Seoul National University

Since its foundation in 1946, Seoul National University (SNU) has been an esteemed leader of higher education in Korea.

As SNU embraces its vision of becoming a truly global university, plans are in place for a greater emphasis on campus diversity than ever before. Exchange students joining SNU will be a part of a remarkable community as it transitions into its next chapter as a global institution.

Available exchanges

SNU hosts the University-wide exchange.

Students on the following degree programme may apply for Subject-specific exchange to VUW:

Global Law

Restrictions

A number of departments at SNU have restricted access, including:
- College of Business Administration: courses restricted to students on Business or Economics degree programmes.
- Departments of Korean History, Psychology, Statistics and Pharmacy: students must provide proof of Korean language proficiency equaling Level 5 or above in the official Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) exam.
- College of Law: not available to exchange students.
- Department of Vocal Music: restricted to students studying vocal music at their home institution. 
- College of Medicine: not available to exchange students.
- School of Dentistry: not available to undergraduate exchange students.
- Graduate School of Business: not available to undergraduate exchange students.
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering: not available to exchange students.

In addition to the restricted departments, this exchange is not suitable for students of Economics, Psychology, Statistics, or those wishing to study Korean History.
Access to Music and Fine Arts courses is known to be difficult.

Your responsibilities

The information provided here serves as a guide.
It is your responsibility to research whether the partner provides appropriate courses for your degree programme.
Even if there are no restrictions on your degree subject, this does not mean that there are appropriate courses for you.

Selected courses are taught in English at this institution. Students looking for English-taught courses should carefully review course availability, to ensure a full English-taught course load is available in their degree subject. This is particularly important for students of subjects with specific academic degree requirements. Expand 'Course information' below for further guidance.

If allocated an exchange place at SNU, students must choose one SNU college/department as their affiliation. This choice should be made based upon what most closely matches their degree programme. Students can, however, take courses from other colleges/departments, as long as they are available to exchange students.  

A list of undergraduate programmes and departments can be found at the link below.

SNU Undergraduate Programmes

The majority of SNU courses are taught in Korean, with many departments offering a select number of courses in English.  It is important to review the previous year’s course catalogue to check the number of appropriate English-taught courses which are likely to be available in the upcoming year.

The course catalogue for upcoming semesters is available each year at the beginning of January and July. Until then, students can refer to previous catalogues.   

Course registration is done on a first-come, first-served basis, and there is no guarantee of successful registration for any particular course. Because of this, it is advisable to ensure there are a generous number of suitable courses available.  

Guaranteed accommodation?

University accommodation

Students going to SNU on exchange are eligible to apply for on-campus housing. There are two different halls of residence available on the main campus: 

Gwanak Residence Halls: Double rooms or shared flats available to undergraduate students

Global Residence Halls: Double rooms or shared flats available to undergraduate and graduate students

SNU on-campus accommodation

Private accommodation

Private accommodation is available close to campus, but it is the student's own responsibility to find and secure it. For interested students, the SNU Office of International Affairs (OIA) provides information on options, including renting a room in a shared house and homestays:

OIA off-campus accommodation

How much will it cost to go on exchange to Seoul National University?

You will need to consider establishment costs, which may include buying furniture, paying a rental bond, and setting up electricity, gas and mobile phone accounts. Other expenses, such as visa and medical fees (see ‘Health insurance’, below), as well as return airfares, should also be considered. Students are advised to research the cost of living in South Korea, and remember that exchange rate variations may also affect your budget.

Students who are non-OECD nationals may be required to have some admissions documents apostilled. Students are responsible for meeting the cost of this service.

SNU provides cost of living estimates for Seoul in its factsheet, which you can view under 'Partner factsheet', below. Please be aware that these figures are estimates. The cost of living will vary depending on your lifestyle.

Visa considerations

You should expect to pay a processing fee to obtain your study visa for Korea. Visa requirements can vary depending on your nationality.

Health insurance

It is mandatory that all non-Korean international students are enrolled into Korea’s National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) upon the date of their alien registration. As the administrative process of alien registration takes about a month, exchange students are expected to be enrolled from October. SNU states the cost of the NHIS charge to be about 40,000 KRW per month.

To fill the gap between students’ arrival date and NHIS enrollment, SNU strongly recommends that students have other medical insurance coverage for the initial exchange period. Please be aware that SNU does not provide financial assistance for such coverage.

SNU's academic calendar can be viewed below:

SNU academic calendar