[little mixed girl]

^thanks! btw since you study abroad at korea, what did you bring and what you recommend to bring?

i went in the summer.
i took a lotta things i didn't need.

if you are into clubbing, bring some club clothes.

walking shoes. VERY important.
a comfortable pair of shoes (maybe 2 pair cuz when it rains, it pours) because you'll be walking a lot.

bug repellant.

i bought many shirts off the street and i washed my clothes every sunday, so i tended to wear the same stuff over and over.
think long and hard about what you'll bring, cuz you may not wear it....and then you're like "wtf did i buy this??? "

shower shoes/slippers for the shower.
also a little basket to hold your stuff (soap, etc) when ur in the shower.

razors. i didn't see any when i was in korea...or maybe i didn't look hard enough.

during what year (summer of soph, junior, senior) do majority of the students usually go study abroad?

most the ppl seemed to be 2nd yr...i couldn't tell if they were going INTO their 2nd yr, or just finishing it.

in '04 i was like one of the oldest ppl there, and i was going after my 3rd yr of uni...

[lost_kim]

The dorms do suck in the colleges that do have them ... so i was adviced to rent a place of my own, stay with relatives or go to those houses that rent rooms for college students... and also the bad thing about this is that some, not generalizing here, people meddle too much in what doesn't concern them... I know that some colleges have teachers that speak english, but the truth is that unless you're daniel henney, you won't survive withouth knowing korean. with this i mean good korean and slang, so you can easily understand what other fellow classmates talk about outside of class....

Something else i would like to add... I got the feeling some korean-koreans were not too fond of international students... and my perception was cuz international students got into the college easier... I have this friend that has lived with me in Bolivia for about 5 years now... but because she studied in korea for middle school and elementary school she had to go take the admission exams from every college she wanted to apply to.. like for seoul national university she had to take the same math, science and english exam as all the korean-koreans and she basically failed... When i asked what I needed for undergraduate school and all, the requirements were my school records since elementary, then TOEFL scores and they say they would consider my SAT scores and that I needed an essay and recommendation letters... they also asked me to come to Korea, i thought to take exams, but no, it was for an interview that was conducted in english... so basically I didn't need to take any hard admission exams... but at the end I decided not to go to korea... I don't know how it is to do study abroad to korea when you're already in a college in the US but that was my experience...

[little mixed girl]

slypatt, i'm not too sure about the questions you asked.

i think that the grad programs for exchange students have classes taught in english. the undergrad classes had english classes with an option to take a class(es) in krn if you felt you could do it.

but, if you're doing translation or something, they DO like to see that you have studied/lived in that country for an extended period of time.
----

lost kim

the international house dorms at yonsei weren't really bad. they were pretty nice i think...minus some bugs...

and all the classes are in english with other english speakers, so...unless your classmates are from japan or italy or something, you'll be able to talk with them easily.

i was able to get along ok without being fluent in korean.
it's harder, and it can be frustrating to try and communicate with ppl in krn and have them give u blank stares or talk back in fast fast krn...

i think only ppl that have krn citizenship have to take those tests.
if ur friend still has krn citzenship then...that's probably why she had to take them.
at my school, ppl with krn citizenship can't do the exchange program. they can go to the school but it would have to be with their own $$$...

[uwmissy]

does yonsei require letters of recommendation?

[little mixed girl]

^ no, but your school might...

or wait...i don't remember...maybe they do...hmm...
anyone else remember?

[Krn Nam jah Yllow]

I was thinking of studying at yonsei and from what u say i guess it doesnt really help in the sense that it makes it seem tougher. I also believe that ur just being VERY stereotypical of just those few individuals that u have met. DO u know krn americans in where ur from are they the same way to u there? I just wish u wouldnt make it seem like any sort of korean person seems so bad. What are u?? not trying to be mean but just represent krns i guess =/ any way so to sum things up i dont REALLY know any knr except a few words so life for me at yonsei would be a so-so experience??

[little mixed girl]

I was thinking of studying at yonsei and from what u say i guess it doesnt really help in the sense that it makes it seem tougher. I also believe that ur just being VERY stereotypical of just those few individuals that u have met. DO u know krn americans in where ur from are they the same way to u there? I just wish u wouldnt make it seem like any sort of korean person seems so bad. What are u?? not trying to be mean but just represent krns i guess =/ any way so to sum things up i dont REALLY know any knr except a few words so life for me at yonsei would be a so-so experience??

i'm not exactly getting you...

of course there are korean-americans that are totally cool ppl. i know many in my town, and i met a few at yonsei.

HOWEVER, when I was doing the summer program at yonsei, most the korean-americans were cliquish and excluded ppl that were not korean.
if you are korean, adopted or korean-american, you will find many ppl who want to hang out with you (who are also korean-americans).

your level of korean fluency doesn't matter when u are in class or hanging with ppl from the dorm.

if you want to go out and buy stuff, it was be hard to communicate with the locals, but it can be done.

don't let your lack of korean skills keep you from going to korea. it's a good experience.

what i'm trying to do is give a more realistic picture to ppl that are not korean-americans.
lotta ppl on soompi who talk about having soooo much fun in korea, etc are talking from a korean-american perspective.
it's different for ppl that are non-korean, even ppl that are asians, but not korean will have a different experience from korean-americans...

