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Chances of getting into Waseda/ Sophia University

gooohgly

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17 Jul 2014
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Hi, I'm interested in applying for an English course in one of these universities (preferably SILs from Waseda). 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'm really worried about whether I can get in for the April 2015 batch and I don't have any more opportunities to retake the SATs already... Is there any way to increase my chances of getting in?
 
Pff with that score you easily get into ANU, which is much better uni that those two you mentioned. Japan's tertiary education is not very competitive.

Why? Because Japan does not speak English.
 
Pff with that score you easily get into ANU, which is much better uni that those two you mentioned. Japan's tertiary education is not very competitive.

Why? Because Japan does not speak English.

At the moment I want to pick between studying in Japan or Singapore as in both countries, I'll have a place to stay in (my mum is currently on assignment in Tokyo and I'm Singaporean so...). My first choice would've been getting into a local university in Singapore but my results aren't even close to what the local universities here expect. If I'm not accepted into one of the universities with English courses, I'll probably apply for a full time course in a private university in Singapore.

I'm pretty worried about the scores as people asking similar questions about studying in these universities seem to score around 1900-2000+ and the majority of the people I know who have taken the SATs all score around 2000 and above, which gives me a pretty bad feeling about my score as it looks really low.

I can't find the average SAT score applicants have when applying to either university so it would really help if anyone has more information about this >.<.
 
This is quite different to some other rankings:

Read the short article: University of Tokyo Ranked Best in Asia; Harvard Tops Global List - Japan Real Time - WSJ

Look at the rankings: CWUR 2014 | Top Universities in Asia/Pacific

See how ANU is #30 ? (and #160 in the world)

And Waseda is #7 ? (and #40 in the world)

Yeah, I know--lies, damn lies, and statistics.

Oops! See how 東大 and 京大 are at the the top of that list?

Wow this ranking list is the biggest joke I've ever seem in my life.

Waseda before Peking, Tsinghua, UMelbourne, USydney, Osaka, UHong Kong and NU Singapore??!! Seriously you believed that sh1t?

See what happens when you take an ranking by a no-body Arab seriously? lol By quoting this CWUR ranking which no one even heard of, you have shown that you know nothing about university ranking.

Next time try something more reliable and reputable like QS ranking, Shanghai ranking or Time Higher Education rankings.

QS World University Rankings 2013-2014

Asia University Rankings

http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2013.html

There are few world class uni in Japan, but Waseda and Sophia are not, not even close. Sophia isn't even ranked, that how crap it is.
 
This is quite different to some other rankings:

Read the short article: University of Tokyo Ranked Best in Asia; Harvard Tops Global List - Japan Real Time - WSJ

Look at the rankings: CWUR 2014 | Top Universities in Asia/Pacific

See how ANU is #30 ? (and #160 in the world)

And Waseda is #7 ? (and #40 in the world)

Yeah, I know--lies, damn lies, and statistics.

Oops! See how 窶愬停?佚・ and 窶ケナセ窶佚・ are at the the top of that list?

I've always known that it's very competitive in Japan for local students and in Singapore, university applicants face pretty similar challenges and competition when it comes to scoring well for A levels or getting a high enough GPA in a polytechnic in order to qualify.

From what I've heard though, people say that it's less challenging to get into these universities as an international student than a Japanese student though, I'm not sure how true that is though as I don't know anyone studying overseas in Japan personally.
 
Wow this ranking list is the biggest joke I've ever seem in my life.
Sydney before Melbourne? what
Waseda/Osaka before Peking and Tsinghua?? what
See what happens when you take an ranking by an Arab seriously? lol By quoting this CWUR ranking which no one even heard of, you have shown that you know nothing about university ranking.
Next time try something more reliable and reputable like QS ranking, Shanghai ranking or Time Higher Education rankings.

While I'm not very familiar with the system used to rank universities, I'm quite sure that the rankings aren't accurate as NUS is definitely ranked higher than that ^^".
 
gooohgly,

Ignore the little argument, above, for a moment.

Think of some other things, like, where will you eventually be working/located? And who (what company/companies) will you be working for? Will they be Japanese companies, or foreign companies which do lots of biz in Japan?

If the answers to those questions lead to Japan, then some experience/education in Japan could certainly be to your advantage.

Both Waseda and Sophia/Jochi are well-known schools in Japan, and all that ranking BS aside, a lot of it depends on your major and what you can show that you did while studying there.

If you do choose to study in Japan (in an English language curriculum), I would suggest that your second/third priority should be to achieve as much Japanese competency as possible.
 
QS and THE ranking are the once you should be worried about, Shanghai ranking is more from Chinese perspective and is considered a very important ranking.

The one referenced john is just rubbish, you can tell the ranking has monetary incentive behind it in the ranking.

I don't know about Japanese university, but from an international perspective, only go to an uni with top 200 ranking. ANU is ranked top 20 to 60 ish, and has extremely lenient entry requirement, because it's located in Canberra. But because it's ranked so high, you are more likely to get respect and employment than from Waseda or Sophia.
 
QS and THE ranking are the once you should be worried about, Shanghai ranking is more from Chinese perspective and is considered a very important ranking.

The one referenced john is just rubbish, you can tell the ranking has monetary incentive behind it in the ranking.

I don't know about Japanese university, but from an international perspective, only go to an uni with top 200 ranking. ANU is ranked top 50 to 60 ish, and has extremely lenient entry requirement, because it's located in Canberra. But because it's ranked so high, you are more likely to get respect and employment than from Waseda or Sophia.

Irrelevant BS.

