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The fall 2020 acceptance rate for Soka University of America is 38%. That means, out of _____ applications received in 2020 , _____ students were offered admission. The number of males who applied was _____ vs the number of females which was _____.
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What should every freshman at your school know before they start?
After completing a year at Soka and joining two of our clubs, I have realized that the most rich college experience doesn’t involve only academic superiority, but the relationships you have with others, as well self-improvement. I am in the Vita Leonis Philharmonic Orchestra, and am currently the club secretary. I enjoy it very much because I get to satisfy my desire to play music, and more importantly because it is fun to be a part of a group of people that genuinely cares not only about club goals, but about each other. Working with the other officers, I have learned to become a better leader and person. Joining the Latin dance club, I have learned to trust people a lot more, and become more outgoing. Overall, my college experience has taught me not only to set better goals for myself, but has helped me become a better person and contribute to the school community. I have made the choice to be active in my education, make the most of the college experience overall, and make sure that while I am at it, I become a better person.
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Describe the students at your school.
My classmates are friendly, outgoing people who are generally pretty close to one another.
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Here's your chance: Say anything about your college!
The school's campus is beautiful and the student body is small so everyone is like a family. The dorm rooms are clean with two people sharing one private bathroom. Our school has many international students with students from 30 different countries and everyone who attends gets to go study abroad for one semester in a country of the language they learned.
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Describe your favorite campus traditions.
Intense in-class dialogue and a small, intimate community.
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What are the academics like at your school?
Students all graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in liberal arts with a concentration either in International Relations, Humanities, Social and Behaviroal Sciences or Environmental Science. Many students are interested in Economics (SBS), Education (SBS), Philosophy (Humanities) and working in NGOs.
The student-faculty ratio is 9:1. Professors know you by name, but usually nickname. Some of the professors here are known world-wide. Some nation-wide. All the professors I've had in the past two years have all been outstanding. During the office hours, I not only get to talk to my professors on an academic level, but also on a personal level. I discuss with them about societal issues, campus issues, past life stories, what to do in the future, etc.
I am constantly challenged to CRITICALLY THINK about issues at hand. Critical thinking happens beyond the classrooms at Soka. But the course offerings aren't great. Because it's a small school, some courses are only offered every two years. Even though the course names may be the same, the quality of the course is dependent on who the instructor is. But the awesome ones are REALLY awesome. I can't thank them enough for how much they have done for me.
Soka has a 24hour room next to the library. People can access the 24hr room anytime of the day or night. The international students study like there's no tomorrow, so it's stimulating and inspiring everytime I go there to study. I feel like everyone influences each other into rigorous academic study. Class participation is mandatory at Soka, but I feel that people go to class not because they simply have to, but because they want to learn for the sake of learning.
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What kind of person should not attend this school?
A person who is not self driven or doesn't like small schools shouldn't attend Soka. Many of the activites at Soka are student driven. He or she must be self driven and motivated to partipate, create, and carry out student activities like Lion's Roar (university recruitment event) or International Festival (festival held to showcase diversity at Soka). If someone is looking for a big time university with hundreds of students in one lecture, and a large student base in the thousands, then definitely Soka is not the place for him or her.
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What is your overall opinion of this school?
The best thing about Soka is its student diversity. Students come from over 23 US states and 30 countries. I get to meet so many students from around the globe in this small campus environment so I get to visit them during my school breaks :) I've been to Wisconsin, San Francisco, Yosemite, Japan (Osaka and Tokyo) and I plan to visit India, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Las Vegas, England, Nepal, Tanzania and more! In a sense, it means free accomodation wherever you go traveling. People usually have several cultures as part of their identity too. For example, I'm a Japanese-Australian. Also, I have a friend who's Japanese, but grew up in Venezuela (so she's fluent in Spanish, English and Japanese), and my best friend is Japanese too, but she was born in Hong Kong, and grew up in Japan, Bangladesh, France, Switzerland, Nepal, and England. My friend from Germany is liberal, down-to-earth and open-minded, therefore being a master at the Chinese-language. I also get insights into different perspectives and cultures, so everyday is an interesting day.
People are always surprised when they hear that Study Abroad is a graduation requirement here. The study abroad program helps students take a break from their studies and reflect on their interests and future. It's also about being a global citizen: placing oneself in an unfamiliar environment and seeing things from a different cultural perspective.
People are always surprised when they hear that Study Abroad is a graduation requirement here. The study abroad program helps students take a break from their studies and reflect on their interests and future. It's also about being a global citizen: placing oneself in an unfamiliar environment and seeing things from a different culture, and a different perspective.
