#studyinginkorea

[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]

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]

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]

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]

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!

[savingupforseoul]

First post everrr!

Hi everyone, and anyone, who is reading this!

Eva here!

So... This blog just... happened. Out of the blue, this beautiful Friday evening, after having read and watched hundreds thousands posts and vlogs about studying in South Korea.

And here we are. Trying to save up enough to go and study there. Also, this is going to be a place where we tell you how we're doing with finding any sponsors or getting scholarships or with any useful information you'd need to go and study in Korea yourself.

Impossible?

Nothing should ever really be impossible! Unless you want to become the Pope. That's impossible.

We're very, very positive about the fact that our Seoul adventure is going to happen one day. After months and years of waiting for it - we both know it's finally going to happen. After hearing so many people telling us not to go, or that we won't ever be able to go, we have made up our minds and decided we're going to show them that yes, we can, and we will. Because we deserve it, just for ourselves. Because we had to wait for so long.

And with such determined mindset, I'll try and update this as often as possible, as I am not very good at keeping up blogs and diaries alive (really). But since tomorrow marks my 2nd anniversary of going on a trip to South Korea (YESSS), I'll post a few of my own pictures taken in Seoul during my stay there, two years ago.

Hope anyone who's read this has a pleasant evening and stay tuned to future updates on this blog!

Love,

Eva xo

P.S The short name of this blog is probably just going to be SUFS but if we anagram this it's more like FUSS...... Maybe not. Goodnight.

P.S 2 Photo replies with your own pictures of the beautiful city of Seoul highly recommended!!!