How to survive in Waseda

the how-to guide that no one asked for

[howtosurviveinwaseda]

Hello! I'm in my second year in senior high school going on my third soon andI am very interested in going to Waseda's School of Political Science and Economics. If your blog has guides for infos about that, I would like to know if Japanese students taking IB in Japan are eligible for the English programme. Thank you :)

Hi there!

Unfortunately, I’m not too familiar with Waseda’s School of Political Science and Economics or the IB but I did manage to find some information!

Here is a link to their admissions page:

https://www.waseda.jp/fpse/pse/en/applicants/admissions/

and these are their application guidelines for September 2016:

http://www.waseda.jp/fpse/pse/assets/uploads/2015/06/EDESSA-AO-Admission-Application-Guidelines-for-Entrance-in-September-20161.pdf

If you turn to page 6 of the guidelines, it appears to say that if you have or will have an IB by September you can apply. It doesn’t specify any particular IB so hopefully you are still eligible!

You may want to check out these links as well:

https://www.waseda.jp/fpse/pse/en/applicants/open-days/

https://www.waseda.jp/fpse/pse/en/applicants/link/

or if you have any other questions, you can contact the School of Political Science and Economics directly here:

https://www.waseda.jp/fpse/pse/en/contact/

Good luck with your studies!

[howtosurviveinwaseda]

hi! does this guide apply to sils students? and do you know anything about the sils program in general? thanks!

Hi there! 

Unfortunately the majority of this guide is geared more towards CJL (Center of Japanese Language) students but I did manage to find some nuggets of info on exchange students to the SILS program (1 year).

Most SILS classes are taught in English but exchange students are still required to take Japanese language classes (at least 6 credits worth). Your Japanese level will still be assessed through the JCAT and apparently if you score a level 6 or above, you may be exempt from taking Japanese classes altogether!

If however, you don’t know any Japanese (which is perfectly fine since knowing Japanese isn’t a requirement for applying to SILS) you are still expected to know how to read and write hiragana and katakana; this is because all Japanese language classes will be taught in Japanese.

Here is their most recent schedule for exchange students

Double-degree students

Extra Info!

I hope that this was somewhat helpful and I wish you the best of luck!

[howtosurviveinwaseda]

【Choosing Courses: JCAT & Course Registration】

Hello, intrepid reader!

So before you can dive straight into choosing which courses to take, you probably would have been told to take the JCAT test (if you haven’t already taken it by now). It’s basically a Japanese test testing well, your…Japanese. You will be assigned a level and should theoretically choose your courses based on that level. Simple as pie, yes? Au contraire, the JCAT is rather merciless (it’s timed – you have like 10 seconds for each question) and in many cases not that accurate. 

So what should you do when you end up saddled with a level 3? Not that there’s anything wrong with a level 3, but does it mean that you now can’t take that level 7 haiku class that is in hot demand? Well, no and that’s the beauty of Waseda’s pick ‘n mix system (that and that alone to be quite honest). Just because you’re a level 3 doesn’t mean you can’t pick a class of any other level, but you’re advised against it because you may not be able to keep up. But if you want to challenge yourself, a level 4 class or even level 5 might be your thing.

The best general advice I could give on choosing courses would actually be 1) choose classes that seem interesting regardless of academic teaching and b) chooses classes over a range of levels.

The reason I say choose interesting classes is that even though you’re very welcome to choose a level 6 grammar class marking other people’s work for 13 weeks (it exists!), I know for a fact that I wouldn’t have made it past the 5th week. By choosing interesting classes, even my rather short attention span managed to last the 13 weeks. 

Secondly, the reason I chose classes ranging from level 2 to level 6 was that most of the interesting classes were actually in the lower levels and also to give myself a break from all the tougher, higher levelled classes. And I seriously don’t regret that over half my timetable was filled with lower levelled classes. Because even if it is a lower level class, you’re still gonna be able to learn something and it also helps you revise stuff that you probably forgot.

Most if not all of my fellow university classmates ended up filling the bulk of their timetables with level 5 to level 7 and even 8 classes and I remember a lot of them complaining about it after the third week or something.

Now you may be thinking why not just change classes if they’re that difficult? Yeah…it’d probably be easier to swim with dolphins than change your courses at Waseda. The reason is that at the very beginning of each term you have 3 registration periods (usually lasting a couple of days). In other words, 3 chances to change your courses supposedly without repercussions. So if you want to change your classes after the 3rd registration period…you’re kind of screwed.  

So now you’re probably thinking that 3 registration periods seem fair enough…well, no it really isn’t. For example, if you’re hesitating over a certain class that seems really interesting but may be a little too difficult or if you have to choose between two classes, you might be thinking that you’ll just see how things go and choose again in the 2nd registration period but wait, the classes are now all booked and now you have to choose from classes that aren’t what you wanted and/or too difficult?

Yep, that’s exactly what will happen during the 2nd and 3rd registration periods. The only one that really matters is the 1st registration period; the other two are for minor edits/changes. So the trick here is to cram all the ones that you want in the 1st registration period and then after ‘orientation week’ where you can dip your toes in the classes, feel free to drop the ones that don’t tickle your fancy in the 2nd registration and you may not even need the 3rd one!

From the next post onwards, I‘ll start reviewing the classes I took throughout the year to give you an idea of which classes you could take!

part one

[howtosurviveinwaseda]

【Choosing Courses: Semesters & Periods】

Hello, intrepid reader!

So you’ve just sat through hours of orientation that you’ll never get back and you also realise that you weren’t actually paying attention to anything they said huh?

Well here’s your handy dandy guide to Waseda classes!

Now the great thing about the Waseda system is that you can choose your own courses. The bad thing about the Waseda system is that you can choose your own courses. Yeah, it’s kind of a double edged sword...let me explain. 

