I was thinking about transferring back to my local community college to continue taking courses towards my bachelor's degree which is possible to do but not many seem to know you can take classes for a 4 year university at a local college. A full schedule at my community college averages about the same cost for just one class at a university which is like 1,300 dollars. I was thinking of taking online courses next year and with the money Im saving by taking courses online at a community college go abroad that year to japan and just deal with the classes in japan. The only problem I'm dealing with wanting to live in a dorm with other students while taking most of my courses from home via online. Ive seen a girl in spain doing it for example

abroad programs and university+insurance+ticket+food+and everything else is a lot of money so im trying to be creative on getting abroad cheaper. let me know what you think and if this helps anyone

It depends what kind of course load you take while at the school. Its definitely doable, I think I had a friend that did that (sort of). But I wouldn't take any super hard classes that are going to require a lot of work. It'd be pretty crappy to go abroad and spend most of your time working on papers for an online course back home.

A couple of points though. I don't know what your funding is, but if its like most people, its loans and usually through the government. You will need to be going through a school's study abroad office to be able to continue to get the financial aid you need.

That aside. You are going over on the assumption that by moving from 4-year to community will free up a lot of money to do stuff. I found that a year abroad, paying my tuition at my uni back home, I was still paying almost $20,000 a year. If you are on a study abroad program, you will be paying tuition in that situation as well on top of community college.
Here are the number runs down on a year abroad, just to give you ballpark figures if you haven't thought about it much. Basis on calcs are on a year abroad, which is usually 10 months.

(100yen = $1 is what I'm using to simply calculation, the current rate is even worse, about 78yen = $1. So it'll be even more expensive than this).

Plane ticket: $1200-2000 depending on how in advance you book it

Tuition: $4000-5000 a semester = $8k-$10k
Dorm: $400-500 a month * 10 months = $4000-5000
Cellphone: Assuming non-prepay. ~$100 for cheapo phone + ($50-60 a month * 10) = $600-700
Food: $200-300 * 10 = $2000-3000 (will vary based on how you eat and also if you get food at the dorm)
Natl' health insurance = $30-40 * 10 = $300-400
Daily transportation: This should be small, any program will have you in dorms within walking/biking distance. $100 a month at the MOST if you are being frugal.
Spending money: $300-400 a month (if frugal, even less)
Sightseeing: $2000-$3000 for entire time in Japan.

Lower bound Total w/o net: $16,500
Upper bound Total w/o net: $23,800

Internet: $40-60 * 10 = $400-600 (may get this free)

I'd argue that you'd spend at least $20k easy regardless. You'll find yourself swamped with so many different things you are paying for that you'll realize you vastly under estimated. Note that if you live in a metro area that you are likely to spend a lot more just because. Taking the train everywhere quickly becomes costly.

I'm not saying you shouldn't go, in fact I recommend that everyone study abroad. But I think its important that people realize that studying abroad can quickly turn crazy expensive compared to what some people pay for going to school back home.

you would be better off just self-studying Japanese on your own while going to college and then going to Japan after you graduate as a graduation present for yourself. I don't think there is any special knowledge to be gained by going to a college abroad somewhere. College would kill more of your fun time than it would help it in my opinion.

Hashiriya Wrote:you would be better off just self-studying Japanese on your own while going to college and then going to Japan after you graduate as a graduation present for yourself. I don't think there is any special knowledge to be gained by going to a college abroad somewhere. College would kill more of your fun time than it would help it in my opinion.

I agree with everything you said. But I suppose it depends on his goals. He didn't say why he wanted to study in Japan for a year. Some people just want to enjoy the culture while others may have other goals.

When I went for a year for study my goal was mostly to live in the country normally and see if it was a society that I liked. You can't really get a good feel about whether you will hate living in a culture in 1-3 months. Even a year is the bare minimum.

So it really does come down to what his goals are.

I would be taking easier courses online (researched classes and teachers) and would be getting money back from scholarships and such. I'm going to continue my AJATT studies in Japan, make some friends, experience the culture and having gone abroad in college apparently looks good on a resume for later Japanese related job opportunities. I'd probably want to atleast live on campus of a Japanese school but since my online courses will be from Ohio I'm not sure. Lol. Been saving up money for a few years. I know it's still goin to be expensive. Thanks for the price estimates vix btw

Don't use the "looks good on resumes" as a reason for justifying going abroad. The reality is that most employers won't care unless it has some direct bearing on your job. The most it'll do is add something to your resume which the interviewer can go "cool, whats it like." Thats it. Don't expect it to open many doors.

