[ISEP] Placement Confirmed! I'm going to South Korea!

Today I received my e-mails from ISEP regarding my placement. Ewha Womans University accepted my placement so I'll be studying in Seoul, South Korea for the 2014-2015 academic year. I'm so excited and I just want to scream and tell everyone. Hehehe

I guess it's time to start doing more research now that I know for sure that I'm going!

[ISEP] Placement Email - 4 weeks down, 4 weeks to go

So, it's been about 4 weeks since ISEP began reviewing applications for next semester placements and today I received this email. If you didn't know, Ewha Womans University was my first choice for placement on my application so I was so excited that ISEP placed me there.

Now, all I have to do is wait a few more weeks to see if Ewha will accept my placement into their university. I'm so excited. This first email made me realize that I may actually go to South Korea instead of just dreaming about it.

AH I'M SO EXCITED!

[ISEP] An Update on Everything So Far - Becca's Meltdowns

Okay, it's been a LONG time since I last updated with an entry concerning my ISEP application and such.

January 17 was my university's deadline for the ISEP application for the Fall 2014 semester or 2014-2015 academic year. The actual program deadline is April 15 (priority deadline: February 15) but my university does an early deadline so that our coordinator can gather all the applications and send them off together. I sent mailed mine to the coordinator on January 16 and sent it overnight. She received my application the next day but it wasn't complete...

Only one of my professors had turned in an academic reference. 

[Research] Luggage on Black Friday

Since American Airlines allows you to have two free checked bags for an international to South Korea, I had initially decided to buy a luggage set. Black Friday is just around the corner and so many stores are having sales on their luggage sets.

[Research] Airlines and Travel Sites

So, obviously, I'm the kind of person who does A LOT of research before trips and such. Because of that, I'm already researching how much it's going to cost for plane tickets, kind of luggage who be best to buy, baggage allowances, and what type of stuff that you should definitely take to Seoul. Trust me when I say I've watched a lot of YouTube videos. lol

There are two good student discount travel sites that you should check out when you're deciding your flight abroad. STAtravel.com and StudentUniverse.com

[ISEP/Ramble] Meeting Scheduled and Passport Problems

So, first of all, my meeting is schedule for the 29th to meet with the ISEP coordinators for my school. YAY~! It'll be the first time I'll visit Hays too. lol I'm going to go ahead and get my student ID while I'm there. Because I'm an online student, I'm not required to have one but I still want one.

Now a problem has surfaced with my passport. SIGH. Somehow, even though I keep my passport hidden, locked, and out of reach, my cute little dog got a hold of it and chewed the corner of it. So when I went to the post office to pick up a package for my mother, I asked them if it's still valid. =__= Of course it isn't. Now I have to get it renewed and pay the $140 dollars again. The only good thing about it is now I don't have to keep the stupid picture that I had on it from 7 years ago. lol

[ISEP/Ramble]University Essays

So even though the coordinator said that it wasn't necessary for me to write essays for each university that I'm applying to, I've decided to go ahead and do so. My main reason is because that in the application itself, it says it's required. Plus I'm going to do whatever it takes to get an university to place me.

[ISEP] First Phone Call with Coordinator

About an hour ago, the study abroad coordinator called me, effectively waking me up. It's a good thing I'm able to fake being awake. lol

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.

So Research Has Already Paid Off

So the research I've been doing has really paid off while filling out the course request page in the application packet. I highly suggest you do lots of research and make sure the classes you want to take are actually worth taking. All the ones I put on the application are required for my degree so it won't be as if I'm missing a semester or something.

Here's what my course request page looks like, in case you are interested:

The First Step of Many

Today, the study abroad director at FHSU gave me the okay to start the application process for ISEP! Yay! She told me to go ahead and download/print the application from the website and tomorrow she's gong to call me so when can go over each step of the application process.

I am so excited! /screams

Going to go do some more research and start filling out these forms.

Researching Universities and Courses (Ewha Womans University)

To get ahead of everything, I already started researching the course that I can take at Ewha and Korea University. I haven't even met with the coordinator yet and I'm already doing this. Hahahaha~ I guess I'm just too excited?

