What the hell am I gonna do

[Anonymous No.]

I got accepted into a Aoyama for my last year of college, and I'm honestly pretty nervous about the workload. I know that in Japan college is basically a joke but i dont know if that applies to foreign students. anybody here with experience studying in Japan who can tell me what I'm in for? Also tell me how to shield my otaku habits.

[Anonymous No.]

Just be yourself :)

[Anonymous No.]

>>37120371
that sounds like a terrible idea

[Anonymous No.]

If you take the same courses as the Japanese you'll have the same workload is them. Generally you have attendance, quiz after a lecture and reports as your base for your grading. If you take the international courses you'll have an easy time, the reports include a presentation but it's really only an exercise in English nothing more. If you take the Japanese courses you'll have difficulty with writing the reports in Japanese and the quiz after any given lecture but on the other hand you might make Japanese friends. I'm not sure what the share of gaijins are in the international classes but I'd say ~50% (depends on school and region) either way circles are also good for making native friends.

tl:dr Take international classes (the ones in English) join a circle to make nip friends and stay away from gaijin as they tend to segregate themselves due to their non-existent Japanese.

[Anonymous No.]

>>37120530
Should mention this is info from my friend who went to Japan, I still can't apply for my exchange year in Keio until next year.

[Anonymous No.]

>>37120530
Aoyama exchange requires you to take some Japanese courses. I'm dreading everything because my health is very poor but I want to study in Japan really badly.

[Anonymous No.]

>>37120530
I did an exchange at Keio in 2010. This is generally correct.
I took 1 course in Japanese and it was rough, but I made friends and they helped me a good deal. Similarly got to know the prof, who was very friendly. At such a prestigious place, they're really all in it to help you. I recommend taking as many classes taught by international profs as you can.
Also Keio students are really upper-crust. If you're used to the western casual "jeans and t-shirt" college campus aesthetic, where the learning is more important than appearance, be prepared to have your world turned upside-down.

[Anonymous No.]

>>37130506
Is the "dress code" more business casual then, like khakis and polish? Or is it like whole ass suit and tie?

[Anonymous No.]

>>37132199
Depends on the course, I'd imagine economic and law students do suits at the most, and Cool Biz at the very least while fashion students do their best to dress as gay as possible. A shirt should be fine, what isn't fine is the western 'going to class in sweatpants', college is the nips first time going to school with no dress code so they put emphasis on dressing well in their own way.

[Anonymous No.]

>>37132199
My experiences match >>37135808 mostly: something approximating business casual is the norm. Some will choose a suit and tie, and maybe more at Keio than other schools, but it isn't the majority. You don't have to wear a tucked-in button-down shirt every day. Nobody is going to frown on polo shirt or clean-looking flannel. The STEM students I met were like western STEM students, in that they had less regard for fashion than the business students. They just stopped short of graphic tees and cargo shorts (I never saw sweatpants, and denim pants only occasionally). Again this is all speaking again from my experience at Keio ten years ago.

The big point I would re-emphasize from >>37135808 is:
>nips first time going to school with no dress code so they put emphasis on dressing well in their own way.
I was told, while I was there, to think about it this way:
In the West, the culture encourages you to think of college as the last hurrah of your youth. In Japan, it is seen as your first step into adulthood.

Paradoxically, as noted in the OP, the workload is a relative joke. The students I got to know at Keio were smart, but a general attitude of "C's get degrees" was prevalent. They worked hard to get in to the big name school, now a decent job is all-but-assured, and their path is pretty set.