college in Japan for non-humanities related major?

82riceballs · 15 Feb 2010

Hi All!

I'm currently a junior at an American high school, so I'm concerned about college. As I've been learning Japanese for quite a while, I'm interested in studying in Japan either as an exchange student for a semester or two during college or as a student in a bilingual university.

However, after much net-searching, I've realized that schools such as APU, TUJ, Sophia, etc that offer bilingual education specialize in the humanities/business, which is a problem for me as I want to go into science (namely, biochemistry). Are there any bilingual schools that offer majors in science?

I know that if I go via an exchange program, I will most likely go during sophomore year to complete the basic/not-major-related courses. Would that be my only way to study in Japan?

Thanks for any help!

akaitsume1 · 16 Feb 2010

I know exactly what you mean. I always wanted to go to Japan for science, but 99% of the programs I found were for humanities.

What science are you looking for, specifically? I might be able to unearth some of my old school searches.

Edit: I just noticed that you wrote biochem. I'll take a look. ^_^;;

akaitsume1 · 16 Feb 2010

http://usac.unr.edu/usac/program.aspx?pid=2934&cid=1&wid=3348&index=1&term=Semester/Year

I wish I'd found this program myself a couple years ago. Hiroshima is a gorgeous city.

82riceballs · 16 Feb 2010

Wow that seems like a wonderful program!!! Thanks so much
So did you end up going to Japan to study? ^_^

akaitsume1 · 16 Feb 2010

Hehe, yeah, I did. I went for language twice, once for a summer and once for a year. I ended up double majoring in environmental science and Japanese, so it still counted towards graduation (the year abroad was basically my much-needed year off from science), but I did want to study science there and got stymied.

But! I'm going there for grad school in science, so it all works out. ^_^ Don't forget, too, that you can get a lot of required humanities credits out of the way by doing a language study abroad. And if you do get to do the Hiroshima program, you'd better let me know how it went!! Lol.

82riceballs · 16 Feb 2010

akaitsume1 said:
Hehe, yeah, I did. I went for language twice, once for a summer and once for a year. I ended up double majoring in environmental science and Japanese, so it still counted towards graduation (the year abroad was basically my much-needed year off from science), but I did want to study science there and got stymied.

But! I'm going there for grad school in science, so it all works out. ^_^

I hope you don't mind my asking, but which grad school are you going to?
and Congrats on getting in! I hope it's a blast =]

Don't forget, too, that you can get a lot of required humanities credits out of the way by doing a language study abroad. And if you do get to do the Hiroshima program, you'd better let me know how it went!! Lol.

Haha I forgot all about get humanities credits! I'm hoping my AP credits will get me out of some of them lol. Unfortunately, I looked at the list of partner universities for the Hiroshima program and I'm not applying to any of them next fall >.> The website is a great source of reference nonetheless.

I know I'm definitely applying to Rutgers Univ, being an NJ resident. It has an exchange program w. Ritsumeikan and Asia Pacific University (I'm pretty sure they're the same thing, but for some reason they're listed separately) for Spring semester. The courses they offer are basically all business or Asian Studies-related, but, like you said, it might be a good year off from science.

akaitsume1 · 16 Feb 2010

Hold on. NJ where? What school do you go to?

I know those programs. Ritsumeikan's main campus is in Kyoto, but they have the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific Uni in Beppu, Kyushu. I almost applied there, lol. I'm off to Keio University in Tokyo.

You usually don't have to be on the list of recipient universities. You can do study abroads outside of your school, it just takes a little more effort to get the credits cleared. (That's what I had to do, lol.)

82riceballs · 17 Feb 2010

Wow Keio University!!! THAT'S SO AWESOME!!! One person who graduated from my high school either last year or two years ago decided to go there for college.

Thanks for telling me about how you can do study abroad programs outside of your school. I found a lot of cool ones and I was really disappointed when I found out that none of the schools I'm applying to are on their list.

Are you from NJ too? hehe nice to meet you! I go to West Windsor Plainsboro High School North. (it's quite a mouthful to say lol)

akaitsume1 · 17 Feb 2010

Lol, yeah, I'm from NJ. Somerset county; I went to Somerville High School. That's why my ears perked up. XD

And yeah, very few programs are actually restricted to their partner schools. All you have to do is ask your school's study abroad office to help hook you up. And I know that Rutgers has some really nice people, especially in the Japanese department.

Small world, isn't it? XD

Emoni · 17 Feb 2010

There are plenty of engineering programs in Japan I believe, but most are probably in Japanese. Some may be in English though. Engineering departments tend to be very large though.

Half-n-Half · 17 Feb 2010

I recently applied to Tohoku University for a year long exchange program and they are a primarily research based college. They offer mostly science and engineering classes in English for exchange students.

Here's a list of courses they offer in English:

http://www.insc.tohoku.ac.jp/jype/2-2.html

EDIT: I forgot to mention, they only accept applicants from partner universities, so you'll have to ask your university whether or not they have a partnership. I can't find a list of their partner universities, sorry.

epigene · 17 Feb 2010

Half-n-Half said:
I recently applied to Tohoku University for a year long exchange program and they are a primarily research based college. They offer mostly science and engineering classes in English for exchange students.

Here's a list of courses they offer in English:

http://www.insc.tohoku.ac.jp/jype/2-2.html

EDIT: I forgot to mention, they only accept applicants from partner universities, so you'll have to ask your university whether or not they have a partnership. I can't find a list of their partner universities, sorry.

Just an addition to HalfnHalf's post, the list of Tohoku University's partner universities around the world.
http://www.insc.tohoku.ac.jp/infor2/link_ex.html

college in Japan for non-humanities related major?

82riceballs

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akaitsume1

世にも奇妙な物語

akaitsume1

世にも奇妙な物語

82riceballs

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akaitsume1

世にも奇妙な物語

82riceballs

後輩

akaitsume1

世にも奇妙な物語

82riceballs

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akaitsume1

世にも奇妙な物語

Emoni

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Half-n-Half

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epigene

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