Ewha Womans University only admits female Koreans but both male and female international students. They have two international dorms for undergraduates. The first dorm is older and has common bathrooms, which means they have larger rooms. The second dorm is newer and has private bathrooms in each room, making them smaller. When researching this, I thought that I would definitely want to be in the newer dorm with the private bathrooms. After all, I couldn't imagine sharing a common bathroom with everyone on the same floor. However after reading many accounts from others, if you have a private bathroom, you are in charge of keeping it cleaned and stocked. I don't know if I'm just lazy but that doesn't sound appealing to me. The common bathrooms, I heard, are very clean since there are staff who clean frequently. Plus, you are forced to have more interaction with the other exchange students. Which I desperately need. I'm hoping this abroad experience will help me get over the shy exterior I have.

Anyways, these are the classes that I am considering:

• 10619 - Religion and Culture in Modern Korea
• 10833 - Understanding World Heritage in Korea
• 11027 - Pop goes Korea: Korean Media and Culture
• 11116 - Introduction to World Music and Culture
• 21643 - Public Speech and Presentation
• 22195 - Macroeconomics
• 22218 - Microeconomics
• 22240 - Marketing Management
• 22250 - Financial Management
• 10145 - Tennis
• 10504 - Korean Ceramics I
• 34012 - Business Writing
• 34120 - Basic Painting
• 34613 - Organization Theory and Development
• 34618 - Foundations for Business English
• 35674 - International Political Economy
• 35688 - International Business Law
• 35981 - English Composition
• 36003 - Introduction to International Politics
• 36004 - Introduction to International Business
• 36134 - Principles of Economics
• 36178 - International Marketing
• 36402 - Public International Law
• 36789 - International Law and Global Society
• 37412 - Introduction to Programming
• 37431 - Culture of Everyday Life in Modern Korea

I know this list seems really long, but this is for two semesters since I'm applying for the academic year. Also, they say that you should pick more classes than you will take as schedules change and classes get dropped.

But anyways, these are classes that I thought were interesting and should have the credits transferred to FHSU. Plus some of these are required for my degree anyways so I have to take them no matter what.

Boring Background Information

The past couple of years, I've been dying to visit Seoul in South Korea. Yeah, my interest started out like a lot of others back in 2011. Korean dramas and Korean pop. But my admiration for Korean culture has expanded from these two very small parts. Now, I am so interested in learning all that I can and experiencing it for myself.

This year I began attending Fort Hays State University as an online student. I picked this university because I had heard so many good things about it and offered so many different degrees that could be completed entirely online. I picked my major as International Business and Economics. One, I love to travel even though I haven't had that many opportunities to do so. Two, I began to love the business side of companies. I worked at a pharmacy and began doing more with the actual business portion and marketing. That's when I realized that I didn't want to become a pharmacist anymore and do something with business. When I did my research, International Business and Economics sounded perfect to me.

Two weeks ago, my university sent out emails to tell the students about an upcoming fair. It was the study abroad fair. This is when I learned about the opportunities I had to study abroad through the ISEP program. And I can't tell you how excited I was to learn that South Korea was included in the countries that had agreements with my university! Finally, I had the chance to visit South Korea without giving up time for my education. I just had to take it.

Unfortunately, it's too late to apply for the Spring 2014 semester so the study abroad coordinator at FHSU suggested that I apply for the Fall 2014 semester and I made the decision to go ahead and do the whole academic year. A year in South Korea! Who could give up that opportunity!

There are five universities that are with the ISEP program for exchanges. Ewha, Korea U, and Yonsei are all in Seoul which is where I would love to go. Ajou in Suwon while Keimyung is in Daegu. I would gladly go to one of those universities if I'm unable to go to the first three. After watching tons of videos on YouTube and reading blogs about these universities, I decided that my first choice is going to be Ewha.

After exchanging emails with the study abroad coordinator for FHSU, she has told me that for our university, the deadline for the next academic year is January 15, 2014.

Soon, I'm going to schedule an appointment to meet with the coordinator on campus to discuss the whole application process. 

All I know is that I want to get this all done as soon as possible and properly. I am going to apply for all the universities in South Korea so I know that I'm going to have write essays for each one. That's going to be fun. hahahaha....