Hi, I found your blog while searching for study abroad at Yonsei. I was wondering the difference between SK Global House and International House, and which do you recommend for studying abroad/exchange student? Thank you!
Sorry I didnāt see this sooner!
Itās no secret that everyone wants to be in SK. But the competition is fierce. You must be aware when you turn in your application for a room you only get to apply for one. Getting an SK single is extremely difficult and you should have an alternate housing option prepared if you choose to apply for it. At the application date all those rooms will be gone at max 10 minutes. I got to live in both because they used SK rooms for quarantine at the time.
If you want to save money I recommend I-house. If you want more privacy choose SK. If you want to guarantee living on campus, choose I-house. Hereās the differences.
SK GLOBAL
Private toilet/shower
Slightly bigger room
Balcony
Men/Women dorm (on separate floors)
Connected to the global plaza
Multiple study rooms
Computer room
Larger shared kitchen
Access to gym
Music rooms
Single room: 2,745,600 won
Double : 1,854,000 won
I-house
Older building
Smaller rooms
Only one outlet per person in the room
Unstable Wifi
Only Women dormitory
Shared bathroom/showers (can get trashed)
Only double rooms available
Refrigerators in rooms
Larger closets
Small shared kitchen on each floor
2 study rooms available
Double: 1,516,800 won
I-house residents can access SK facilities by entering thru the 5th floor. You can also request your roommate if you happen to know someone else attending. I found SK building cleaner than I house as well.
*I-house used to be a men and women dorm. So, two floors have bathrooms built with less toilets and replaced with urinals. Which becomes a problem since the toilets easily clog and leaves those floors with very few toilets.
Hi! Iām hoping to study abroad next spring at Yonsei for art history. How exactly can I be sure what classes Yonsei has for this? The course catalogue is a bit confusing with all the different tabs available
Yonsei Course Search
Thank you for asking this I think this is really important to know! Yes it it quite tricky to understand. There's a whole process for searching courses. It is recommended to use Internet Explorer for Yonsei's registration. Set an automatic translator so it will immediately have it all in English. Their registration is super complicated and can easily screw you over if you don't look at every detail. I noticed looking at the Yonsei portal that the layout is different from when I attended. So the process for you may differ.
With the translator working hopefully you can follow these steps.
Change the Academic year to 2023
Choose semester (ķźø°) to semester 1 (Spring)
Check the box "Courses in English"
Next to "Keyword" change category to "course name" and start entering for ART, HISTORY, etc
Once you find a course you think is good (this might take some time) there are many things you have to check before you can confirm that you qualify to register
CHECK
Far right column has a Y!!! for exchange
LOCATION IS SINCHON
3. explore these boxes for more course info (IEE3597 is the course # for Arts of Asia)
4. Check the second icon to make sure the outline is in English
5. CHECK M icon for "Mileage Course Registration" If you're not sure what this is, Yonsei gives a certain amount of "bidding points" to register for courses. When you register you choose how many points you want to give to compete to get into the class. You get 72 points.
It is really important to check that the course was available the previous year or semester. Because for some reason the search results will show courses that have been gone for years.
And lastly check "Mileage Ranking Results" and see the average bidding points used to get in the class. This is really important because Exchange courses are super competitive (bc they don't offer enough courses for exchange students...)
PHEW well I know that was a lot of information. I wish you and any future Yonsei students the best because I know how stressful the whole process is.
*Yonsei requires all exchange students to register for a minimum of 9 credits a semester
I really recommend joining the Yonsei Study Abroad group chat on Kakao to ask current students for course recommendations
My best advice is to email the program offices first for this kind of information. You should be able to find their contacts on their webpages. I would ask if they offer a zoom information session about their registration. Someone should help you. And if youāre not getting the answer you need, donāt be afraid to tell them. Now for online communities I used KakaoTalk. Iām not sure if youāre interested in yonsei but the main gc for students is āYonsei study abroadā. They answer a lot of questions. Discord is great too but unfortunately I donāt recall any I mostly used kakao.
Located in the center of Hongdae the Sanrio cafe is an adorable two story house that was originally used for Blackpinkās reality show āBLACKPINK HOUSEā. The interior and exterior have been fully decked out in Hello kitty and other favorable Sanrio characters.. Thereās tons of merch to buy and also Sanrio themed coffees and cakes to try.
Due to covid they changed their rules to only allow 50 people in at a time for an hour with an appointment. To make an appointment you have to have 1. A Naver account to access the sign up sheet 2. Korean phone number.
The cat garden is the largest cat cafe Iāve visited in Seoul. Itās on the outskirts of the city but itās easy to get to by bus. The staff were really kind and showed a lot of care for the cats.
