How did I get into Waseda University?
Pre-Application
This is my second blog 🎉 and one which has been long overdue, but better late than never. In this blogpost, I will be detailing all the steps that I took in order to get an admit at Waseda University [1] for a Master’s degree in Intelligent Machines.
The process of selecting and applying to a university for graduate studies can be a daunting task 🙏. Most people go to the US, Australia, Europe for Masters. I also did a lot of researching about many universities and colleges. I finally made a list of universities to apply to. Waseda University in Tokyo 🗼 🗾 was the one which I was interested in. The Laboratory that I wanted to join had made the first Humanoid robot 🤖 (The WABOT project)❗❗. Although it was an unusual choice in the eyes of many, I was keenly interested in securing admission here.
The application process to the universities in Japan is a bit different as compared to the usual route that we take for applying to Master’s courses in other countries. So, I had to understand the application process prior to applying in order to not get overwhelmed by it later on. I connected with a few people via Linkedin and also by contacting relatives who had information about people working/studying Japan. Through them, I spoke to people who were studying the same course that I was planning to study. From them, I came to know about the intricacies of the application process :open_mouth:.
There are :two: major intakes in Japanese universities, one in April and the other in September. I chose the April 2019 intake to start my Master's program. The course that I applied to was for Masters in Intelligent Machines (Related to Humanoid robotics or robotics in general). This is a 2-year English Based course at Waseda University.
Application to Laboratory
I communicated via Email with Professor Shigeki Sugano, who is the Head Professor of the Laboratory, in which I expressed my interest in working in the Intelligent Machines Laboratory (Sugano Lab) [2] and the work that I had done previously. Along with this, I attached a copy of my resume. When I did not receive a reply from the Professor, I asked the admissions department at Waseda University to help me understand how to proceed. Then, I received a reply from Dr. Alexander Schmitz, an Associate Professor at the laboratory. I was told that I had to give a Mechatronics exam in order to enter the Sugano Lab. I was given a period of 14 days in order to complete the exam. I was allowed to use any website/textbook I wanted in order to answer the question but it goes without saying that I was not allowed to copy and paste content from any of the sources. Also, before taking the exam, I had a skype call with Alex in which he explained to me what his research entailed and how the application process was in general.
I completed the test to the best of my abilities and submitted the answers to Alex via Email. After that, we had a Skype call in which he asked me a few questions about my answers and the project that I had done previously as part of my undergraduate studies. On sending him a reply for the same, I was told by him to wait for results.
Result of the test
A few days after the test, I received an email from Alex informing me that I had cleared the entrance test and that I could proceed with the application process for the admission 🙌. I forwarded the result to the admissions office.
Document submission/ Student Visa application
The next step involved sending my documents to the admissions office of the university.
The list of documents was-
- Academic transcripts
- Certificate of graduation
- Letter of recommendation (2–3 are ideal)
- English proficiency test score sheet
- GRE test score (Not compulsory)
- Statement of Source of funds
- Bank statement
- Application for certificate of eligibility (COE)
- Application for admission in April 2019 intake
- Resume
I sent these documents to the university before the deadline.
After this, I received an email from the University stating that I had cleared the entrance examination, leading to my selection for English-based Graduate Program starting from April 2019. It also stated that they had sent certain documents via courier which will help me understand the further procedure.
I received the following documents from the University:
- Certificate of success of passing the entrance examination
- Information on fee structure and bank account details
- Information about dormitory
- Certificate for notification of delay of admission documents
- Automatic debit transfer form
- Orientation details
- Final checklist for documents to be sent
Out of these documents I had to check the fee amount to be paid and pay it to the University bank account. I had to pay one semester fees which were 7,20,000 JPY. Only after this, my application for Certificate of Eligibility (COE) [3] would be sent to the immigration office by the University. Later, after payment of fees, I received a confirmation from the university informing me about the application for COE that they had sent to the immigration office in Japan on my behalf.
Next, I received a mail from University that my COE was approved and the University was going to send it by courier.
I had to take this COE to the Japanese embassy in Mumbai along with an application form, which was available on the Japanese embassy website. Post the application, I received my student visa along with the COE which I had submitted.
Finally, I had to carry these documents along with me to the university.
I think this summarises the application process in brief. Feel free to contact me if you read through this and still have some more queries.