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Writing a "study plan" for Keio & Waseda applications

danarch

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14 Mar 2009
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I actually have a J.D. and have been a practicing attorney for the last year and a half. Because of my husband's job, we are moving to Tokyo in June and with the job market being as it is, I am going to be able to do what I've dreamed about for awhile - do an intensive study program.

I'm currently applying to Keio and Waseda and both require a "study plan". Both basically ask why you are applying to the program and what you plan to do during and after. Writing it in Japanese and coming up with some plausible reason behind why I would want to study (other than just so I can watch anime without the subtitles =), but how important is this statement and how should I structure it. I think both schools have competitive programs and I really would like to study at one of these schools (preferably Keio, although Waseda has a renowned program) - so I don't want to screw this up.

I never did study abroad in undergrad or law school and this seems a little bit different than a personal statement. Any help/guidance/comfort would be appreciated.

dana
 
I applied for and was accepted to both schools. If I remember correctly, the keio application could be written in English without penalty, so certainly do that if you are not confident in your Japanese. I ended up turning down both schools and coming to Waseda as a graduate student on a MEXT scholarship, so ironically I have still been able to study at Waseda's same language school (gets good marks in my books, I will continue to take classes there next semester).

Since we can't tell you why you would like to go to these schools, you'll have to figure that out yourself or give more details. I will, however, post copies of the essays that I wrote as possible examples. Obviously these are not intended for anyone to copy (mandatory disclaimer).



Here is a copy of my essay for Waseda (bit cringeworthy in bits, but that's language learning I suppose):

