In 2021, I got accepted into my dream university 🎓 and now I am proudly attending Yonsei University. 😊 There are times that I am here in Korea 🇰🇷 and think back to when I was really pushing to make the dream of attending university in South Korea a reality. The many hours of research 🔍 and document preparations with phone calls 📞 to administration and planning things like accommodation 🏠 and plane tickets ✈️ really puts things in perspective on just how much has to be done to now be studying in a foreign country. Everyone’s journey will be different 🌎 but at its core, doing extensive research and envisioning your new life is important to successfully achieve international university life.

Prestigious is not Prerequisite

There are many prestigious universities in Seoul alone which offer differences in what kind of colleges they are and which majors/courses they focus on. As a foreigner interested in life in South Korea, it is hard not to know about the SKY universities of Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University. Honestly, my take was that “If I were to study in South Korea, I would need to attend one of these universities or any other major university”. Back home, studying in a far country which is culturally different is not common and it would be best to study at a top university in that country to “make the international university experience worthwhile”. Anywhere you go, there is this prejudicial need to study at the best universities to gain high praise and recognition but those choices can be limited in major offerings and the degree programs. Being in South Korea and socializing with different people have exposed me to people doing various majors and universities all over South Korea. Not all university students have to study at SKY, for example, because the South Korean university experience is not limited to those universities. There is much of Korea to explore 🗺️ don’t be afraid to step out of Seoul to find that university that could be right for you.

The Next Steps

Congratulations! 🎉 After your personal research in finding that perfect university, now the hard part comes for you to actually apply. The process can be long and frustrating with the essays to write 📝, to collect documents 📄, and being interviewed 🎤 to wait for the results that are up to the hands of the universities. Do not get discouraged along the way, because I can promise you that it will be worth it in the end once you get settled into your new university life.

From the 9th grade, I started my research bit by bit in knowing what I needed to apply for these universities and the deadlines for when to apply and what to prepare. Writing these things down in a book 📚 or notes app 📱 really helped me to map out the process for myself because it seemed overwhelming looking at it from the universities’ websites. I made sure to first write down the timeline before doing anything because it encouraged me to see that there is a way through the tasks that were to come.

How Yonsei UIC found me

Separate from my new-found interest in K-pop 🇰🇷 back then (a story for another time), I came up with the idea to someday study in South Korea for a new cultural experience. I started to research 🔍 and watch many YouTube videos 📺 on the education scene of South Korea and how university life would look for me.