r/YonseiUIC

I’m an incoming international student trying to make a huge decision between two offers: Yonsei UIC (ISED) and Korea University (Electrical Engineering). Also, my SKKU result is coming on July 16th.

My ultimate goal is to graduate entirely in English and leave Korea after for my master’s abroad. I have zero plans (as of now) to stay in Korea long-term. I need some unfiltered, realistic advice on a few things:

1. The KU English graduation path: For international students in KU electrical engineering, how do they manage an all-English path? It’s concerning that many major-required courses and technical electives lack English sections. If my goal is an English-taught degree for a global master’s program, is KU a trap? How do non-Korean speakers handle mandatory Korean language requirements and major classes without harming their GPA?

2. Yonsei UIC ISED (No Scholarship): Since I didn’t receive an initial scholarship from Yonsei, I’ll be paying the full tuition out of pocket. Given that I want to move to Western countries/abroad for grad school, do UIC’s environment, curriculum, and international recognition actually justify the steep price tag? Is the post-grad pipeline worth the investment?

3. Cost of Living: Can any current student (ideally South Asian students) give me a raw, realistic estimate of monthly living expenses in Korea? I just need a breakdown of dorms/rent, food, transport, and daily life (everything except tuition).

Would really really appreciate if anyone can Help Out!!

Is it super uncommon for people to get accepted after being rejected once? I got rejected for the fall intake and I’m planning on improving my application and applying for the spring intake but I’m not sure if people who take this route are often successful or not. Is it reasonable to try?

Also, I thought that every applicant got an interview but i’ve heard from some people that you only get an interview if you pass the documents round. I got an interview for the fall intake before I was rejected. If I give a better interview this time, do I have a solid shot, assuming getting an interview slot means my documents were decent?

So my IB prediction is 37/45, and I have an IELTS score of 7.5 and no SAT score. Extracircular's include:

- Computers Science club leader

- 3 Internships

-CAS

-Started a nonprofit

-MUN awards and medals

-Started a fashion business where all the proceeds go to charity

-Participated in many cleanups and events. Can I get in? and I'm thinking of giving my SATs. I'm Mongolian.

I know that yonsei has about two and a half month for both winter and summer break. what do international students usually do? Flying back home? Can we do research with professors, or can we do any projects or internships even if we don’t know Korean?

Basically gng, I recently heard about yonsei and I was mainly locked in for ivies preparations but my parents want me to have few options in india and south asia so I came across yonsei.

I don't need any scholarship to attend but would like if i could get.

Only questions is should I keep yonsei as a target or safety school ?
Target is 50-50 chance, i might or might not get in and Safety means 70-90% likely to get in.

Desired Major: Business/finance/sociology + AI
Demographics: Indian male, middle class, IBDP School
Hooks: None
Rigor: Maths AI HL, Business Management HL and Chemistry HL
SL Subjects - English Language and Literature, French B and Physics

GPA (biggest problem) -
9th grade - 4/4 - 4 A stars, rest all A's (FLE) - IGCSE
10th grade - 3.92/4 - 2 A stars, 4 A's and 1 B (FLE) - IGCSE
11th grade - 3.2/4 (32/45) - Ik gng i messed up again
12th grade - I expect to score 40+/45 predicted (got tutors and all) and the teachers understood why my grades were so low and am scoring accordingly in 12th grade.

Extracurricular Activities

1. Independent Researcher

Sole-author of 4+ studies on AI, labor markets, and institutional decision-making; developed original governance frameworks and quantitative indices, open-sourced research code, presented findings publicly, and earned acceptance to Krea University's RSFE Finance Track.

I hope to get at least one published in a journal since my prof directly helped me out.

2. Research Assistant – Oxford Saïd Business School

Conducted a qualitative literature review on public vs private markets and corporate delisting; analysed 30+ academic papers, developed a structured delisting table constituting of 400+ companies, and synthesised findings for regulatory application. The report was submitted to the Financial Reporting Council; worked directly under faculty guidance.

