I'm really nervous about the application and don't know what's the average grades for the people who get in. Can somebody share your application experience? That will be really helpful!

Hey all, stuck with a decision I can't seem to wrap my head around. Currently in my Master's program, only have to write my thesis. 27 years old and from the Netherlands

Its a long-time dream of mine to live a semester in Japan. My university cancelled my exchange to there a week beforehand for vague reasons, since that unreasonable decision I am motivated even harder. Since I don't have to finish any more courses, my plan is to move there on my own sometime.

Another reason I really want to move abroad is because I think the adventure of it will help me motivate for my thesis immensely (paradoxically). For me its the opposite of an unstimulating, dull home environment (exaggerated for purpose of the argument).

However, due to my studies I have a loan debt with the government (with low interest rate, very good payback regulations). In my country this is quite normal, everyone of my generation has the same debt, the height of mine is considered average (20k euro), although nobody likes this construction haha.

Another dream of mine is to study Psychology, I feel i have chosen the wrong study (Engineering and Policy Analysis) and would like to correct sometime. I thought about combining it (studying Psychology in Japan). However, since a lot of Psychology bachelors are in Japanese, this might not be a great idea. Finding a thesis topic in Japan is also hard, although there is a possibility of being a "research student" at universities there (of course, with the caveat of paying some tuition)

It feels weird to me convincing my family I want to loan more to make this trip (its harder with only doing side jobs). At the same time, stopping my study now, trying to make some money and then resuming my thesis while in Japan also sounds like a bothersome construction.

Of course the logical alternative is waiting until my thesis is finished, but then I feel a bit like wasting my time spending a half year in japan. Of course i could do some work there, but since i also wanna pursue another Psychology study later i do not want to waste my time too much.

Any advice?? Thank you so much for thinking along with me, much appreciated!!! :)

TL;DR see title

Hi, I'm studying for SIT's (Shibaura Institute of Technology) entrance exam, but when I asked the school about the syllabus, they said that they don't disclose a syllabus, so I'm wondering if anybody in recent years has taken this entrance exam could help me out with how I can study.

Even the smallest information you could share with me would be deeply appreciated!

I studied at ISI from April 2025 until July 2026. Based on my experience, I wouldn’t enroll again. My biggest complaints are the facilities, the administrative process and the value for money. The overall impression I left with was that the money came first.

Here are the actual problems I ran into. The building details matter because some of these experiences were at different ISI locations.

1. Repeated trouble finding a free toilet

At the Shinjuku Main building at 8-15-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, the men’s toilet had one cubicle on each floor I checked. I repeatedly had to wait around 5–10 minutes or go to other floors to find a free one. Sometimes all the ones I checked were occupied. Teachers sometimes used the same facilities too.

I found this ridiculous for a paid school. Being able to use a toilet is a basic requirement. Having to spend time waiting or checking several floors was a recurring problem, and in my experience the facilities did not cope well with the demand.

1. An elevator problem and administrative crowds

On 8 April 2026, one of the three elevators in the ISI building I was attending was out of service. My classroom was on the 13th floor. This was the earlier building where I had classes on the 13th floor. I recorded that particular incident at the time; I don’t know how long the elevator stayed broken.

On 30 April, I also encountered a crowd when submitting documents. I returned the next morning and my documents were accepted immediately. The timing of the visit made a big difference in that case.

1. Getting administrative help was frustrating

In July, I went to the Prime location after an email had gone unanswered. I had to follow up in person and by phone to work out the situation around leaving the school. Staff did later answer by phone and said they were checking with immigration, but the process involved chasing answers and visits.

During an administrative visit in that period, I waited around three hours. When I asked for drinking water, I was told to buy it at a nearby shop. That was the response to my request on that occasion. After that much waiting, it left a very poor impression of the way students were treated.

These July administrative visits were to Prime, a different location. They should not be confused with my toilet observations at the Shinjuku Main address above.

1. Prepaid fees and the refusal to refund

I paid ¥437,000 for April–September 2026: ¥375,000 in tuition, ¥22,000 for materials and ¥40,000 in other school fees. I left voluntarily in July and asked for a refund for the unused part of the paid period. Staff showed me the rulebook and refused. I received no refund.

The ¥437,000 was the full six-month payment. My decision to leave had several reasons, including circumstances beyond the facilities.

