Elite Universities in the United States Are Highly Selective.
Challenging to Enter and Graduate - Harvard or Stanford, Top-ranked University, Admits Only 1,700 Students.
The total enrollment of the top notch eight universities known as the “Ivy League” is less than that of Waseda and Keio University, despite the fact that the population of the United States is approximately three times that of Japan.
Japanese people have a significant misconception about universities in the United States and Japan.
In the U.S., entering university is relatively easy, but graduating is challenging.
On the other hand, in Japan, entering university is difficult, but graduating is comparatively easier.
This misconception persists, and I would like to take this opportunity to correct it.
Harvard and Stanford, both competing for the top spots in world university rankings, have an enrollment of about 1,700 each.
Compared to Japanese universities, these numbers represent an overwhelmingly narrow entrance.
Despite the U.S. having a population about three times that of Japan, the enrollment at Harvard and Stanford is only 60% of the enrollment at the University of Tokyo.
This alone illustrates that entering top American universities is much more challenging than in Japan.
The enrollment at the prestigious Tokyo University and Kyoto University, representing Japan, is about 6,000 combined.
Considering the U.S. population is three times that of Japan, a simple population ratio calculation for equivalent enrollment at American universities comparable to Tokyo and Kyoto University is approximately 18,000.
Applying this enrollment figure to top U.S. universities, it equals the total enrollment of ten universities: Stanford, MIT, and the Ivy League schools Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Cornell, Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, and Brown.
For reference, Waseda University has an enrollment of over 10,000, and Keio has over 4,000.
The combined enrollment of these two universities alone exceeds the total enrollment of the Ivy League's eight universities.
To emphasize, even with a population three times that of Japan, the gates of admission to top American universities are significantly narrower than in Japan.
The prominence of elite American universities in global rankings is naturally influenced by their challenging admissions process.
In any case, admission to and graduation from top American universities are exceptionally difficult.
In the midst of this, Japan, resembling a developing country with a declining economy relying solely on tourism, faces the dream of attending exorbitantly expensive American universities, now exacerbated by the weak yen, turning into an unrealistic fantasy for many Japanese.
