Getting in: Applying to SILS

Hello everyone! I'm Greg, a new writer for Sodai.org. I'll begin attending SILS in the April 2010 term, and I thought I ought to keep one of the few English-language SILS resources alive and kicking. I know that a lot of people have questions about the application and enrollment process, so I can't think of a more fitting series of articles to start with. The SILS application process probably had the greatest number of hoops that I've ever had  to jump through in order to accomplish something. Luckily, the SILS admissions office is relatively flexible and helped me fix my mistakes. But why make mistakes when you can read about mine and avoid them?

Most colleges in America have fancy online applications these days. SILS prefers to keep it old-school and your first step is compiling a large number of documents and mailing them during the application period. The application process has two stages: if you pass this step, you'll be interviewed and tested, and then you might get accepted. Most people get eliminated in the first step (this one!) so be very careful. Take some time to familiarize yourself with the For Applicants section of the SILS website, because you'll be going there a lot. The next term open for applications is Fall 2010, and I'll be using it in my examples. Although the first application period for Fall 2010 doesn't begin until January 7, it's a good idea to begin assembling your application now, or at least a month before. You want to apply early so that you have time to correct any mistakes you might have made and get the corrected documents mailed before you're out of luck.

This was my completed application. It really is a large number of documents.

The application process is explained in-depth in the Application Guide in English. It's a huge PDF file chock full of information, rules, and sometimes oddly specific instructions. Be sure to read this! It's very important, and I get the feeling that part of the admissions criteria is following it as closely as you can. I'll cover all the applications documents in this post, but always double-check them in the Application Guide, which does change a little bit each term. The application guide goes into far more detail than I do.

The Application Documents Checklist is the first document to include in your application and also a handy way of keeping track of your progress. It lists all of the documents you need to include in the order you need to include them, so it's easy to organize your application around it. New in the Fall 2010 checklist is an Interview Questionnaire, where you mark a couple preferred interview locations. I'll write more about the interview process in my next post, but I interviewed in Portland, Oregon, a city not included in the questionnaire, so it's possible that they really will consider your write-in request.

The Application Form is the next document after your checklist to include in your application. You can hand-write or type it, but I found it a lot easier to type. The Application Form is a general kind of college applications form where you fill out information about yourself, your educational background, academic honors, study abroad experience, and personal/volunteer activities. You also have to include a very specific 4x3 centimeter photo of yourself. I had some trouble with this, and ended up having to mail replacement photos twice. The first time my photos were rejected for not being clear enough because I just printed them on photo paper. Have a professional do them instead. The next time my photo didn't show enough of my face. Unlike a standard passport photo where you have a bit of your neck and shoulders in there, the photos for SILS should be pretty much entirely your head. Think of them as the kind of photos you'd put on a student ID, because that's what they are. It might be hard to find a place that takes these strange kinds of photos. I suggest trying a small-time passport photo place, these guys helped me out. Make sure to write your full name on the back of every photo. You'll have to include 2 more of the same photos later, and the same rules apply. The last three parts of the form are optional, and I don't know how important they are, but I would try to fill them as best as you can. Personally I wrote about 1 academic honor, 3 activities, and no study abroad experiences. Remember that you have to attach proof of your claims to the form and label them according to the reference number on the form. The proof has to have your name on it, and "certify your activities". I was lucky because my  academic honor and one of my activities were covered in my transcripts, so I just wrote "(refer to my ___ transcript)" in the box they give you. 

The next part of the application is the most difficult part, the English essay. It should be around 1000 12-point double-spaced words, and follow this prompt: "You should use your personal experience as the basis for your essay. Please  feel free to describe not only what you hope to gain from studying at SILS, but also how you hope to contribute to SILS as an international community." To be honest, I'm not 100% sure what the last bit means, but I wrote mostly about my motivations for applying, and included a bit about how I like helping others out, too. The topics in your essay will most likely be a significant portion of your interview. Write about things you're prepared to discuss. The essay is also a great opportunity to talk about things you didn't have a chance to mention in the Application Form. For example, I couldn't mention my study abroad experience because it was too short to get transcripts from, but I was able to talk about how it influenced me in my essay. There's tons of resources for writing college essays, just be sure to make it your own. Have someone else read it through, too. It's surprising how many mistakes can slip through because you see what you expect to see when you read your own work. As a formality, put "The End" at the end of your essay, just like in elementary school! Also, label your pages if it's longer than 2. Mine was 3.