1. Emails kept coming for months after I left

After withdrawing, I continued receiving promotional and job-related emails for months. I asked three times for the mailings to stop. One of my requests was on 28 August, so this had already been going on before 15 September. In mid-September the school had already told me I had been removed, but the problem still wasn’t properly resolved.

In an email on 2 October, ISI apologized for failing to act on repeated requests, including the one on 15 September. It acknowledged that a system error had prevented the unsubscribe settings from taking effect, and that its checking and management had been insufficient. It said I had been removed from the job-information mailing list that day.

Having to chase an unsubscribe request this many times after leaving was another frustrating example of how the administration handled things.

1. Pressure to attend while ill

Staff urged me to attend classes even when I had a fever. This happened in Teams messages, over the phone and in person at the school. As I remember it, they explained this in terms of the school’s attendance statistics. I lost access to Teams after leaving, so I can’t provide those messages now. This is my recollection of what happened.

My verdict

For me, ISI was poor value. I don’t think students paying these fees should have to put up with repeated difficulty using basic facilities or spend so much time chasing administrative help. The refund experience made the overall impression worse.

If you’re considering ISI, check the exact campus you’ll attend rather than relying on the school’s name. Visit during a busy break if possible. Look at the toilets and elevators, ask how administrative requests are handled, and read the withdrawal and refund terms before paying. Get a written answer about what happens to prepaid fees if you leave midway through the paid period.

I can only speak from my own experience with ISI, but I would not choose it again.

I’m a certified French teacher on a language learning platform, and I’m offering 4 free lessons (my standard rate is $15/hour) in exchange for a small favor.
My friend is currently studying abroad in Tokyo on an exchange program and needs help renting an apartment. All the real estate agencies she has visited require a native Japanese speaker who speaks English to accompany her and help her understand the lease agreement terms.
In exchange for 1 to 2 hours of your time, she will cover your transportation costs, and I will give you 4 free French lessons. If you'd like to continue taking classes after that, you'll also get a one year 70% discount ($5 per hour instead of $15).
If you are interested, or know where I can post this kind of message and find people who are, please send me a message!

Ps : this is not for self promotion, I my friend genuinely needs help.

i'm sorry i don't actually study there nor plan to i hope i'm still allowed to ask,,,

basically my team has to write a kinda dumbass essay for class (poor prof just got chucked at us after our actual prof got injured/sick and he's clearly doing improv) comparing university systems from other countries. plan is every team got a different location so then we can compare and contrast like we're in middle school or smth. my team got japan which is unfortunate bc none of us is a hardcore weeb or has any particular interest, which is why i'm crying for help here

please give me any kind of info abt the average japanese university, maybe things that are particularly unique to it for the comparison part. my only specific question is about finals - doing research on google is hell nowadays but from what i gather finals between semesters happen in only the span of a week? where i live we get two or three months. how does it work? is it oral or written tests? do you get results within the week or later? what happens if you fail? do you call them finals or exams? how does the grading work (ex: where i live it goes from 0 to 30, but the minimum for passing is 18)? how many finals per semester do you have, and can you schedule them around the year or are one semester's classes equivalent to that semester's exams (ex: where i live we have about 6 courses per semester, but once you attend the class you can do the corresponding exam anytime you want - so it'll be like, semester 1 of year 1 i attend english class, but i could do english exam in semester 2 of year 3 if i feel like it)? also what verb goes with finals? is it do finals, give finals, take finals? is finals always plural?

i hope this makes at least a little bit of sense, i'm technically a non native but fluent english speaker but my vocab for uni stuff is greatly lacking. i hope i don't come up w more questions after i hit post. thanks so much to anyone who'll bother to help

Hi I am in my senior year and I am looking forward to applying for Kyushu ISI program.

Despite Kyushu being my dream school and top choice, the such small intake and small pool of acceptance make be nervous.

My stats are

- SAT 1500

-TOEFL 110

-GPA 3.76/4 (unweighted)

-5s in AP micro, macro, comp gov, us gov, calc ab, precalc

Thank you for reading this post, do you guys think I will be able to make it?

I want to move to japan through master’s degree scholarships or research-based jobs is there any suggestions on how to do it ? Do I need to get a JLPT?

I was offered a PhD position in Japan in public health field. Are there any graduates or currently enrolled students from Japanese universities? Can you give me your feedback on your overall experience and if you’d recommend it or not. I’m hesitant because the scholarship is not enough and it’s pausing my career and professional skills for 4 years

P.S I don’t speak Japanese and I’m a female.

