One of the 3 top universities in Tokyo. It's abbreviation is so-dai. The others include Tokyo University and Keio.

Really tough to pass the entrance exam. Unless you are famous like the current wasejo Ryoko Hirosue, you can buy your way in. My friends that go there are still pissed off about her. This includeds one of my friends threw away 2 years of high school social life in preparation for the damn entrance exam for this place. He memorized tons of worthless information that has no use or relevance.

Of course, like all other japanese colleges, once you get into Waseda, it is a breeze to gradurate. Unless you are like my friend above and his roommate who both failed last year. baka. But he, like most japanese students spend all of their time drinking around takada no baba station on the yamanote line which is very close to Waseda.

...and you wonder why I didn't go to a japanese university?

BTW, Waseda is an area in Shinjuku that is, well, named Waseda, and has a subway station named, you guessed it, Waseda. (But takada no baba is more convenient)

Waseda University is a private University in Tokyo, founded in 1882 by Shigenobu Okuma, scholar and government leader. Originally it was named "Tokyo Senmon Gakko (College)" and under the old university system, had only three departments. Today is a comprehensive, coeducational University with multiple campuses, including ones for Literature and Sports Sciences. The newest branch is a four-year program called The International College, made for Japanese and foreign students. Waseda also has a number of Senior High Schools and 'cram schools' affiliated with it.

"Waseda" can also be used to describe the general area of Tokyo around the main campus of this University. The Waseda area is famous for its many cheap ramen shops, which cater to some 44,000 hungry Waseda students. Waseda-dori, the main street, is also known for its many used book stores.

The main campus and Toyama campuses are both about a 20 minute walk from Takadanobaba station, a stop on the circular Yamanote line. Students have a slang term for the walk from "baba" to Campus: "baba-ruki." The second half of the term comes from the verb stem "aruki," to walk. ("baba" also means 'grandma,' so I guess it can also sound like 'grandma walk').

From personal experience, I can say that the typical Waseda student probably studied really hard to get into Waseda, but now parties constantly; this does not even come close to paralleling what happens at American institutions! Usually Japanese students get burnt out in high school preparing to enter college, and once they get in, it's pretty easy to graduate, so they spend a lot of time socializing, drinking, and staring at their cell phones. But cell phones and Japanese teenagers is in a whole 'nother node.

www.waseda.ac.jp/eng/

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