The school year is split into two semesters: Spring & Fall. 

Spring starts from April and lasts until July. Fall starts from the end of September and lasts until January.

February to March is your luxuriously long winter break and August/September is your summer break. You will also get about a week or two for Christmas/New Years and a week off in May for Golden Week. 

For each term, you are expected to choose around 13 credits (because it’s unlucky).

Classes are held from Monday to Saturday (enter Japanese Maggie Smith: “what is a weekend?”) and last 90 minutes each (like I said, unlucky!) There are 6 periods in each day, following this timetable:

 Period 1 – 9:00 to 10:30

Period 2 – 10:40 to 12:10

Lunch – 12:10 to 13:00 (not even 1 hour!)

Period 3 – 13:00 to 14:30

Period 4 – 14:45 to 16:15

Period 5 – 16:30 to 18:00

Period 6 – 18:15 to 19:45

 You’ll notice that there’s about 10 to 15 minute grace period between periods to let students get to their next class. You’ll also notice that classes start from as early as 9am and can last until nearly 8pm!!

Naturally, you don’t have to take those classes if you don’t want to, thanks to the Waseda‘s pick ‘n mix system but if, for example, you wanted 4 days off (including a weekend) you may very well have to take 5 periods back-to-back on some days.

NB: It’s pretty well known that Japanese people are sticklers to punctuality so much so that being ‘on time’ can still be late in some cases. Thankfully, (most) teachers understand that exchange students aren’t the most punctual lot, so many of them will let you off if you’re say 10 minutes late. (Any later and they’re less forgiving…)

Also be aware that it is actually possible to take some classes again in the next semester but not all classes are actually available in both semesters. So be sure to check the syllabus carefully and ask the teacher

part two

[howtosurviveinwaseda]

【Orientation】

Hello, intrepid reader!

So you’ll be studying at Waseda very soon huh? Well, what does that involve? 

Blood, sweat and tears!

Or at least that’s how I felt when I was leaving. More accurately, Bloody hell, I’m a sweaty mess in this 35 degree heat and now I’m crying because I have to leave so soon! Okay, that didn’t actually happen, but the important thing to know is that it could have happened and it may very well happen to you! Ain’t that something fun to look forward to?

But let’s look first at the very beginning!

How does your Waseda journey start? (Hopefully with you at the airport because it’ll take forever by boat)

Before classes begin, you will be forced invited to attend the orientation which is a noble attempt to ease you into the Waseda education system and lifestyle. But where’s the fun of building IKEA furniture if you’re just going to read the instructions, am I right?

The answer of course is no.

This is more of a case where you’re following the instructions diligently only to realise that you’ve been holding the instructions upside down and that the instructions you have are for a space shuttle. Oh, IKEA!

Now, you should receive info on when the orientation is to take place and where in the post (sorry I can’t really help you there).  Before the actual orientation begins, you will be required to get your student ID card. To do this, you will also receive an ‘exchange ticket’ in the post. This literally happens right before you are allowed to enter the orientation hall.

So what can you expect at the orientation?

To be bored for many hours sat next to complete strangers, to leave knowing less that you did when you first entered and to be the lucky recipients of a forest-load of paper.

No seriously, a small Amazonian forest to be exact.

Oh that, and a brief tour of the campus and a free lunch! Because who doesn’t love free food? (someone who’s not hungry I guess.)

Okay jokes aside, you will receive a course syllabus (guard this with your life because it will be helpful later for you-maybe some other people too). Ours was pink but I’m pretty sure that’s immaterial to be quite honest. This contains all the info on your courses (if you didn’t manage to catch the label on the tin) and it is a long read. I mean sure you can skim it if you want, I don’t really care. I mean I did but I guess you don’t really care either.

You will also receive info on some international clubs which I will talk more about in another post. You’ll also receive an advert from one mobile provider (whether you join is up to you. I didn’t btw). I think you also get some insurance adverts as well. Seriously, a lot of paper.

You will also receive info on how to create your Waseda net portal account. Luckily, this will be a part of the orientation and you will be guided through how to make your new intranet account. Teachers will use it to upload content etc and you’ll need it to register your courses and check your grades and it also works as your email! Omg what a time to be alive!

And that brings us to the end of the orientation of the orientation. That’s almost two too many! But at least you now hopefully know what to expect when you’re expecting. Yes, the orientation is long and yes, most of the info they give you would be more helpful to start a fire but there is still a lot of important info there and you do get a free lunch!

Oh but hey, if you think that’s bad, wait until you get to the leaver’s orientation! That one’s a hoot! *spoiler: it really isn’t.

Now you are (almost) prepared for your Waseda journey!

(cue When Will My Life Begin from Tangled)

[howtosurviveinwaseda]

【Intro】

Hello, intrepid reader!

Are you considering applying to Waseda University? Or maybe you’re just lost in Waseda because you’ve printed the wrong directions from Google Maps? 

What’s that you say? You’ve never printed directions from Google Maps before? Nobody ever prints directions from Goog-Well, yippee-dee-dee, here is your neighbourhood-friendly how to guide to Waseda! The one that no one ever asked for! 

So sit back and be prepared to be unimpressed by the lack of novelty from yet another ‘year abroad blog’. The only thing I can promise you is my self-appreciated wit and tales of woe that I’ve encountered abroad (why? because schadenfreude). 

Naturally, like any good miso soup, you should take what I tell you with a dash of dashi but in any case, I hope you can benefit from my surprisingly abundant foolhardiness.

And with that, I leave you with a lovely phrase that I learnt from my time abroad: 

セブンアンドアイ・ホールディングス!

(lit. seven blessings on your journey)