On My Way To Korea

Ever since I’ve started considering SNU, I’ve been looking for a former or current SNU exchange student share his experience somewhere online.  I was pretty disappointed that I couldn’t find any.  Lucky for me, a current exchange student at SNU offered to answer all of my questions and gave me permission to post the answers on this blog.  I haven’t seen almost any other exchange student in SNU post their experience anywhere so this was a great oppertunity for me to hear the inside view I wanted.  Here’s my interview with Sean:

How did you decide to go to SNU and when/why did you learn Korean?

“I’ve been learning Korean since the summer of ‘07, when I enrolled at the language school at Sogang during my summer vacation. Now I’m a senior at UT-Austin and I’m in the middle of a semester as an exchange student at SNU. My choice was between SNU and Hanyang (UT’s two Korean sister schools) and because SNU is much better for making the kind of contacts I wanted than Hanyang – though I have some friends at Hanyang – I chose SNU. The fact that one of my best friends goes here made the decision all the easier.”

Did you stay in on-campus housing? How was your apartment? How about cafeteria food (if you did eat there)?

“Yeah I’m in a dorm. The dorms are dirt-cheap, at 430,000원/semester. By comparison – though this is not an apples-to-apples comparison – a 원룸 (literally one room with a stove, mini-fridge, and small bathroom) will cost about 700,000원/month in the campus area (or less if you are willing to front a hefty deposit of about $5-10,000). Currently, a huge complex of new dorms is under construction, scheduled for completion in the second semester of next year. So in case you are put on the dorm waiting-list or something (I know several exchange students were due to lack of space in the old, currently-used dorms) you should definitely be able to live in a dorm starting in 제 2학기, if you so desire.

My dorm is not an apartment but rather a two-person room with 2 beds, 2 desks, and 2 wardrobes. There is a shared bathroom/shower room at the end of every hallway. It is acceptable and about the caliber of my freshman-year dorm at UT. The newer dorm buildings are supposed to be somewhat nicer.

Cafeteria food is normally pretty good, and you can check the menu online. Because there are ~15 cafeterias to choose from campus-wide, you should be able to find food you like at every meal. One great thing about Korean school cafeterias is that, though they aren’t all-you-can-eat lines (with a few exceptions – one place at SNU is like this), you can bring your clean plate back to the serving line – and actually cut to the front of the serving line – and ask for more meat, rice, 반찬, etc.”

How is the school load? Any suggestions about how many classes to take? Do you feel like you have time to do lots of things outside of classes?

“Well, the school load – just as in the States – is highly variable on the grade you want to make. Many students here study little during the semester then cram before the midterm and final exams (벼락치기). However, these students often end up with unsatisfactory grades and therefore end up having to drop the class after the first midterm, or else do 재수강 (retaking a class and completely replacing your old grade – something impossible to do at most American schools). To me, this seems like a pretty big waste of time, but many Koreans will sign up for 16-20 credit-hours every semester then come through with satisfactory grades in only half these classes by the end of the term. Though this practice is probably somewhat less common at SNU than, say, 한양, it is definitely somewhat prevalent.

Taking 영어 강의 is a route to an easy “A” for us native speakers and therefore I would recommend easing into life here by taking a least a few 영어 강의 the first few semesters. Similarly, I would take a limited number of credit-hours (12-14) the first 1-2 semesters. Anyway, it is much easier and probably more fun to make friends with club-mates rather than classmates (this is an aspect that is somewhat different from in the U.S.). I would highly recommend joining a 동아리 (club) that is related to your career interest. This is truly an 일석이조 method; you can make great campus friends, get plenty of networking done (both among classmates and club alumni), and build your skills at both Korean and the club’s area of specialty.

Oh BTW teaching professionalism is definitely lower than in the States. Quality is decent but a lack of acceptance/awareness of the Platonic instructional methods among teachers and (just as important) students here is extremely frustrating to me.”

Any general suggestions or things you wished you had known earlier?

“General suggestions – be outgoing and speak Korean as much as possible. If someone addresses you in English, respond in Korean. Your knowledge of Korean (even if not “perfect”) is a great asset, along with being a white guy. Many Koreans love having foreigner friends but it’s taxing for them to speak English and make tons of unknown social errors in the process (this is where the Korean mindset is different from the Western one, imo). The great thing is, speaking Korean is seen as such a huge adjustment/concession on your part that – partly due to being a white American as well – Koreans will completely ignore or even consider as charming most of the social errors that YOU make.

In sum, speaking Korean will impress Korean students enough to pique the curiosity of many. You can take advantage of this by making friends and contacts (you can just say to someone you’re talking with – “hey, wanna eat together sometime this week?” or “hey, i’ve gotta go but let’s exchange numbers”) that will inevitably lead to discovery of new and interesting stuff.

Hmm one thing I wish I’d done was read more books about Korean history, economics, and business back in the States. The main reason I didn’t (well, I read a few but not enough) was that I thought that time would be better-devoted to studying Korean and practicing Korean with 유학생 or 교환학생 friends in the U.S. This may have been true but I still wish I had been able to soak up more meta-knowledge so that I would have more mental models about how Korea and Korean society/government work on a LARGE scale before coming and experiencing so much of it on a smaller scale.”

How much do you think a normal student spends outside of tuition (housing, food, books, etc.) in one semester?

“In terms of non-tuition spending, this is HIGHLY variable – depends totally on your lifestyle. Some students I know have 3 meals/day at the cheapest school cafeteria, take public transportation everywhere, live in the dorms, and never go on any trips. To do a quick calculation, this lifestyle would cost:

2000 원/meal*3 meals/day*7 days/week*15 weeks/semester = 630,000원/semester. Transport budget of 3 round-trips per week – no need to leave the expansive campus every day = 6*1300원 for subway+bus transfer = 7800원/week*15 weeks/semester = 117,000원/semester. A dorm, as I said before, is 435,000원/semester though there is a 100,000원 deposit. Textbooks are cheaper than in the States; my accounting textbook was 30,000원 here, brand new. Many professors will even give out books for free during class or simply have a dirt-cheap copy-shop course packet. So budget 100,000원/semester for books. Add in 30,000원 for supplies, 30,000원 for club dues, and 2,000원/day for snacks or coffee (=210,000원/semester) and you come to a “barebones” budget of 63만원+11.7만원+43.5만원+10만원+3만원+3만원+21만원 = 155.2만원 or about $1300/semester at current exchange rates.

Of course, as I said this is “barebones” and don’t expect to live this way if you are dating, like to eat out, drink, take taxis, explore the city or travel a lot, enjoy sushi, etc. However it is a perspective on how many lower-income Korean students are able to afford university life without access to student loans like those available in the U.S. Now, though this barebones budget may represent many students, it is by no means the “normal” student and you will find yourself adding to it according to your own tastes. But I find it a good baseline for someone living in the dorms.”

In the future, I will continue to post my experiences as I go through registration, attend classes, etc assuming I get accepted.  Hopefully my experience will be useful to anyone else considering studying at SNU.  I’d just like to thank Sean again for this wonderful opportunity!