Help with college

[crusniknano]

Hello, I am a Japanese language major at my current college but am thinking of attending a Japanese college instead. My current college supports the JET program, and my original plan was to go through that pathway to eventually become an interpreter (yes, I do understand how hard of a field this is to get into and have looked into this option extensively.) On the other hand I was just informed of Temple University Japan a little over a month ago and have learned that they plan on having a Japanese language major available in Fall 2010. This seems like a better choice simply for the fact that I would be attending college in one of the primary languages I would be interpreting for (I am currently learning Chinese, Japanese, and German on top of natively speaking English.) I used to be a member of this forum (DagothUr) and remember how helpful people at this forum can be with tough decisions such as this. So here is my actual question; would it be more benificial for me to attend TUJ and get more experience in Japan, or would it be more helpful to head through the JET program?
Also, if anyone wishes to share information about TUJ or the JET program, personal experience or otherwise, I would be happy to hear of it.

Thanks,
Crusniknano

[samurai007]

It doesn't need to be either/or. You could do both Temple and JET. The rules for JET say you must not have lived in Japan for 6 or more years in total since 2000. So you could do Temple, graduate from university, and then apply for JET.

Temple you'd have to pay for, and I believe it isn't cheap, plus living expenses. Student visas allow only very little part time work, so you wouldn't be able to pay for it with a job while you are there. JET, on the other hand, pays quite well (3.6 million yen per year). JET can be very hard to get in to though... on the best years the success rate is only about 25% of applicants, and with the economy as it is (more applicants, more current JETs recontracting so fewer spaces for new JETS), that has fallen to about 18% I've heard. Even excellent credentials are no guarantee of being accepted. Finally, if you are accepted on JET, remember that your job will be to teach English and western culture, not to practice your Japanese. You'll pick it up just by living there of course, and can take a class outside of work hours or trade English/Japanese lessons, but it's not the same intense study of grammar and words and such as a university-level course.

So, I'd say go for both, they are quite different experiences and each has its benefits and drawbacks for what you want.

[MMM]

JET is also very competitive, so there is no guarantee you would get in.

[SSJup81]

Originally Posted by samurai007

It doesn't need to be either/or. You could do both Temple and JET. The rules for JET say you must not have lived in Japan for 6 or more years in total since 2000. So you could do Temple, graduate from university, and then apply for JET.

I see it's been changed to six years. Any idea what it was before?

[samurai007]

Originally Posted by SSJup81

I see it's been changed to six years. Any idea what it was before?

Not exactly, but it has always been along the lines of "we don't want someone who has lived in Japan more than their home country over the past decade becoming a JET, we want 'real' foreigners since much of the program is about international relations".

[crusniknano]

Thanks for the help. I do understand that JET is hard to get into, but I had no idea that the numbers were so low! Though I still plan on having the JET as my primary goal I will put more thought into my backup plans in case I don't get excepted. Thanks for all the help again. Also, is TUJ the only school of it's kind in Japan (an English speaking campus?) I asked my Japanese teacher about it and she had no idea.

Oh, and TUJ costs around $16431.80 (including student visa and on-campus housing) first semester, then around $7,000 every other semester.