While every campus is different. Dorms in Japan tend to differ from the states. I lived in a dorm while studying here in Japan. Dorms aren't owned by the school usually. They are usually privately owned by a business and usually there's an agreement between the school and company to house students in the building. I found the price on the dorms kind of crappy to be perfectly honest. I paid about 4-5万 a month for a small room and you couldn't bring girls/guys into your rooms. There was a cafeteria that did breakfast and dinner and it wasn't really bad, plus the price was reasonable.

The only reason I had issue with the dorms was because my experience with the Japanese in the dorm was pretty sour. I didn't really find them that welcoming to the exchange students that stayed there. With that sort of environment, and then seeing that a 1K only ran about 5万ー6万 a month I had to constantly ask my self if it was worth the dorm. Problem with apartments is there is always an issue with key money and deposits, which is more money than a lot of people really want to put up. Shoot, depending where you are living, you might even be able to get a house for 5-6万 a month.

Yeh that's kinda retarded to say that it might look good on a resume. At least it isn't as bad as one of my friends that majored in Japanese because "it sounds cool to have a degree in Japanese." My response of course was "I think it would sound even cooler if you could actually speak Japanese". She just graduated and cant even hold a conversation past the first Genki book lmao. Btw, she was also one of those study abroad students... Don't count on any special sauce being handed out over there to make you fluent. All that is going to get you is just more in debt. If studying Japanese abroad is a goal for you, your Japanese needs to be at least at a certain level before you go to truely get anything out of it.

If you are hell bent on just going there for a short time, going during the summer for 3 months while college is out doesn't sound like a bad idea.

It seems you've both misinterpreted what I said. I meant it as a "it couldn't hurt to have this on a resume" Im not saying I saved up for 3 years and am giving up time, money and a year of my life just for a resume boost -_- I doubt anyone of us would of found Koohii or AJATT if japan wasn't important to us.

@Vix86 yeah that sounds pretty bad. I wonder if everyone has had similar experiences with dorms. seems more difficult than I imagined to find decent living arrangements in japan =/

Anyone else have any experiences with staying in japan's dorms?

Tolerence91 Wrote:It seems you've both misinterpreted what I said. I meant it as a "it couldn't hurt to have this on a resume" Im not saying I saved up for 3 years and am giving up time, money and a year of my life just for a resume boost -_- I doubt anyone of us would of found Koohii or AJATT if japan wasn't important to us.

@Vix86 yeah that sounds pretty bad. I wonder if everyone has had similar experiences with dorms. seems more difficult than I imagined to find decent living arrangements in japan =/

Anyone else have any experiences with staying in japan's dorms?

Understood. I just wanted to put that out there though, because I've heard study abroad offices sell the "experience" as something that will actually give your resume weight. Which is a load of BS. Some of my friends have had some success using the experience for getting interviews (probably), but not much beyond that. Honestly, a year abroad will only pay off in one instance. JET. Everyone I know that applied for JET that went on the study abroad program I was with, was offered a spot in JET.

Finding places to live in Japan isn't difficult per say. Money is always a factor though and convenience of location. There are many apartment companies like Leo Palace or Daito kenkaku(sp?) which are known to allow foreigners to stay there without any hassle. May not be the best place to stay long term, but you don't have to worry about the landlord giving you the run around about the place because you are a foreigner. My best advice to you is to try and find people that went on the program (maybe the program advisor can get you emails or something), and find those that stayed in the dorms and ask them their honest opinion about it. I'm sure there are plenty of decent dorms out there; mine was just a shitty case due to tradition and other kinds of nonsense.

Where is the program at btw?

Study abroad experience is only one of many factors that could contribute to a person getting a job...But, holding all other factors constant, the experience absolutely would add weight to your resume if you want a Japan related job.

Because Japanese companies will pick the recruit with an understanding of Japanese culture over the recruit with no understanding of Japanese culture even if that person had better grades and went to a better school.

Tolerance91 Wrote:I was thinking of taking online courses next year and with the money Im saving by taking courses online at a community college go abroad that year to japan and just deal with the classes in japan.

How much time are you envisaging spending on your online study? I don't think I would enjoy being in Japan (and wanting to get involved in things there) and have to deal with a whole lot of online university papers. Maybe you will be more disciplined.

Dormitories... They sound great, everything is all set up, and you get to meet lots of other people. Right... I however agree with Vix86, and suggest you ask other people who have been on the program before you commit.

It's a long time ago, but in the early 1990s, gung-ho about experiencing Japanese culture, I lived in a dorm for a while. Everyone smoked, watched inane TV, or drank (mostly all three at once) The food was terrible (sad, because Japan full of the most delicious things to eat). There were petty rules about everything; curfews etc

Never, never, again. I lasted about six weeks before I bit the bullet, and rented an apartment.

Harpagornes Wrote:There were petty rules about everything; curfews etc

Never, never, again. I lasted about six weeks before I bit the bullet, and rented an apartment.

