Part 1: Hanyang International Summer School (HISS) 2017

Hello reader!

In this blogpost, I will be sharing about part 1 of my Hanyang International Summer School (HISS) 2017 journey -- application and course selection/registration. In my opinion, HISS is the summer school for NUS Engineering students to clear the compulsory modules EG2401 (Engineering Professionalism) and HR2002 (Human Capital in Organizations). Since my friends and I heard many horror stories of taking EG & HR in NUS, we decided to apply for HISS. Also, summer school is a cheaper alternative to exchange program.

Read part 2 for my timetable, accommodation and module review!
Read part 3 for the frequently asked questions!
Read part 4 for the free activities!

Hanyang University

Application

For my batch, we had to complete an online application on the HISS website AND also another application on myisis under Self Service --> Global Education --> External Study Application. I used my personal email to apply instead of the NUSmail (it doesn't matter which email you use, just use the one that you check most frequently). I applied on the day when the application opened, while my other friend applied on the 3rd day, only to be placed on the waiting list! So remember, apply as soon as possible. On the Hanyang application website, you would have to upload your insurance which NUS had already purchased for us when we matriculated. For 2017, the insurance looked something like this: http://www.nus.edu.sg/finance/docs/summary-of-policy-cover-jan-2017-jun-2018.pdf
Just google for "NUS insurance" and the links would appear. However, my friends and I were concerned about the coverage. Although we uploaded the link, we ended up buying our own travel insurance (cheapest option is from NTUC Income).

EDIT: For my batch (summer 2017), the system on Hanyang Application website worked like this:
1. Submit application
2. Wait for Hanyang to accept application
3. Once accepted, the status on application page is updated to "awaiting payment" and you can make payment (read part 3 to find out more about payment)
4. Wait for Hanyang to verify payment, once verified, the status should then be changed to "admitted")

UPDATE: Regarding how long Hanyang took to accept the applications: they took close to 1 week to accept mine, while I had some friends that took 3 days and some that took up to 2 weeks.

Module Mapping

After you receive the acceptance email, it is time for module mapping.
On myisis, go to Global Education --> module mapping worksheet --> module details,

For EG2401 Engineering professionalism map to ISS1041 Engineer and Society
For HR2002 Human Capital in Organizations map to GEN6060 Principals of Management

Additionally, I took ISS1056 Ceramic Arts and mapped it over to a UEM, the dummy module code was sent to me by my department as EX1000, just follow the email that you might receive (4 MCs).

For module reviews, read part 2 of this series, click here!

EDIT: I heard from a friend that NUS has reduced the number of map-able modules without charging a special term fee from 3 modules to 2 modules with effect from summer 2018! (So you can choose to take 3 modules at Hanyang, but you can only map 2 back to NUS) I am not sure how true this is so do check with your department or any emails from NUS you may receive!

Course selection/ registration

Hanyang would send frequent updates to the email you registered with them. They would email you the link to select the course. Unlike bidding on CORS, this selection was based on the fastest finger (NTU Star wars?). If registration were to start at 9am, camp in front of your computer at 8.55am and refresh till you can login.

Course selection day for my batch started at 9am, and all the vacancies for EG and HR were taken within 3 minutes (I am not even kidding). This is because each class size was about 80, given that there were 3 sessions (Morning, Afternoon, Night) 3 sessions x 80 vacancies = 240 students. I was told that NUS had 600 vacancies for Hanyang, most of them were engineering students who were there to clear EG and HR. As for ceramic arts, there were only 20 vacancies per session; Similarly all the vacancies were taken within 3 minutes. So plan your timetable well with your friends before course selection day.

(UPDATE: I received a few questions pertaining to course/module registration so I will answer them in detail here! For my batch, course/module registration was done through a Hanyang portal. If I remembered correctly, we used the same username and password when we did our application, or if it is not, then Hanyang will send an email and step-by-step tutorial document in registering for a Hanyang account. I cannot remember exactly where to click for registration, but the interface of the Hanyang portal is user-friendly and also in English; So do not worry!! Just take 10 minutes or so to navigate around the portal before the start-time.)

HERE IS A TIP!! My friends and I intended to take 3 modules and since it was first-come-first- serve, we opened 3 different tabs on google chrome (one for each module we were choosing), where every module was a tab itself. Then at 9am, we refreshed the 1st tab/module, and choose our slot, then we refreshed the 2nd tab/module and chose our slot, and then the 3rd one. ANOTHER TIP!! and that would be to make sure you already planned which module/course at which timeslot you want exactly before the day itself. So once registration opens, you can just click on the module and timeslot you want to register for it.

If you are reading this blogpost after all the vacancies are taken (be it you overslept/bad wifi/forget/didn't check email/finger too slow), fret not! There is a HISS closed Facebook group where you can join and then request for more slots to be opened. A few NUS engineering students posted on the group to request for more GEN6060 and ISS1041 vacancies. If I remember correctly, Hanyang added 10 vacancies to each session, from 70 to 80 vacancies. They would send an email to everyone regarding the date and time for the 2nd round. If you have already secured your slots in the 1st round, then you do not have to participate in the 2nd.

Still didn't manage to get a slot in the 2nd round? Don't worry. In my GEN6060 class, there were 2 NUS engineering students who did not manage to get a slot (They happened to be my coursemate). They attended the lecture for the particular timeslot they wanted and asked the professor if they could join the class. (But then again, the professor was a super nice guy, he asked the class "Is everyone alright with these new students who wants to join us?" Of course everyone said yes LOL and they proceed to write their names on the last page of the attendance sheet. If I am not wrong, they had to inform the international school office about the arrangements and acceptance. (However, I do not recommend this method because it can be very risky as the professor can deny your entry)


That's about it for part 1 of my Hanyang journey. Read part 2 for my timetable, accommodation and module review!

This is the part of the university that we rarely went.

Also the part of the university we rarely, if not never, went.

End of part 1.