Japanese Colleges and Scholarships

I am 18, just graduated highschool, and I am working full time. I was planning on saving up all the money I don't need to live (rent + food + transportation), and trying to go to school for the 2017 fall year in Japan.

My plan was to apply every school I am eligible for in the Global 30 ( http://www.uni.international.mext.go.jp/university_list/Index/ ).I figure I can save up about 12,000 USD if I also get a part time job (which should be easy, considering my current job is graveyard shift).

Would schools consider this enough finances to be accepted? One of the requirements is to almost every school is to have enough finances, but none give an amount.

Finally, I was wondering if anyone had any tips for finding and applying to scholarships? Finding scholarships as a US citizen seems extremely difficult. I have been looking for hours but have one found two that I may be eligible for.

Thank you for your time!

$12k is a good start, but it won't go all that far, I'm afraid. If you can demonstrate some additional source of income (e.g. parental support) that'll help a lot. Of course, you can work part time, but you should think of that as supplemental income, rather than your main source of money.

Most scholarships are basically targeted towards Asian students, for historical reasons (i.e. until recently, almost all courses were only in Japanese - and few Westerners would ever consider putting in the effort to learn Japanese), so there aren't many options for Westerners. JASSO is one option, but probably you'd only get it in your first year. Your university will be able to find some others - such as the Toyota or Mitsubishi scholarships.

Anyway, avoid the centers of big cities, and private universities (e.g. Waseda, Keio, Ritsumeikan), which have comparatively more expensive tuition fees. Target national universities - especially those in more rural cities (e.g. Tohoku, Tsukuba, Kyushu, maybe Osaka); although there may be fewer jobs available, your living expenses will be much lower.

Rather than applying to them all, I would recommend that you focus deeply on 3 universities. Do your research about each, and be able to clearly communicate why that program and that university.

Notably absent from your question are 1) your desired major/subject; and 2) your long-term goals. You speak of the Global 30 universities, but each of them has only a handful of English-taught programs, especially at the undergraduate level.

Firas, I don't really care what I study. But it seems my options are limited since for most fields they want a recommendation for a teacher of the field you are applying in. I would love to do Mechanical Engineering, but I've only gone to high school, and that obviously isn't offered.

As for my long-term goals, I would like to be able to sustain myself in Japan. Hopefully after finishing school get a job that can sponsor a work visa.

If living here is your long term goal then you probably only really going to benefit from Japanese university study if you already have a specific idea of a career path, and I don't think it can just be anything. Say you come here and study mechanical engineering, okay, does that help you get a job in that field here? Not really. It would definitely give you a slight edge over another American candidate, one who studied in the US, but ultimately they are probably just going to hire a Japanese person over either of you anyway.

If you are looking at study as a route into Japan then by far the cheapest, easiest, and most efficient way of doing it is to stay home and get your degree while studying Japanese on the side.

I don't want to put you off, but if like you say you really don't know what you want to do, then you might be better of staying in work for another year or two while you decide, or alternatively beginning study, but not jumping in the deep end.

By the way, no ultimate career goal is not what a Japanese university is going to want to hear from an overseas prospective student. Either establish a goal or at the very least put construct a very believable lie about what you want to do.

Liz, I really enjoy teaching, but I think it would be hard to become a teacher in Japan as a foreigner. The thing is, it seems that (like Mechanical Engineering) every field they offer to international students are fields it would be very difficult to find work for in Japan.

It's less that I don't know what I want to do, and more that I'm open to everything. I'd love to teach, but I'll take whatever I can get. Do you have any recommendations for a field I could study in?

"I will take whatever I can get" really makes you sound more like someone who's desperate to live in Japan at all costs than someone who's "open to everything".

The Global 30 programs probably have a lot of demand relative to available slots, so they can afford to be picky and admit only the students who have the best chances of success, and being committed to your subject goes a long way towards success.

Desperate? Maybe.

I understand that there is a lot of demand to get into these schools, which is why I said that I'll "take what I can get". It'd be arrogant to think I'd be able to get exactly what I wanted, but I do agree being dedicated to a field makes you a more appealing candidate. I suppose I could take a couple of college courses here in the field to get professors that can recommend me (assuming I do well).

Although, that still leaves the issue of what field to choose. I can dedicate myself to pretty much any field (except biology). I highly enjoy learning, and strive to do the best at whatever I do. So I believe the best option would be to choose a field it would be easiest to obtain work in?

So, I work on a G30 program, and I have a good knowledge of the admissions system - which is somewhat similar between schools.