The next two documents are your certificate of (expected) graduation and academic transcript(s). Every school handles this slightly differently, and the Application Guide contains a list of acceptable document configurations. Read the guide carefully and make sure to get official transcripts and originals of everything. I have a bit of a non-traditional educational background (I "graduated high school early"), so I e-mailed the SILS admissions office beforehand asking them about my situation and got a quick response. You have to include transcripts from ALL schools you've attended! For some reason, they don't include this in the application guide but instead on the admissions website. Even though my final high school transcript had classes from my other schools listed on it, I still needed to include official transcripts from those schools. If you've taken college classes, you should include that transcript and a registration certificate. I ended up submitting a ridiculous amount of stuff for this, and collecting all of the transcripts took the most time out of anything. If you've only attended one high school, you're lucky. 

Next you have to include some standardized test results. Depending on the country you're applying from, SILS has different requirements. These are explained in detail starting from page 20 in the application guide. I'm from the US, so I submitted my ACT scores. They recommend you take the SAT if you don't have anything to submit. I ordered my ACT results online, but they got lost in the mail or something, so I ended up having to scan them and send them to my admissions counselor, and then call the ACT and tell them to re-send it later. I'd recommend ordering your scores a day or two before you mail your application. If they end up taking a long time, call someone and figure out what happened.

That's it for the academic part of the application. Now you have to prepare lots of documents for immigration purposes. Download the Statement of Source of Funds, Written Oath for Defraying Expenses, and Curriculum Vitae and fill in everything that you can. I had to stealthily add a line to the Curriculum Vitae because I went to too many schools, but I don't think anyone cared. I figured it was better than lying. For some parts, you might need to have your benefactor (such as your parents) sign or write some stuff, just help them through it! You need to gather some proof of your funds. I went through Bank of America, and they mailed a letter of credit that I sent to SILS. SILS didn't accept it because it wasn't signed by a real person, so I had to go the bank manager and beg her to sign my piece of paper. By the way, they told me they don't accept monthly statements, so don't bother with those. The tricky part is the Application for Certificate of Eligibility. SILS gives you some directions and an example, follow these closely. Keep in mind you must print it on A4 paper! I guess this is some weird bureaucratic requirement, but it took me forever to find A4 paper. I just gave up and had FedEx/Kinkos print it out and cut it to A4. It was way expensive, try to find the paper and do it yourself. I also filled out the application by hand, which was hard because they barely give you any room to write stuff. Typing stuff is so much easier, especially since you can fix any mistakes you make very quickly, without having to re-write an entire page. You have to make and include a copy of your passport, which is simple enough. You also have to attach 2 of the photos we talked about earlier to the CoE application. Don't staple them. In fact, don't staple anything. They tell you to use paper clips in the application guide. I had to use a bull clip because my application turned out to be so frickin' huge. If you're a Japanese citizen or permanent resident, or someone who already has a Japanese visa, the process and required documents will be different for you. But if this is the case, you should already be familiar with immigration process!

That's all of the application documents. Double-check everything. Make sure everything is in order. Make sure you didn't staple. Make sure you wrote "The End" and numbered your pages on your essay if you needed to. Make sure you wrote your name on the back of all your photos. Make sure you printed the Application for Certificate of Eligibility on A4 paper. On your envelope, write "AO Entrance Examination <External to Japan> Application" in red ink. Why red? Does it matter if you don't write that in red? I have no idea! There's some more weird gotchas, carefully read through the application guide right before you mail everything. But, don't worry! If you screw something up, you'll be able to mail in corrected documents. Make sure you apply early to have enough time to correct things!

Apologies for the huge post, but I hope this will help some applicants with their first step. If you have any questions, drop me a comment or e-mail SILS admissions. In my next few blog posts, I'll cover your chances of getting in, the interview process, and the enrollment process.

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Yes I imagine that they are referring to that. Just be able to mention what kind of courses you'd be interested in.

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