Accepted to Waseda University School of International Liberal Studies after thoroughly pursuing his own areas of interest and refining his ability to express himself in writing!

“I think that thanks to the support I received from Youyou, I was able to think more deeply about things, and although there were some difficult times when I had to think about a single topic for a month, I was able to develop my thinking skills.”

Name： Ryou Abe

High school： Tokyo City University Junior and Senior High School

Accepted to Waseda University School of International Liberal Studies (April domestic entry)

Congratulations on getting accepted! Please tell us how you feel now that you have been accepted.

Actually, I had forgotten the date of the announcement because I hadn’t gotten any responses. I learned of my acceptance when my mother suddenly called me and said, “You have been accepted to Waseda!” and I found out that I had passed. I had taken the entrance exam for a total of four schools, but since I had been rejected from all of the other three, I felt more relieved than happy. Now I have almost no classes at school, so I am taking it easy while attending driving school.

Please tell us why you applied to Waseda University’s School of International Liberal Studies.

My high school grades were not very good, so I initially thought about going to a community college in the United States. Before that, I decided to try applying to some Japanese universities through their AO admissions processes and researched universities and faculties where I could study in an international environment. Among them were Rikkyo GLAP, Hosei GIS, Keio SFC, and Waseda SILS, so I decided to apply to these four schools.

Why did you decide to try AO admissions?

I was not confident in my Japanese since I had spent my childhood abroad. I thought I could not compete with other applicants in the general selection, so I decided to try AO admissions.

What sort of activities did you do in high school?

In my first year of high school, I was a class leader of the sports festival committee, but in my second year, the festival was canceled due to the corona disaster. From there, I had more time on my hands, so I taught myself HTML and made websites with friends. I like movies, so I watched movies every day.

How long did it take for you to prepare the application documents?

I joined Youyou in September of my second year of high school and began preparing for the program.

At first, instead of writing a statement of purpose, my assignment was to write a report about something I liked. I showed the report to my mentor and received feedback on the content and how I had written the essay. I finally decided on a theme around July of my senior year in high school.

Thanks to thinking only about what I liked, I was able to acquire knowledge and clarify what I wanted to study at university. At SFC, I wrote about funds and art, but my mentor advised me to not use so much text to write about whatever I wanted. After completing the documents with the mentors and professionals, I received feedback from GM Mr. Shimizu, which helped me to create a more content-rich statement of purpose.

How did you prepare for interviews?

I had interview support four times. In the first support session, I created a collection of possible questions and answers, and in the remaining three support sessions, I conducted mock interviews. I filmed the interview and reviewed the video.

The professional advised me to eliminate my odd speaking habits as much as possible. I am very glad that I was able to speak with a native English speaking professional because I did not have many opportunities to speak English in high school. I felt that the language I was using was a bit juvenile, so I thought of myself as a university student and dared to use more difficult expressions.

How did you prepare for the written exam?

I took Youyou’s writing course. The expert was a native English speaker, so I was taught how to write in a way that only a native English speaker could write, not the way that is written in Japanese textbooks. After completing the assignments, I referenced the sentences the expert corrected and tried to write like an American university student would write, and as a result, my writing skills improved.

How was the day of the test?

Perhaps because I was a little caught off guard, I felt that the exam content was difficult and I was anxious about the lack of response. This year, the difficulty of the questions was higher than in previous years and I finished just in time, so I had no idea that I had passed the exam.

What are your aspirations after enrollment?

Waseda SILS requires students to study abroad in their second year, and I would like to do my best to go to the university I want to attend. If possible, I would like to go to the United States, but I will think about the specifics after entering the school.

Looking back at the whole process, what are some of the other positive aspects of Youyou?

Thanks to Youyou’s support, I was able to think more deeply about things, and although there were difficult times when I had to think about a single topic for a month, I was able to acquire the ability to think. I liked the fact that Youyou does support on an individual bases, so I could solve assignments at my own pace and submit them anytime via the web-based message function.

What advice would you give to those who will apply in the future?

If you can read the New York Times with ease, you should have no problem with reading comprehension. However, as for writing, you will have to write 450 words, so you will need to be able to think about structure. I think it is better to prepare for the exam in advance so you will have enough time to prepare for the exam.

Thank you very much. We at Youyou wish Mr. Abe all the best in his future endeavors.