Just returned back from my solo trip from Jeonju. I stayed within the hanok village area and had a great time. I had a lot of anxiety traveling alone but I didnāt let that stop me! I booked a stay, bought a cheap bus ticket and went for it!
I researched where to go and stay before I went. Almost every travel blog will tell you that you NEED to stay in a hanok while youāre here and I totally agree! I made my reservation on booking.com and there was quite a few hanok stays to choose from. But, if youāre not super short like me you may find it uncomfortable. I decided just to stay one night and I think that was enough to see the whole hanok village. My only disappointment was that I didnāt get to do the hanbok rental. The weather was nice and sunny so I definitely recommend visiting in the spring.
So I wanted to explain while the experience is fresh in my mind. I haven't seen a lot of good explanations to get to the international dorms. You'll find many youtube videos trying to explain it but I want to just write down some step by step advice.
1. Transportation
In my opinion, taking a taxi is the easiest to get to the dorms. I recommend downloading Kakao T. Which is the Kakao taxi service that doesn't require a Korean phone number. You can pay with either credit card, cash, or a T money card.
2. marking the dorms as your destination
It is really important that you mark your destination similar to how I have it roughly sketched out on my map. Because if you don't, you will be dropped off at the end of the street. You'll have to walk up a hill and two flights of stairs with all your luggage. So make sure your taxi driver takes you around the back.
3. Drop off
When you arrive you need to look for a brick arch that connects to the building. Go through that, and then you'll see the doors for International house! If you're headed to SK, use the elevator to b2 and go thru the global plaza and you'll see it.
Here's some photos of the International house building to help you find it.
I hope that this helps for anyone trying to find their way. :)
Currently I am staying in an apartment in Seoul for my 2 week quarantine. While Iām waiting to be released, I thought I would share some tips I found along the way that helped me get into my study abroad program :)
1. Research all your options
A year ago, I dreamed for the opportunity to go Korea. I had my plan set in mind that I was going to go to this specific school in Songdo (about 45 mins outside Seoul). But I started to realize the cons of the program. They did not offer enough courses in my major. Which oddly enough is Korean! Thatās right, a Korean campus barely offered Korean languages classes. Plus, the school was just too far from Seoul for my liking. At this point the only thing stopping me from backing out was fear.Ā Ā
I totally understand the feeling of having your heart set on a specific place, school, class and outright telling yourself there is no other option! I want this and Iāve already decided! Thatās great, but from my experience even if you have already found an aboard program to apply for, double check all your options. First, check what your university offers. Find whose in charge of each program and email and set up a meeting over the phone or zoom with them to get an idea what theyāre offering. Make a list of questions you want answered as well. Because who knows, that meeting may change your entire path! Thatās what happened to me! I met with the director of the program for Yonsei University at my college and he convinced me I needed to go there instead.
2. Check what classes the school offers
https://portal.yonsei.ac.kr/main/indexe.jsp
This is so so important when making your decision. Iāve heard from other students that have attended Yonsei that didnāt bother to check if they had any major classes for them! I understand the want to study abroad, but choose a school that will fit your academic needs.
Now I can only speak for the Yonsei exchange program so I donāt know how its done anywhere else. To check what classes Yonsei University offers to exchange students (classes in English) visit the link for the Yonsei course Portal. From there, click the box that says Course Catalog and syllabus. There you can enter either course codes or course names. I recommend typing in a generic name like history and see what comes up. IMPORTANT: To know if a class is welcome for exchange students look at the far right column labeled EXCHANGE. It will either have an X or O telling you if you are eligible.
3. Stay on top of everything!
Abroad programs require tons of paperwork. It is a MUST that you make a check list of everything that you need to get done. Some documents you will need will come from your school and the aboard program. If you are missing anything or you are waiting on someone to get your required documents such official transcripts or papers needed for visa, Send. an. email. If youāre not comfortable at sending email now, you will be when this experience is over. Never expect your school or advisor to keep track of anything for you. You must know the ETA of the whole process. I repeat, do not wait around for someone to email you about it. Get it done.Ā
4. Find communities entering the same program.
One of the most important things Iāve learned from this experience is donāt do it alone. Look for Facebook, Discord, or in my case Kakao groups that are in the same boat as you! The best way to describe an exchange group chat is if you put all your brains together, you form one person that actually knows whats going on! Itās a great place to ask questions and make some friends before you get there as well! Studying abroad can be scary, so try to find support.
5. Nothing is ever simple
For anyone considering studying abroad, just remember that it is a stressful process. If something is done quickly, it usually means thereās three more obstacles to cross before actually completing it. Just pay attention to deadlines and check in with the people in charge if things get confusing. I believe everyone should study abroad. So, if you have the opportunity, donāt be afraid to take it. :)
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