Anyways, she just went over the application process with me and the financial part of studying abroad.
So here's some things I found out from our conversation:
- Because I am going to be studying in English, I don't have to fill out the Language Proficiency Report. Yay, considering I was wondering about that since the moment I saw it.
- FHSU will be enrolling me in 12 credit hours each semester. So I don't have to take more than 12 credit hours at the university I'm placed at. This is to keep me enrolled at a full time student at both my home and host institutions.
- I don't have to pay the application fee until I submit my application. For Fort Hays State University, the deadline for the Fall semester/Academic year to study abroad is January 15th.
- If ISEP is able to place me in a program, I will find out around Spring Break. They will tell me which university I am placed in and I will have the opportunity to accept it or try for them to place me in a different program again.
- All my college/university transcripts need to be sent to our school's International Student Services to be bundled with my ISEP application. This is includes any community college classes or even Advance Placement classes you took in high school. I was surprised that my community college credits that I earned back in 2006 still qualify.
- My two academic references must be Fort Hays State University professors. So I guess you have to have the references be from the institute you are coming from. This will be difficult for me, I think, since I'm an online student so I don't have the closest relationships to my professors.
- You don't have to do a personal essay for each university you apply to. From every account that I had read online, they said they had to write an essay for each university about why they wanted to attend that specific university. The coordinator said I do not have to do this, BUT if you want a better chance of getting placed at that certain university, you should write a personal statement of why.
- You should really put as many options down as you are interested in. Even though I am just interested in studying in South Korea, my coordinator said to research other places I would be also comfortable studying at. Because you never know if the first five universities will accept you. It could because of your major or GPA. Of course, if you put the university down, you need to do the research about the courses and do a course request list for each university. Apparently, out of the five students who went to study abroad from my university last year, 3 received their first choice, 1 received their third choice, and 1 received their fifth choice. So it's always good to have options.
- The flight to and from the university you will be studying at is completely your responsibility. This is not included in the ISEP fees. You are responsible for booking and paying for your own flight to the country you are studying at.
I think I impressed her because I had already done so much research beforehand. She didn't have to tell me about the visas or passports. I already have a passport from when I went to England (and it has a horrible picture of me). So all I need to do is get the visa after I receive placement and the entry packet from the host university. She did tell me that she recommends getting the multiple entry visa as I may want to travel in/out of the country during the year I'm there.
On another note, I have done all the course research for the five universities in South Korea. And still, my first choice is going to be Ewha. It just really appeals to me as it has a lot of the classes I require for my degree and Ewha has the most placement spots available. So I think that it's more likely I'll be placed there. After all, my GPA is decent and well within their limits.
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