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Getting into Sophia / Waseda University? 2014/8/27 03:59
Hi guys, I'm in the midst of applying for Waseda's 2015 spring batch for SILS and I'm planning to apply for Sophia's FLA as well as a backup.

I currently have 1740 for my SATs and a gpa of 3.0 (I took a diploma in tourism and resort management in Singapore Polytechnic).

I posted about this asking for help on a different forum before but in the end I'm kinda worried about whether I'll be able to get in still... Would that score be good enough to get me into either university?
by Melissa (guest)  

Re: Getting into Sophia / Waseda University? 2014/8/27 11:51
It depends on who else is applying and whether they think they can meet your needs academically (at least the second is true for the masters). Demographics can come into it as well because the integrity of the programs to some extent relies on having a cross section of "types".
I went to Sophia and liked it a lot. According to friends who have been to both Waseda and Shas who say that at Waseda there are more subjects but the standard of English in FLA is much better.
by cj (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Getting into Sophia / Waseda University? 2014/8/27 14:53
Demographics as in the spread of people of different nationalities applying? Currently I think I have a pretty decent essay for my application....


Sounds like it has to depend on my luck in the end though... From what I see the SILs batch for April has a lot less entries than for September.
by Melissa (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Getting into Sophia / Waseda University? 2014/8/28 10:22
I guess that would be one of the main demographic considerations.

by girltokyo (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Getting into Sophia / Waseda University? 2014/9/14 09:17
I'd say it would be best to apply for both schools, but you might also want to look into Keio's GIGA program.

With a 1740 and a 3.0 GPA you are able to barely make the cut for GPA, but you should be fine. Especially with the SILS program which is far more forgiving than the other programs; for example, engineering majors only have a staggering 15 applicants accepted as compared to the relatively lax 125 for SILS.

I hope I will see you during the 2015 application process, though always try to apply for some local schools for safety (they usually have higher acceptance for locals, e.g. California's UC system).

Best of luck,
St3cky
by St3cky (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Getting into Sophia / Waseda University? 2014/9/14 10:47
Hi St3cky, thanks for your reply. I applied to both schools already. I'll go and check out Keio as well, I didn't intend to at first because I thought it would be difficult to get into as GIGA accepts very few students.

I come from a polytechnic and my course contents are very different from a regular high school so I was more worried about my SAT scores than that initially. Hopefully I'll be able to get into Waseda's SILS! I'm a lot more interested in the courses availabile than for Sophia's FLA.
by Melissa (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Getting into Sophia / Waseda University? 2014/9/17 13:54
Did you apply for the first application period, since I thought it starts in January-February, or did you mean April admissions?

I'm applying February-March, so until then have fun with the rest of your school year.

by St3cky (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Getting into Sophia / Waseda University? 2014/9/17 14:02
I'm applying for the batch starting in April 2015. The application ends this week.
by Melissa (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Getting into Sophia / Waseda University? 2014/9/17 14:04
I forgot to mention this earlier, but if you plan on applying to Keio's GIGA program, here are its acceptance statistics:

2011: 62.5% (15/24)
2012: 71.4% (15/21)
2013: 74.5& (41/55)
*Data from Keio application guidelines (2014)

Don't count out Keio, you can always have that school as your back-up, plus it's not that far from Waseda (they're both in Tokyo).
by St3cky (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Getting into Sophia / Waseda University? 2014/11/3 21:17
@St3cky: Sorry for the late response and thanks for the info, I didn't consider the Keio GIGA program as I was hoping to start studying in April 2015 (I didn't apply to any university for September 2014 due to other reasons and I'm hoping to minimise the unnecessary gap year).

Anyway, I received a conditional offer with an interview and written test from Waseda. For anyone who has gone through the same process....

1) Is there any dress code in particular for the interview? It's a pretty silly question I suppose but on another thread, someone mentioned that people turned up in suits for the interview and written test.

I am going for my interview in Singapore and it is not common for people to wear suits for interviews. I wanted to know if this is something expected for the interview as it's common for the Japanese to wear suits for formal events/ office.

2) What do they normally ask about during the interview and the written test?
by Melissa (guest) rate this post as useful

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