This! I was lucky in that the dorm I was at, everyone had a key, so no curfew. However, one of the girl's dorms had a curfew and the one girl I knew that was staying there hated it. The other girl's dorm had none + automatic locking doors + cameras everywhere + automatic lights. It was like prison.

The thing I took away from the dorm experience is that I suspect parents force their kids to go and live in them so they continue to be babied. The rules on girls and guests came off as inanely stupid. There were other absurd things too but foreigners wern't forced to follow them. In addition, living with a bunch of guys who first the time are out on their own and actually have free time? (Remember that Japanese work their ass off all the way through high school) It was like watching a bunch of high school kids from my high school days. If I had to do it over again I would get an apartment. I had a great time abroad but the dorms totally soured my experience.

FYI. Just because you have Japanese people in close proximity all the time does not mean that they will want to talk to you all the time.

And I'll repeat again. Go there over the summer. I think it would be a much better experience than being chained to a dorm. You could travel to multiple prefectures as well.

The online courses wouldn't be a lot of trouble, my school is pretty easy and Ive already researched my professors. Im not going on any particular abroad program as they charge a lot of money to do what you can already do yourself. 10k just for their services from what I read. I'd rather use that money and see the sites and travel a little.

@hashiriya I take classes over the summer anyway so it wouldn't matter to me. I get paid to go over the summer so I go without time off.

so I guess dorms may be out of the question if I dont find a recommended dormitory. man you guys are making me depressed but I understand what you're all saying and I appreciate it

Tolerence91 Wrote:The online courses wouldn't be a lot of trouble, my school is pretty easy and Ive already researched my professors. Im not going on any particular abroad program as they charge a lot of money to do what you can already do yourself. 10k just for their services from what I read. I'd rather use that money and see the sites and travel a little.

@hashiriya I take classes over the summer anyway so it wouldn't matter to me. I get paid to go over the summer so I go without time off.

so I guess dorms may be out of the question if I dont find a recommended dormitory. man you guys are making me depressed but I understand what you're all saying and I appreciate it

Sorry for the delayed reply.

So you don't have a program picked out? And you want to go for a year?!

You really haven't thought this out. How are you going to get a visa?
That is the main point of programs and exchange programs with schools. They get you the Certificate of Eligibility which makes getting a student visa easy. Tourist visas only last 3 months, but a student visa lasts 1 year.

Maybe I'm little confused and you really are going on an exchange program of some sort? That's what I was asking about originally.

Tolerence91 Wrote:so I guess dorms may be out of the question if I dont find a recommended dormitory. man you guys are making me depressed but I understand what you're all saying and I appreciate it

Staying in a dormitory will make you depressed... Vix86 summed it up perfectly in his previous post. Depending on where you want to stay, you should be able to find cheap rental accommodation that will give you a vastly better experience.

I was wondering about the visa as well. How American are you? Japan offers working holiday visas for up to one year to certain nationalities.* The idea is that you can travel and work at the same time while experiencing Japan and it's culture.

*(Citizens of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Republic of Korea, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, and residents of Taiwan and Hong Kong)

He said he was in Ohio, so I'm guessing he doesn't fit the bill on that. Not only that, you only get the working holiday visa once if I'm not mistaken. I sure as hell wouldn't want to blow it on simply dicking around for an entire year.

I didn't have time to go into detail this morning. Student visas are pretty much off the table I believe. A person can't apply for a student visa on their own I think, a sponsor is required for it.

Work visa's CAN be obtained on your own if I'm not mistaken but they can be difficult.

Short term visa? Which I think includes a year interval. You need to show pretty good reason to be granted one.

Any visa that doesn't have a sponsor; ie: No Certificate of Eligibility. Is going to require a 2-3 month wait while the immigration bureau decides whether to grant you a visa or not.

Cert of Elg. basically makes immigration job easy. Part of the visa process regardless of which way you go; is showing that you have adequate funds to survive in Japan for duration of stay. They don't want anyone coming over and then ending up homeless on the streets or getting involved in crime. The Cert, provided by sponsor, basically says that either the sponsor will act as "fall back" if problems arise and also confirm resources. In cases of Work sponsor, its proof that you actually have a job and have a line of money.

But as I said. Applying by your self will have AT LEAST a 2-3 month waiting process w/o the Certificate of Eligibility. And even then, no guarantee.

Couldnt he just run to Korea every 3 months then?

Hashiriya Wrote:Couldnt he just run to Korea every 3 months then?

Could. But on a visitor visa you always have to buy a return ticket/departing ticket from Japan otherwise they won't let you board or get your ticket (usually). Some people slip through, but its usually the case that you will be forced to buy a ticket.

(I realize you were being fictitious but it had to be stated non the less)