Hi, I am Ibuki, and I own a Daruma doll. Let me tell you how it sparked my journey of exploration across communities and continents.
High School in Massachusetts
I grew up in Tokyo, Japan, where I attended middle school and high school. In my senior year, I won a scholarship from my high school to spend a fully-funded year abroad at a boarding school in the US. That was how seventeen-year-old me arrived at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.
I loved my year abroad, especially the tight-knit boarding school environment with its small classrooms, my passionate classmates, and the freedom to choose courses different from those in Japan. I cherished my experience at Andover so much that I wanted to apply to a U.S. university right away. However, my scholarship was binding, requiring me to return to Japan for university. After a year at Japan’s Keio University, I decided to give America another shot.
Why a liberal arts college?
Brown University was my top choice initially. I love the idea of an open curriculum. At the same time, it's an Ivy League institution, notably rigorous and difficult to get into, let alone get a full-ride from. I was also planning to go to grad school in the future, and going to a liberal arts school is decidedly more realistic for better financial prospects. I would have the same tight-knit community between professors and students that I experienced at boarding school, and I could always go to an Ivy League for grad school.
I applied and got into Union College with a Presidential Scholarship covering ~50% of tuition, and into Oberlin College with financial aid covering 80-90% of tuition. The full-ride, though, was offered by Brandeis University.
There is a special scholarship reserved for Japanese students, funded by a Japanese alumnus of Brandeis called the Toshizo Watanabe Scholarship. I didn’t know about it until I met another prospective student at a community event for US university applicants. I applied and somehow received this prestigious scholarship. This is why I want to emphasize the virtues of showing up—it can really get you awesome opportunities and quite literally, change your life!
Academic Profile
The grading system at my Japanese high school was strict because the GPA didn’t matter for most students, as they usually went on to a connected university in Japan. I achieved an overall GPA of 3.7/4.0, which is pretty low compared to other super-competitive US university applicants. There, I was doing a STEM course and had a fixed schedule full of maths, physics, and chemistry classes. However, in Andover, I chose to trust where my curiosity led me and went for humanities courses such as Asian American studies to immerse myself in the American high school experience fully. There, my GPA was over 5.7/6.0 unweighted, placing me in the top 20% of the class.
I got a 1480 on the SAT. I know the usual bar for a high score is over 1500, but I believe under this climate, there are far more important components of an application than test scores. A 1480 is not that different from a 1500 in the grand scheme of things, and I decided not to waste time retaking it.
My Extracurriculars
- Research in Neuroscience, where I worked in a research lab for 5 months under the guidance of a professor, through a science program for high school students in Japan.
- Projects in education, during my gap year, where I worked on multiple projects at a company.
- Figure skating for 10 years. I devoted most of my time to figure skating, practicing long hours after school. With this, I tried to highlight my commitment and explain why I have fewer activities outside of school.
- School Culture Festival Head Director. I led this traditional Japanese Festival for 4 years, from middle school through high school.
- An environmental project where I conducted workshops with local farms and Starbucks.
- Tutoring was another gap year activity. I tutored children with learning disabilities and from single-parent homes.
- School cheering committee board member & chief instructor
- Japanese Connection Club board member at Andover, which was included to highlight my cultural identity and background.
- Stanford E-Entrepreneurship Japan, an online course I did, which lasted 3 months.
My activities were spread across different areas rather than being highly focused on one discipline. There are multiple reasons for this: I wasn’t really sure of my major; figure skating prevented participation in intensive school club activities with fixed schedules; and building a coherent list of activities during one year in the US was challenging. I want to emphasize that it’s completely okay to not have a perfect list of activities. Do what makes you feel most like yourself, and the school that fits you right will find you.
Personal Statement: A Daruma doll
My chosen prompt for the Common App Essay was: “Discuss an accomplishment, an event, or a realization that sparked personal growth”. My essay centered on the Daruma, a traditional Japanese doll given to me before my year abroad in the states. The Daruma’s eyes originally come as black holes. When you set a goal, you are supposed to fill in one eye, leaving the other blank until the goal has been achieved. Before I went abroad, I set goals of becoming more confident with trying new things and speaking to new people. At Andover, although it was difficult at first, I started to put myself out there, joined new clubs, and learned how to talk to people about history and politics, subjects I wasn’t familiar with before. I had achieved the goal I set.
I got back to Japan, feeling surprisingly empty. The new knowledge I gained in the states was suddenly useless back home. I didn’t need to use English or talk about politics.
I realized what I lacked was meaning behind my actions. I started sharing my experience to help younger Japanese students interested in studying abroad.
Today, Daruma is still missing its second eye because my journey of exploration continues. With the new promises I made to Daruma, I wrote about how there’s no end in sight for what I could achieve.
Resources I Found Useful
Since applying to the US was a personal choice and I was already enrolled at a Japanese university, I couldn't ask my family to pay for application services. Borderless was very accessible and helpful for me throughout my application process because, unlike most university counselling services, the app and the stories are completely free. I primarily used Borderless for essay correction and brainstorming. What’s good about it is that it didn’t interfere with my creative process while writing. While other tools like ChatGPT give you a revised draft, Borderless provides feedback aligned to each school, so my essays felt personal to me and connected to each college.
Advice for Future Applicants
Follow your gut over strategic planning. People might ask me why I am applying to colleges again, even though I’ve settled in as a first-year student in Japan. You don’t always have to stay because it’s comfortable and convenient. If an opportunity arises that gets you closer to your goals, seize it even if it disrupts the traditional application path.
Genuine passion matters more than achievements. The word passion is thrown around a lot in the college admissions world, but it’s true: admissions officers care more about genuine interest and drive than prestigious accomplishments like Olympiads. Don’t stress about whether an activity is “weak”. Include every activity and award that meant something to you, even if you weren’t placed at the top. Your profile doesn’t have to be the most decorated to show your worth. Admissions know not everyone has access to prestigious opportunities, so focus on passion and authenticity rather than accomplishments.
And finally, seek information from your community. I cannot emphasize this enough. Attend local events, talk to people, and don’t be afraid to let them know you are interested. Do the uncomfortable thing, and in the end, it will all be worth it!
