Grad school suggestions for Master's in Japanese?

April 7, 2007 12:34 PM

Gradschoolfilter: What's the best grad school for someone with BAs in each of English and Japanese to keep studying Japanese for a master's degree? Bonus points if it's near Ann Arbor.

I guess exact location isn't critical, though I'd prefer if it were one of the universities in suburban Detroit Ann Arbor, since my girlfriend's planning to go back to college next Fall and I figure I might be able to swing grad school in the spring.

I'm mostly looking for somewhere that offers your standard grad-students-going-for-free-in-exchange-for-research-or-teaching setup. If it's of any particular value, my cumulative GPA is about 3.63.

Any other suggestions from anyone, by any chance?

posted by DoctorFedora to Education (8 answers total)

Are you looking to study Japanese language, history, politics?

Grad school is a big decision. As I understand it, it is a lot tougher to get the "free in exchange" deal when you're just getting an MA rather than a PhD.

The schools in the general area are: University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and (bit of a hike), Wayne State University. A little bit further away is Michigan State University.

If you want to get an MA easily, cheaply and quickly without considering what your GF is doing, but rather to further your careerSOAS in London is a fantastic school and you can get your MA in a year.
posted by k8t at 12:48 PM on April 7, 2007

Response by poster: Mostly looking to study language, with the primary goal of having both a Master's and, ideally, JLPT level 2 certification (right now I'm at the point where level 3 is too damn easy and level 2 is too damn hard).
posted by DoctorFedora at 12:53 PM on April 7, 2007

Eastern and Wayne don't have a language MA program. UMich does here - with funding. Requires good grades in 3rd year Japanese.
posted by k8t at 1:01 PM on April 7, 2007

Best answer: I'd suggest that you apply for a research Monbukagakusho. You do research under a Japanese prof at a Japanese Uni in Japan for 18-24 months. At the end of that, Level 2 will be too damn easy, and Level 1 may be well within your grasp. No MA but, if the research you did is at all sexy, you could get into a good PhD program back here in the States. Then your girlfriend would want to be near your school. And if a PhD isn't your goal, then I'd tell you that an MA is a complete waste of your time.

Oh, and the stipend is really quite adequate for living a fun life in Japan (175,000 yen/month). A French guy I knew would fly home, like, every other month and stay w/ his gf for 2 weeks.

Chicago embassy Monbusho link
posted by kickback at 4:23 PM on April 7, 2007

Response by poster: Wow, awesome. Here's a question: how hard would it be, if I got into a research Monbugakusho situation, for my girlfriend to find work at, say, an eikaiwa place? I imagine it wouldn't be too hard to cohabitate on the stipend given (unless the housing provided was a dorm, which would complicate matters a bit), but I have a feeling she'd lose her mind if she didn't have a job.
posted by DoctorFedora at 4:51 PM on April 7, 2007

Response by poster: On further consideration: wow, looks like this would be a real challenge to get accepted into, particularly since I have no specific course of study planned. Do you have any stories from experience to tell to give me an idea of what it'd be like to apply for this whole thing?
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:20 PM on April 7, 2007

Of the 10 or so people I know who've gotten this scholarship (i.e. not me, I had a lesser scholarship), exactly one was a Humanities scholar (Tohoku University has a preeminent William Blake collection, apparently). Everyone else was hard science. The language test plays a major role in screening candidates, but as you can see from the sample exam, it's nothing extreme. After that, it's like getting a Fulbright. A coherent, if somewhat overly-ambitious research plan is a must, and it helps if you can find a sponsor Uni or prof. To that end, I'd suggest getting back in touch with any old teachers and asking for their Japanese contacts colleagues.

If you want more specific advice, send me an email and I'll ask my buddy who went through it all.

Eikaiwa jobs grow on trees in Japan. Visas don't though :(
posted by kickback at 7:34 PM on April 7, 2007

Response by poster: I, uh, don't know your email address... I'd love to hear more details and specific advice! If it's of any help, my Gmail address is the same as my MeFi username (and it's also the same as my AIM screen name! Hooray for username unity!) at gmail.com.
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:52 PM on April 7, 2007