Paving the road abroad for Japanese students

While there has been a push for more Japanese students to go abroad for university these past few years, there still remain numerous hurdles and difficulties in doing so. Examples of such hurdles include perceived cost, time commitment, and access to resources and information regarding the application process.

To combat these hurdles and make the path easier for prospective students, a group of four students from Japan who had made that arduous jump (Nana, Yuki, Elena, and Christina) joined together to create Ryu-Kit, a comprehensive resource and guide for those looking to continue their studies overseas.

The website, set to launch this week, lays out information in Japanese regarding:

• High school academics
• Standardized exams
• Recommendation letters
• Essays
• Scholarships
• Applications
• Developing an “x-factor”

All of these are crucial elements of the college preparation and application process.

The genesis of their brainchild was a result of shared experiences and challenges. As said by Nana, a native of Tokyo, “I decided to join because I thought it was a great way to share my own college application experience and help students who are feeling nervous or stressing out about it…Through this project, I hope to communicate what I learned from my own experience and encourage many students not to give up.”

Elena from Nagano echoed this sentiment, stating, “[Ryu-Kit] sounded like exactly what I needed all through my application process. Since I had just finished applying, I had a lot of things I wanted to share.”

A truly homemade effort, the four built the site from the ground up under the guidance of two Tokyo Academics mentors, Rei and Josh. The group found the learning process highly rewarding, with Yuki from Fukushima affirming, “Seeing a project through from its creation to its end, 0-100, was a great experience.”

As the group turns their focus to their fall semester academics at their universities in the US, the four know their goal is not yet complete. They set out to create Ryu-Kit as a dynamic, living resource rather than a static one.

The group is always looking for feedback and additional resources from those who have also made the very same move abroad or have yet to do so in order to create the most comprehensive resource possible. Nana, returning to Bowdoin College in Maine, confirmed this goal: “In the future, I hope to see this website become the go-to website about the application process for universities abroad and helping as many Japanese students in their application process as possible.”

Check it out at Ryu-kit.com to learn more or contribute to a growing resource today!