Application Process

For more information about the whole application process, you can check out Sogang's KLEC website. Just click on "Application Process" link on the front of the website. Here's a direct link.

Admission Letter

If you requested your admission letter from Sogang, then will look like this:

Front of the envelope

Back of the envelope

The documents

Of course I blanked out my personal information. The 2011 Spring term is from March 3rd ~ May 17th which shows on the Sogang website. Now, on the documents it shows that the last date is May 24th. The email from Sogang that I received will clarify this:

Lastly, when you receive your certificate of admission and certificate of enrollment, you can find last date is 1 week later than we posted at the web site. If we notified the last date at the certificates, student visa will also expires that date. In that case, students must leave Korea by last day of term. Therefore we give 1 more extra week for students who need time to finish the life in Korea.

Tuition

After getting accepted to Sogang, I had to pay for the tuition. The tuition is 1,575,000won (include tuition: 1,515,000 KRW, application fee: 60,000 KRW).

Dear XXXXXXXXXX

Congratulations, you have been accepted into Sogang Korean Language Education Center’s program.

If you transfer total tuition to us, your application process will be finish.

So, please transfer 1,575,000won (include tuition: 1,515,000 KRW, application fee: 60,000KRW) to below account by end of January 2011.

---------- Wire transfer information ----------

Woori Bank (Sogang University Branch)

Depositor : Sogang University

Seoul Korea

Account # : 1006-301-271661

Swift Code : HVBKKRSE

Application Name and Passport number.

Address : Korean Language Education Center. Sogang University 1-1 Sinsoodong,

           Mapo-gu, Seoul 121-742, KOREA

------------------------------------------------------

---------- Domestic transfer information ----------

우리은행

Depositor : 서강대학교

Account # : 1006-301-271661

-------------------------------------------------------

※ Textbooks fee is not included at the above mentioned fee. You must buy your textbooks at the Sogang University campus bookstore by yourself according to your placement test result.

If you can’t wire it in KRW, you can send it in USD, JPY and EURO also according to daily exchange rate. But, if the transferred amount is less than KLEC needs caused by different exchange rate, please pay the difference after you arrive in Korea. (Of course you can get surplus if the transferred amount is more than KLEC needs.)

And, I will send a Certificate of admission after I receive your total tuition.

Thanks again for applying to Sogang KLEC’s program and I’m look forward to meeting you soon at Sogang University Korean Language Education Center.

Best Regards

Kim Hyung-il

Err....how am I suppose to do that? I searched around the internet and found out that Money Gram has a partnership with Woori Bank. I went to CVS where you can just pick up a Money Gram phone and it dials itself to their automated line. Hm....yea, the automated system is kind of stupid. I kept saying "KOR-EA" when they asked what country I'm sending the money to and they never took it. The automated system would say, "Did you say Syria? I would say "NOOOO" several times and get frustrated. So I said it another way, "KO-REA", "KAR-EA", and "KER-EA".....still saying a different country than what I wanted. Out of nowhere a white lady comes up and was like "LET ME TRY". In my head, I'm thinking, "Uh....did I not say KOREA CLEARLY....in ENGLISH? Did it seem like I had an accent, stuttering, or saying it incorrectly in any sort of way?" I just let the lady say "KOREA" anyways cause I didn't want to make a scene. Well.....she got it wrong too. At this time I was frustrated and irritated, but didn't show it. I just waited on the phone until I got customer service in which.....still didn't go so well. At one point I forgot to get the amount for the tuition I was suppose to send, so I had to drive all the way back home and get it. Anyway, it seems like you can't send money to a company or university. You have to send money to an actual person. I waited an hour at CVS for no reason. After I went home I realized I should've said "South Korea", duhhh, hahaha.

Next, I sent a message online to my bank about wiring money to Korea. I thought you had to do through the phone cause that's how they replied to me. I called them and they said I didn't have an agreement to do wire transfer through the phone and I will have to go to my local bank. I was at the bank several times that week so I could withdraw money and deposit the money bank when I went to CVS. It just feels awkward going back so many times, haha. I ended up going to my bank at a different location and was finally able to wire my tuition to Sogang University. I justed talked to the teller and gave them all the information. They did everything on the computer. We tried to send the money through as KRW cause it's more accurate, but my bank didn't allow that. We ended up wiring $1450 USD. My bank said it costs $45 for a wire transfer, but only charged me $25. The final paperwork had the wrong address for the bank, so I was extremely worried it wouldn't go through. This is from my wire receipt from my bank:

What my bank statement showed:

Yea.....as you can see, all the information gathered got me so confused. I emailed Sogang anyway and told them I wired the money with the reference number provided by my bank when I did the wire. Two days later, Sogang said they received the money, but I had overpaid 16,023 KRW.

Dear XXXXXXXXXX

Thanks for sending your tuition.
I've received 1,591,023 KRW well.
However, as you see it is 16,023 KRW more than KLEC needs.
I guess it is caused by difference exchange rate.
Sorry for bothering you but, for refund it, you must let me know the bank account information that opened at bank in Korea.
And, you can get your certificate in 10days.
If not, please let me know it soon.

Lastly, when you receive your certificate of admission and certificate of enrollment, you can find last date is 1 week later than we posted at the web site. If we notified the last date at the certificates, student visa will also expires that date. In that case, students must leave Korea by last day of term. Therefore we give 1 more extra week for students who need time to finish the life in Korea.

All the best,
Kim Hyung-il

I asked if I could get the refund when I arrived, but they said because of a rule, they can't give me cash.

Dear XXXXXXXXXX

So sorry but, we can't five cash at the office because of Sogang's rules.
You must open the bank account for refunding and if you will bring your passport to the bank at first floor of KLEC building, you can open it.