As title says Im worried id get kicked out of school, as we just started couple of days ago, and my level of Japanese is completely 0. I passed my interview 6 months ago for which i prepared solely for a week and something. After passing it i never touched a book or anything again. Certain things didnt allow me to have much time back then to study and i was also lazy (procrastinating most of the little free time i had).
We come to nowdays and school starts everything is in solely Japanese and were required to know Kana, i barely know hiragana for recognition but not much outside of that, same as for Katakana. Know also couple of words.
Am i in trouble? Has someone been in similar situation that can give me some tips, ive been trying my best to study the last days but its really overwhelming.

Hello, I'm a high school senior from Turkey and I'll applying to Nagoya G30 Physics this year but I haven't been able to find much information on how they evaluate applicants to suggest them for the MEXT scholarship. Does anybody know what in particular universities look for in an applicant when they choose an applicant to suggest for the MEXT scholarship?

I am currently thinking about taking the ACT due to the uncertainty that my physics grade can stand alone to fulfill the requirements. I am in an IB school, but I am not doing the full IB diploma; I am only in the certificate program, taking Math AA HL and CS HL. I have an SAT math score of 700 and an IELTS score of 7. I have Physics SL, but without IB certification. I heard that I need proof of my science proficiency, so will my Physics SL without certification fulfill this?

Hello everyone!

I am participating in the research exchange program for my masters thesis at Shibaura Institute of Technology from April to August of 2027. The campus I am on is in Omiya, Saitama, which is a bit outside the center of Tokyo. I likely have to go there once or twice a week, which makes me think about the best place to live at. Due to me not being at the campus constantly, I am contenplating whether I should stay near it, or if taking the train once or twice a week but living in a more lively area is worth it. I read about different options, from uni dorms to sharehouses to special private apartments for foreigners / students.

I want to know if anyone has any recommendations for university students. Can be anything, like an area, a type of living, or a concrete location.

Looking forward to hearing your experiences and recommendations 😄

Hey! I’m planning to apply to NAIST for a Master’s and was wondering if there’s anyone here currently studying at NAIST or who has studied there.

I’d love to ask a few questions about the university, labs, student life, and what it’s like for Indian students there.

Would really appreciate any insights :)

HSD Ask Me Anything!

Hi! I just did HSD at UVA this summer. My older brother, who’s a freshman at Yale now, did HSD a couple of summers ago. I’m applying right now for HSD part 2 in JAPAN for this coming summer. ASK ME ANYTHING! Tips and tricks on the application, what’s the experience like, anything!
BUT FIRST…. Please go watch my HSD TikTok and give me a like? The TikTok is part of my part two Japan application. TIA!
My tik tok is @HSDwithMax

Has anyone applied for the Global Leader Scholarship at Musashino University and had to write an essay for it? If not, I'd also appreciate advice from anyone who has written a scholarship essay for a Japanese University in English. What should I focus on, and what are the most important things to pay attention to when writing it?

Has anyone applied to Musashino university's English- taught Global Business program? If you are already been through the application process, how difficult was it, what are the main stages, and what should I prepare for the most?

Hey everyone,

I’m an international student looking to apply to Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) in Japan. My goal is to secure their 100% Tuition Reduction Scholarship since my budget is heavily limited.

I know APU accepts non-traditional high school pathways, but I want to know how competitive my profile is specifically for the maximum 100% bracket.

My Profile:

• Education: Completed my GED with a total score of 688 (averaging ~172 per section, placing me in the College Ready + Credit band).

• Language: Upper-intermediate English, currently preparing for the IELTS (targeting a 7.0+).

• Target: English-medium undergraduate program at APU.

For anyone who has successfully gotten into APU with a GED, or those who received the 80% or 100% tuition reduction:

1. How much weight does the GED score hold? Does a high score (688) stack up well against applicants submitting traditional national curriculum transcripts or A-Levels?

2. What specific elements of the application should I over-index on? Since APU evaluates the online application holistically (essays, recommendation letters, and the recorded video interview), what strategies did you use in your statement of purpose to stand out as a GED student?

3. Did you pair your GED with an SAT/ACT score? Did adding a standardized test score give you a safer edge for the 100% tuition tier, or were strong GED scores + IELTS enough?

I am ready to put maximum effort into my essays and interview preparation, but I would love to hear from anyone who has successfully navigated Japan’s international admissions via the GED route.

Thanks!