Is Yonsei Pretty Big?

Coming to Yonsei was like jumping from a small pond into a large lake. The environment was totally different.

    Yonsei has around 19,000 undergraduate students. For those who will attend, are attending, or graduated from large universities in the U.S. like Texas, Michigan, Florida, and Arizona, the number seems minuscule. However, universities are considered large when the student population is over 15,000 according to College Data. Personally, I saw Yonsei as a gigantic school. The scale between Occidental College to Yonsei is 1:10 (in other words, Yonsei is 10 times larger). On weekdays, the campus energy was non stop because of the numerous students moving everywhere.

    It was my first time taking advantage of the different study locations and restaurants around the large campus. I was able to eat whenever I got hungry rather than returning to the same cafeteria and study or relax in areas that were quiet. The downside was the walking distance to every classroom and restaurant. For instance, I would walk 10 to 15 minutes to walk from New Millenium Hall to the Student Union and quickly trek in between back to back classes that were in separate buildings. Biking, scootering, and skateboarding are prohibited in most areas of the campus, which held me back from using those modes of transportation. 

    My class sizes range from 15 to 100 students. The professors rarely get to know students because they teach over a hundred and counting. My three classes have primarily foreign exchange or international undergrads and the other two have mostly native Korean students. Class sizes affect my studying. So far, I had weak learning experiences that occurred in large class settings. Those lectures do not feel intimate, energetic, nor engaging. However, I must stay attentive to them and proactively study.