Before you pay an agency — the university numbers are public

Agencies are paid by the schools they recommend. That does not make them wrong, but it means you should check the same numbers yourself. All of this is published, free, by the bodies that collect it. Links only.

The numbers schools have to publish

Universities are required to disclose tuition, dropout rates, dormitory capacity and employment outcomes. It is dull reading and it answers most of what an agency will not.

Admission calendars and the shared application rules live here. Useful for knowing when the round actually opens.

Ministry of EducationSets admission rules for international students and publishes the university disclosure requirements.moe.go.kr

Rule changes are announced here first, ahead of the university notice boards and well ahead of agencies.

What it actually costs to live there

Tuition is the number everyone compares. Rent, transport and food in that city are the numbers that decide whether the year works.

Use it for a sanity check on the city you are considering, rather than a forum guess from someone who left in 2019.

The government scholarship call is posted here first. Anything you read elsewhere is a copy, often of last year's round.

Admission rules for international students change most years, and agency pages are often a year behind. The ministry announcement is the version that counts.

How did you pick your school, and what would you check first if you did it again?