“How do I write application entries for double majors?” Online communities for Korea University (KU) students are constantly flooded by such questions during the double major application season. Nowadays, it is even harder for students to find guidance due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which severed off chances to meet sunbaes, or students in higher grades. Recognizing the troubles of students trying to acquire sufficient information, 13 students at KU teamed up to launch the application Nadosunbae, which is anticipated to become the next sunbae of KU.

Nadosunbae was launched by a team of KU students when they noticed the asymmetry of information between students in their own majors and students applying for them as their second majors. Thus, to reduce the gap for students applying for double and interdisciplinary majors, Nadosunbae aims to perform its role as a technological sunbae – as its name implies – by providing aid to students who are struggling to attain information. The application was released exclusively for KU students in March; however, the developers hope to expand its range of help to students from other universities in the future. Their ultimate goal is to become the next widely used application for university students in Korea.

One of the application’s most crucial functions is the reviews on a variety of topics categorized and assembled for each major. Since the reviews are written by students who are actually studying in each major, they are credible and up to date, which is an enormous benefit compared to the random opinions uploaded onto other applications. An abundance of content is another valuable feature of the app. Information on Nadosunbae not only consists of advantages and disadvantages of each major but also includes class reviews and curriculums. For example, detailed tips on studying for a particular course and explanations regarding possible career paths are provided. By featuring opinions and reviews based on real experiences, the app provides unique resources that were previously difficult to find.

However, as users are typically positioned to find and receive information, there exists the limitation of one- way communication as users’ curiosities can go unanswered. Thus, to strengthen communication, Nadosunbae provides a service that enables students to either ask one-on- one questions in private or questions that are open to all students in the respective major. The most exceptional component is that students have access to background information of each individual, including when they entered the second major, and what kinds of reviews they wrote, so they can specifically ask questions to those that seem apt to provide the necessary information.

Other functions include information boards where numerous data are collected. Whereas most applications rely on voluntary acts or monetary initiatives, Nadosunbae enables a mass accumulation of information as students must leave reviews on their first major in order to view reviews of other majors. Overall, these functions of Nadosunbae enable it to accomplish its vision of “make your double major as if it is your first”.

For further analysis, The Granite Tower (GT) has interviewed the team’s product manager, Kim Doo Bum (’18, Economics).

GT: What reason(s) propelled your team to create Nadosunbae?

Kim Doo Bum: Although students who are originally in a major can acquire help through diverse routes, students who are both applying and already taking courses from second majors have trouble getting information. This may be due to the lack of acquaintances, lack of interest in the online community, or no networks between students. Coincidentally, I had an opportunity to listen to anecdotes of students in second majors themselves and was thus able to confirm that these problems do exist. This led me into thinking that connection between people is the fundamental solution. After several trials and errors, my teammates and I came up with the application Nadosunbae.

GT: What objectives does your team hope to achieve through this application?

Kim Doo Bum: It seems more difficult to connect with seniors and ask for advice now, especially as most of our college life is taking place in an online environment. So, we hope that this application facilitates connection between people. The utmost priority of this application is to make the overall process of applying for a second major easier for students who have a hard time deciding which second major to choose.

Our second objective is to dissolve the barrier between one’s first major and second major and make a community that eases admission of credits. The third objective is to go beyond KU; that is, helping other students with their second majors in other universities. We think these concerns are not limited to college students applying for second majors. For example, high school students searching for their career and exchange students may have the same problems. Therefore, we ultimately aim to expand Nadosunbae’s range of service to tackle various people’s problems regarding their majors.

GT: What would you like to say to the students of KU, who might become future users of the application?

Kim Doo Bum: I hope that this app will be helpful in applying for your second major this semester. Your feedback is crucial in making a perfected service based on the contents. Considering the features of this application, the more users it gathers, the more information is shared, and the more synergy this service can create. So, we ask for your wide usage and I hope that through this application, interactions will happen more actively.