ALL UNDERWOOD International College students who are in the Life Science and Biotechnology (LSBT) and Integrated Sciences Engineering Division (ISED) have to complete six general science courses. As an LSBT major, I encountered early on a flaw in the school system that hinders the fulfillment of this basic requirement. Currently, the first half of the science courses are only offered in the spring semester, so students who enrolled in fall have no choice but to register for the latter half of the courses without proper introductory lessons. While Sinchon Campus students in the College of Life Science and Biotechnology and College of Engineering have different credit requirements, they still experience the same issue.

   Unable to understand the reason behind this inconvenience, I decided to take this inquiry to my advisor. She told me that Yonsei only offers the first halves of the science courses in the spring because the majority of the students enroll in spring due to the traditional Korean term system. This decision completely disregards students who enter in the second half of the year, most of whom are international students unfamiliar with the Korean academic calendar. Moreover, basing the course catalog on the number of students entering in a given semester undermines the institutional responsibility to offer all students equal educational opportunities. Fall semester students are at a clear disadvantage as they would have to wait one more semester than spring semester students in order to complete their basic course requirement.

   Yonsei University’s oversight of students who enrolled in the fall is quite troubling, even more so as they are mostly part of a minority group that has less of a platform to speak about their problems and lack additional outlets to receive support. An increasing number of international students are enrolling into Yonsei because of its global recognition, and they contribute to the school’s multinational environment and international brand; it is only natural that Yonsei should provide equal, quality education to them in return.

   The most glaring problem in the status quo is that fall students need to invest more time to complete their graduation requirements. The school encourages students to finish the six basic science classes in their freshman year in the school-recommended order. For fall semester science major students to follow this guideline, they would have to postpone taking the basic courses until the following spring semester when introductory courses are offered. This essentially causes a semester to go to waste for these students, which means they would have to somehow compensate for it in order to graduate within the designated four-year period.

   Admittedly, fall students could take their basic science courses in three semesters and graduate in eight semesters like spring students. Yet, even in such cases, fall students face other issues as well. For example, if an LSBT student decides to finish their six courses in three semesters, they have no choice but to take the more advanced courses first. No matter how the courses are divided over three semesters, the student will inadvertently have to take at least one introductory course along with major courses in their third semester. This prohibits them from attaining fundamental information that provides a smooth transition into major courses. This should not be the only option for students entering in the fall.

  A similar burden lies on the shoulder of students who are returning to university after completing their mandatory military service. Lee Yuchul (Jr., Dept. of Mechanical Engineering) joined the military in February, 2020 after he completed the fall semester of his studies. He said that he will face difficulties in course selection when he returns in the fall semester because the basic courses he needs to take are not available then. Almost all Korean male students enter the military at some point in their college life; it is almost bizarre that the school presents no clear solution to this common problem.

   Perhaps, one of the most disappointing aspects of this entire experience for students is how preventable this confusion is. Two weeks before the beginning of last semester, I was scrambling to figure out how to complete my required science credits. All I wanted was some clarity. For what seems like necessary information that ought to be made more visible, I only found it after emailing two professors. Granted, the panic that freshmen feel during the course enrollment period is almost universal; however, the restlessness I felt was not because of my inexperience but because of a fundamental flaw in the school system.

   Yonsei could easily amend and prevent further confusion by posting this information on their website and offering improved information sessions before each semester. Such small changes could easily advise fall students that they have two pathways to complete their basic science courses: either taking them over three semesters or taking them in the reverse order in two semesters. To help them make an informed decision, the benefits and consequences of each of these choices should be explained to the students.

   All in all, past and present science majors starting in the fall feel a sense of camaraderie since they face a dilemma that other students do not. Considering that science students have faced this issue in their studies for quite some time, we merely ask Yonsei to lend an ear to our worries and make reasonable changes that will help us adjust smoother to our majors.