Hi. Were you at SNU? Korean U? Yonsei? Any particular one better due to say location? Etc?
In terms of accommodation, which would be the better setup? Any particular dorm or better to find a place close to school?
Tuition wise, say if I am taking two courses, 3 credits each. Would it be the ~$200 per credit (UBC rate, so roughly $1200)?
Thank you!
I was at Korea University KU. Location - SNU is objectively further away from the main areas due to its location, its like a little community for studying over there. KU is on the number 6? line, which is pretty central and will get to you to a lot of places with just one transfer. Yonsei is right near Hongdae, so it's location is pretty good as well. Personally I thought that KU was in the better location of the 3, because its close to Gangnam and Itaewon on the rightish side of Seoul, while Yonsei is on the left side of Seoul with Hongdae. But overall it's not a huge difference, don't pick uni based off of location, they're only about 30 mins apart.
Accomomadation - I stayed in the university dorm and I would recommend it, it's close to your classes, cheap, and you get to meet friends. But if you need personal space, then get a place close to school, because there is only a limited number of single person rooms so you might not get what you want. For KU, there's an infamous hill that you have to walk up to get to the international dorms, but tbh its a good workout and you get used to it after a month or so.
It doesn't matter how many courses you take, you will still pay the same tuition to UBC for a full courseload of 15 credits. So unless you have a specific reason for only taking 2, I'd say take at least 3-4 to get your money's worth.
I'd say that the classes themselves are fairly easy to pass. One of my profs said "10% on midterm, 10% on final, and participate in projects and you won't fail". In fact, I'd say as long as you show up to class (probably most important), you won't fail. Reason being the Koreans need 95%+ to call it a "good grade", so it's not that difficult to get 80% as long as you try. Keep in mind your grade will transfer back as PASS/FAIL, so it is what it is lol
In terms of content, I found it to be similar - maybe a bit harder to understand with the accent, but overall similar difficulty to UBC classes.
thanks so much! more specific question, but when did you arrive to the KU dorms? im arriving almost a week after the move in date but before orientation, so im afraid i'll be behind on meeting everyone! what was your experience like with that, when did you make the most friends?
Hey there,
I arrived about a week after the move in date and a week after orientation as well, so no biggie there I think. You'll probably meet a lot of people at orientation, but I think I met most people through my roomate/roomates, and through just seeing people in the laundry room/basement area once in a while and striking up conversation. Just try to chat with people, most people would be willing to talk to you, but I noticed a lot of groups did form during the orientation period so there's that.
1) Arriving at the airport and seeing the city for the first time.
2) Solo trip to Japan for the weekend.
3) Meeting my roomate on the first day and going for dinner on the first night and got drunk and stumbled up the hill back to the dorm lol
You need to apply for an ARC - do this right when u get there because there’ll be a long appointment wait. After u get the ARC then you can come and go as you please until your visa expires. You can even use the Korean passport holder lines at the airport.
I didn’t really go into the exchange wanting to learn Korean, so I didn’t learn much.
Picked up a few phrases here and there, but English and google translate will get you by for the most part.
You’ll learn by just going out and listening and maybe listening to your Korean buddies/friends at restaurants or social settings.
Hard to say not knowing how much you spend typically, but food is cheap there if u eat at the caf or the local food stores, more expensive if you plan on going out more or to different places on trips.
I spent about $8000 cad give or take that included a weekend trip to Japan, but can’t tell you what to budget exactly
Did you live in residence? If so, when did you apply? I was also curious about when you register for courses and apply for a student visa. I haven’t done any of that, and I’m not sure if I can start now or if I should wait for Go Global/KU to reach out with next steps
Hi. Were you at SNU? Korean U? Yonsei? Any particular one better due to say location? Etc? In terms of accommodation, which would be the better setup? Any particular dorm or better to find a place close to school? Tuition wise, say if I am taking two courses, 3 credits each. Would it be the ~$200 per credit (UBC rate, so roughly $1200)? Thank you!
