your university is anything like mine, those dept heads will take FOREVER to get back to you!

Don’t just rely on email! Try to get an appointment with that dept head or call their office and see if they are in!

Bring a copy of your degree audit, that way the dept head can tell you what they think is the best course to equate based on what you need to graduate!

[foundmyseoul]

So You’ve Chosen a Program

You chose a program.... What’s next?

Studying abroad requires a lot of different applications depending on your university, the program you’ve chosen, and the host university you will be attending. 

Because I went with a third party program (USAC) I’ll tell you about my experience with applications. 

Third Party Program

The first step is to read the requirements of the program you wish to apply. Certain programs such as the Yonsei Fall 2017 program I applied to, requires you to be at least a junior with a 3.0 GPA, attending a 4 year university. 

Once you’ve determined that you meet all the criteria, its time to apply! Get ready to write a statement of purpose which you will have to write for many applications during your journey to study abroad. 

The application is fairly straight forward, quick, and easy 

Home University

Be sure to check what your home university requires if you want to study abroad, whether its through them, direct exchange, or a third party program. 

My home University required me to fill out a Third Party Program Approval application. Through this, they basically decide whether or not the third party you wish to study through is accredited and legit and that all your credits will be able to transfer towards your degree. 

Third Party Program Application

This application took me the longest out of all 3 applications I had to fill out during my journey to study abroad.

The requirements of this application are specific to my university but I’m sure other universities require similar things. 

A statement of purpose, Age confirmation, Letter of Recommendation, Budget form, Passport copy, Medical Info, Course Equivalency form (THE WORST PART, Will talk about in a later post!!!), $175 fee, Program info, Personal Info, etc. < All requirements in this application

Once a panel of study abroad advisors and academic advisors meet and approve of your study abroad third party program, the hardest part is over! 

You thought the applications were over huh? Unfortunately not! But don’t worry, the Host University Application is by far the shortest and easiest to complete (at least Yonsei’s was) 

Once accepted to your third party, all that is left to do is wait, and you wait for quite some time. I applied for USAC in October of 2016 and found out I had been accepted some months later. Your third party program nominates you for the host university and then you get an email on how to log in and start your host university application. This takes some serious time though. Get ready to WAIT ~~~~~

Timeline:

OCT 2016: Applied for USAC

OCT 2016: Acceptance into USAC’s Yonsei Fall 2017 Program

MAR 2017: Nominated for Host University

MAR 2017: App opens for Host University

APR 2017: App due for Host University

May 2017: Admission Results come out from Host University

A staggering 9 month process and it still isn’t over 0.0 I’ll post a full timeline of my entire application process later, but this is basically what the initial process entails. 

Host University

This application does not require much. Just your academic info, what major you are at your home university and what major you want to be while at Yonsei, a quick survey about how you found out about the program, why you decided to apply, and what you feel they should offer more in this program, a photo of you, your passport info, health insurance, and lastly, your study plan while at Yonsei (similar to a statement of purpose). 

All that’s left to do after you submit this is to just wait for a response. 

[foundmyseoul]

It’s Official!

I’ve officially received my acceptance to study abroad at Yonsei University for Fall 2017! I’m so excited and it still doesn’t feel real yet!

Is anyone else studying there for Fall 2017?

[foundmyseoul]

Starting Off

Finding the right program for you is where you should begin. There are a few ways you can study abroad in South Korea, I’ll be talking about each of them briefly in this blog post. 

Through your University

May require you to have a certain level of language mastery to be able to study for a full semester or year

Usually Tuition paid to home university not host university

Scholarships and financial aid can be used towards the program

Third Party Program (What I did)

Able to study for full semester or year with no language knowledge

If your university does not offer a program in the country of your choice

Tuition usually paid to third party program

Scholarships and financial aid may be used depending on which third party you go with

Will help walk you through all the steps and nominate you for the University

The third party program I chose is USAC which you can find at http://usac.unr.edu/ . I went with this third party program because of their relatively affordable price and because one of my good friends recommended them to me. USAC is basically the vehicle that gets you to your destination by supplying you with the knowledge, paperwork and help that you need. All of your contacts are extremely helpful and get back to emails promptly. I’d definitely recommend them if you are trying to go to Seoul, but they also have programs that go to so many other countries as well! 

Direct Exchange/ Visiting Student Program

Apply directly through the university abroad

Pay tuition directly to the university abroad

Don’t need to have a certain level of mastery in the language 

[foundmyseoul]

Studying Abroad in Seoul

I’m Yasania and I am a 21 year old currently attending Florida International University. Over the last year I have been completing all the necessary steps to study abroad at Yonsei University in South Korea.

When I first started looking into the process, searching for programs, and applying I was not able to find a lot of resources that had step by step details about how to get certain things done, what the next part of the process was, or all the things you need to get done before you can move on to the next step.

I hope this blog can become your one stop to find out all the information you need to get to study abroad with ease!