3. AI Recruiting Intern

First high-school intern at a U.S. recruiting firm; sourced and screened 75+ candidates, advanced 5 finalists to leadership, introduced AI-powered recruiting workflows, and helped expand sourcing capacity through automation, process design, and talent intelligence research.

4. CFO – MUN Logistics Business

Directed operations for a conference supply venture serving 16 MUNs; managed end-to-end procurement, budgeting, and client acquisition, generating ₹7,00,000 revenue at ~24% margins; built scalable vendor and fulfilment systems; implemented advance payment protocols after contract failure as a means to improve financial risk control.

5. MUN Secretariat Leadership

Led operations across 9 MUN conferences (1100+ delegates), serving in senior secretariat roles including Deputy Secretary General (3x), Head of Outreach, and Financial Advisor; managed 80+ member secretariats, built SOP-driven hiring systems reducing recruitment time by 33%, secured partnerships (UNHCR, G20, NITI Aayog), and generated ₹10.9L revenue with ₹3.16L profit; resolved high team attrition through structural engagement systems.

6. MUN Integrity Verification Organization

International Affairs Coordinator for a global initiative verifying chair/vice-chair credentials across 50 conferences; led 6 country heads, built verification workflows using centralized databases and network validation, and supported organizing committees in detecting fraudulent applications.

7. HR Intern – (Mental Health NGO)

Conducted 35+ structured interviews and redesigned the recruitment pipeline using AI transcription and parallel processing; reduced time-per-hire by 50% and recruited 26+ interns, significantly increasing organisational capacity.

8. MUN Delegating & Chairing

Participated in 33 conferences (19 delegate, 13 chair/vice-chair roles) including prestigious conferences such as Oxford and Harvard MUN; secured awards in 15/19 conferences as a delegate; engaged in high-level committees alongside university participants in 7 MUN’s, strengthening negotiation, policy analysis, and public speaking.

9. Paid Independent Adjudicator – IPDC 2026

Selected adjudicator for the 7th International Parliamentary Debate Competition; evaluated competitive debate rounds and research motions; compensated per round(15$)

10. XXXXX (NGO Co-founder) (Can't name it)

Founded a small-scale nutrition initiative addressing protein deficiency in government school students; funded through MUN profits and distributed supplements to 30+ students; developed a replicable low-cost intervention model.

Awards/Honours

1. Ascend Berkeley Stock Pitch Competition – Grand Finalist & India Champion

Level: International

Grand Finalist (Top 5/55+, 8.93%); Champion – India Team; led team in fintech stock analysis using Monte Carlo simulation and financial modelling

2.Grand Delegate & Best Delegate (DMUN USA)

Level: International

Grand Delegate (1/1200+, 0.08%) and Best Delegate (1/140, 0.71%) in WTO Committee; highest overall distinction at international conference; represented South Sudan

3. National Economics Olympiad – Finalist (SRCC)

Level: National

Finalist (127/2600+, 4.88%); self-studied economics using only competition resources with no prior background

4. Singapore & Asian Schools Math Olympiad (SASMO) – Gold Award

Level: International

Global Rank 25; National Rank 10 (Grade 11); Gold Award (Top 8%); School Rank 1 in rigorous international mathematics competition.

More deets

Submitted my delisting paper, which was an extension of my work as a Research Assistant under the Oxford professor to Research Symposium on Finance and Economics 2026 (Accepted) and the 18th Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking Conference (Accepted here too)

Delisting Paper accepted to International Conference on Applied Economics and Business 2026.

Acceptance into non-trivial partner programmes - Leaf’s summer cohort - 10% acceptance rate from thousands of applicants with full tuition fee waiver. - Does this help at all with ashoka applications ?

