I'm participating in an exchange program of my country where I will get the chance to earn an scholarship to study a year in Japan. I have to fill an extensive application form where I describe my educational background, classes that I wish to attend there, what I intend to do in the future and so on. I have to choose 3 universities, in order of preference, and if I'm not accepted in the first, I'll be evaluated by the next two.

The thing is that I'm trying Osaka University as my first choice and they will accept only 1 student for my major. I have good scores and a good English proficiency score, but I heard that they value the app form the most. I have something that I could mention in this document, but I'm afraid that it will sound like I'm trying to show off.

In my country, to be accepted in a university, there is a very famous test called vestibular. It evaluates all subjects taught in high school and to get a seat in a major of your choice, you must get the highest scores. When I did this test, I got accepted with the highest score between 10.000 candidates.

In a specific part of the App Form, I have to answer this:

"I. Describe your Field of study specialized in the past and present at your high school, college or university. If you have work experience or occupation, you may write here. "

Do you think that mentioning my achievement on this part would be unreasonable? I really don't want to be rude or sound like someone full of myself. I just want to increase my chances in the selective process.

By itself, it doesn't actually sound relevant to the question. How would you phrase it to make it relevant? If you can figure that out you can include it.

The question indeed made me doubt the relevance of it. Right before the question, there is this:

"In this item, please describe your educational background, academic/internship plan in Japan and your professional plan in the future. This item is important for selections in Japanese University, therefore, please describe in detail as long as possible."

I thought that maybe it would be classified as educational background, but I still haven't figured how to say it without coming out as a snob.

klloud Wrote:The question indeed made me doubt the relevance of it. Right before the question, there is this:

"In this item, please describe your educational background, academic/internship plan in Japan and your professional plan in the future. This item is important for selections in Japanese University, therefore, please describe in detail as long as possible."

I thought that maybe it would be classified as educational background, but I still haven't figured how to say it without coming out as a snob.

Well, since the test is multi-subject, I guess you could use it as evidence of a generally high proficiency in all subjects. Then you could go on to talk about more specific features of your educational background. I'd just phrase it as modestly as possible, since the Japanese are all about that, haha.

Thank you. That sounds interesting. I will see if I can do something on these lines. If not, I'll hope that the other aspects of the app form will be enough for them to choose me.

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There are 27 Japanese universities in the program. Among them, the ones where I could try to study civil engineering are Hokkaido, Osaka, Waseda, Shibaura and Tokyo University. Waseda however, doesn't accept my profficiency test (TOEFL ITP) and Tokyo has only accepted 1 student until this date. I was going to try Hokkaido as my first choice, but I made up my mind recently.

I like Osaka University because they focus a lot on research. If I were to choose Hokkaido as my first option, I wouldn't take regular classes, only the ones available at a special program aimed at foreign exchange students called HUSTEP.

I've been studying japanese for only 5 months. Do you think the dialect in Osaka would make things more difficult for me?

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I would go in September, so I still have some months to prepare myself. There will also be language classes, but I'm afraid that it won't be enough.

Hokkaido is actually my second option. All these universities seem like pretty good choices and I would be happy with any of them.

If you do make sure you include the supporting evidence in the application. The way you worded it sounds a bit fishy to me... (maybe an English mistake?)

Hahahah, maybe it was the way I worded my text. I don't see how it would be possible to include evidence in the application though. There is the approved candidates list of 2011, but even if it was possible to add it, I think it would look as if I'm emphasizing this fact too much.

Assuming that your scores are just as good in your major, then I would use the 'vestibular' test results as evidence that even during high school, you excelled at studying many different subjects and that you brought that with you when you entered college.

It doesn't sound rude to point out the academic achievements you have performed, especially if they are extraordinary, its up to you to make them sound relevant in the application and explain why they are achievements and how they tie in. Don't forget that Japan LOVES standardized tests too.

Yeah, my scores are good. I decided to add this fact in the most subtle way in the form. Thank you for the recommendation.

I also have another achievement for my high school life. I got full scholarships for 3 private high schools. I particularly think that it doesn't fit well, but what do you think: is is worth mentioning?

Well...

Quote:When I did this test, I got accepted with the highest score between 10.000 candidates

in Japanese 10.000 = 10 for starters haha

(Assuming you are writing the form in English)
Saying something like

Quote:I achieved the highest score out of 10,000 candidates.

makes more sense. The way you used 'between' doesn't make a whole lot of sense in English

Its always good to evidence anything you include. I mean how do they know if the candidates are telling the truth or not? Anyway good luck!

Oh, that's maybe because English is not my first language hahaha. I didn't know it was a weird choice of words. Thanks for the recommendation.

As for the evidence, there's no way for me to include it. I just mentioned I got first place in a very subtle way.

klloud Wrote:I didn't know it was a weird choice of words.

It wasn't the choice of words it was the fact that you used a period instead of a comma.

uhauahuahua Oh my god, that's hilarious. Here in my country, I'm accustomed to using commas for decimals and periods for thousands. The worst is failing to understand juniperpansy post.