I graduated high school back in 2010 and got above average scores on my SAT and went to a state university (in the united states). In college I started out average but was unfocused and did very poor and eventually gave up on life, let my grades go to hell, and dropped out after being academically disqualified with a GPA of 1.35 in the Spring Semester of 2013.
I briefly attempted to go back to school at a local community college but that was interrupted with work and the covid pandemic which caused me to start out poorly at this Community College. I recently started taking classes again including a Japanese 101 class and I am now getting “A”s and “B”s in my classes. After this semester I will have close to 70 credits between both the community college and the university (but nothing to get a degree out of except maybe a associates in general education, because almost all the credits are lower level classes)
I am 31 years old now and don’t have a life here in America anymore and want to try and start fresh in Japan. After a close relative passed recently away I have enough money to go back to school and can even afford to buy a small house or apartment. I am tired of working paycheck to paycheck and want to get an education in something like international relations or politics. Ideally I want to get a job working at an embassy or something else working for the US state department, but I am open to other jobs in that field.
What are my options if I try to apply to colleges with English speaking programs in Japan? Has my younger self fully screwed my current self over or do I still have a chance to go somewhere decent? I think places like Waseda are completely out of the question, but what about places like Sophia or Ritsmeikan? I know I screwed up in the past but I am willing to put hard work in.
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>Ideally I want to get a job working at an embassy or something else working for the US state department, but I am open to other jobs in that field.
If you really want to work for the State Department, you pretty much ***need*** to go to school in the US. Pedigree matters a *lot* for US govt jobs, and being kinda blunt: You’re going to need that pedigree given everything you have (or rather don’t have) going for you.
University in Japan isn’t going to provide the necessary pedigree. *Especially* an English-language program in Japan. There’s a lot of debate here about the value of those degrees in general, but it’s pretty safe to say that they’re not going to do an adequate job of preparing you for a State job and, most importantly: The Foreign Service Officer exam.
You’re 31 now. So you’ll be 35ish by the time you finish your degree. That’s fairly old to be starting out on the FSO track. You’ll be competing against kids in their 20s, fresh out of Ivy League schools.
Also: Are you aware that you don’t necessarily get to pick where you’re stationed as an FSO? You don’t apply directly to the embassy in Japan. You get posted there. Or maybe you get posted in Germany. Or possibly Lesotho. As a fresh FSO you don’t get a lot of say in where you end up.
So… Yeah. If the FSO track is what you’re looking for, school in Japan is *really* not a great choice.
If you decide you want to do something else, Japan might be an option. But you need to know what you’re aiming for. While ageism in hiring isn’t as bad as some people say, it does exist. You’ll need to know what sort of job you’re aiming for in Japan, and you’ll need to get *really* good at the skills required to overcome your age handicap.
>I have enough money to go back to school and **can even afford to buy a small house or apartment**
Can you afford to buy it for *cash*? Because it’s effectively impossible for a foreigner to get a mortgage in Japan until they get Permanent Resident status.
Plus: Thinking about buying a house at this stage is *very* premature.