Application

Well, it's the day after Christmas and I've FINALLY decided to start this blog. I should had done this when i was in the process of applying for study abroad, but I didn't want to prematurely start a blog when I didn't know if I'd get in or not. <.< To start off, I'm going to quickly (hopefully) go over the admissions process for EAP (for those of you who are interested--since it was very difficult for me to find peer information about this online ><). The EAP process for me started way back in August of 2008. This was before the current list of paperwork for applications had even come out for the 09-10 year, but i used the checklist from 08-09, figuring it would be about the same. Including an online application (which is probably the longest part), course preferences (which you can find at the EAP course finder website for all study abroad programs), statement of intent (a few pages), passport scans, a university requirement form (mostly including stuff like your grade point average, whether you finished R1A and R1B, etc), and a few other less tedious forms, the biggest hassle for me was the 'letter of recommendation' and the passport photos. For one, I asked my Japanese professor to write my letter of rec, who i had only known for a couple months. I was worried she wouldn't have anything to say about me, but i guess she wrote a pretty nice letter. However, turns out in the new checklist for the 09-10 school year...IT WASN'T REQUIRED. so screw that. <.< but I included the letter of rec anyway because she was nice enough to do it for me and i didn't want it to go to waste. Next was the passport photos. Generally, taking passport photos is a pain in the ass AND expensive. I avoided both. :] Using my digital camera, I had my roommate take a couple pictures of me against a white background, had them printed at Walgreens for a dollar and used those in my application. Yet a bigger hurdle came up ahead, when I found out my passport would expire before the end of the program and I had to get it renewed. BLEH.

I went down to the passport office at the RSF and tried to get my passport renewed on the way to work. Took FOREVER. Please give yourself more than 10 minutes to get this stuff done. The paperwork was somewhat long and then I found out that the passport pictures I had taken didn't fit to their requirements for pictures. So I tried again later with my roommate and my digital camera, got them printed and FAILED. the head was too big this time (at first it had been too small--the head height can exceed no more than 1.5 inches or so). So then i tried...again. And failed...again. This meant a wasted couple dollars, but since the kodak kiosk printed 2x3s instead of 2x2s, it was hard to figure out how they would stretch your picture and if it would create problems. My roommate eventually photoshopped a picture with an extra inch of white on top that could be cropped out, and that worked fine. 3rd times a charm, I guess. After applying for a new passport (which was a good 100 bucks <.< but will last me a very long time), I waited a few weeks (maybe closer to 5-6) and it was sent to my house. My brother scanned them and I turned in these new scans to the EAP office.

The passport renewal came after i turned in my application, but the process before was the real hassle. After finishing all the paperwork and finally getting the letter of rec back from my teacher, I had to get it all photocopied. I got that all done for a few cents a page, later finding out that night, that they had uploaded a new checklist to the website. WTF. A couple of the forms had been changed and I ended up having to redo almost half of the packet. However, most of the forms were short, so I reprinted the extra copies in my dorm and put together the packet again. Turned it in about a week before the deadline and voila! finished.

Then I had to play the waiting game. They said 4-6 weeks from when I turned in the application...but i knew it should be longer because a few weeks after I turned it in, I was contacted by the lead Asia study abroad advisor telling me that I had to fill out a new course preference form (since the old one I had used--though he said it was ok at first--had more spots for courses than the new one..therefore i had to cut out some course choices). So I knew they couldn't had turned it in yet, and that it would probably be another month or so before I found out anything. But-

Lo and behold! A week after I got back from school to start winter break, I received an email. Yes, I know, sounds really informal and unofficial, right? The lead advisor tells me that I've passed the 'initial selection,' pretty much saying that the EAP office has accepted my application and has sent it to the Tokyo EAP office for review and placement in one of my top schools. On the application I had to pick my top three choices for schools, those being Keio, Sophia and ICU. All are located in Tokyo, have english taught classes, and good reps. Tough decisions. The email said that placement emails would come out in early January, but in 5 days, I got an email from a representative at the Tokyo EAP center saying that I had been 'referred' to Keio. I'm not sure how set it is so far, as I would think that they would 'refer' you to all your top three institutions, but so far it sounds like Keio is it. And that's fine and dandy...even though it's a super hard school which is ranked one of the highest in Japan <.< Sophia probably would had been more my style...but at least I know I'll be getting challenged at Keio. Plus, Hiro Mizushima went there...and nothing can really top that. :]

Sorry for the IMMENSE length in this post...but now that most of that annoying background crap is over, we can hopefully get to the good stuff (like retarded chest x-rays that i have to get done, visas, letters of acceptance...oh fun!) At least in about 7 months, I'll be headed to Japan and this blog will get way more interesting. :]