Details

• Republic of Korea
• BaWiSo-19
• Undergraduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

Clearly reflect on your motivation for choosing this specific country and university. Be authentic and demonstrate why you, in particular, should be selected for the program and how you would represent WU abroad. Show that you have thoroughly researched the host university and fully understand the program’s requirements and conditions.

2. Accommodation

I found my accommodation on Facebook. It was a shared flat with two other people (one exchange student, one working guy) close to the University. The location was very good, just a five minutes walk to the University and to the metro station. As in most of the places in Seoul, you find a ton of restaurants or cafes close by. There is a dormitory provided by the university, but it is quite difficult to get a place in that and the rules are very strict (e.g. no guests allowed), but it is very cheap to live there. To find a flat, you can use websites like Facebook, goshipages.com or AirBNB

3. Academic life at host university

The Korea University campus is really good. The facilities are mostly new or in a good condition and everything is nearby. My highlight of the campus was the cafeteria, where you can find affordable and good food. Especially the breakfast for around 60ct is definitely a steal. The teaching style is quite similar to the WU, but I really liked my courses. If you have a question you can always ask the professors and they are really helpful. Academic culture is quite cold: I had the impression that most of the Korean students weren't interested in connecting with the exchange students, so most of my friends were other exchange students. Nearly all of them were open to meet new people. My courses were Micro and Macroeconomics, Finance and Operations Management (like BLP at WU). I definitely recommend the last two to do here as the professors were very good and as it was quite easy to get a good grade. Micro and Macro was quite dry, and I just took these lectures as I had to.

5. Every day life in the host country

I really enjoyed living in Seoul. The everyday life is cheaper compared to Austria and a lot of things are for free (Museums, palaces, festivals at the Universities). The public transport in Seoul and Korea is very good. The metro/bus system brings you nearly everywhere and one ride costs around 80ct. As Seoul is a huge city, it might take you some time to get to the different places. The safety situation is good as well. I never felt as safe as in Seoul, whatever time it was. I went eating out a lot of times with my friends, as most of the restaurants offer affordable meals. Nevertheless, being a vegetarian or vegan can be very though as most of the meals contain meat.

6. Testimonial

Experiencing the Korean (University) culture and the exchange student life was a real blessing. I had a wonderful time, meeting people from all over the world and spending time with them. As I had some free time, I was able not just to explore Seoul, but many other parts of Korea and of east Asia and to see the differences and similarities of different countries. Overall, I can just recommend going to Korea and Seoul and to diving into a very different culture.