窶堙?窶堋ソ窶堙ォ窶堙アツ、窶伉⇒?ョ窶彡窶堙娯?愿コ窶怒ナ津ェツ静ェツ修窶ーテ帚?凖カ窶堙可行窶堋ォ窶堋ス窶堋「窶板昶?燃窶堙戸?ェ窶堙や?堙坂?愿コ窶怒ナ津ェ窶拿窶氾坂?堙ーニ但ニ鍛ニ致窶堋キ窶堙ゥ窶堙??堋「窶堋、窶堋ア窶堙??堙??堋キツ。ツ債。窶堙懌?堙??堙娯?愿コ窶怒ナ津ェ窶堙娯?「テ冷?ケツュ窶堙坂?牢窶堙?スツゥツ習窶堙??堋キ窶堙娯?堙?、窶堋「窶堙や?堙?ナ?テ遺?儕窶堙闇?テ藩?。窶堋「窶堙ー窶堋オ窶堙??堋オ窶堙懌?堋、窶堋オツ、窶禿堋湘」窶堙個人窶堙?彙窶堋キナスナセ窶堙??堙?ツ催凪?堋ッ窶堋ス窶愿コ窶怒ナ津ェ窶堙ーナスg窶堙≫?堙??堋オ窶堙懌?堋、窶堙遺?堙?、窶罵ツ々窶堙依?ォ窶堋「窶「テ遺?堋ェツ身窶堙俄?「t窶堋「窶堙??堋「窶堙懌?堋キツ。窶堋オ窶堋ゥ窶堋オツ、窶堙「窶堙ゥ窶ケC窶毒セツ々窶堙??「テ冷?ケツュ窶堙?窶佚・ツ好窶堋ォツ、ツ青「ナ?E窶吮??窶堙俄?戳窶堙溪?堙ァ窶堙ェ窶堙??堋「窶堙ゥ窶伉⇒?ョ窶彡窶堙個静ヲツ青カ窶堙固陳ウ窶堙??愿コ窶怒ナ津ェ窶堙ー窶堋ォ窶堋ソ窶堙ア窶堙??「テ冷?ケツュ窶堋キ窶堙ェ窶堙篠、窶堙?窶堙娯?堋キ窶堋イ窶堋「ツ湘」窶傳窶堋ェツ出窶藩??堙ゥ窶堙?スv窶堋「窶堙懌?堋キツ。窶愿コ窶怒ナ津ェ窶堙娯?「テ冷?ケツュ窶堙ーツ鞘?ー窶堙溪?堙??ェ窶扼窶敖シ窶堙俄?堙遺?堙≫?堋ス窶ケナス窶扼窶堙個十窶愿アナ椎ス窶堙可、窶愿コ窶怒ナ津ェ窶拿窶氾最スナスナ陳ア窶愿ア窶ケ窶ー窶堙ーツ坂?。ナ?i窶堋オ窶堙懌?堋オ窶堋ス窶堙娯?堙?、ツ債。窶扼窶堙才?ェ窶ケ窶ー窶堙?窶禿塲スw窶堋オ窶堙??堋「窶堙懌?堋キツ。窶愿コ窶怒ナ津ェツ静ェツ修窶ーテ帚?凖カ窶堙可行窶堋ゥ窶堋ケ窶堙??堋「窶堋ス窶堋セ窶堋ッ窶堙ェ窶堙篠、ツ坂?。ナ?iツ出窶藩??堙ゥ窶堙ヲ窶堋、窶堙俄?堙遺?堙ェ窶堙ゥ窶堙?スv窶堋「窶堙懌?堋キツ。
窶愿コ窶怒ナ津ェ窶堙娯?「テ冷?ケツュ窶堋セ窶堋ッ窶堙??堙坂?堙遺?堋ュツ、窶伉シ窶堙固ステカ窶ケテ??堙俄?堙?窶卍ョツ講窶堋オ窶堋ス窶堋「窶堙??堋キツ。窶愿コ窶怒窶堙固ステ絶?ーテッ窶堙「ニ但ニ淡ニ但窶堙個坂?伉催崘?テ滅淡窶堙嫁?テ問?堋オ窶堙??ケツサ窶督。ツ深窶堋「窶堙??堋キ窶堙娯?堙?、窶堋サ窶堙娯?「ツェ窶禿ャ窶堙嫁?テ問?堙ュ窶堙ゥナステカ窶ケテ??堙俄?愿シ窶堙ィ窶堋ス窶堋「窶堙娯?堙??堋キツ。ナステカ窶ケテ??堙俄?愿シ窶堙ェ窶堙篠、ナ?w窶禿「窶堙娯?愿コ窶怒ナ津ェ窶堙ーツ身窶堙俄?堙や?堋ッ窶堙遺?堋ェ窶堙ァツ重窶牌窶堙遺?ーテ帚?佚ィ窶堙俄?堙や?堋「窶堙??堙?ナ?w窶堙披?堋ア窶堙??堙?ツ出窶藩??堙懌?堋キツ。窶堋サ窶堙個湘」ツ、ナステカ窶ケテ??堙?坂?伉催帚?廬窶堙遺?堋ア窶堙??堙俄?ケツサ窶督。窶堙ーナスツ昶?堙や?愿コ窶怒ツ人窶堙固?wツ青カ窶堙俄?ーテッ窶堋ヲ窶堙ゥ窶堙??堋「窶堋「窶堙??堋キツ。窶愿コ窶怒ツ人窶堙俄?ーテッ窶堋、窶堙?陳セ窶堋ヲ窶堙篠、窶堙?窶堋、ヒ?ェ窶堙や?堙娯?伉⇒?ョ窶彡窶堙可行窶堋ォ窶堋ス窶堋「窶板昶?燃窶堙坂?「窶敘?ヒ??堙嫁スQ窶ーテ≫?堋オ窶堋ス窶堋「窶堋ゥ窶堙ァ窶堙??堋キツ。ニ弛ニ湛ニ単ニ鍛ニ暖窶「窶昶?堙「ニ探ニ辰ニ誰ニ椎?ニ停?愴丹窶「窶昶?堙俄?愿シ窶堙ゥ窶堋ア窶堙??堙?、窶愿コ窶怒ツ人窶堙??認窶傳窶堙俄?堙遺?堙≫?堙?、ツ坂?伉催崘津ー窶板ャ窶堙ーツ進窶堙溪?堙ゥ窶堙??慊ッナスナセ窶堙架?ェツ渉鞘?堙嫁?y窶堋オ窶堙昶?堋ス窶堋「窶堙??堋キツ。

