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Hello Tlers. I hope this is the right place to ask but please weigh in for me to help me make this decision.
All inputs are appreciated.
I'm studying electrical engineering. My goal is law school so GPA is super important to me.
Which worries me since I don't have the confidence I can be in the top 20% in KAIST.
I'm a Korean American, I speak Korean fluently.
I will be studying for a year (spring and fall) of 2014.
While studying is important to me, I'm a very active person who enjoys meeting various people (girls) and exploring life/city.
Although the smaller student body at KAIST is attractive, the male:female ratio is not. I also have broad interests beyond electrical engineering such as art and film, and being in Seoul will definitely a huge plus. A nice international body of students is also appreciated.
In fact POSTECH is also an option, but I've crossed it out for being too isolated in Pohang. (or maybe I shouldn't?)
Both KAIST and Yonsei are fantastic schools with their own strengths but I still have specific questions about each of them.
Is Yonsei's teaching that subpar compared to top American universities?
I keep hearing about how Korean universities are much weaker with the exception KAIST/Postech.
How is Daejeon? How inconvenient is to travel from Daejeon to Seoul?
How is the nightlife/dating life in the area? How difficult is it to get As?
Any tips? Any past experience anecdotes? Anyone with any general experience with studying abroad in Korea can help.
Thank you.
  
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51715 Posts
Go to Yonsei, Daejeon is so fucking boring compared to Seoul.
The perks of being in Seoul highly outnumber those of being in Daejeon.
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Yonsei all day, every day.
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On March 25 2013 15:17 krndandaman wrote:
yeah... my family lives in daejeon so I stay there alot and tbh it's boring. it's a great place to live/raise your kids but not for a study abroad student.
are you going in as a korean? or as a foreign student?
Foreign exchange student from an American University. I havent been to school in Korea since the 2nd grade, so this is pretty exciting.
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I go to Yonsei, Masters program right now
Is Yonsei's teaching that subpar compared to top American universities?
yes and no, at least in my program Yonsei does a lot of experience, rather than theory based - which I hear SNU and Korea University does a lot. My lessons are mostly in English so I can't comment as the teacher's english skills tends to be weak but it's not horrible.
I keep hearing about how Korean universities are much weaker with the exception KAIST/Postech.
they are weaker, you're going to be getting a more narrow view on the world than you would if you went to say Harvard, or Stanford or even a big state school like UCLA/Michigan/Berkeley/Wisconsin
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Korea (South)17174 Posts
kaist imo
inb4 u flunk out at yonsei cuz of seoul nightlife addiction
+ Show Spoiler +
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Yonsei is much more all-around than KAIST, I've heard. Pohang is/was a really good engineering university (apparently back in the 60s-90s when massive industrialization was happening, Pohang was THE engineering school). Unfortunately, it seems to have quietened down a bit.
But then again, Korean engineers have a tradition of being laughed at as a joke in Korea - ______ -;;;
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I thought marks you get from exchange semesters doesn't count towards your gpa (at least that's the case for my school). Kaist is the higher ranking uni (yonsei's rank sucks, it's below some of the non-prestigious uni like sungkyunkwan and pohang, which is ironic considering it's a SKY uni). But yonsei is in seoul, so i guess it's a matter of better uni vs having fun whichever you prefer. Personally, i would choose yonsei.
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On March 25 2013 17:26 ymir233 wrote:
Yonsei is much more all-around than KAIST, I've heard. Pohang is/was a really good engineering university (apparently back in the 60s-90s when massive industrialization was happening, Pohang was THE engineering school). Unfortunately, it seems to have quietened down a bit.
But then again, Korean engineers have a tradition of being laughed at as a joke in Korea - ______ -;;;
Uhh...Postech was established in 1986 and it's actually the other way around. Postech wasn't a well known school in the beginning, but they built up a reputation as time went on.
OP, if you're interested in city life and meeting girls on top of your school work, then Yonsei is probably the best option.
I mean it's in Sinchon with Hongdae and Ehwa Women's University right across the campus for crying out loud. lolsy.
No other cities in SK compares with Seoul.
But travel isn't that inconvenient nowadays. If you have some $$, then ride KTX and you'll be in Daejon in less than an hour from Seoul. Or you could just take a bus.
As far as Postech...
It's by far the smallest of the 3 by a long shot (student body wise), by far in the most rural place by a long shot, pretty bad male-female ratio (typical engineering school), and probably has the least things to do outside of school, and hottest summer.
It's not a bad place by any means if you like rural place, but obviously you want a city life, so yeah.
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Korea (South)11232 Posts
if you want to have the best education experience go to kaist. A german friend did 1 year exchange there and was happy with the night life
If you want to have some more social experiences go to yonsei.
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yonsei and kaist are both good. you should make sure first that your study abroad gpa affects your gpa at your home university. it did for me, but most international students did not enjoy the same treatment.
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What can you guys tell me about Daegu? I'm going there next semester.
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EPT
