Housing is very competitive at Yonsei. Let me repeat that. Housing is VERY competitive at Yonsei. That being said, make sure you are on top of everything so you can get a spot. This post will be about my experience applying and tips to make this process go smoother for you.
Pre-Housing Application: Firstly, in your acceptance email from Yonsei, there should be a section that has housing information like the housing website and the day and time the application opens. WRITE DOWN THE DATE AND TIME.
Lastly, you will need to create an account that you will apply to housing with. I would recommend that you do this BEFORE the actual application day so that you save time and can apply as soon as it opens. Application Process: The application process itself is pretty simple. All you have to do is select which dorm (SK Global or International House) and then which type of room (if applicable). However, because it is so competitive, and housing is first-come, first-serve basis, it is important that you submit in your application ASAP! The school recommends that you submit it within 2-3 days, but I would say submit it by the end of the day it opens at the latest (though that may still be risky). I have had friends that applied just 15 minutes after it opened and was not able to get it. My experience: Personally, the application process was a bit stressful for me. About half an hour before the application was set to open (3:00), the housing site crashed and was not able to be loaded. I kept trying to refresh the page but nothing was able to appear. During this time, I was panicking, trying to figure out why the page wasn't loading, and trying to see if there was another way to send in an application. About an hour later, at 4:00pm, I received an email from one of the Yonsei study abroad coordinator who explained that the site had crashed due to the amount of people trying to apply (900+ students). Housing pushed back the application date to a couple of days later, and I was able to apply with no problems. I applied within the first five minutes of the application opening and was around the 230th applicant (again, apply ASAP). Fortunately, I was able to secure housing, and now had to move to the final step, payment. Payment: Payment was probably the most stressful part of my pre-departure process. I don't want to scare you, but rather have you learn from my mistakes. After finding out if you were able to secure housing, the next step is to pay for your dorm. Yonsei gives you a deadline about 2-3 weeks after the notification of results to pay. To pay, you must transfer the money into the Yonsei/housing bank account. My experience: Transferring money from one country to another will most likely come with a fee. The banks that I talked to (Bank of Hawaii, American Savings Bank, and Federal Credit Union.) all had a fee of around $45-50. Because of this, I looked around for other options like WesternUnion, which only charged $18. I immediately said yes to this option and used WesternUnion to send in my payment. Big Mistake. It turned out that the representative from WesternUnion did not send the money to any bank account, but to another WesternUnion branch in Korea where someone would have to pick up the money. Obviously, this was not okay since it had to go directly to the bank. To be safe, I emailed the receipt from this transaction to the housing office, to prove that I have the money and intention of paying for it by the deadline. Fortunately, they said that my housing was secure for now (since it takes a couple of days for the money to actually transfer to the bank). I immediately called WesternUnion, they gave a refund and said to try at a different WesternUnion branch in Hawaii. I did, but it turned out that WesternUnion is not able to send money to a bank in Korea. At this point, I started freaking out as this was about 2 days before the deadline. The WesternUnion recommended MoneyGram who also was not able to send money to Korea. I immediately went to the bank and transferred the money, got a receipt and re-sent it to the housing office. They noted my housing was secure and then sent an email a couple of days later when the money was fully transferred into the bank account. Tips for Housing Application: 1. BE ON TIME
2. PAY WITH YOUR BANK
3. DON'T FREAK OUT
Till next time!
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This post will all about the housing options at Yonsei.
Before applying, you must figure out which dorm you would like to apply to. At Yonsei, there are two different options for international students: SK Global and International House. Both are good options, though there are a few differences between the two. SK Global:
International House:
Both have air conditioners, heating systems, laundry rooms, kitchens and lounge areas. Note: Unlike many of the UHM dorms, there are no meal plans available. If you would like more information, you can look at these links: Till next time! |
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