窶怒窶懌?凪?堙俄?「テ冷?ケツュ窶堙俄?堙遺?堙ゥ窶堙?スv窶堋「窶堙懌?堋キツ。

窶愿コ窶怒ナ津ェツ静ェツ修窶ーテ帚?凖カ窶堋ェツ終窶堙ュ窶堙≫?堋スナ津」ツ、窶伉⇒?ョ窶彡窶堙娯?佚・ナ?w窶ー@ニ但ニ淡ニ但窶伉セ窶「ツス窶芭ナ陳、窶ケ窶?窶ーテ遺?堙可進ナ?w窶堋オ窶堋ス窶堋「窶堙?スv窶堋「窶堙懌?堋キツ。窶伉⇒?ョ窶彡窶堙娯?愿コ窶怒ナ津ェツ静ェツ修窶ーテ帚?凖カ窶堙可行窶堙≫?堙??堋「窶堙ゥナ?テ披?堙可、窶堋サ窶堙娯?佚・ナ?w窶ー@窶堙個静ヲツ青カ窶堙俄?ーテッ窶堋「ツ、ツ静ヲツ青カ窶堙固陳、窶ケ窶?窶堙嫁?テ問?堋オ窶堙?彙窶堋オツ坂?。窶堙ュ窶堋ケ窶堙??堋「窶堋ス窶堋セ窶堋ッ窶堙ェ窶堙寂?堙?スv窶堋「窶堙懌?堋キツ。窶堋ウ窶堙ァ窶堙可、窶毒突?ェ窶佚・ナ?w窶ー@窶堙固ステカ窶ケテ??堙?窶卍ョツ講窶堙??堋ォ窶堙ェ窶堙寂?佚・窶「テ焦?テー窶堋オ窶堋「窶堙??堋キツ。


And here is the essay for Keio (though I think I edited it one more time after this draft, with very minor revisions):

In the 21st century, Asia will become the focus of global politics and the international economy. Accordingly, America needs experts on specific countries in Asiaツ―people who have lived there, speak the language, and understand the culture. Furthermore, America needs individuals who can look at Asia with a broader lens, who are experts not just on one country but on regions in Asia, and therefore able to understand the complex interactions between multiple countries within those regions. America needs these people. Yet despite all of the indications that the new world order will revolve around Asia, in America there is still a dearth of expertise on the region. From primary school through postgraduate programs, America still focuses on Europe and ignores Asia. In short, America is headed for a personnel crisis.
I believe I can help. I want to use the skills that I acquired studying English at university and teaching English in Japanツ―writing skills, critical thinking skills, Japanese language skills, intercultural communication skills, and flexibilityツ―and become a regional specialist on East-Asia. I will finish my term on the JET Program in August and hope to enter Keio University's Japanese Language Program (JLP) in September. After completing the JLP course, I want to pursue a master's degree in East Asian politics at Waseda's Graduate School of Asian-Pacific studies. This educational background would provide me with the knowledge and skills necessary to fulfill my dream of entering the U.S. Foreign Service. As a Foreign Service Officer, I would like to work in Japan, Korea, China and other East Asian countries, solidifying my Japanese, learning Mandarin and Korean, advancing American interests, and promoting mutual understanding between those countries and the United States. That is my dream. Keio University's JLP is the bridge connecting that dream to where I am now.
To pursue a master's degree at Waseda or at another university in Japan, it will be necessary for me to vastly improve my formal and academic Japanese. I believe the JLP is the perfect school to help me do so. For the past two years, I have been studying Japanese on my own, without a teacher, for about three hours every day. My hard work earned me a 79% on level two of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) this past December, and I plan to take level one this year, but I have a long way to go. Since all of my study has been self-study, I make careless mistakes, am weak at polite speech, and must have many bad habits. I hope that JLP's teachers can transform the Japanese student I am nowツ―raw but filled with enthusiasmツ―into a polished, fluent speaker who is capable of postgraduate study in an all-Japanese environment.
I also believe that gaining access to the resources of Keio University would help me grow academically and professionally. I currently live in rural Tohoku, amd although I regularly read ツ'The Asian Times Online' and ツ'Japan Focus: an Asia-Pacific e-journal' in English, as well as ニ男ニ停?ヲツーニ炭ニ脱ニ達ツーニ誰 and the 窶卍ゥ窶愿コツ新窶「ツキ in Japanese, I want access to more varied news sources and academic journals. With a library of more than four million volumes, I am sure Keio would not disappoint. Furthermore, the Mita campus is located in close proximity to the International House of Japan (Roppongi), which contains myriad English language resources on Japan, and which I would like to join as a library member. Studying at Keio would give me access to resources that studying at other language schools could not.
Furthermore, I am excited by the possibility of taking international studies courses at Keio University. Although my Japanese may not be sufficient for auditing normal university classes during my first semester at the JLP, I am confident that I will be ready by my second semester. I am also excited by the courses taught in English by the International Center, especially ツ'Japanese Foreign Policy,' ツ'Japan in the Foreign Imagination,' and ツ'Special Study of International Relations in East Asia.' Taking such courses would be the prefect prelude to entering graduate school at Waseda, while taking normal university classes would allow me to simultaneously improve my academic Japanese while broadening my knowledge of East-Asian studies.
If accepted, I would make use, not only of the academic resources at Keio, but also its social resources. To learn a language, one has to actively incorporate it into one's daily life, not just study out of books, and to that end I would embrace the opportunity to become a member of Keio's vibrant university community. I am interested in basketball, cycling, and film; in order to practice Japanese and to meet like-minded students, I would like to join one of Keio's many clubs. While at Keio, I would like to spend as little time as possible in my apartment, and as much time as possible studying in the library, participating in clubs, meeting with professors, and exploring Tokyo. As an English teacher, I have refrained from using much Japanese with students or fellow English teachers, as my role has been to help them improve their English. But when I finish JET, I am dying to use Japanese all day, every day. For the next year, I want to live Japanese, and Keio's JLP would be the perfect place to begin that life.
As I said at the beginning of this essay, I see the JLP as the perfect bridge between my past and my future. It would connect my life as a teacher in rural Japan to my life as a graduate student in Tokyo. It would connect my Japanese self-study with academic study in a graduate program. It would connect me to resources, people, and opportunities that would allow me to pursue my dream of building connections between Asia and Japan. In short, I strongly believe that my participation in the JLP would help me grow personally and professionally and that I would be an asset to the Keio University community.
 
