Studying at Yonsei

As an experienced student who studied at Yonsei through a study-abroad program, I wanted to see if perhaps I might offer some information for others that decided to journey to Korea.  I hope that it useful...

Undergraduate students that come to Yonsei will undoubtedly find themselves at Underwood International College, which is currently near the Shinchon and Daeshin border in Seoul, Korea.  Students have to take a Korean course and can enroll in Underwood courses, or other courses at the university taught in English.

Korean Language Requirement

Foreign students are required to take Korean language courses and so must attend Yonsei KLI, which is 20 hours a week of class time and 6 units.  Fortunately, there a little known secret for students that might want to opt out of this.  You can take a 0-unit Korean course that is usually offered to graduate students, but Underwood allows undergraduates to enroll in this course to meet their Korean language requirement.

If your focus is not on Korean language, I really recommend this.  If your focus is on the Korean language, then I would recommend coming to Korea on your own terms and try to get into Sogang's  ELEC program or another program of your choosing.

Underwood Courses

There are a small number of courses on topics about Korean culture and history.  These courses have the IEE number, such as IEE3107 Pre-Modern Korean History or IEE3220 Topics on Korean Language and Culture.  Most of these courses are fairly easy: show up, do minimal effort, and get an easy A.  Other courses, such as the economic and political courses, like ISM4508 Chinese Politics and Foreign Policy  or ISM2107 Politics and Business in Korea, are extremely challenging, and only a limited number of students receive an "A" grade, due to relative grading system in those courses.

My recommendation is to make the best effort to get something out of the experience, but don't take the go overboard and be too serious.  It is good to get out and meet people, especially Korean locals so that you can learn first hand about the culture outside the classroom.

Business Courses

A number of courses in the business college are taught in English, and many Korean students want to get into the course, because they have absolute grading, meaning the instructor is free to give out all "A" grades, should the students do that well.  The relative grading system, for business courses taught in Korean, only permit a small number of "A" grades to be awarded, so despite one's individual effort, the students may not earn the grade they deserve. I think this teaches the wrong message in life personally, but that's the system.

For the classes taught in English, like BIZ1102 Organizational Behavior, BIZ1101 Principles of Accounting,  BIZ2120 Marketing, etc. they will allow up to 6 foreign students to enroll.  Thus, it is quite competitive to get in these courses.  The quality of education varies, from being an utter waste of time to excellent quality with innovative professors that have passionate and engaging lectures.  Some of these courses can be quite challenging, even more so than courses in USA, and will require a lot of effort to get a good grade.  I found myself losing 2 months of any life to complete essays, research projects, and studying for the finals, but I felt it was well worth the effort, considering what I learned and the discipline I gained from the experience.