Sincerely
Kim Hyung-il

This finalizes everything and can say that I am definitely going to Korea.

Applying To Sogang KLEC

It took several months for me to decide on which Language Institute I wanted to go to. It was between Yonsei KLI (Korean Language Institute) or Sogang KLEC (Korean Language Education Center). My ultimate goal is to be able to speak proficiently and not really fluently. Based on reviews from various blogs and websites, I decided to apply to Sogang KLEC cause they can help you speak faster and more fluidly. I did want to go to Yonsei before cause I could dorm there for a while until I got to know a bit of Seoul. I wanted to play it safe, but it wasn't what I really wanted.

I went to Sogang's website around August and you couldn't apply for the Spring 2011 semester cause....uh....the radio button wasn't there, haha. Even after the summer semester ended they never updated their website for me to apply. I waited a while for the fall semester to apply. Even after the fall semester started they STILL didn't update their website. By this time I was getting worried cause I wanted to apply as early as I could.

A week later Sogang updated their website, so you could apply to the Spring semester. YAY!!!! So I applied.....5 TIMES!!!!! Well, why did I apply so many times? After sending in my application, I was redirected to another page to set your interview date. Um....the website didn't ALLOW me to choose one. There were no dates at all to choose from. At this point I was like, "They didn't update their website fully. I will wait 1 week". I waited and I pretty much applied EVERY single week in the month of September. TWICE every week. Can you tell I REALLY wanted to go to Sogang? haha. After applying a dozen times, I emailed Sogang, but never got an answer.

After no answer, I just made a user account with the website not knowing if I even had to do it. The account required a Social Number and a Korean name. I didn't have either, so I put in my Social Security Number for Social Number and put in my real name for Korean name. I applied once more thinking that this is what I had to do to get an interview date.......WRONG as usual. I waited and waited....waited some more for an answer from Sogang. Never got one. On October 4th, I was so frustrated that I pulled up Yonsei's website and said that if I didn't get an answer today, that I was going to Yonsei. I checked my email one last time and BAM!!!! I got an email from Sogang saying they needed a copy of my high school diploma and passport. How ecstatic am I now, hahaha.

Dear XXXXXXXXXX

Thank you for applying to Sogang University Korean Language Education Center. (KLEC)

I need more documents to admit you to study in Sogang University KLEC.

So, would you please send your scanned passport, Alien Registration Card (if you have) and diploma (transcript from university or college is possible) to me via e-mail?

(KLEC must check that documents because of Korean Immigration Rules for foreign students.)

I will send a mail about your total tuition and Sogang’s bank information after I check your documents.

Thanks again for applying to KLEC’s 2011 Spring program.

I look forward to meeting you soon at Sogang University KLEC.

Regards

Kim Hyung-il

I just took pictures of them and sent them an email back. Several hours later I got accepted ^__^V. Here are the pictures:

A Whole Year?

In order for me to immerse myself in a culture I was interested in, I wanted to stay a year there. I didn't want to JUST visit. I wanted to learn the language and about the people. In order for me to stay a year I needed.....MONEY. And lots of it. I calculated I needed about $12,000 (includes airfare). I had the money and was set to leave in early 2009, but ran into a problem. You can only stay in Korea for 90 days without a visa. I didn't know how to get around this at all. I couldn't get a visa long enough for me to stay except for a tourist visa, but I would need to do a visa run (going to a different country to renew your visa). I didn't want to do that in a country I didn't know with limited funds. I searched all over the internet for a way. I was able to find it luckily....sort of.

I could apply to a Language University and get a student visa while I was there. Specifically a D4 student visa that can last 6 months. Well, there's another problem with that too. I would need MORE money to pay for the tuition and other miscellaneous fees. I set another goal of $24,000. I pretty much sacrificed 2 years of my life to save this amount of money. As of now, I'm pretty close, but will still need a large sum. We'll see if I can do it.

Hello New Adventure!!!

Welcome to my first post. Am I bothering you that much already? haha.

I created this blog so I can record my mishaps in Seoul, South Korea. Mistakes you shouldn't make and some information on what I did to get to Korea. All the troublesome stuff for a person like me has to go through. I've never been out of the country, so it's gonna be a new and fresh experience for me.

Hm....why am I going to Korea in the first place? Well.......I can honestly say that I want to learn about the culture first hand. Something I've been interested in for a long time. I know, I could just watch stuff on TV or the internet on it, but.......that's just no fun at all. A little history lesson: I use to live in a VERY small Koreantown in my hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Specifically in the Olney area. My mom use to take the family to the Korean supermarket to get groceries. Little did I know, I was eating Korean food at a young age and always thought I was eating Chinese traditional food, haha. Only into my mid-teens did I realize what I had been eating. I even watched the Korean version of Dragonball and didn't know it. Just until a few months ago I thought one of the verses for the Korean Dragonball theme was "Metri metri met metri" (I was thinking it was something like Metroid). It was actually saying "Let's fly let's fly let's let's fly". Ahhhh, the retardedness, hahahaha.

Anyways......the medium that got me to want to take this adventure would be.....a movie called "My Sassy Girl". It's still one of my favorite movies. When I was 19, something overwhelming had sparked within me and I just decided I wanted to go to Korea. I needed to do this NOW or I wouldn't ever get a chance to. If I waited too long, things will fall out of place. Sooner or later, I would get discouraged. If anything ever happened, I can always say that I fulfilled a long time dream. I got myself out of debt by paying off all my loans (a lot) and getting a higher paying job. Fast forward to 2010 and I have saved up several thousands of dollars to stay in Korea for a year. Everything starts now.

I do this for myself and for you!!!!