Basically, on our programs this year, we expect 4 applications per slot. Of course, we screen for grades and financial soundness (to be clear, we have no dollar figure - and we screen on an A (parents are multimillionaires) through D (no financial resources) system. From the sounds of it, you would probably be somewhere around a "C" financially - partial finance, would need scholarships.

So, then it comes down to two things; grades and passion. Assuming that your grades are solid, this puts you pretty much near the middle . Now, if you have exceptional grades that will help.

However, the thing that gets people across the finish line on my program is having a clear, demonstrable passion for the subject, and the ability to explain how this fits into their life goals. It sounds like that would be your downfall. If you're not committed, then I think you would be out-competed by more committed individuals.

My advise; choose a subject. Do your research into the courses and the universities. Become an expert on those courses - read the course websites until you understand them completely. Read books or articles in your chosen field.

Simply applying to a lot without committing to any is simply a way to get rejected from them all. And don't worry about the recommendation letter - they're not that important, so if you don't have an Engineering teacher in your school, ask someone in a similar field. If you've never studied even related fields, how do you know you'd like engineering?

Thank you Dainichi Heater, you have been a huge help so far.

As far as financially, I have an uncle who would probably be willing to help finance me, though he's not wealthy, he just doesn't spend his money on anything but rent and food as he always has tons saved up since his net income is high compared to what he makes.

As far as grades, unfortunately there quite poor. I only have a 3.0 GPA if I remember correctly. Also, my test scores aren't very hot either, a 30 on the ACT and a 1900 on the SAT (I forgot my calculator). However, I plan to retake these tests and get higher scores, if that'll help.

As far as the Mechanical Engineering question, I like to learn, so I've learned tons of things on my own. Much more so than from any school, since American schools are so awful that they can barely teach the fundamentals. I like to fix things, so pretty much whenever a friend or anyone said they had something that was broken and were complaining about having to get a new one or get it repaired, I'd just fix it myself. I would also try to make some somewhat simple machines, and thought it'd be really fun if I could be a mechanical engineer. I was going to decide on what to do as a career after I had the funds for college, since I have so many passions and wanted to see what the job market was like. Now I've decided it would be nice to go to school in Japan since their schools are so much better, but I believe my biggest issue is just getting in.

What fields of study does your school offer? I looked at the fields for most of the schools, and the only one that really stood out to me was Mechanical Engineering. I have trouble navigating some of the schools websites, but I'll do some more searching to see if there is anything else that fits more clearly.

Thank you so much for your help.

Well, your SAT and ACT scores aren't too sloppy. However, the 3.0 is an outlier, and could dent your chances. Engineering is hard to get into in any country, and although I don't know about all the courses, I know Tohoku's course is very competitive, as is Nagoya's auto-engineering.

By all means, give an application a go, but you might also want to think about a year or two of community college - it could really boost your chances of entry into such competitive fields.

Get agreement from your uncle in advance, so you can apply with a more solid financial footing.

Advice I would give to any prospective applicant - don't expect any scholarships - plan with the assumption you will not get anything.


I work at Tsukuba U. I think we don't have any program you would be interested in.

It's less that I don't know what I want to do, and more that I'm open to everything. I'd love to teach, but I'll take whatever I can get. Do you have any recommendations for a field I could study in?

There are thousands of jobs in Japan and contrary to what many will tell you more than a few are open to foreigners, I can't really just pick one out of the sky without knowing you, perhaps it would be a good idea to speak to a careers advisor?

Taking everything you have told us at face value, you are desperate to work in Japan and will take whatever you can get . Okay, so teach English. It's hardly the greatest job in the world but if your main priority is living here and having enough money to pay the bills with a bit left over for leisure then it checks all of the most important boxes. Not only that but it's relatively easy and you won't find yourself working until 10 minutes before the last train like so many other Japanese workers do. Most people wouldn't think of it as a good career but if the #1 thing you care about is living here and you are willing to sacrifice other things to do that then it is absolutely worth considering.

Now, can I ask if you have ever been here on holiday or anything? If your long term goal is a sustainable existence in Japan then I hope you have some idea of what it's actually like here? What the food tastes like, how the people behave towards you, what it's like practically drowning in a typhoon like I did on my lunch break today?

there is the program for Mechanical engineering (undergraduate) in Tsukuba.
筑波大学 理工学群　工学システム学類.
but, it is taught in Japanese.
mechanical engineering, 機械工学, is one of familiar and old programs in engineering fields.
you have to have knowledge (and interests) at least about physics (and other natural sciences) and mathematics.