Studying in Japan,university of Tokyo

My sister would like to study in Japan ideally in university of Tokyo She would like to study chemical engineering or pharmaceutical studies she does not know whether they do courses in English.It does not say also she would like to know the entry requiremements.

She would need a basic command of Japanese at the very least -- she can't expect Japanese universities to teach in English because she's too lazy to learn Japanese. If she wants instruction in English, then she should study in an English-speaking country like the UK.

Speaking of which, what's wrong with studying chemical engineering or pharmaceutical studies in the UK? Unless you're fairly well-off, it's not really cost-effective to study in very many other countries. You're unlikely to be given grants and loans by the government (with a remarkably friendly repayment scheme, no less) in most other countries because these are either reserved for nationals of that country or, where it's available to international students, no undergraduate programmes are available in English (nor should they be, in my view).

I also suggest having a look at the university's website or emailing them for more information -- it's really not that hard to Google half of the things you're asking.

Have you heard of what people call international universities because I did I would suggest you read about it. Many countries have international universities so that students from abroad could come and study.

Uk universities are good but so are the Japanese ones, and my sister wants to study in one for personal reasons, if she wants to live there and work there it would b more practical to study there instead as after university in Japan many companies make offers to students to join their company, so it would be easier to get a job.

She is not lazy to learn Japanese, as she is learning it but it would be a bit easier if the course was in English a bit and maybe a bit in Japanese as there would be lots of technical terms.

Many students come from abroad to study In England, so why shouldn't my sister go and study abroad as well?

Unless these universities offer a deal as good as the student finance available in England (nothing paid upfront; manageable monthly repayments after graduation only if you're earning over £21 000/year; debt cancellation after 30 years), the existence of these 'international' universities doesn't disprove my point that it's not cost-effective to study outside the UK unless you're rich.



Universities in the UK are some of the best in the world for engineering. Anyway, that wasn't my point -- my point was about finances and ease of study. Why pay extortionate upfront fees and struggle with studies in a language you don't understand very well? Much easier to go to a university here, get taught in English, and not take on a load of bank debt.

I second what returnmigrant has said about courses which offer a year abroad. They're probably the best your sister can realistically hope for unless she is a) a linguistic prodigy and b) your family has a lot of money.



It's not the job of Japanese universities to accommodate people who can't speak Japanese to the required level. If you can't speak Japanese, then don't study in Japan. It's as simple as that.



Those students don't demand that courses be taught in their native language -- they come to England, they study in English. You are asking that universities in Japan should teach in English. You're not entitled to study abroad just because international students also study in England.

Other than that, I should mention that international students are treated like cash cows at most English universities because they can be charged whatever fees the universities want, as opposed to the £9 000/year limit imposed by the government for Home/EU students.

Now you did not reply the point about job prospects! If she studied in Japan it would be easier to get a job if you read my point above explaining why.

I replied to everything else though, which should be enough to show that this idea is a non-starter.

Job prospects: These are likely to be non-existent unless she can speak Japanese to a high standard. No doubt there will be some jobs there that don't require you to speak Japanese but these will be exceptionally few and, I'd argue, non-existent in the chemical engineering and pharmaceutical industries. It's also more or less impossible to live in Japan without being able to hold a conversation in Japanese.

Given everything else, I would say that there's no great improvement in her job prospects if she somehow manages to get into a Japanese university, which she's unlikely to be able to afford anyway unless your family is wealthy. Sorry to trample on her dreams, but that's just how it is.

My sister would like to study in Japan ideally in university of Tokyo She would like to study chemical engineering or pharmaceutical studies she does not know whether they do courses in English.It does not say also she would like to know the entry requiremements.

Sorry to ask but have you applied to any uni's yet? If yes which ones? I'm just asking because I'm curious. Did you do BMAT or UKCAT yet, if yes do you know what you got and is it hard? I'm just curious, it would be helpful if you replied.

Well, that's a significant change of subject...

Yes, I've already applied -- the deadline for applications for medicine and dentistry is 15 October instead of the later UCAS deadline on 15 January 2016. I applied to UCL, Bristol, Cardiff, and Exeter.

