Memories of High School Senior Year, come as clear to me as yesterday. I would return home to melting sunset skies after school and sit down in my bedroom, immediately overwhelmed by the thoughts of graduating.
“What University do I apply to? Just How do I apply? And is it really possible for me to chase these big dreams of mine; to study abroad?”
I’ve always wanted to study in a foreign country, and I began gaining particular interest in Korea through watching vlogs from this Youtuber named Darcie! She showed her university student life as she attended UIC (Underwood International College) in Yonsei University, and I found it so interesting that they were learning all their courses mostly in English :O.
I got to know that there were actually quite a handful of Korean Universities offering majors taught 100% entirely in English. I barely knew any Korean back then, and I felt that my grades would (unfortunately) be sacrificed if I were to study in a Korean-Track Major.
So I began my search for this daring dream.
The General Steps I followed for my University Applications
1. 💻 Research the Universities you are interested in, and compile their information into a Google Sheet file.
This single sheet was practically my life-saver for organizing my anxieties on university applications. I felt like I was constantly piling pieces of information from various universities, and stuffing them down my brain– I needed some place to note them all down, so that’s exactly what I did~
I noted everything: the city & country, university name, ranking, major of interest, tuition fee, scholarships, as well as dormitory fees -- All I wanted to know about these universities!
2. ⏱️ Search for University Application Agents, or if you are applying yourself, Search for the University Application Process & Timeline.
In my case, I did both. I applied through an agent in my city that was partnering with certain universities, and for the other universities that couldn’t be applied through an agent, I applied for them myself.
For both cases, I was accepted into the universities, so I don’t think there is much discrepancy between the outcomes of the two choices, although applying yourself definitely requires much more effort & attention towards the details in your application!
3. ✍️ Find out what documents you need to prepare, and all the application essays you have to write. Start preparing and writing EARLY!
I would usually just search up on the internet, the University’s name and add on “Application Guideline for International Students” with the specific year of entry. Often a complete pdf file will pop up, detailing everything you would need to prepare.
The trickiest part though, is actually preparing the documents & essays.
Some universities required one or two long essays (e.g. a Personal Statement and Study Plan), while other universities asked multiple questions requiring several short essays. I felt like they were constantly piling, and there was this unbelievable pressure to curate perfection for each and every one of them.
