8 ms·

I’ve always heard that uni is a bit of a formality in Japan, and that most career-minded individuals expect to be trained and mentored on the job when they ente

• dwg 10y ago
  Generally true to my knowledge, but I believe University of Tokyo and a few other top universities are an exception, especially in the sciences.
  • santaclaus 10y ago
    Tokyo University puts out some seriously badass researchers. Think Caltech, MIT, and ETH Zürich quality.
    • aerioux 10y ago
      Sorry in what field? I would argue the number of these (as a %) on average are much lower (metric: top tier publications) Also if you're looking at Asian univs, Tsinghua, Peking, SNU, NUS, KAIST and (CUHK/HKUST) should be there too ;)
• curiousgal 10y ago
  Try this link[0]. 0.https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/japan/2016-10-31/japan-gets-schooled?cid=soc-fb-rdr https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/japan/2016-10-31/jap...
• twblalock 10y ago
  My Japanese friends have told me that it's difficult to get in, and requires a lot of study for the entrance exam, but you don't have to work hard after you get in.
  • pbk1 10y ago
    that would seem to make it comparable to a number of "elite" American universities ;)
    • doall 10y ago
      Do you spend like six hours studying after school and eleven hours in weekends for several years? Then it is comparable :)
      • akhilcacharya 10y ago
        I'm sure it's a similar regimen to get into Stanford, except that time is spent towards research and other extracurriculars in addition to SAT prep.
        • M_Grey 10y ago
          It's not even close... it's... soooooo much more intense, and social/professional consequences are quite a bit more impactful.
    • TulliusCicero 10y ago
      Really? Most people going to 'target schools' for CS in the /r/cscareerquestions subreddit describe their experience as very intense and demanding.
      • Kephael 10y ago
        So called 'target' schools for CS are largely not elite. People will be impressed by a degree from Harvard or MIT but I doubt you'd ever get a reaction for UIUC or the University of Texas.
        • aerioux 10y ago
          (as someone who went to a CS target school) I would disagree with this, I would argue what you did also matters and who you're trying to impress
• csa 10y ago
  Japanese universities are relatively easy to graduate from (frankly, this is true for many Ivy-league departments as well), but that doesn't mean people don't try. First, many folks, especially at the better schools, are genuinely interested in the topics they are studying. As such, they will go above and beyond in some or all of their classes. Second, in many programs, the professors have contacts in the field that can lead to premium jobs. These are often the most-adored professor in a given department -- mainly because they add a human side to the sometimes bookish disposition of many of the professors... and they make it rain. The student know who these professors are via their senpais, and they go way out of their way to make a good impression in those professors classes. This effort usually reaps huge dividends for talented students.
  • tsul 10y ago
    Interesting—thanks for your in-depth perspective. I didn’t mean to imply that nobody tries in Japanese university, of course, especially since I have no first-hand experience. I’d just heard that the culture is, in general, less rigorous than in Western universities. The point about networking through professors is really interesting to me. Alongside other replies about the intensity of the job hunt for Japanese students, it does sound like the system is geared as a bit of a ‘hiring pipeline’—to an extent at least. Note: I skipped out on attending university altogether, so I don’t have a strong sense for the extent to which Western universities differ in these regards.
    • pizzetta 10y ago
      Someone told me that the hard part about universities in Japan is getting in. Once you're in, you have to try to fail. Conversely, High School, while rote, is hard. In that sense, it's a bit opposite of other places like the Us where High School is not hard but typically University is hard.
      • csa 10y ago
        This is largely a misconception about Japanese high schools. Most Japanese high schools are ridiculously easy to graduate from. That said, most of the _competitive_ Japanese high schools -- that is, the ones who send their students to the best schools -- require quite a bit of work to graduate from. There is a reason for this. High schools are divided into tracks in Japan via entrance exams, so the competitive high schools get students who are largely on board with rigorous study. Their goal is to crush the college entrance exam, and the best schools are quite good at test prep (and often go beyond test prep into "proper" learning of the topic). The students know they will have to work hard, and they mostly do. I humbly suggest that the students in these high schools work about as hard as high school students in the US who are trying to get into highly competitive universities. That said, most high schools in Japan are not terribly competitive to enter and don't have high academic ambitions for their graduates (and that's totally ok). These students often have a lot of fun in high school, much like American high school students who are aiming at low competitive universities or no university.
• ekianjo 10y ago
  super true. Hard to get in the best one, but once you are in no challenge whatsoever and they have so much free time they have time to have a baito (part time job） on the side. And after graduating you can easily see the new recruits arriving In companies and knowing nothing at all. Thats why cOmpanies dont even care what they did and have no problem putting folks who studied biology in sales.