Tuesday, July 6, 2010

So much to do!


Preparing for this exchange takes a long time. First of all I need to save money. A lot of money. I don't want to think about money all the time and have issue with that. I hear Korea is relatively cheap when it comes to food and entertainment such as karaoke, cinema, going out etc. But it can be expensive when you're buying clothes. Luckily I'm not thinking about buying clothes over there. Maybe a winter coat and some good shoes.

Saving money can be difficult. I want to save money, but I also want to have a good time here in the Netherlands. Eventually it wasn't that hard for me. But preparing my things for Yonsei University was challenging. The information they show on the website and the information they give in the welcome package differ. This is confusing. For example:

On the website they ask you for 2 more pictures of yourself and a medical examination report 2 months due before checking in the dorms. And sign a contract for the housing.

But this is not mentioned in the handout of Yonsei University they give you in the welcome package. Eventually I didn't have to send my pictures, because they already had 4 pictures of me. And signing the contract is to be done over there. I can also do a medical check up when I'm staying at Yonsei University. I can do this for 3000 won. Now that is cheap! xD

On the website they also talk about a 100,000 KRW fee you have to pay next to the fee of the dorms. But eventually I emailed them and they said exchange students don't have to pay that.

Yonsei University is also very strict on deadlines. So you should hand in everything before the deadline.

They wanted to know a lot of things for my application such as;

My bank statement ( I have to have at least 6000 dollars)
A letter of recommendation
My grades list and then converted into their A,B,C grades
My grade average
4 photos ( small sized )
My application and information
Copy of my passport
And everything signed by me and/or school.
A letter of motivation
And maybe I'm forgetting something?

And I had to send this all the way to Korea. I almost didn't catch the deadline, because there was miscommunication between my school and Yonsei University. Yonsei University told me a week before the deadline what I had to send before the deadline. After much stressing out I sent the documents through airmail which cost me about 70 dollars. Yuck!

I also sent out a mail to Yonsei University with the documents scanned and I also faxed it just to be sure. They said it was fine and were waiting for the real deal, because they needed my photos.

Now it's all about making a good monthly budget and sticking to it. I'm glad I saved a lot of money, so I'll have a great time without worrying. Other people that went to Yonsei University advised me to check my money from time to time. Because Seoul is quite cheap and this makes people spend a lot money after some time.

The next thing I should do is getting my visa and ticket.

I need to hurry up =P

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know! The application process for Yonsei was SO difficult! I almost gave up a few times because it was difficult and the Yonsei staff was no help. Good luck!!!!! Don't give up because it's all worth it! ^^

Unknown said...

LOl, I see why you would want to do that. I was determined in getting out of Europe. And Korea seemed a great choice.

So how long are you staying at the university?