Hi everyone!
I’ll be starting at Yonsei UIC this Fall, and my goal is to earn at least a partial academic scholarship. From what I know, I’ll need around a 4.2+/4.3 GPA, so I want to do everything I can to prepare.
I still have about two months before the semester starts, so I’d love to hear your advice:
What can I do now to prepare?
What study habits helped you achieve a very high GPA?
Are there any mistakes I should avoid from the beginning?
Is there anything I can already practice or learn before classes start?
I’d especially love to hear from people who studied at Yonsei or UIC, but any advice from students with a high GPA is greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

Hold on!! I’ve seen so many scholarship holders having SAT. Does anyone here got the full tuition scholarship but with no SAT ??? Is that possible guys??

I got into three of this top universities. HKU is a little too expensive for me so i don’t know about it. I have only a week to choose and i don’t know what to do

hi guys im a gsis student who was accepted to start this fall and wanted to make a discord server to connect w other students starting this upcoming sem (undergrad, grad, exchange--everyone)!

• here's the link!

i modeled it after an old server i joined as an exchange student at yonsei 3yrs ago lol so if there are any suggestions for improvement i'd love to hear them :) figured discord might be a little more organized than standard gcs in other apps... hope to meet some of u guys there!!

Can you guys share what you did to get accepted into yonsei uic? Im currently in 11th grade and im having hard time on finding advice about what to work on my apps, what tests to take, what to focus on etc

Hello! I didn't really know there was a reddit community for this; I wish I had known this earlier. Anyways... I have been applying to PSIR/PSIS in both yonsei tracks ever since 2024 when I was in high school (did not have IB program), I applied for Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026 and did not apply for Fall 2026, as I decided to have time to reflect and improve for now Spring 2027... (Also for KU, Ewha and HUFS this time). Currently, since im class of 2024, I am studying law at the top 1 university in my country. rn im about to finish my 3rd semester/1.5 year of a 6-year program. I did not know if I was still allowed to apply as a freshman (Fall 2025-Spring 2026; I still did apply as a freshman), so I asked and they firstly said yes, but now that I ask, they do not give a clear answer other than "applicants must choose their eligibility based on the guidelines; therefore, read the guidelines." I am scared that the reason they might have been rejecting me is because of this? I do not wish to transfer any credits or apply as a transfer; I'd gladly start over as a freshman (also bc my uni grades are not that good bc of serious mental health issues + it being the top 1 uni really is challenging).
Also before I didn't have an SAT score (it's not a common test in my country), but I do know, and I've decided to retake it in august since I didn't get a good score in the june one (1250 as my first SAT; I've been 2 years out of high school, and I had to balance studying for the SAT with uni coursework lol). I'm aiming for a 1400+ this time, so hopefully I make the cut with that. I also have to retake the TOEFL since the one I took in 2024 specifically for the application is about to expire. I'm aiming for a 5.5 on the new scale? like a 110/120? since last time I didn't study at all for it and got a 92...
I would love some feedback :(. My ECS are not that good and each time I applied, I've tried to improve them, being this time where I feel they are stronger(?) (joined 2 youth orgs and made the bylaws of one of them, attended the intl seminar of Dr. Song No talking abt Han Kang where at the end I engaged with him and got a pic w him too, started an online study group/blog where I even got a big brand to sponsor, doing the yonsei online coursera and other courses, staff at a girls only study space community, etc), and Im also actively trying to improve them (please help) Also I got 2 recommendation letters from my university professors (one is from my constitutional law prof and the other one is from my Asian Cultures/Korean literature prof) but I don't know how to submit them for UIC or the regular intl track... I emailed them both, and UIC hasn't answered, and RegTrack literally ONLY said, "You cannot submit the recommendation Letters."

Idk what else to do; please, I'd love some feedback, stats that got you into any of these programs, more ecs... :( Seriously, I don't know what else to do and I do not want to fall into the cliche of "oh its my dream school" but it really is and im desperate

EDIT: For high school I was really good, I had a 9/10 GPA or a 4.0, I was the only one in my class to get into the top 1 uni; so idk what else...