[hello_se7en]

man i really want to go and study abroad but i go to a community college and it's all just so confusing for me right now. i'm wondering if there are classes in korea that i can get credit for and use them to transfer. does anyone know if that's possible?

also, is there anyone that has experience from Korea University??

[dopemills]

mind if i ask a question?

what does it mean "able to transfer credits"?
what is credits?
i'm not in college yet so i'm not too sure what some terms mean.

let's say i want to take korean in korea. i can gain credits?
so later on when i enroll for university in a non-korean university the credits i had gained can be used?

[OOOOO]

i have a questionS too..
can i take classes just during the summer..like june til september??
and
also im a pretty fluent speaker(unless they use all those hard words)so do u think they'll have a prgram for me?? like not as a english speaker but for korean speaker..
can i choose the programs or is it only learning korean??
also(sorry about all the qs)are there alother school other then the ones mentioned like..yensie??(was it?) and the first school metioned?

[aaandy]

man i really want to go and study abroad but i go to a community college and it's all just so confusing for me right now. i'm wondering if there are classes in korea that i can get credit for and use them to transfer. does anyone know if that's possible?

also, is there anyone that has experience from Korea University??

EDIT: They do offer the common curriculum but I'd recommend you do your first 2 years and knock out your pre req. courses(it's cheaper here) so you can take the more interesting courses while you study abroad.

what does it mean "able to transfer credits"?
what is credits?
i'm not in college yet so i'm not too sure what some terms mean.

In college, the courses you take are worth credits. You need a certain amount of credits to graduate and certain classes for different majors. Credits have different values at different schools, so say you take required courses now that are worth 5 credits a piece here, but different universities may only offer 3 credits per course. If you want those credits to be worth something, you have to transfer them to your college.

can i take classes just during the summer..like june til september??

I think so but I think they only offer the korean language course unless you are transferring/studying abroad for a quarter.

[tiramisu]

basically it seems like, if you look asian, then koreans will generally think you're korean or maybe korean-american...so that means that they'll talk to u in korean.

haha... one of my friends studied abroad at Ewha, during the fall of 2003. he said the exact same thing... ppl would come up and talk to him in Korean, but he didn't speak a word of the language.

overall, he had an awesome experience... he brought back tons of pictures and souvenirs. he didn't mention a single negative thing. but he's an all-around nice guy, i've rarely ever hear him complain about anything.

[be_mellow]

What about Graduate School of International Studies
Korea University

[hello_se7en]

it's possible for credits for those study abroad credits to count as credits here right?

for example, i go to a community college and i'm halfway through my 60 credits to transfer. but what if i wanted to spend like half a year in korea with english taught courses, would that credit count for my transfer? like if it was econ or something?

[little mixed girl]

^ i don't think that community colleges offer study abroad.
i think you'd have to go through a university.
and if u want to know what transfers and what doesn't, you should ask your counselor.
each school is different.

[clairdeluned]

Just a question (a little random), but what do you mean to not dress "scandalously"....summer clothes are all a bit "scandalous", aren't they?

[Pao!]

wow... this discussion is a lot of help... thanks.

i'm going to Korea this March as an exchange student at some University (not Yonsei or SNU though...) and i am all excited and stuff cos i really really wanna go... but then the U that i'll go to WILL NOT offer Korean language programs because they're new to the exchange thingy... i'm the first international student that they'll have... so, i will take normal subjects and try to learn korean on my own...

i'm not korean and my proficiency in the language is only mid-level... most of my friends are encouraging me to go because it's a good opportunity and a very good learning experience and they said that it'd be good cos i'd be forced to learn korean...

that's also what i think whenever i think positively.. but sometimes, i get all apprehensive about it...

what do you guys think?

[Tamago86]

^Wow that sounds exactly what I'm doing only with Japan instead of Korea ie a school that's never had an international student and does not offer language classes so I have to take normal subjects, etc..

And you must do it! Because you'll be doing something that most people will never get the chance to (and that most people on this forum dream of); going to a real Korean school and being the only foreigner there. It'll also be easier for you to make korean friends because there will be no other foreigners for you to talk to or hang out with, so you'll be forced to speak in Korean most of the time. You'll learn alot but it'll also be alot of hard work

[hello_se7en]

^ i don't think that community colleges offer study abroad.
i think you'd have to go through a university.
and if u want to know what transfers and what doesn't, you should ask your counselor.
each school is different.

community colleges offer study abroad. in fact, my school has programs to spain and austrailia and other countries. they jsut dont have a specific program for korea, that's just something i wanted to do on my own...

and you're right, i should probably ask a counselor.

[dkstariob]

I would love to study abroad. I'm thinking about doing it next year.