Wow - your essays are beautiful. I've written both of mine in Japanese (with as much kanji as I can); Keio has an 800 character limit. Would you recommend that I write a longer one in English (which I can get away with) or submit the Japanese version even though it would be shorter, but in Japanese.

Congrats on the MEXT scholarship - those are hard to come by. Since I'm already out of graduate school though, I will just have to pay this one out of pocket.
 
Wow - your essays are beautiful. I've written both of mine in Japanese (with as much kanji as I can); Keio has an 800 character limit. Would you recommend that I write a longer one in English (which I can get away with) or submit the Japanese version even though it would be shorter, but in Japanese.
Congrats on the MEXT scholarship - those are hard to come by. Since I'm already out of graduate school though, I will just have to pay this one out of pocket.

If you feel like you can get the same message across in Japanese, albeit with more mistakes and less beautiful words, do it.

I thought I could create a much more powerful, unified message by using English. Plus I thought that doing one in Japanese and one in English would make success in at least one more likely.

Either way, as long as the content is there, I don't think it matters much. Be sure to play up any links you can find between your professional career/interests and the schools you are applying to--not many people will have the same kind of perspective as you (most of the people directly enrolled in the language program are between 18-22 and in college; those who are enrolled in the university's graduate schools and taking classes at the language school on the side tend to be older, have work experience, etc).
 
Thanks for your help again. You gave me a lot of good insight into how I should approach it. Unfortunately, since I'm only JLPT 3, I can't do any of the graduate programs I'm qualified for (law) and I really can only take a year off to do this, so I guess I'll be the oldest one in the program.

I just hope that the fact that I am older doesn't work against me.

hontoo arigatoo gozaimasu.

(not having japanese input on the computer I'm using is
 
cool..essay...how your brain arrange it?
I do not know if I can make it like yours...
even I cannot make my own story. :p
 
I'm applying to the Keio's JLP for Spring 2010.. and I'm worried about my gpa and essay.. I think I'm more worried about my essay now (after reading yours). My mother and my uncle have attended Keio in the past so I want to apply here too.. Anyways, do you have any suggestions regarding to the application process? After reading your essay, I feel like my essay is elementary in comparison to yours... T____T I'm so worried. And my GPA is pretty bad.. Should I even bother?
 
study plan for osaka university's international public policy Master program

I'm currently applying to Osaka university's International public policy Master program.

They require me to write a study plan within 6 pages. which is very long...and I have no idea what to write....(for that long)

help anyone...

Roni...
 
I'm applying for the International Program at Keio right now and I'm kind of confused, since my Japanese is far from being sufficient enough to actually convey all my goals in the study plan. Sending it in English only is okay too, as I have seen here? I can't get an official translation right now, since due to the current situation, the embassy here is busy with a lot of other things... does anyone know if it's okay to send the plan in English only? After all, Japanese proficiency is not a requirement for the program..
 
Thank you so much, that's a relief & great help! I've gone through so much trouble for this application, I cannot bear another translation issue :|
 
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