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WASEDA UNIVERSITY Program Level: Undergraduate Number of Weeks/Term: 16 |
- Background
- Location Information
- Program Dates
- Host Institution
- Academic Information
- Academic Disciplines
- Credit Transfer Information
- Eligibility Requirements
- Program Costs
- Housing and Meals
- Insurance
- Extracurricular Activities
- Climate
- VISA & Passport Information
- Your Next Steps
- Experiences of Former Students
- Contact Details
BACKGROUND
Georgia Tech (GT) has developed a number of overseas programs around the globe. These programs provide students with the opportunity to complete a portion of their academic programs in top-notch foreign universities that are partnered with GT. As a result of immersion in a foreign academic and cultural environment, students have the maximum opportunity to learn to operate effectively in an atmosphere that is wholly different from that of GT and the U.S.
LOCATION INFORMATION
Japan
While retaining its time-honored culture, Japan rapidly absorbed Western technology during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After its devastating defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become the second most powerful economy in the world and a staunch ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of powerful politicians, bureaucrats, and business executives. The economy experienced a major slowdown in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented growth.
Tokyo
"The sheer level of energy is the most striking aspect of Tokyo [as described by Lonely Planet Online]. It's true that the larger picture can be somewhat depressing - shoebox housing estates and office blocks traversed by overhead expressways crowded with traffic-but this is the Japanese success story in action. The average Tokyo suburb hasn't fallen prey to supermarket culture though: streets are lined with tiny specialist shops and bustling restaurants, most of which stay open late into the night. Close to the soaring office blocks exist pockets of another Tokyo - an old wooden house, a kimono shop, a Japanese inn, an old lady in a kimono sweeping the pavement outside her home with a straw broom. More than anything else, Tokyo is a place where the urgent rhythms of consumer culture collide with the quieter moments that linger from older traditions. It's a living city and you'll never run out of things to explore.
The real Tokyo experiences are soaking up the hustle and bustle and reveling in the pockets of calm. Ginza is the most famous shopping area in Tokyo. This place is overflowing with small private galleries, making it a great place to browse even if you're not looking to buy. Ueno-koen Park, north of the center of Tokyo, has some of Japan's best museums and galleries. The Tokyo National Museum holds the world's largest selection of Japanese art; the National Science Museum is a massive free-for-all packed with scientific goodies; and the Shitamachi History Museum is a recreation of the plebeian downtown quarters of old Tokyo.
PROGRAM DATES
Academic Year (SILS Program): late September - late July (term break from early February - early April)
Academic Year (Japanese courses at undergraduate level): mid April - mid February
NOTE: Students may only participate in this exchange for a full academic year.
Currently, the exchange agreement states that we may only send ONE student per academic year to Waseda.
YEAR PROGRAM STARTED:
1999
HOST INSTITUTION ACADEMIC INFORMATION
Established more than a century ago by Shigenobu Okuma, a scholar and government leader, Waseda University is a private, coeducational institution of higher learning. Founded as a college with three departments under the old system of Japanese higher education, it has grown to become an elite comprehensive university that also includes two senior high schools and a College of Technology. There are 16 undergraduate schools and 24 graduate schools hosting 45,000 undergrads and 7,000 grad students.
ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES
Subject Areas Available:
- Economics
- History, Technology, and Society
- International Affairs
- Japanese
- Literature, Communication, and Culture
- Modern Languages
- Sociology
Courses are taught in English through the SILS program.
School for International Liberal Studies
SILS is a one-year program with an emphasis on Japanese language study. Students take a Japanese placement test upon arrival. Japanses courses meet three days a week. Study Abroad students are required to take 6 credits of Japanese each semester. Study Abroad students must also take between 8-14 credits of lecture courses in topics such as business, economics, international relations, philosophy, and so on. For detailed information on the SILS program, click here.
Language Information
Most of the courses in the Waseda School of International Liberal Studies (SILS) are taught in English (with the exception of Japanese language courses).
For students who have passed the 1st level of the Japanese Proficiency Language Test, there are opportunities to take regular Waseda courses that are offered to Waseda's degree-seeking students. For more information on this opportunity click here.
Course Information
For a database of courses offered at Waseda click here. You can get a good idea of what courses will be offered in the upcoming year by looking at the courses offered in the current academic year (what is offered in the current fall term will most likely be offered next fall, and spring courses usually repeat in the spring, etc.). Once you have selected a course, it will indicate the term it is offered.
Waseda releases the list of courses taught on the SILS program (courses taught in English) about two months before the new academic year (in June). Once the list has been released, it can be found online: click here. To get a good idea of what courses will be offered on the SILS program, you can utilize the Waseda database of courses click here. You will need to enter "SILS" in the "school" field.
