How is Tohoku University's grading system?

I was an exchange student with Tohoku University and met with FGL IMAC-U students so I will say my source is credible.

It is gaussian distribution grading for a small population of 10 to 15 students which started 2 years ago.

At Tohoku University IMAC-U, there is no sense of cooperation outside of one’s small clique of friends. Even then, many students are not close with anyone else in their class, and so are only interested in helping themselves. The competition here for jobs and labs is fierce, and only those at the top stand a chance. For one to survive, someone must die. Your interaction with Japanese are almost none because the fact that you take different classes at different schedules.

It’s the “So why waste your time helping others when that will only lower your own grade? If I’m at the top then everyone else must be below me. I have to put myself first in order to get ahead.”

In extreme cases, this problem manifests itself in the form of straight-up sabotage. Sharing fake answer sheets, giving wrong advices… nasty stuff like that.

The students they take in are already cream of the crops, MEXT scholars are carefully selected and their grades are carefully inspected.

But students are afraid to sound up to senior Professors in fear of losing their scholarship. You will basically be like a lab rat, trapped. In worst cases, some students were failed and retained on purpose to serve their specific lab manpower requirements. A few of the student retained thanks to the gaussian distribution.

There was a student that got depression lately and was kicked out of his lab, unsure if he was kicked out of the university. Although you are an international student with minimal knowledge of Japanese language, there are minimal support provided for daily personal necessities. You are on your own to learn “the way of Japanese”. The course seems to be created by ticking a checklist of the University’s requirements.

My advise is, unless if you are in need of the scholarship, this is the worst environment you will want to get into for your University curriculum.

Don’t be a rat, experiential learning starts by being an Eagle. Go places that allow you to soar.