EDIT 2: They FINALLY gave me a clear answer, and yes I can still apply as a freshman

I don’t understand how to know what courses do i need to sign up for. I don’t even have the course catalogue.

i know that korea vs yonsei is probably debated a lot but i don't have a lot of time before decide so i wanted to ask🙏🏻😓

it seems like from what i read online ku's international student support is bad.
i applied for the gomd there so that i can work on my korean more the first year and then choose a major. i'm also still indecisive so this track felt like a really good option for me. even though my korean maybe gets to a really good level i'd still choose one of the majors that is mostly taught in english. but i'm seeing that even for english taught majors sometimes the assignments and tests are in korean. is it true?

uic seems like a better place because of its international environment. one of the cons is that hass being at the songdo campus all 4 years. also i doubt my division-major choice there. i studied in the science-math track of my high school. when i applied to uic i felt like i didn't wanna go into anything stem, maybe because of pressure around me etc. and i applied for double majoring in information and interaction design and creative tech management in my mind. i wanted something more creative but i think i can do better at a stem degree. i'm not so sure about this decision now. 😬☹️ i can still somewhat try to double major with something from ised. but i don't know if it's common or realistic to do that.

korea uni still gives me an option to go into a natural science major or to an engineering major but seeing many mixed reviews makes me confused.

hi! i was recently admitted to yonsei uic for fall 2026 and i was wondering whether it would be possible to work on campus to earn extra funds. i'm not exactly expecting much or anything but was just wondering if it were an option and whether you would need to be fluent in korean to get the job or not. thankss

Hi I’m a community college business student from the US (Graduating December), and I’m planning on applying to yonsei uic UD as a transfer for spring 2027. My desired major is IS and possibly a 2nd major in CDM (if they let me).

To start, by graduation i should have around a 3.5/3.6 on a 4.0 scale. I took TOEFL last year with no prep and got an 83 (6.5 ielts equivalent), however i plan to retake that or ielts instead.

For extracurriculars, I was in a notable business organization (FBLA) for 2 years, where I held leadership positions and also was the clubs social media manager, graphic designer, and event manager/planner. I also competed on a regional and state level, where I placed in regionals for graphic design! I also did choir/a capella club tor 4 years and did compete in ICHSA.
In more recent years, I was in my colleges business club, international club, and rotary club for all my 2 years of community college. For business club I competed in ACCE 2026 and placed 2nd in my state. For my international club and rotary club, I held positions as President and graphic designer. I ended up hosting and organizing our college's 2nd ever cultural exchange exhibition, where I also spoke on humanitarian issues (I also use my platform to speak out online.) Around May, I was also recognized by my college for my work and dedication. I also do have many hours in volunteering but am not sure of the exact number.
l've also done some yonsei courses (coursera & KSI), harvard courses, and hold 3 business certifications that are recognized here in the us.

I have also been starting up my own nail business.

As for advice, is there anything past students or recently accepted applicants suggest for me as a transfer applicant? Anything I can improve in the meantime before applications open thats realistic for the time frame?

(PS I’ve posted something similar recently before but am reposting as a new post.)

Hi everyone,
I was recently admitted to Yonsei UIC without a scholarship. I can afford tuition, but it’s still a big financial burden, so I’m trying to understand my options.
I know that Yonsei offers merit-based scholarships (1/3, 1/2, full) starting from the second semester based on GPA. I’m wondering how realistic these are in practice.
I also saw a student with a 4.24/4.3 GPA who only received a 1/3 scholarship.
So I’d really appreciate any insights on:
How difficult it is to get these scholarships at UIC
What GPA range is usually needed for 1/3, 1/2, or full
Whether it’s mostly top-ranked students or more flexible
And whether there are any other scholarship opportunities after admission (e.g. external scholarships or other funding options students can apply for once already enrolled)
Any experiences or advice would be really helpful. Thanks!