🏫 Choosing your Dormitory at Yonsei! 🛏️

Housing can be stressful to choose especially when you don't know what to expect and how it looks like. In this article, I will write about the advantages and disadvantages of both on-campus dormitory options that I have came across.

When it was the time to figure out housing in Yonsei, I was honestly a bit indecisive about whether should I choose on-campus dormitories or the off-campus option and I had to change my mind last-minute, resulting me to have no option to choose, which I got into WooJungWon. For CIEE program students, there are three options: off-campus housing, SK Global House, & WooJungWon. 

🏠 Off-Campus Housing
The off-campus option is CIEE program approved stay with additional fee and has better perks depending on where the stay is. To me, the off-campus option was financially challenging & significantly expensive compared to the on-campus housing ones. However, it is a single room, which means you will have your room to yourself. For a person who likes to have their freedom in the room, I think this option is a considerable one if the fees are not a problem at all.

🏫 On-Campus Dormitory: SK Global House & WooJungWon
As for on-campus options, the nonnegotiable is it is double room, meaning you will have a roommate. The good thing is you don't have to pay extra fee because the cost is already included in the program fee. Thus, for extroverts and people who wouldn't mind having a roommate, this is not that big of a disadvantage. Also, both on-campus options include private toilet and a shower room in the room, which I actually like a lot. However, the two dormitories have differents location, vibe, and even facilities. So, let's learn a thing or two about them!

🏢 SK Global House
This is where most of the international students live. So not only CIEE students, but also other international exchange students are expected to live here. As you might have picked up on its name, SK Global House, it is available for only international students. This means the architecture and the overall vibe of the housing is quite nice and big (in comparison to WooJungWon). The common areas include a big kitchen, dining area with tables, and a nice (bigger) gym. Rooms also have a small terrace and if you are lucky, a good view too 😉. However, the room closet is a bit smaller comparably and you get to see interntational students only rather than Koreans. Another advantage is the Global Plaza, which has four to five dining options (NoBrand Burger, Korean restaurant, Japanese restaurant, Mexican(ish) restaurant), Emart24 (convenience store), and a Paik's bakery. Students living in the SK Global House can get to the Global Plaza without getting outside and is located on the first floor, which I think is the biggest advantage! Additionally, the public transportation bus stop is within a 5 minute walking distance, which also means that it has even more bakeries, cafes, restaurants, pharmacies, and convenience stores around due to its proximity to the main street. Ewha Women's University is also located right across the main road. It is located nearby to the New Millenium Hall, KLI, and where Korean classes are usually held, making it convenient if you have any class in one of the buildings. That is pretty much everything I know since I don't live in it 😆. One thing to keep in mind is that there is a deadline to apply to the SK Global House since it can get quite competitive considering most of international exchange students reside there. So, if you miss the deadline, there is hardly a second chance to get in (speaking from experience 😜).

🏡 WooJungWon (or Ujeongwon)
I live in Woojungwon and not gonna lie, I don't hate it. There are definetely a lot that can be improved, but no complaints. Starting from the advantages, It's comparably smaller than SK Global House and both Korean students and international students (including full-time & exchange students) can live in this dormitory. The rooms have a mini-fridge, which was a very big perk for me since I tryto cook as much as I can. However the mini-fridges don't work 100% well and can overfreeze or not work sometimes, but still does its job. Woojungwon's big difference from the SK Global House is that it is located on a hill. This makes a huge difference depending on if you are a hiker or not. The good news is you get used to it and there is a on-campus shuttle bus that runs frequently from 8:35 am to 11pm on weekdays, but at nights after 11pm, there is no public transportation or shuttle bus that gets close, so you would have to walk from the bus stop nearby SK Global House, which is 20-ish minute walk. There is a common area on every floor available for the floor residents that has water dispenser and tables, but there is a main common area that has kitchen, a small GS25 (convenience store), and the dining tables all at once. One of the big disadvantage to me is not only the location, but also the kitchen since it only has two hot stoves to cook. Fortunately, it doesn't get that crowded usually. Also, it has a study room with desks and a small gym. The nearest public transportation bus stop is 9-12 minutes away depending on if you are going up or down the hill 😆. I personally like the shuttle bus a lot when it comes to going to classes and coming back from classes. It just gets a bit of an exercise during weekends or in the mornings when the shuttle bus doesn't run often, and in that case it aproximately takes 10-15 minutes to walk to classes. But, it is located nearby the School of Economics, which would be a good option if you have classes there. 

Thank you so much! I hope this helped your decision-making process a bit!