CREDIT TRANSFER INFORMATION
Credit for courses taken as part of GT exchange programs is added as transfer credit on the GT transcript. Since it is important to know which kind of credit students will earn abroad as soon as possible, GT requires that courses be pre-approved for transfer. With a Foreign Credit Approval Form (available from OIE) in hand, and the credit transfer system information (listed below), students should submit course descriptions to the appropriate academic unit to request their approval. If taking Math classes, for example, then the student should go to the GT School of Mathematics to get permission for the courses to transfer to GT. If approved, the GT School of Mathematics signs the Foreign Credit Approval Form showing how the courses will transfer so that students will know which type of credit they should expect to receive.
For detailed credit transfer instructions click here
For the Foreign Credit Approval Form click here
CREDIT TRANSFER SYSTEM
This information is intended for undergraduates students only. Graduate students must speak with their academic unit to to determine the acceptance of transfer credits.
Waseda uses the following credit transfer system:
Regular Japanese Semester:
1 Waseda credit = 0.77 GT credit
SILS Program:
1 Waseda Japanese language course = 2.4 GT credits
1 Wasesa non-language lecture = 1.2 GT credits
GRADING SYSTEM
Waseda uses the following grading system listed below:
Waseda Grade = US Grade
A, A- = A
B+,B, B- = B
C+, C, C- = C
D = D
F = F
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Eligible students must meet the following criteria:
PROGRAM COSTS
The same matriculation, tuition and other mandatory fees (including transportation, technology, activity, health, and athletic) apply to a term abroad as would normally apply at Georgia Tech. Exchange students must pay tuition and fees to the GT Bursar for each semester they are abroad. No other expenses associated with this program are paid to GT.
Keep in mind the cost of books, health insurance, food, living expenses, and travel money, as well as pre-departure costs like your passport and visa. In general, Japan is more expensive than the United States. In fact it is one of the most expensive countries to travel to in the world. The currency of Japan is the Japanese Yen. Exchange rates fluctuate, so check the newspaper or click here for the most current rates.
DON'T FORGET TO APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS!! See the OIE web site for more info: click here
There are two scholarships specifically for students participating in a study abroad program in Japan. If you want to apply for either scholarship, you must be nominated by the Georgia Tech OIE. Please contact the advisor for this program for more information.
1) JASSO Short-Term Student Exchange Promotion Program Scholarship: Provides a monthly stipend, travel, and settling-in subsidy for exchange students admitted to a Japanese university for up to one year of study.
2) MEXT Scholarship: Provides a monthly stipend, travel, and settling-in subsidy for exchange students who will participate in the Intensive Japanese Language Program.
Following are cost estimates for one semester at Waseda that may help you prepare for your terms abroad. All costs are in USD.
In State Tuition $3,035 Out of State Tuition $3,285 GT Mandatory Fees $818 Books and Supplies $305 Administrative and/or Application fees $0 Miscellaneous (includes passport/visa fees, required field trips, local transportation and incidentals) $1,890 Roundtrip Airfare $1,600 Room and Board $6,139 Additional Language Instruction $0 Mandatory Insurance $150 Total $13,937 (in state) $14,187 (out of state)
*Out-of-state students pay in state tuition, plus $250 for this exchange program.
*Costs in the preceding chart are estimates for undergraduates based on tuition rates posted by the GT Bursar for "continuing students." Guaranteed tuition rates, graduate tuition rates, and MBA tuition rates vary. Please check the GT Bursar's web site click here to confirm actual tuition rates based on degree, term, or level of study. Actual costs may be higher or lower than those listed above, depending on the exchange rate and personal spending habits/needs.
HOUSING AND MEALS
Housing
There are three types of housing offered by the International Division at Waseda: homestay, university dormitory, or private dormitory. Information on other housing options can be found on the website of Waseda's International Division. Some students choose to live in apartments, but that must be arranged independently. Due to space constraints, there are very few openings in the university dormitory. Upon acceptance, Waseda's International Division will inform you of your housing options.
Meals
For convenience, there are four student dining halls on the Waseda campus, but you'll want to venture out to restaurants when you can because eating is half the fun of being in Japan. The adventurous eater will be delighted to know that Japanese food is far more than the sushi, tempura and sukiyaki for which it is best known in other countries. With the exception of shokudo ("all round eateries") and izakaya (the equivalent of a pub with meals), most Japanese restaurants specialize in one type of cuisine. In a cook-it-yourself okonomiyaki restaurant, diners choose a mixture of meat, seafood and vegetables to fry up in a cabbage and vegetable batter; a robatayaki is a rustic drinking restaurant specializing in charcoal grills. There are a variety of cook-at-your-table restaurants where you'll end up eating sukiyaki (thinly sliced beef, vegetables and tofu cooked in broth), shabu-shabu (beef and veggies cooked by swirling them in broth and then dipped in sauces) or nabemono (a participatory fry-up, with each diner putting in ingredients from trays of prepared raw food). It's possible to eat relatively cheaply by sticking to humble shokudo, or eating bento boxes (set meals) from cheaper restaurants or cafeteria-style places. Top
INSURANCE
Students participating in this program will be assessed $150 per semester for mandatory insurance coverage. You will be covered by T.W. Lord and Associates. For detailed information about this insurance plan, click here. This cost is included in the above cost estimates for the program.
