Hello,
I was thinking about attending Waseda for their Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies MA program for the 2024 intake. I have a bachelors in political science and history from the University of Kansas in the U.S. and an MA from that same school in East Asian Studies with a focus on Japanese culture and society. I had a 2.8 GPA in my undergrad but got a 3.9 during my first MA. I have some prior experience working in Japan, I taught English for about a year around the Tokyo area, and I have been studying Japanese for about 6 years, although I have not taken the JLPT yet. I was able to get a government-funded fellowship to help me study Japanese during my first MA. Apart from all that my other professional experience comes from working as either a graduate assistant for an administrative part of my university and being a graduate teaching assistant.
I have a pretty decent idea about what I want to write for my research proposal. I would like to compare/contrast Japan’s Top Global University Program (TGU) and America’s own Department of Education policy aims when it comes to attracting international students, as part of a larger discussion on how soft power is influenced or influenced by these two higher education projects.
I do have some concerns about my application though. The biggest is my previous undergrad GPA of 2.8, which isn’t great and I always thought it was a small miracle that I got into the first MA program, even more so since I never to the GRE (but that program never required it). Another concern is that I have not written a thesis, my previous MA required a research paper that was able to be submitted for publication by an academic journal, which is partly why I am applying for this program, so I can write a thesis to get into a PhD. Finally, I don’t know if I have enough capital p professional experience that would make me competitive.
Are there any current or previous students/faculty/staff of that program that could give me some pointers on areas where I should be concerned?
by thelaughingmansghost
