There’s a lot of things to remember when going on exchange, and it’s a harder process than I would’ve thought, but of course it is worth it! Im lucky enough to have four of my good friends to accompany me during my exchange trip, which made things a lot nicer!
Disclaimer: These are only the experiences I had and what I did, I can’t give professional guidance. A consular is your best friend during this process. I’m listing things in the order of deadlines and giving a brief description of what I did. Deadlines will of course be given by the University you're applying for so make sure to check that. This will be written from a PNU pov. Now lets start
(note: Departure date was, for me, only a few days before semester start, so when I say departure date it can also be seen as semester start)
Most important advice I have (and I repeat) a consular is your best friend! Numerous times my friends and I have been confused as shit, cause sadly the official websites of the universities etc. dont always have the specific answer you’re looking for (or maybe they do but its so well hidden you start crying before you find them)
Application
Fill the application for exchange. PNU provided a link to an online formular I had to fill out.
Visa
Make sure your passport is up to date. Apply for a Visa a couple of months before departure date at the Embassy (remember getting a visa takes a few weeks). The visa dude will help you with what kind of visa you need and how to apply for it. Also bring your letter of acceptance in order to apply. In my case my consular had the letter of acceptance and I could pick it up at his office.
Application
Fill the application for exchange. PNU provided a link to an online formular I had to fill out.
Plane tickets
Order plane tickets as early as possible to get the cheapest. I ordered mine as soon as I knew when the semester started. I used momondo.dk and it linked me to flightfinder.dk that had the tickets that matched my needs the best.
Buddy
If you want you can apply for a PNU buddy. They will help you with any questions you have, and you can also sign up for airport pickup which will be done by your buddy (although I think even if you dont sign up for the buddy, you can still sign up for airport pick up. I’m not completely sure about this though).
If you sign up for airport pickup the university will pay for it.
Housing
Figure out where to live. I’m suggesting dormitory cause its really cheap (but then again I didn't look into any other forms of housing, so if you dont want a dorm feel free to choose whatever you please). Apply for dorm. The dorm I was able to apply for gives you the option of choosing meals (2 meals a day mon-fri, 3 meals a day mon-fri or 3 meals a day all week). A while after application is finished you will be told whether you were accepted or not. If you were you’ll have to pay the dorm fee (including meal plan if you chose any) before deadline. my dorm fee was around 1300$
Roommate
If you have a friend you want to share a room with, there will be a roommate application period. You both have to write each others names and student numbers under the “roommate” space on the application site.
Insurance
Get a good travel (and health) insurance to cover you while you’re on your exchange trip. PNU had a deadline of submitting insurance papers about one month before departure date.
Vaccination
Figure out what vaccines you need well ahead of time! Like preferably around the same time you get told you’ve been accepted to the university you’ve applied for (which was december 2016 in my case). This is because some vaccines are injected in more than one dosis and need a several month gab between injections.
X-ray
This is for PNU Dorm. I was accepted for Wongbee hall so I can't say if any of the other dormitories have this rule, but in order to be a succesful candidate for the dorm you need a doctors note that says you dont have tuberculosis. I’m describing how I did this in Denmark, so if you’re living in Denmark or in a country with a similar healthcare system this will give you some guidance. If not then good luck finding out on your own! And yes, tuberculosis haven't been around in Denmark for many many years (like 100 or something I honestly dont know) but after asking the consular at PNU I was told that it was still necessary to do this, so if theres no tuberculosis where you live you still have to do this.
I first went to my own doctor. She then had to give a medical referral to the hospital in my city. The hospital have “drop in” hours every morning where people can come by and get an x-ray (with a referral of course) so I did that. Checked in at the hospitals lung department and got my lungs photographed when it was my turn. The hospital then sent the x-ray to my doctor where I could pick up the doctors note after a few days. Remember that the note has to be in English. You dont have to submit the doctors note online, just bring it with you to Busan.
All theres left now is to pack. I don’t need to guide you in that, there’s plenty of helpful articles online if you need it. I did however use this http://www.packinglistonline.com as it lets you costumize how long your travel time is (which is quite long for an exchange trip and most lists I found were only a few weeks of vacation travel), the weather and so on. I didn't follow every detail on it, but it was a nice guide to lean against. Also remember all your important papers (passport, visa, vaccination booklet, doctors note etc.) and if you wanna download some music og videos then do it a few days before too!
Good luck~
