As this fall semester heads toward the end, the departments of the undergraduate programs at KAIST held introductory briefing sessions for freshmen and for those who are still undecided on their majors.

All over campus, departments put up their posters inside dormitories and buildings, and bromides outside the main buildings and the cafeteria. Each department had unique design ideas for their posters. The most noticeable one was the poster of the Department of Aerospace Engineering, which parodied the all-girl idol group Girls Generation.

Most sessions took place at the Creative Learning Building or the respective department buildings. However, the presentations were held during the evening when many students have recitation classes, so if the students were not excused from class they had to either skip their recitation class or give up going to the briefing sessions.

The way in which the presentations were given varied greatly among the different departments. Some only talked about the academic requirements, the professors and the courses one has to take, making the sessions rather stiff and hard to focus on. However, other departments provided entertaining videos and speeches about the department building, student life within the department, relationship among students, relationship between professors and students, the MTs and other department events as well as the academic programs. The Industrial Design Department even invited the students to have a look at the graduation show hosted by the senior students.

Most presentations were followed by free pizza and drinks, allowing time for students to ask questions and talk directly to the professors of the department instead of listening to the speakers. Also, many departments gave away prizes through a lottery system, ranging from USB keys and Starbucks tumblers to iPads.

The Department of Bio and Brain Engineering categorized the students who attended these presentations: those who are set on the specific major, those who are curious about the department, and those who are interested in the food and prizes.

Regardless of the motive, the briefing sessions let students leave better informed of the department, maybe even inspiring enough interest in them to consider majoring in the field.