The purpose of this study is to examine the factors which affect university entrance,
perceived discrimination and university adjustment of Chinese students in Korea. The
qualitative study was categorized by interviewing 8 Chinese undergraduate students
in Seoul, Korea.
The findings demonstrate that (1) college entrance of Chinese students were
influenced by the accessability of physical environment, family, close people, college
entrance exam in China, grades, Korean wave, low cost of living in Korea, and
exchange programs, (2) Among the perceived discrimination were prejudice against
Chinese, social structural discrimination by cultural toadyism, stereotype to Chinese
and personal trait discrimination, (3) poor grades by language barrier and
inter-personal relationship problems were the main reasons why Chinese students
cannot adjust to the university life in Korea and (4) accessability to university
resources and professor and information gathering through class and university social
meeting help Chinese students adjust to university in Korea. The language training
and skills significantly affect Chinese students adjustment to the university. This
study proposes the major role of the university and policy to help Chinese student
adjust to the university and discusses implication and limitations.