Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Unfortunately, while I had one professor who was very kind and helpful, the rest of my professors either struggled with English and were very hard to listen to during lectures or were so absorbed with their research that teaching was the responsibility of the TA. Grading is both subjective and objective, depending on the professor. For example, one professor gave everyone an A for effort on the first essay. In another class, though, over half the class failed the midterm--but the grades weren't announced until after the withdrawal deadline. In this particular class, although the content was interesting, I didn't know what the expectations were for the tests (should I study previous exams, book problems, ask the TA, etc.), but the professor made up the questions a few days before the test, and we were told to just study everything. This was frustrating since I like to know the format of the test. Also, the practice questions, which all had to be translated into English, were not given to us until two days before the test and even then, there were no similar questions on the test anyway. Also, grades can seem even more arbitrary since several students feel catering to the professor (taking him drinking, bringing him a warm tea to every class, etc.) is a better way to get the professor's attention and to achieve a better grade (apparently, this is a very common practice in Korea, not just at SNU). Culturally, this was very hard for me to adapt to; grades were the goal, not actual learning, so any method was employed to get a good grade. Although I am from an Asian background, and respecting elders is a given, I thought that what the students did to gain their professors' favor often crossed the line. Another important aspect is competing against Korean students, who have a different style of learning, mainly memorization. They have gone through a grueling high school experience (getting out of class at 11 pm in high school is the norm) and so they either 1) feel that college is their time to relax or 2) never leave the library. This makes for a very unusual curve, where the students are concentrated at either end of the grading scale and very few are in the middle. In general, though, they are very smart and know how to use technology to their benefit. For example, all lectures (in Korean) can be downloaded online. Also, all the past tests and answers can be found online in student forums. While this may sound great, it seemed like a disadvantage for me since I couldn't access any of these materials, as they were in Korean. This is a good school if you are Korean but it is definitely not international student friendly.

On-site administration of your program

The program is run basically by one person. She is very nice and speaks good English but she cannot manage the hundreds of visiting and exchange students on her own. As I said earlier, the office is often late at giving information. Besides the housing disaster, the office didn't give us our certificate of enrollment until later in the semester, which meant that we couldn't get our alien cards, which meant that we couldn't get our student ID's, which in turn made using the library, computer labs, etc. very cumbersome. This is just an example of the disorganization and lack of communication.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

This was the WORST part of the exchange experience. After finding out very late that there was no dorm space, I got the school's off campus apartment, my only option besides finding housing on my own (which I didn't know how to do because of the language barrier). I paid the highest amount possible because I was from America (this was frustrating when I found out my peers were paying 40 percent less because they were from "poorer" countries like Hong Kong and Germany). To top it off, the cost was NOT on par with the rest of the neighborhood. My friends who were able to speak Korean and get an apartment for themselves, without the school, paid less than half of what I paid (they also had better buildings with communal kitchens and lived in a nicer area closer to the subway). The room itself was sparse; we were told we would get a fully furnished room, but my idea of fully furnished is not one set of chopsticks and a hot plate. The housing manager was a grad student who was nice but unavailable; on my first day, I stood outside the apartment in a panic in 30 degree weather because the housing manager was out to dinner with friends. However, I never felt unsafe in the apartment or neighborhood. Although there are many bars and clubs nearby (literally, I had three bars next door), I never felt as if I was in danger, but I was irritated by the constant noise from students singing bar songs at 3 a.m. To top it off, the area smelled all the time, not just off vomit from the drunken students but of sewage (their infrastructure is overloaded with too many people) and garbage (garbage is left outside, but not in bins). On the bright side, there were many cheap restaurants nearby, but I would've preferred the dorm cafeteria for healthier eating options.

This was the best part of the experience. SNU has many, many cafeterias on campus offering cheap healthy food. The lunch ranged from $1.50 to $3, and the most expensive lunch at $3 included a main dish and several sides. I often ate at the Engineering building, which had the newest cafeteria, the Business building, and at the main student center. Also, the cafeteria ladies were friendly--this was great because outside customer service is a bit lacking. However, if you are vegetarian or only like Western food, this is not the place for you. I ate Korean food three meals a day, every day--it was mostly vegetables but everything had meat broth or fish in it, however little. I love Korean food, so this was easy to adapt to, but my European friends found themselves eating pizza a lot.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

The exchange office did NOT arrange any extracurricular activities. Instead, a student club, SNU Buddy, put the exchange students in groups, assigned us SNU students to help answer our questions, and coordinated events. It's important to note that SNU Buddy is not affiliated with the office (they were cut off after the exchange program felt that Buddy Program discouraged studying). If it was not for my "buddy" assigned to me, I would have been miserable--she was the saving grace of my experience at SNU. She helped me get a cell phone, make friends and open a bank account, all the little things that are so easy to do at home but seem insurmountable in a foreign land. With this club, we visited palaces, temples, learned traditional Korean sports, watched movies, etc. I learned much more from my peers than from my professors.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I never got injured, but I had a friend who did. He had to go the emergency room and have stitches, all under $200 without medical insurance. Usually, though, students just go to SNU's clinic for non-emergency problems. You can also purchase insurance from the school very cheap, but I had insurance from my home country and chose to pay out of pocket and then be reimbursed should any situation arise. In general, as a girl, I was most afraid about traveling alone, but my fears were pretty much gone after the first week. Seoul is very much alive at night, so walking home from my night course never felt unsafe, as there were many other people out on the road as well. Also, rape/robbery are relatively rare, at least compared to the U.S. In fact, the most dangerous area of Seoul, unfortunately, is where the Americans hang out. Basically, it is a safe city but exercise common sense.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

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• Apartment

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• International Students