Do you know that there are various types of study abroad? There are language study abroad, regular study abroad, specialized study abroad, exchange study abroad, etc., and I would like to talk about regular study abroad. By the way, I have studied abroad at Lakeland University and Pennsylvania State University in the United States. First of all, I would like to talk about what is regular study abroad.
Regular study abroad
Structure
Regular study abroad means that you are enrolled in a formal system at an overseas university and are awarded a degree from that school. In regular study abroad, international students take exactly the same classes as local students, get grades based on the same evaluation criteria, and earn a bachelor’s degree at the university over four years.
For at least four years, I take classes on the same level as local students, so of course if I can’t keep up with the classes, I may lose credits or repeat the year.
How to do it
In order to study abroad in this form, it is necessary to submit an application directly to an overseas university and take the necessary examinations. At the time of application, he must submit scores such as TOEFL and IELTS, high school grades, essays and nominations, and achievements of other extracurricular activities.
First, check the application requirements on the university homepage, submit it online, or send the documents to the address specified by the university. The minimum TOEFL and IELTS scores vary from school to school, but for a four-year university it will be tough if you don’t get a minimum of 61 TOEFL points. If you are a sophomore university, you may be able to enroll with about 40 points.
The higher the university level, the higher the score required. At Pennsylvania State University, where I attended, I needed 80 points.
Advantages of regular study abroad
High level education
The advantage of regular study abroad is that you can receive a high level of education above all. American universities have higher tuition fees than Japanese universities, and often offer higher-level classes. There are many advantages over general Japanese universities, such as university facilities, professor level, cutting-edge academic content, and various support systems for students.
At Penn State University, the university owns a giant astronomical observatory for aerospace engineering students, works with the federal government in Washington, DC for political science students, and wants to have an internship program. , There were a lot of attractive systems.
High level English
You can acquire a certain level of English proficiency by following the streets of Japanese international students and studying abroad as an exchange student or studying abroad in a language. However, in the case of regular study abroad, you have to take classes at the same level as local students for four years, write dozens of pages of treatises, read hundreds of pages of textbooks, and have discussions with native speakers in class. not. Therefore, you can acquire a level of English that you cannot learn by studying abroad or studying abroad. By the time you graduate, you will be confident enough to say that you have nothing to worry about in English.
When I was in high school, I couldn’t speak English at all. It took me hours to read a short English book, but thanks to this regular study abroad program, I am now able to work in New York. I think this would not have been possible without a regular study abroad program.
Global future is waiting for you!!
If you graduate from a Japanese university, most people will find employment in Japan, but if you graduate from an overseas university, you can stay abroad and work as it is after graduation. It is said that it is very difficult to get a job at an American company from Japan after graduating from a Japanese university. However, if you are in the field, you can use the network of graduates and you can get a job directly in the field. Above all, it is easy to get a work visa as long as you graduate from an overseas university.
It is not easy to win a job offer against a local job student overseas. However, if you have a dream of working globally, we recommend that you take the plunge and study abroad, and acquire both language and academic skills necessary for your work at the same time.
Disadvantages of regular study abroad
It’s so expensive!!
The difficulty of studying abroad is that the tuition fee is high above all. Pennsylvania State University costs about 4.2 million yen a year, and even cheaper universities will cost at least 2 million yen for a four-year university.
Two-year colleges often cost around one million yen a year, so many people graduate from a two-year college first and then transfer to a four-year college in the third year in order to keep tuition costs down.
In addition to tuition fees, local living expenses and travel expenses for returning to Japan are also required, so the total amount is very high.
If you want to work in Japan, when to do job hunting might be different
Most American universities enroll in September and graduate in May. Therefore, if you are thinking of finding a job at a company in Japan, you will not be able to join the company in April, and your employment will increase by one year.
Recently, an increasing number of companies are conducting Skype interviews for international students. However, in some cases, you may have to return to Japan just to have an interview, and it is said that you are often at a disadvantage compared to job hunting students attending Japanese universities. Also, since many companies place importance on graduating from a Japanese university in order to get a job in Japan, it can be said that there is a disadvantage to having an American university as the final academic background when considering employment in Japan. ..
Once a year, a job hunting event called the Boston Career Forum is held in the United States. This is a valuable opportunity for international students to get a job offer on the spot from a Japanese company in the United States. About 200 companies, mainly major domestic companies, participate every year, but if the company you want to work for does not participate, you have no choice but to get a job in Japan.
I work in the United States, so I have never experienced job hunting in Japan. However, my friend’s international students participated in the Boston Career Forum, and most of them continue to work in Japan after graduation.
How much regular study abroad values…
Regular study abroad does not take into account the fact that you are a foreigner, requires a lot of effort with the same level of English proficiency as local students, and the financial hurdles are quite high.
However, you will be able to acquire a high level of English proficiency, make friends around the world, and gain the skills and experience to be active as a global talent. If you have a strong desire to receive a high-level education and want to play an active role globally, please try regular study abroad.
Leave a Reply