You need to look at both what you are going to be studying and majoring in, and where you are going to take that (as a career). If it leads to Japan, then I believe that university in Japan will be a big advantage, regardless of rankings. Even if you end up in Singapore, some knowledge of Japan could be an advantage.
 
Irrelevant BS.

You need to look at both what you are going to be studying and majoring in, and where you are going to take that (as a career). If it leads to Japan, then I believe that university in Japan will be a big advantage, regardless of rankings. Even if you end up in Singapore, some knowledge of Japan could be an advantage.

Ceteris paribus, Western university always > local university, especially in Asia.

From Japanese employers prepective, if you have a degree from a top ranking English speaking uni, you will stand out big time than a bunch of candicates with degree with Japanese unis.
 
I suppose when it comes to what I actually intend to do in the future, I have not given it much thought at all. My main reasons for wanting to study in Japan is accommodation, an interest in the Japanese culture and because I want to be able to converse, read and write fluently in Japanese. If it means anything at this point, I want to study in Japan (Tokyo in particular) because I like the living conditions and lifestyle based on the many trips I've taken in the recent few years (I just got back from my sixth trip to Tokyo earlier this week). I know it will be different if I actually work or study in Japan but the current positive impression I have on the whole plays a big part in my decision to study in Tokyo.

By the way, what do you mean by "because it's located in Canberra"? Is there something about the location that makes it a less desirable place to study in?
 
Ceteris paribus, Western university always > local university, especially in Asia.
From Japanese employers prepective, if you have a degree from a top ranking English speaking uni, you will stand out big time than a bunch of candicates with degree with Japanese unis.

From the perspective of the average Singaporean employer, applicants from local universities and other top ranked universities are definitely more desirable than just any western university as it's very common for Singaporeans to study in western countries (Australia in particular as it's closer) because they cannot get into a local university. Most of the Singaporeans I know who are studying overseas are studying in Australia now (Usually in Perth if I remember correctly).
 
I suppose when it comes to what I actually intend to do in the future, I have not given it much thought at all. My main reasons for wanting to study in Japan is accommodation, an interest in the Japanese culture and because I want to be able to converse, read and write fluently in Japanese. If it means anything at this point, I want to study in Japan (Tokyo in particular) because I like the living conditions and lifestyle based on the many trips I've taken in the recent few years (I just got back from my sixth trip to Tokyo earlier this week). I know it will be different if I actually work or study in Japan but the current positive impression I have on the whole plays a big part in my decision to study in Tokyo.
...

I like your reasoning, so sure, go for it!
 
From the perspective of the average Singaporean employer, applicants from local universities and other top ranked universities are definitely more desirable than just any western university as it's very common for Singaporeans to study in western countries (Australia in particular as it's closer) because they cannot get into a local university. Most of the Singaporeans I know who are studying overseas are studying in Australia now (Usually in Perth if I remember correctly).

That's why I said ANU, it's ridiculously highly ranked in the world considering it's low entry requirement, your low SAT will not get you into any top uni in the States. You can get into ANU without any standarised test, just go through one of their pathways.

In fact, ANU is just behind NUS, but far less competitive to get in. ANU get it's funding from the Australian federal government which boosts it's ranking like steroids on a teenager.

And Canberra is boring that's why it's like Washington DC, everyone wants to live in NY or LA.
 
That's why I said ANU, it's ridiculously highly ranked in the world considering it's low entry requirement, your low SAT will not get you into any top uni in the States. You can get into ANU without any standarised test, just go through one of their pathways.
And Canberra is boring that's why it's like Washington DC, everyone wants to live in NY or LA.

The part about it being boring isn't going to bug me much as I prefer spending my time on games or painting model kits and I'm not even taking advantage of the awesome night life and easily accessible shopping malls we have in Singapore.

The main part stopping me from applying to ANU would be that I don't know what to really expect and from the start when I was considering to study overseas, the first thing I did was eliminate the other continents as I prefer my lifestyle in Asia (and apart from shopping, I disliked the general behaviour and the impression I have of people in the States during my family holidays).

I suppose it's just difficult for me to think about it that way because I have not planned out what I intend to do in the future.
 
You do realise that most students in uni are international Asians students right? Chances are probably never have to deal with local Australians if you study and live at uni. Even the academics and lectures are usually overseas.

Australian uni is just like another Chinatown.

At ANU, Macquarie, UTS and UNSW, 90% of quantitative courses such as economics, finance, actuary, maths are Asian and more than half are overseas cashed up Chinese.

In Sydney we have a saying,

UNSW = U Never See White (It's true, Really white Aussie are quite rare lol)

UTS = Ugliest tower in Sydney

UWS = U Went SH1T (in your HSC tests)

ANU = Asian National Uni
 
You do realise that most students in uni are international Asians students right? Chances are probably never have to deal with local Australians if you study and live at uni. Even the academics and lectures are usually overseas.
Australian uni is just like another Chinatown.
At ANU, Macquarie, UTS and UNSW, 90% of quantitative courses such as economics, finance, actuary, maths are Asian and more than half are overseas cashed up Chinese.
In Sydney we have a saying,
UNSW = U Never See White (It's true, Really white Aussie are quite rare lol)
UTS = Ugliest tower in Sydney
UWS = U Went SH1T (in your HSC tests)
ANU = Asian National Uni

Haha I suppose you do have a point, I know way too many people in UNSW.

I'll have to think about it more before I can come to a proper decision but I really appreciate your advice, it's great to get to learn more from a different point of view, I've never considered studying in Australia but I should give it a little more thought. :)

If there's anyone else who knows more information about Waseda and Sophia's it'd be useful to know though! :)
 
Hi, I visited Waseda and met with the director of the EDESSA program. The average SAT score is 2053, in case you were wondering.
 
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