To Prospective Students Considering Applying to Waseda University

January 6, 2021

Dear Prospective Students,

The COVID-19 pandemic packed a punch in 2020 that I imagine has made you feel uneasy about your university entrance examinations coming up in February. I would like to send you this message to offer you comfort.

In the first place, we would like to assure you that you will be safe and free from the corona virus when taking your examination(s) at Waseda University, as we are preparing physically distanced exam spaces. In addition, we replaced many older air conditioning systems with new ones that can circulate 30 cubic meters per hour per person to maintain a safe environment for entrance examination(s) this winter and for in-person classes this coming spring and beyond. Even after the State of Emergency is issued by the Japanese Government, we will keep our policy unless a drastic change in the COVID-19 situation takes place. Please stay tuned for messages from Waseda University.

We have been very careful to prevent spreading the corona virus infection. At the same time, many of our students, particularly the freshmen who enrolled in April 2020, felt isolated and uneasy as we had to move all classes online in spring 2020. We are therefore aiming to provide about 70 percent of classes in person for the new academic year starting April 2021. At the same time, we will have to keep large classes, which means classes with about 100 students or more, online in order to prevent spreading the corona virus on campus. We are trying our best to ensure a normal campus life insofar as possible.

I am very pleased to introduce a motion picture in which Waseda students produced to create a new song “Soshite Konpeki no Sora e!”

I hope you can feel and sense what kind of student life many of our students have at Waseda University.

Finally, I would like to assure you of the personal comfort you can expect as a Waseda student. Students at Waseda University are all equal and associate with each other with mutual respect, regardless of income, family background, nationality, topic of study, and cultural interests.

We encourage all students who are considering Waseda University as one of their options to apply for Waseda and to join us.

You have our moral support.

Aiji Tanaka, President
Waseda University