Exchange Report - Spring 2015 Yonsei University Seoul, South Korea 79381W Source: http://www.uq.edu.au/uqabroad/yonsei-university Yonsei University 50 Yonsei-ro Sepdaemun-gu Seoul SOUTH KOREA Preparing for the exchange Having lived in the United States and Australia, Asia felt like a good destination for my exchange year. The final choice was between Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea. Hong Kong did not offer any Master level exchange and Japan being very expensive I decided to with South Korea. I had also met many Koreans during my earlier travels, who had been really nice and fun people, which also mattered in the choice. All of the three universities that Aalto has an exchange deal with are located in the capital, Seoul. All three SKY-universities (Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University) are top universities in Korea, and people are proud to be alumni or current students of each one of them. The choice between these three universities was in the end fairly easy. I heard from several sources that Yonsei University has a really vibe and there is a lot going on around the university. This was a very important factor in my decision, since I knew that all three universities are very respected in academics. I also saw the exchange semester of 50% of studying and 50% getting to know the country, culture and meeting new people. After being selected to Yonsei University in the internal selection of Aalto I had to still do an online application on Yonsei University’s web site. This required some basic information such as name, home university, major etc. The form was very clear and with instructions there was nothing difficult in filling the form. After completing the form it and sending it electronically Yonsei also required a printed version of the form, which had to be mailed to them in advance. I highly recommend doing this as early as possible, since my application letter got lost somewhere in the Yonsei office and therefore I got my application letter very late. I was not able to apply for my VISA before getting the letter, and in the end I got the VISA the same day as my flight left. So send the papers rather early than late! The VISA application is a bit annoying. First you need to visit the website http://fin.mofa.go.kr/english/eu/fin/main/index.jsp and get the VISA application form, which is found on the website as a PDF file. All of the following documents need to be taken to the South Korean embassy in Helsinki, and the application process takes at least five working days: - Valid Passport - Visa application form (the student VISA code is D-2) - Processing fee (around 60 euros) - A recommendation letter from Aalto University (I got this from the International Office) - An enrolment letter from Aalto (got this from the main building in Töölö) - The original acceptance letter (sent by Yonsei University) - Another form, which name I can’t remember (comes with the acceptance letter) - Most recent certificate of school record (official transcripts from Aalto) - Financial verification (a statement in English from your bank which shows that you have enough money, best to check the limit form the Embassy) - A passport photo (colour photo 3,5 X 4,5 cm) After getting the VISA you have all the required paperwork to enter the country. Getting to Yonsei University from Incheon International Airport is pretty easy with a train. I took the airport line to Hongik University station and from there I switched to line 2 towards Sinchon station, which is only one stop away. It takes about ten minutes to walk from the station to the campus. Finding my housing (SK Global House, more about it later) was a bit difficult since the Yonsei campus is very big. Even many of the students did not know exactly where it is located but after asking from several different people I was able to find my way there. People in the SK Global House reception were very helpful and the check in process was very easy. Plenty of other exchange students were also checking in and I found my first friends already in the reception. One of the buildings in Yonsei University Exchange Studies The Spring semester in Yonsei University started on February 24, 2015. That day is the orientation day, which includes some lectures and performances. After the orientation day pretty much all the practical things were unclear to me due to an information overload, but other exchange students (especially the ones who had been there the last semester as well) were always willing to help. Overall the orientation day was still useful and I really recommend taking part on it. The first thing that had to be done even before the orientation day is course registration. This was on February 5, which was about three weeks before the classes began. The registration is done in a Yonsei internal portal, which requires a username and a password (I got these on an email together with the acceptance email). The portal works 100% with internet explorer and other browsers are not supported. Mac/safari combination seemed to work fine for me though, but Chrome did not work at all. The portal is a bit complicated at first and I recommend getting familiar with it before the course registration. The registration was 10:00 am-4:59 pm Korean Time and it works on a first-come, first-served basis. Many courses get full in the first fifteen minutes of registration, so you should know which courses you want to take in advance. Searching information about the courses and their scheduled is possible before the real registration day. On the registration day I had some connection problems and ended up registering late. Fortunately most business courses were still available, but many courses related to Korean language/culture were already full. Yonsei offers plenty of different courses in different fields, but Aalto requires you to take mainly business courses. Also one course related to local language/culture is accepted. Master’s level students should take mainly Master’s level courses, but undergraduate courses are also accepted if they are not related to your current major or former studies. I ended up choosing three undergraduate business courses and one course related to Korean culture. This is because many of the graduate level business courses taught in English (courses are in English or Korean) seemed very similar to the ones I had already taken in Aalto or my former university. All of the courses were in the category “Study Abroad” which Yonsei has created mainly for exchange students. This meant that nearly everyone in the courses were exchange students as well. All of the courses had to be confirmed with Aalto with an online form, so that the credits can later be accepted back in Finland. I recommend doing this right away after you have registered for your courses, so in case you have to change something there will still be enough time to do so. My courses were accepted in a few days, so no there was no extra hassle or paperwork, which is always nice. As a Master’s level exchange student I had to take 24 credits ECTS, which means four courses in Korea that all last the entire semester (instead of 5-period system in Aalto). All of the courses had three lectures a week, usually split to two different days. Business and Society, IEE3325, 3 credits Korean / 6 credits ECTS, undergraduate, Professor: Daryl Bockett The first course I took was called Business and Society. The focus of the course was to discuss about different point-of-views how business decisions affect our society as a whole. The course encouraged to outside-the-box thinking and also many of the downsides that business decisions have on the society were discussed in an objective manner. The course does not have in-class exam, but short reports have to be turned in nearly every week. The first part of the course is about an investment portfolio, where you have to search for a different stock every week that you believe would have potential to rise during the semester. The second part of the class focuses on different problems such as: unemployment, high CEO salaries, social inequalities etc. The course has a midterm paper about these problems, which is fairly short (3-4 pages). The last part of the course was to create a social business plan (does something good to the society & makes profit), which required market research, teamwork, financial calculations etc. A presentation about the business plan was the final exam, and also a report about other teams’ presentations had to be turned in. The professor in this class, Daryl Bockett from New Zealand, was a good speaker with a relaxed attitude. He was really good in creating a conversation, which was important since the class really didn’t have right or wrong answers. Daryl has a background in social sciences, so the class was a bit different than regular business courses, which was nice variation. He also understands that exchange students want to explore the country and was always ready to negotiate about possible absences. Overall I can highly recommend this class to future Yonsei exchange students. The topics are interesting, the classes are based mainly on discussions, and the course requirements and deadlines are very clear. I feel that I got a lot out of this course. Entrepreneurship and Strategy, IEE3340, 3 credits Korean / 6 credits ECTS, undergraduate, Professor: Eunse Lee This course was all about discussion.