Temple University Japan~TUJ

[Princess]

LittleGaijin, tell meeee yourr seeecreetss!!! Haha no, for real what's it like over there? I've heard plenty of crap stories, personally I don't care too much about if the school is good or not because I'm just concerned with getting the dipolma that is necessary for the work visa but it'd be nice to know your opinion xP. A lot of people that have negative opinions of TUJ seem to have negative opinions in general but I've heard some good stuff, too.

One question that I have, maybe you'd like to reply to me privately somewhere if you aren't comfortable sharing it online, was about financial aid? I finally stopped worrying about finances once I got all my stuff in for FAFSA and scholarships but now my admissions counselor just emailed me and said that I won't get my FAFSA award letter until April when the visa is due in February! @.@ how was all the admissions processes for you? Did things run smoothly?

How's dorm life? How's the classes you are taking? xD Tell meee~ I'm just dying over here, running out of content on the internet!

By the way, there's so much negativity on forums its ridiculous. That's why I love Gaiwa, everyone on here is nice (so far ) I read Gaijinpot n stuff and someone asks a very well-worded question and people are like, "OMG U R SO DUMB, U R A WEEABOO AND JAPAN, LIKE, HATES U."

Meh, not very helpful. boo.

[LittleGaijin]

Princess *whispers in your ear* I really like it here. (⊙◞౪◟⊙) I was really cautious about TUJ from early on, and I kinda tried to prepare myself for disappointment but nothing like that happened! The campus is pretty small, but I knew it was gonna be like that from the start. It's the classes and the people that really make this school what it is! Sure, you have the crazy people (*cough*like my crazy neighbor with tourettes who screams at night*cough*) but for the most part, everyone here is so cool and eager to become friends with you! I'm so eager to go to school every day and hang out with my friends in between classes, and we usually go out afterwards and hang out in an arcade somewhere haha. 

I actually applied to TUJ originally for the Summer 2014 semester, but I was a little late and missing 1-2 things that were required for the application so they moved it for Fall! So... I had a little more time than most to figure things out and prepare for the admissions process. The only slightly troubling thing that I had to deal with was that my visa came a week before I left, and that was a little stressful. Other than that, everything was really smooth and my counselors at TUJ were quick to reply to all my emails and help me through everything. I'm not on financial aid though, but a few of my classmates are members on Gaiwa actually and I'll let them know you have a question about that! (Maybe then they'll log on again, eheheheh...)


Glad you like it here on Gaiwa though! This community is really special to me, and I also love that there's never much any negativity here! If you have any questions about TUJ, drop 'em here and I'll do my best to answer ANYTHING! (If I don't hear back from you by the time I'm at my computer again, I'll try to type up a more detailed post about the pros and cons I've had since coming here, but I'm currently hanging out in my friend's dorm room hehe.)

[HiramL]

Hey Princess, I'm also a student at TUJ (although I'm study abroad from Main Campus). There's a lot that's wrong with the Japanese program, but as long as you study the material and practice it, it's possible to do well. i also agree about the whole "people with negative opinions on everything" thing. The only people I know who are constantly complaining about TUJ also constantly complain about several other things as well, so I'd take that with a large and heavy dash of salt. (or maybe sugar?)

As far as financial aid goes, if you're eligible for merit aid, you'll receive something like $1,500 per semester as the minimum, or $2,500 as the maximum. That is, unless TUJ does merit aid differently. I'm not eligible for need-based aid, so I can't attest to that at all. The other thing to keep in mind is scholarships. I'd keep the Gillman in mind if you haven't applied already, as it is very competitive and worth a lot of money. Otherwise, look wherever you can for scholarships. And don't be afraid to take out student loans. Yeah, it's a debt you'll likely have for a long time, but you can't place a value on a college education, even moreso for an education in a foreign land.

As far as admissions go, I had to renew my passport, and that took forever because the State Department is lazy. But I eventually got it in on time.

Are you living in the dorm or doing a homestay? I can't say anything about the ladies' dorm, but the boys' dorm is a pit of despair in an otherwise really great part of Yokohama.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your stay in Japan!

[LittleGaijin]

Continuing off of what Steve (HiramL) said, the girl's dorm is very, very nice. Whenever I mention the facilities and features of Kitazono (the girls' dorm) to my guy friends, they are always surprised and very frustrated hahah. Especially about the fact that we get our own kitchens and bathrooms in our little rooms, (They feel like mini apartments!) Correct me if I'm wrong, but guys only get a closet, desk, bed, and a sink I believe. But their building has a mini exclusive boy's dorm conbini, onsen and gym room, a nice big lobby and lots and lots of hang-out places and rooms that the boys can rent to hang with friends. For hanging out - Kitazono has a tiny lobby, and your own rooms. Hanging out in the lobby is a bad idea too. It echos in there, the sliding doors are loud, and everyone who enters the room is greeted with a loud, booming  「お帰りなさい！」 「いってらっしゃい！」 among several other various greetings throughout the day. Heck, I can't even go out to take out the trash without a few いってらっしゃいs. orz

If you have any questions about Kitazono, I'm your girl!

[HiramL]

Yeah, LittleGaijin, the guys dorm does have a lot of amenities on the lower floors that are really pretty awesome. The roof is also a really cool place to hang out and watch the stars, eat lunch, hang clothes, etc. (I don't know if the girls dorm has roof access, but, well, this is Japan we're talking about. Pretty much every anime has a scene where the main characters are hanging out on the roof, after all). But, the minute I get off the elevator on my floor, it just feels really creepy. The fact that they haven't changed the lightbulbs in the hall since the semester started really doesn't help things.

