5 Keys to Getting Accepted into Grad School in Japan
Getting into a top grad school can be easy if you put effort into the application
When I taught at Japanese universities, I frequently received emails from prospective students. But it seemed that half of them were more interested in obtaining a student visa to live in the country than actually pursuing graduate studies.
For those international prospective students who actually want to study and who are tired of sending hundreds of emails to random college professors, I’ve listed the 5 keys that will make a difference in getting accepted.
#1 Explain PERSUASIVELY Why You Want to Join This Program
Many students send me resumes that sound great, with details like 1st place in a Japanese speech contest.
However, I am always puzzled why those clever students who have been studying accounting or business administration suddenly decided to study anthropology.
It’s okay to change your major. Many great researchers changed their major when they entered graduate school.
However, you have to explain to your prospective professor why you now want to study this particular field and why you want to work specifically with him.
You might receive a reply that the professor wants to read your research proposal so be sure to have that ready. You’ll need that for the entrance exam anyway, so it’s best to prepare that beforehand and use to explain what you plan to study and why you want to study at this university with this professor.
#2 Don’t ask to become a kenkyu-sei
Most prospective students who contacted me asked to become a kenkyu-sei. A kenkyu-sei is a student preparing for the entrance exam. This allows you to become affiliated with the university before passing the entrance exam.
As a kenkyu-sei, you have access to university libraries and other facilities, can receive research advice from a faculty member appointed as a mentor, and are supposed to take classes he assigns.
You can apply to be enrolled as a kenkyu-sei before you become a student or if you fail the entrance exam and want to take it again next year.
Since you only need approval from a prospective mentor to become a kenkyu-sei, this looks like an easy way to join a Japanese university and get a student visa.
However, the program is abused by people simply looking for a way to get a visa, so faculty members are wary of applicants asking to become a kenkyu-sei. If you are interested in studying in Japan as a graduate student, at the beginning of your correspondence with your prospective professor, focus on your research goals, not that you want to become a kenkyu-sei!
#3 Don’t plagiarize in your research proposal
I can’t believe people do it, but some people send me research proposals that are copy-and-pasted from online sources.
It’s usually obvious. In the first few sentences, the person sounds like a Showa-era professor giving a solemn lecture, then suddenly writes like a teenager with lots of typos and informal speech.
When I read students essays and find a section that is suspiciously sophisticated, I google it. I have found numerous cases of plagiarism over the years. Nowadays, many universities provide plagiarism detection software such as iThenticate.
Even if you’re confident that nobody will find out, simply add quotation marks to the cut-and-pasted text, and include the name of the author and publication year and mention them in a reference list at the end. That only takes an extra 15 minutes, and your use of citations will prove that you are a promising researcher.
#4 Attend information sessions
Most graduate schools in Japan offer some kind of information session for prospective students. Nowadays, many hold information sessions online, so you can attend even if you live outside of Japan. I recommend you attend those sessions.
They are a great chance to get to know your program and future mentors! They will explain the details of how to apply as an international student.
Some faculty members may offer tips to prepare for the entrance exam. For example, they might recommend the best textbooks for you to study.
You should also obtain past exam questions. They might be available on the university website, or you might have to ask the department’s administrative office. It is very helpful to have them, and you should analyze what kind of questions they ask.
#5 Meet your sempai (senior grad students)
It is also useful to meet your sempai (senior students).
You might meet ones in an information session, or you can ask faculty members to introduce you. You can probably find some people studying in the program through social media.
Your sempai might tell you how they prepared for the entrance exam. More importantly, they can provide a students’ perspective about what it is like to study in the program.
During the information sessions, faculty members will only talk about the good things. Your sempai can tell you everything the faculty members didn’t mention.
I hope this article is useful for you. If you have other topics you want me to cover, please write a comment to let me know.