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Waseda's Center for International Education organizes ample extracurricular activities with other Waseda students to encourage cross-cultural relationships. Some of these activities include field trips, short-term homestays intramural activities, and Gasshuku (retreats). There are over 604 student clubs and societies at Waseda University. Exchange students are encouraged to get involved in these activities.
Just started in 2006 is Waseda's new International Community Center, which hosts cultural events for all Waseda students. They house 2 of the 700 student clubs on campus.
One of Waseda's academic year highlights is the "Waseda Festival" held in the fall, in which students plan and carry out inter-university sporting events over a period of days. Waseda has athletic facilities for many sports including judo, aikido, karate, fencing, boxing, wrestling, weight training, table tennis, and fitness training.
CLIMATE
The combination of Japan's mountainous territory and the length of the archipelago, as well as Japan's proximity to the continental land mass make for a complex climate with a high degree of seasonal variation.
Tokyo has a milder climate than many other parts of Japan. November through February are the coldest months with temperatures ranging from 28ºF to 52ºF. July and August are the warmest months with temperatures ranging from 66ºF to 88ºF. Rainfall is highest in September and October.
VISA AND PASSPORT INFORMATION
Complete information about how to apply for or renew a U.S. passport is available from the GT Office of International Education or online: click here
Unless you are a Japanese citizen, you'll need a passport and a visa to participate in this program. In order to obtain a student visa for study in Japan, you will need to gather several documents and take them to the Japanese Consulate in Atlanta. You should contact the Japanese Consulate in Atlanta to obtain information on how to apply for a student visa click here
One of the documents you will need to obtain your visa is a Certificate of Eligibility. After receiving your application documents, Waseda will request a Certificate of Eligibility from the Immigration Office in Tokyo. The Certificate of Eligibility, which takes a several weeks to be prepared, will be sent to us in the Office of International Education and we will forward it to you.
YOUR NEXT STEPS
To begin the process of participating in this exchange, please do the following:
EXPERIENCES OF FORMER STUDENTS
click here
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ms. Jennifer Evanuik, Study Abroad Advisor (Exchange Programs)
GT Office of International Education
631 Cherry Street
Savant Building, Suite 211
Atlanta, GA 30332-0284
Phone: (404)894-7475 Fax: (404)894-9682
E-mail: jennifer.evanuik@oie.gatech.edu
OIE web site: click here
Host/Program Web Site: click here
Tokyo
Japan
Asia
Semester
16
12
English/Japanese
For more info, contact OIE.
Can I go abroad while pursuing a GT degree?
GT students have many opportunities to participate in semester/exchange and study abroad programs. In a semester program, you actually take classes with the host universitys students and faculty. (In some cases, this means that you must have excellent knowledge of the local language to participate). Semester program participants usually pay normal GT tuition and fees for each term abroad. Credits can be pre-approved to transfer back to GT so that you do not get behind in your studies. The application deadline for fall and academic year programs is in early February; for spring programs the deadline is in September/October.
In a study abroad program, the courses are taught by GT faculty and you register for regular GT courses. Residents pay normal matriculation fees, but do not pay ancillary fees (athletic, health, etc.). Non-residents only pay resident matriculation plus $250 ($1500 for GTL Summer/$2000 for GTL Spring/Fall) . This is a savings of over $6,000 for out-of-state students who participate in GT study abroad programs as full-time students! Deadlines for summer study abroad programs vary from early January to mid-February.
In most cases, if you are eligible for financial aid or scholarships, you can apply your grants, scholarships, and/or loans toward the expenses associated with participating in all GT programs.
GTs International Plan: More than just study abroad
Your major is participating in this new initiative!
The International Plan is an intensive, degree-long program designed to prepare GT graduates professionally and personally for successful lives in the 21st century. Requirements of the program include international coursework, two terms abroad (any combination of study, research or internship abroad), proficiency in a second language, and a culminating course. Students who complete the program will have a designation on their diploma indicating completion of the degree with global competence: for example, BS in Mechanical Engineering: International Plan. For more information or an application, contact your major advisor or OIE and visit the website: click here