5 things about Sophia University International students have to know | Guidable - Your Guide to a Sustainable, Wellbeing-centred Life in Japan

5 things about Sophia University International students have to know

By Guidable Writers Oct 7, 2017

As a Student of Sophia University, today I want to talk about the things that only Sophia Student knows about the university. If you are living in Japan, I think you should have heard about this university, but you might not know everything about it. Therefore, today I want to tell you about some facts, both positive and negative, in order to give you some understanding about the university.

Do you know Sophia University?

Sophia University is famous for being an International University; they have different exchange programs which allows students from different school background to get together and learn from each other. As there are many International students coming to Sophia, you are able to make many friends from different countries. You can also meet a lot of Japanese students who are willing to communicate with people. As a Sophian (this is how Sophia students call themselves), I am really proud of seeing many International students enjoying their time in our campus.

One of the most fashionable Universities in Japan

Yukata day

Sophia is also famous for being one of the most fashionable University in Japan. During summer, there is a event called Yukata Day, which many students are going to wear Yukata, and it is really nice to walk around the campus during that day, as you might get a chance to take pictures with students wearing Yukata!

Even on normal days, you can notice that the students hear are very oshare (stylish). When I meet people from other university, many people tell me that Students from Sophia are very fashionable. I don’t know if you agree or not, but most of the people in Japan tend to have the impression that Sophia Students are stylish. Maybe it is because there are many girls in the campus; the number of girls are significantly larger than that of guys. Therefore if you are a guy, it is also a good chance for you to get a Japanese girl friend!

 

Some Facts about Sophia University

From now on, I am going to tell you something only Sophia Students know. What I am going to write next are the things that I found disappointed about the school. If you are thinking of coming to Sophia University, here are some advice that I can give you as a Sophian.

The Freshman Week in Autumn is not worth going

If you are a exchange student, and you want to join a circle from Autumn, you probably want to go to the freshman week to look for circles. Freshman week is the time where all the circles will make their booths and wait for new students to sign up. However, when you go to the freshman week in Autumn, you will realize that you cannot find many circles that are present in the freshman week.

One of the reason is because in Japan, most of the faculties start from April, and there are not many students who want to get into a circle from Autumn. This is why  many circles does not want to spend time for the freshman week in Autumn, as nobody is going to join them anyway. Therefore, even if you go to the freshman week, you probably can not choose the best circle you want to join, as there are not many circles that you can choose from. If you really have a circle or team that you really want to join, you should directly go to their bushitsu (locker room), or their fields or rooms. I know some international students who wanted to join Sports teams in the university, but they had to directly go to the team and ask if they could join.

Therefore, don’t expect a lot from the Freshman Week! If you really want to join a circle, you should directly contact the person in charge.

The School Fee is increased this year

If you are a Sophia Student, you should know that the school has just built a new building, Sophia Tower. I don’t know if it is related or not, but the school fee has increased from this year! That means that students enters from this year need to pay more than those who are already in the campus. They also re-built the main entrance of the campus, but it is questionable if that it is really campus or not.

Pros and Cons of the International dorm

 

Most of the exchange students live in Soshigaya International House, which is located in Seijogakuen-mae station. As it is the official dorm for International student, it provides support to the student who came to study abroad in Japan. The manager of the dorm will help all the exchange students to register their Juminhyou (resident card). If you live here, you don’t need to worry about all the registration, as the office will inform you to do everything you need to do.

However, there is also few negative points about the dorm.

Even this Soshigaya International House is the official dorm for International students, it takes more than1 hour to get to the campus; You need to take a 20 minutes walk from the dorm to the station, and you need to endure 40 minutes train from Seijo to Yotsuya.

Apart from the distance, there are many other issues that the residents are complaining about. 2 years ago, the dorm made a security door in front of the entrance without informing the residents. The students were unhappy about it and began to protest about it. Some students choose to boycott the annual event of the dorm in order to get a chance to talk to the person in charge.

Conclusion

After reading my article, I think you have learnt more about Sophia University. There are both positive points and negative points about the university, but I am pretty sure that if you come to our campus, you will begin to like this place. For those who are coming to Japan, I hope you can visit my university someday because as I said before, this university is full of people from diverse background; It will be really nice if you can visit us so that you can meet a lot of new friends!

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