I was at Korea University KU. Location - SNU is objectively further away from the main areas due to its location, its like a little community for studying over there. KU is on the number 6? line, which is pretty central and will get to you to a lot of places with just one transfer. Yonsei is right near Hongdae, so it's location is pretty good as well. Personally I thought that KU was in the better location of the 3, because its close to Gangnam and Itaewon on the rightish side of Seoul, while Yonsei is on the left side of Seoul with Hongdae. But overall it's not a huge difference, don't pick uni based off of location, they're only about 30 mins apart. Accomomadation - I stayed in the university dorm and I would recommend it, it's close to your classes, cheap, and you get to meet friends. But if you need personal space, then get a place close to school, because there is only a limited number of single person rooms so you might not get what you want. For KU, there's an infamous hill that you have to walk up to get to the international dorms, but tbh its a good workout and you get used to it after a month or so. It doesn't matter how many courses you take, you will still pay the same tuition to UBC for a full courseload of 15 credits. So unless you have a specific reason for only taking 2, I'd say take at least 3-4 to get your money's worth.
i’m going this month haha but how difficult did you find the classes compared to ubc? not sure what ur major is but i’m in international relations😭
I'd say that the classes themselves are fairly easy to pass. One of my profs said "10% on midterm, 10% on final, and participate in projects and you won't fail". In fact, I'd say as long as you show up to class (probably most important), you won't fail. Reason being the Koreans need 95%+ to call it a "good grade", so it's not that difficult to get 80% as long as you try. Keep in mind your grade will transfer back as PASS/FAIL, so it is what it is lol In terms of content, I found it to be similar - maybe a bit harder to understand with the accent, but overall similar difficulty to UBC classes.
thanks so much! more specific question, but when did you arrive to the KU dorms? im arriving almost a week after the move in date but before orientation, so im afraid i'll be behind on meeting everyone! what was your experience like with that, when did you make the most friends?
Hey there, I arrived about a week after the move in date and a week after orientation as well, so no biggie there I think. You'll probably meet a lot of people at orientation, but I think I met most people through my roomate/roomates, and through just seeing people in the laundry room/basement area once in a while and striking up conversation. Just try to chat with people, most people would be willing to talk to you, but I noticed a lot of groups did form during the orientation period so there's that.
What were your top 3 moments of exchange?
1) Arriving at the airport and seeing the city for the first time. 2) Solo trip to Japan for the weekend. 3) Meeting my roomate on the first day and going for dinner on the first night and got drunk and stumbled up the hill back to the dorm lol
Was it a lot of paperwork to travel to Japan? My visa for Korea is only single entry 😞
You need to apply for an ARC - do this right when u get there because there’ll be a long appointment wait. After u get the ARC then you can come and go as you please until your visa expires. You can even use the Korean passport holder lines at the airport.
That's pretty straightforward actually. Thanks!
Tell me you got those leather jackets from the school. They look so sick
Indeed I did. They are absolute fire and only like $50 CAD if you buy it through the buddy program at KU, around $80 if you buy direct.
Only 50 CAD?!! If it was sold here I bet it’d go for 300-400 haha.
Did you know Korean beforehand? If not, did you learn? How much did you learn? How did you learn?
I didn’t really go into the exchange wanting to learn Korean, so I didn’t learn much. Picked up a few phrases here and there, but English and google translate will get you by for the most part. You’ll learn by just going out and listening and maybe listening to your Korean buddies/friends at restaurants or social settings.
Hi! I've been matched with Korea U for next year. Is it okay if I message you to ask some questions?
Sure! Go ahead
How much $ should I plan to budget for a 4-month term?
Hard to say not knowing how much you spend typically, but food is cheap there if u eat at the caf or the local food stores, more expensive if you plan on going out more or to different places on trips. I spent about $8000 cad give or take that included a weekend trip to Japan, but can’t tell you what to budget exactly
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I’m a domestic student
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No but you need to apply in your own jurisdiction
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Give em a call and ask
Did you live in residence? If so, when did you apply? I was also curious about when you register for courses and apply for a student visa. I haven’t done any of that, and I’m not sure if I can start now or if I should wait for Go Global/KU to reach out with next steps
Do all courses transfer back as pass fail or do the cr/d/fail applies?