College Counseling

Before I left, Ms. Groelle asked me about the college counseling process in Japan. At the time, I knew nothing about it, but in talking to university and high school administrators, and university and high school students, I feel like I've learned a lot about the process in Japan. First off, senior high school (10-12) is not required in Japan. 98% of students do go on to either high school or vocational school. Because high school is not mandatory, it is not free and admission is not guaranteed. Which means that when you're in 9th grade, you face an entrance exam for high school, and where you go to high school largely determines where (or whether) you'll go to college. So the students are beginning the process earlier and with little guidance. Better high schools send their students to better colleges and have more individualized counseling programs. They also have more difficult entrance exams, so they only accept the better students. The college process isn't starting off with a level playing field.

Also, many students want to go to school close to home. Family is much more central than in the US, and students want to be able to be with their families on festivals and holidays. Also, many students live at home while attending college. (I think in general I'm speaking more for the more rural and remote prefectures. All bets are off for Tokyo-all of the small groups have mentioned that people in their prefecture talk about Tokyo as if it were another world.) If students do not live at home, they do not have roommates. In Japan, you live with family or you live alone. According to one student I spoke with, the hardest part of his adjustment to his study abroad year last year was sharing a washroom and refrigerator with three other boys.

Back to the process---it strongly relates to the entrance exam. Students live in fear of this exam throughout their teen years. They're told from the time that they're young that this test will determine their future. They put much more weight on it than we put on the SATs. Teacher recommendations are taken for some colleges, but admission is not decided based on them.

The university students also mentioned the "motivation problem" I wrote about in an earlier post. They said because Japan has such a low birth rate, universities are now less competitive than they once were. Students don't have to work so hard for admittance. The economy is also hurting their motivation. It used to be that if you went to a good university, you would get a good job upon graduation. You'd stay in that job throughout your career and be cared for in retirement. Now, young people are having trouble being hired; Japanese culture only recently introduced the idea of lay-offs in bad economic times. Graduates are facing competition from experienced workers who have lost their jobs. Another problem with motivation is that grading in universities is notoriously easy. Students are motivated to work to get in college, but less motivated to study once they're there. The ideal model used to be to work hard in school, get a good job and work towards a better income. That paradigm has collapsed. College counseling is a recent phenomenon. Counselors are not just college counselors though; they're college and career counselors. Japanese society does not push students towards higher education; they push people to "follow their passions" or "find their purpose." Sometimes this involves college, sometimes not. These counselors help students find something that "they can dedicate themselves to." Counselors are more heavily used in poorer areas; rich parents want to brag about their children and the good universities they attend. They send their teens to "cram school," night and weekend test-preparation academies. Poorer families can't afford cram school, so students use the resources available to them with their school tuition. Still, applying to colleges is still largely a family decision, and students fill out the college application (or applications-applying to more than one school is increasing in popularity for students who don't mind moving away from their families) and send it themselves.

I thought the push towards finding 'a purpose to dedicate your life to' was interesting. In the US, I'd say we strongly push seniors towards college. Do you think that's its emblematic of US stress on advancement and competition that has encouraged this mindset? I'm asking because what I kept hearing from people was that society needs mechanics, electricians, and "people for the hair house" (ummmm hairdressers). As we've already talked about Japan being a more group-oriented society and these professions are necessary for successful group cooperative function, do you think it's a fundamental difference in our worldviews?