What are the costs nobody warns you about?

Here is what catches people in month two, after tuition and rent are handled.

- Textbooks: ₩30,000–70,000 per level, not included in tuition. Buy used from students finishing the level above you.
- ARC fee and photos: around ₩40,000 total, plus a morning of your time.
- Health insurance: mandatory after 6 months, roughly ₩70,000 a month whether you use it or not.
- Winter heating: January bills are often double the autumn ones. Budget ₩100,000 for that month.
- Deposit and setup: bedding, kitchen basics and a transport card land in your first week. Around ₩200,000–300,000 if the room is unfurnished.
- Level test and re-registration: some schools charge a small fee each term.
- Trips home: flights during Korean holidays and semester breaks cost noticeably more, because everyone travels at once.

None of these are huge alone, but together they are roughly one extra month of living costs across a year. Students who budget for that are the ones who don't panic in November.

We put the school-specific ones in writing before you pay anything, so nothing appears later.