I did both the UKCAT and BMAT. Didn't do too well on the UKCAT but, then, my universities don't require/emphasise it anyway. BMAT results come out next week. They're both 'hard' for most people because they're difficult to prepare for and test aptitude instead of prior knowledge (with the exception of section 2 on the BMAT, which does test prior scientific knowledge).

I wouldn't say it's impossible to do well on them for the average person but it would require quite a lot of strategising and time management, which isn't everyone's cup of tea.

What does any of this have to do with your sister wanting to study in a Japanese university? You completely dodged everything I said in the last reply.

Because my sister is also interested in applying for dentistry.Klc apparently is a good school for dentistry.

There really isn't a hierarchy when it comes to medicine and dentistry. Any university must, by definition, be 'good enough' in order to be allowed to teach medicine or dentistry by the GMC or GDC in the first place. King's College London is a great school for dentistry but so is every other school. When deciding where to apply, the only things that should matter are whether you like the course structure at the universities you're applying to and whether you're applying with your strengths or not. There's no added prestige if you go to certain schools instead of others.

Also, no dental schools in the UK use the BMAT. Most use the UKCAT for school leavers, with the exception of Bristol, which doesn't use an admissions test. Also, I think graduate applicants need to do the GAMSAT at some dental schools. More here (bearing mind the link is two years out of date).

Hope I addressed all the earlier points on studying in Japan to your satisfaction anyway.

You can always try to apply to Japanese universities. It might be also wise to call the admissions team beforehand if your sister is really keen on applying to Toudai. As for job prospects, most Japanese companies look for people who are bilingual (i.e they can speak japanese and english fluently at professional level) and those who are western educated. There's always different routes for your sister if she's planning to stay in Japan to work

Perhaps, it will also be a helpful information to mention Japanese proficiency test (Japanese version of paper-based TOEFL). If your sister really wants to study those courses in Toudai (since it's not offered in english), she is required to pass JLPT 1 (a mastery of at least 2000 kanji and 10 000 vocabularies) in order to be admitted to the course.

This is based on my experience. I have also applied to Japanese medical schools and waiting to sit the entrance exams.
You should contact the Japanese embassy/ Japan Foundation in UK for further information in studying abroad in Japan. They're very much willing to help you. Good luck to your sister ! I wish her all the best for her application.

Tokyo university does a course in English but she would need high grades. And may be a adnission test too. Todai is the best in Japan

I'm just wondering,which university do you want to go to the most from the ones you applied to?

I thought you would have applied to Oxford, I'm a bit shocked you did not, but the other school you applied to are also good.

And how many weeks/months did you study before BMAT and UKCAT?

When do you get interviews?

Also what kind of job do you want in the future?

What courses does it do in English? What are the entry requirements?

UCL or Bristol. Both courses are traditional lecture-based courses, as opposed to case-based learning (Cardiff) or problem-based learning (Exeter), which I suspect I'd like less because I like being able to do very little during the year and then working very hard in the run up to exams to avoid failing.



There are quite a few disadvantages to the Oxford course from my point of view. To name a few: they've switched from dissection to prosection to teach anatomy; no clinical contact in the first three years; no guarantee that you'll actually be at Oxford after the first three years, in which case I'd probably end up at a London medical school anyway because they have special schemes for Oxford and Cambridge students who didn't make the cut for the clinical years at those universities; the ridiculously competitive environment. That last one is particularly important to me because I'm a fairly laid back person and I enjoy learning for its own sake rather than to one-up my peers all the time.





UKCAT -- About three days of serious prep. Not a good idea if you want to do well on it.
BMAT -- About five to six days. Again, really not enough if you want to do well on it, although everything except section 1 went fine on the day.



Each university has their own timetable. UCL interviews from December until March, Bristol interviews from November until April, Exeter interviews between 1 December and 17 December, and Cardiff interviews from November until March. They can call you for interview at any time during the periods specified or not at all. Most medical schools lack the capacity to interview all their applicants so they usually have some kind of pre-interview selection criteria to decide who they'll interview.



Are you seriously asking me this after I told you I've applied for medicine...

A doctor, of course. Undecided on speciality but probably general practice or research if possible. Not big on talking to people all day unless it pays exceptionally well, you see.