ARC Academy Alumni! Please Share Some Advice.

[andrew2skinny4u]

Hello everyone! New to this forum and it looks like it has a good source of feedback so I thought I'd ask some questions here. I hope anyone not just Alumni can give me some advice.
After looking at many language schools I've decided to go with ARC Academy. I've seen similar questions but weren't quite fulfilling my questions. :/
1) First off I know that ARC has a couple campuses but the two I was looking at are either in Tokyo or Osaka. Can anyone with experience (from attending ARC) give me your thoughts on which campus you attended?
2) For anyone that has attended the long term course (1-2 years). Please share your thoughts about your overall experience with them and how fast paste the classes are (for higher education)?
3) This one is for those that have attended more recently. What is the majority of nationalities at ARC? I saw their website but still wanted to know from someone that was just their.
4) Is it possible to switch campuses (Osaka 1 year/6 months- Tokyo for remaining, vise versa)?
5) While attending, did you find yourself more busy with studies then free time? I mean this in the sense of if they give you a lot of work where you can't even leave your room.lol
6) Any scholarships? I looked into this and I found JASSO. Also heard about MEXT (and very few others) but a lot of these are more for people enrolling in a Japanese university. Is the scholarship such as JASSO very hard to get and if yes any advice to being one of the lucky few?
7) And finally to those that have any advice, tips or have just attended a language school period. Kindly share your experiences.
THANK YOU!

 

[DavideTokyo]

Dear Andrew,
I know well ARC, even if I wasn't a student there, but I have visited them many times for my job.
Their teaching method doesn't change between Tokyo and Osaka schools, what will change would be the student demography, as very few western are going to be studying with you in Osaka. That could be a plus or minus, depending on which kind of experience you are looking for. Sure you could switch between campus, but the procedure will not be straightforward as immigration needs to be informed and the school has to do some paperwork for you.
I think that ARC should give you enough free time to enjoy Tokyo or work part-time if you like
Jasso scolarship is very hard to get for a western student, as you will compete with Chinese and Korean student who will have higher score than yourdue to the language similarity. It is good to apply and work hard to get it, but you should not count on it.
In general if you are looking for more advise or you are seeking for someone that would support you in the application process, have a look to my site in the signature below, even if it is not there yet, we cover ARC as well.