weitere Erfahrungsberichte für Suedkorea
Land:
Suedkorea
Universität:
Kookmin University, Seoul
Semester und Studiengang:
5. Semester Bachelor International Management
Aufenthalt:
wintersemester 2016
Über die Universität:
I went to Kookmin University in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. The business faculty offers a lot of different and interesting courses from which I was able to choose. The registration for the courses (happening before your arrival to Korea) was pretty complicated but ones I got to the school I was able to see my adviser who helped me signing up for classes, I was not able to sign up for. The administrative staff made it even possible for us to enroll to classes that were already completely occupied, which was very nice of them.
My classes were all taught in English besides my Basic Korean language class. I was very satisfied with all my classes because we did not only have lectures but in every course we had several case studies, presentations and/or group projects. Your final grades usually always include your attendance and participation in class as well as presentations or group projects, a mid-term and a final exam. I would say the standards are almost like in Germany so do not be afraid of the work load.
The Kookmin University offers different student programmes such as an international club or various sport clubs, where it was very easy to get in contact with local as well as international students. All my professors spoke good or very good English and they were always willing to help us, giving advice about school and culture related issues, they really helped us to integrate into the class environment.
Betreuung vor Ort:
As already briefly mentioned, the staff at the university was incredibly helpful and competent. Koreans in general are very polite if someone is asking them for help, but especially at the Kookmin University I was always able to contact at least two of our advisers or I could visit them anytime at their office and they made sure to help me as good as possible. Most of the international students, including myself, had problems with signing up for the classes which I was very worried about at the beginning because I was not sure if I would be able to attend enough classes to get my required credits. The staff and the professors were very kind and helpful about it, so once I got there and talked to them I got enrolled into all the classes I wanted to take. They even opened up a second Korean language class because so many students wanted to attend it.
Everything we had to organize was easy because we got very detailed instructions and lots of help from the university. At the beginning I was told that I would live on campus in a dormitory which is very cheap but small and not very modern. A couple of weeks before I started my journey, I was informed that we will live in a new building right in the city centre. It turned out to be much more expensive than living on campus. The university apologized for this but all of us were actually super happy about our accommodation. I was sharing a small room with two other girls but we had a little kitchen and our own bathroom. Furthermore we were able to use a gym in the 29th floor for free with an incredible view over Seoul. If we would have lived on campus we would have had a curfew and had to take a bus for almost an hour to get into the city centre and to all the fun places of Seoul. Gladly we lived right next to the Seoul station which is very central and has the best public transportation options. All in all I must say that I loved my accommodation but it takes a little bit of luck to have great roommates.
Tipps:
My advice to future students going to Kookmin University is to definitely not stress out in the beginning about how all the organizational issues are going to end up. Students, staff and professors at the university are incredibly friendly and willing to help you with everything.
If possible try not to live on campus but rather in the city. This way you have a much better chance of experiencing the big city life, the Korean culture and the night life as well.
I would recommend the university to everyone, it is a good opportunity of getting great education, spending your breaks on a beautiful campus between high mountains and experiencing the Korean culture together with local and international students.