We also have something called Learning Cluster, where students engage in an interdisciplinary 3-week research. We only take the one course for the month and people get to engange in experiential learning. In my freshmen year, I took "Building La Escuela Freire" (learning about charter schools and the politics of education). As a class, we took several fieldtrips to Santa Ana to conduct naturalistic observation of the community and the schools. This year, I had the opportunity to take "women leadership education and empowerment." LC is always a chance to learn something that is not part of the Soka curriculum. Taking both of the LCs, I had a life-changing experience. Learning Clusters are great opportunities to widen on'es perspectives, and for some people, a great opportunity to travel. Funding for LCs has improved over the years. This year, many students went to India, Korea, Panama, Guatemala, Peru, and China. Those who stayed back had great encounters with leaders across the nation.
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Is the stereotype of students at your school accurate?
Not quite. Many of our students have a Japanese background because of the nature of the population in the SGI (Soka Gakkai International). The president of SGI and the founder of the school is Daisaku Ikeda. Therefore, it's natural for SGI members to apply to the school.
Additionally, our school is founded on Buddhist principles of peace, human rights, and sanctity of life. Most of our endowments come from SGI members around the world. Soka, being a NEW educational institution for the NEW millennium, people only hear about it through either SGI, or in the local community.
I think the rumors can't be helped. But, Soka is a non-secretarial, non-religious academic institution that strives to foster contributive global citizens. While students, faculty, and staff are all working hard to create for a better world, to label Soka as a "Buddhist organization" or a "cult school" or any other stereotypical judgment is unfair.
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What's the most frustrating thing about your school?
Some of the teachers think that they are better then you and know everything there is to know about the world.
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What is the stereotype of students at your school?
1) We are a very goal driven student body.
2) each of us actually wants to make a change in the world, and here at SUA we are learning exactly how to go about it.
3) we smile. alot.
4) in our conversations, words like "peace", "personal growth", "continual learning", "global citizen", "perspective", "change" are very evident.
5) we like to talk to people.
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What are the most popular student activities/groups?
Soka has about 30+ clubs. One of the most popular ones are Josho Daiko (Japanese Drums), Rhythmission (hip-hop dancing group), Salsa club (salsa dancing), Ghunguroo (indian dancing), Bahngra (another type of Indian dance), and Soka Education Student Research Project (SESRP). SESRP researches on Soka education (pedagogy of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, who's known as the Dewey of Japan) and holds an annual Soka Education conference each February.
A lot of our students leave their doors propped open, so people can come in and out of their rooms freely.
We have a lot of guest speakers visit us throughout the year. Dr. Chowdhury (former UN Secretary General) held a one-week class and a learning cluster this year. We've also had Betty Williams, Jin In, and more.
There are a lot of couples on campus in my opinion. But there seems to be a lot of drama involved because people end up dating their friend's ex...
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What's the one thing you wish someone had told you about freshman year?
Nothing, before I came, the students who were attending the school told me all the struggles and things I needed to know before entering the school.
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What do you consider the worst thing about your school? Why?
There really isn't much of a worst thing about my school. I guess that fact that it is so far from the clubbing distrcits. If yu want to party you should have a car to go to LA.. other than that.. I mean, there are some clubs nearby.. Well, in reality that was the point when SUA was built. If they wanted distractions it would have been put in downtown LA, but they wanted us to focus.. so I guess it's ok.
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Describe a typical weekend.
Waking up around 12:20 to get brunch before the cafeteria closes (12:30, nobody cares if you're wearing pajamas). Checking email, doing trivial stuff like laundry, cleaning. Finishing minor homework. Playing games with roommate and friends. Dinner. Watching a movie on Netflix. Some readings. Games again. In-n-Out late at night with friends. And sleep.
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What's the Greek scene like?
Non-existing.
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What's unique about your campus?
The passion students and professors have, not only in class but, in every area they thing they are committed to. Together, we strive for an education that is focued on learning for the sake of learning what one loves, not learning for the sake of a diploma. This allows us to follow our passions in every opportunity the university offers.
Also, the university is small enough to have a very personalized education which allows us to get the most out of every moment.
In Soka, we Seize the Day!
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When you step off campus what do you see?
Front Gate: The suburb, rich people running, jogging, and cycling. Any other place: Trees and trees, wild animals, hills, valleys, the beach, rich people running, jogging, and cycling from a distance.
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Where is the best place to get work done on campus?
Depends on your situation and personal preference. If your roommate is loud, drunk, screaming while playing online games, then go to the 24 room (24 because it opens 24/7). Generally a quite place, but a bit smelly during finals since everyone will go there. Then there's the Lion's Den/Gameroom, relaxing atmosphere and coffee bar next door but can be noisy because well, "Game"room. There are also chairs and tables all around campus but not wifi or internet. Your room is actually not a bad place to study, wifi, spacious, bed right there for power nap. In the end, your choice.
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What is the stereotype of students at your school? Is this stereotype accurate?
Cult school, Buddhist school, Japanese school, hippies.
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What do you brag about most when you tell your friends about your school?
haha, EVERYTHING.. the study abroad program, the free laptop w/ tuition, the amazing residence halls, huge library, beautiful campus, niiice gym, delicious food, location close to the beach, super small class sizes, wonderful and caring professors... aaah soo much!
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