I will not shed a single tear when this place is torn down in a year or so.

[Princess]

HiramL ahh sounds great thanks! I honestly think there's a lot wrong with a lot of education anyways, but like you said if you study and practice it I don't see why anybody wouldn't learn anything. There's just some videos I've seen on Youtube claiming that the TUJ Japanese program is so poor and none of the Japanese students want to speak in Japanese. They just want to practice their English on you which seems pretty understandable to me....I get that with all that it'd be a little less easy to learn Japanese but, like, really? You're in Japan and you're saying it's the schools fault you haven't learned any Japanese? That seems a little fishy to me lol.

Thanks for the info on the dorms...I probably won't do them because my husband will be joining me a little sooner than I thought, probably just one month later and Sharla in Japan just posted a video about a site called AirBNB and I've found a bunch of great places to stay for pretty good prices. I thought about a homestay, but I don't know if that's really my thing.

I'm just yearning for onsens though (haven't got any tattoos yet cuz of it!), I looooove hot baths and I think it's genius to shower before you bathe hahaha.

[LittleGaijin]

HiramL no! We don't even have roof access at Kitazono! What is this?!

Princess no worries girl! If you have any questions, just let us know! Like I said on instagram, TUJ's Japanese Program is notoriously hard, nothing to worry about there... accept passing, and Japanese placement exams... eheheheh. (Sharla? Oh, I'm friends with Sharla! I still remember first talking to her about coming to Japan in 2012.)

[Princess]

LittleGaijin, yay hehe, I love all the jvloggers, and I am an aspiring one...Sharla's cute, Micaela was the first one I ever subscribed to, and Gimmeabreakman's long unnecessary tangents are somehow addicting (just playing, he seems like a cool guy xD) I'm always looking for new jvloggers, WHICH IS HOW I FOUND YOU HEHEHE. There's hardly any TUJ videos, especially newer ones >[ (don't worry, I know you are busy! xP)

actually, I'm feeling in the jvlogging mood, I think I'll go search for more now...ahhaa.

[LittleGaijin]

Princess, Micaela was also my first j-vlogger! She's actually largely responsible for me coming here to Japan! (രᴗര๑) Ever since I first saw ⇒ this video ⇐ in 2008. Thanks to her and my favorite band Monkey Majik, I was able to believe that I could get to Japan and have a nice life here!

OH YOU. BLUSH BLUSH, I'LL MAKE A VIDEO AS SOON AS I CAN! Several of my friends even said that they'll edit my videos for me, but I just haven't done anything film-worthy when I have rare free time... *cries*

[Princess]

LittleGaijin, that is one of the few videos I haven't watched of hers actually, ha but that's super cool! For me it was a friend who really believed in me and really made me believe like, little small town girl me can make it happen! And then I met my husband who also wanted to go to Japan, I was like AH YES OMG! LETS GO TOGETHER xD

and hey, there's a lot of jvlogger videos that aren't technically "film worthy" but its still fun to watch xD

[Princess]

By the way LittleGaijin I know I've asked something similar before but how long do you actually have left at TUJ? Are you doing summer semester? I need to attempt to squeeze my degree in as little as possible (I've got a like 12? credits under my belt already). It says on their website it can be done in 2 years and 2 semesters (so minus my credits 2 years 1 semester)...

Basically because Andrew is going to a language school and the visas for that are max 2 years o.o he's already not coming til june 28th, so worst case scenarios we either spend another couple months apart or god forbid we'd have to go to PA to finish at the main campus (the restaurant he works at actually has a location 7 mins away from that campus so he'd probably get the job but still)

I haven't been in full time school in awhile, and I'm already slacking on my Japanese class' homework (although don't get me wrong, I LOVE it, the class is 2.5 hours and it's not long enough for me!) it's just homework is so tedious.

[LittleGaijin]

Princess I actually don't know for sure, but something like 2-3 more years! And yes, I decided to do the summer semester. I was actually planning on going home for the summer, but Kyle has been talking about coming to see me and I wanted to be in Japan for that.

TUJ can renew visas for you, and I actually have to get mine renewed in June-July, so I don't think you have to worry about that too much (unless I misread something... been doing way too much Japanese homework until now ugh). The homework at TUJ depends on the student I think. Coming from a community college, I am definitely not used to this course load, especially from the Japanese department. But for a lot of students, this is actually less than what they're used to so they can go out and party almost every other night. Last month I read a post on facebook from one of my classmates saying: "Now that I'm finished taking Japanese, this is the first time I've received all S (Satisfactory) grades for my Mid-Term progress report!" 

I don't think any of the regular classes will ever be a problem... heck, I'm currently taking a class with only two tests and one essay for the entire semester. That's literally all it has. Just put all your effort into the Japanese classes!

[Princess]

LittleGaijin that all sounds like music to my ears haha! And I know my visa is okay, but I was talking about Andrew's because he's only going to a language school and its considered a "pre college visa" and he can only get it renewed for up to two years (I know I didn't really explain that lol)

And I hooopppeee you stay for the summer!!!

[LittleGaijin]

Princess I already signed up for Bio for the summer. Will sign up for two more classes at the end of April.

Ohhh. You should definitely ask the visa people over at OSS about that (at TUJ). Is he thinking about maybe doing part-time work over here? Worst case scenario, he could volunteer at an English teaching camp or school program, and then he could apply for a work visa for the remainder of your stay. I wish Japan wasn't so complicated when it comes to this stuff...

[Princess]

LittleGaijin OHHH I didn't even think of that! He could try to do a volunteer program/visa! Omgosh thanks Anna xD