For families abroad
Japanese returnee admissions or a US college:
what to build while you're abroad.
What should a student at a local school abroad be putting together?
GPA, the SAT, AP, the TOEFL® test and essays: what each one is for, and how the two routes use them.
Information as of September 2026. Requirements change, so always check each university's current admissions pages before applying.
Two routes
There are two main routes.
Returnee admissions (kikokushijo nyushi) at a Japanese university, or applying to universities in the US. Most of what they look at overlaps.
Japanese returnee admissions
Your school grades and, at some universities, results such as the SAT or TOEFL, then written documents, an essay exam and an interview. What counts varies by university and faculty. What you did abroad, which you couldn't have done in Japan, is also material for the documents and interview.
- School grades
- SAT, TOEFL and others
- Documents, essay exam, interview
US universities
Grades (the GPA, and which courses you chose), the SAT, activities, recommendations and essays. No single number decides it; the whole file is read.
- GPA and course rigor
- SAT
- Essays and activities
I spent 18 years in California, went to local public schools there, prepared to apply to US universities, and in the end entered the University of Tsukuba School of Medicine through returnee admissions. This page draws on that, and on the universities' and test owners' own published information.
Read the instructor's full profileGPA
GPA: your school grades
A GPA turns each course grade into a number and averages them. There are two ways to calculate it.
- Unweighted
- Grades only, whatever the course. On the common 4.0 scale, A = 4.0, B = 3.0, C = 2.0, D = 1.0 and F = 0.
- Weighted
- Harder courses such as AP and Honors earn extra points. The maximum depends on the school.
Colleges don't necessarily use the GPA your school reports. To compare students from different schools, they may recalculate it from core subjects only and strip out the extra weighting. What matters is less the number than your grades in core subjects and the courses you chose.
SAT
The SAT
The SAT is run by the College Board, a not-for-profit organization. It has two sections, Reading and Writing and Math. Each is scored 200-800, for a total of 400-1600.
It is taken on a computer, in an app. Testing time is 2 hours 14 minutes, and how you do in the first half of each section decides how hard the second half is.
It is not a one-shot exam. There are eight test dates a year (August to June), the same in the US and abroad. You can take it as many times as you like, and the College Board suggests at least twice: spring of junior year and fall of senior year.
"You don't need the SAT" is out of date
A few years ago, many colleges made the SAT optional. Since then, a number of highly selective universities have made it required again. Here is what each university's own page says as of September 2026. Where a test is required, either the SAT or the ACT is accepted.
- Required now (fall 2027 entry)
- Harvard, Yale, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, UT Austin
- Optional for fall 2027, required from fall 2028
- Princeton, Columbia
- Other
- At Carnegie Mellon it depends on the college; Purdue requires scores as a rule
Some schools make exceptions for students who couldn't test, or who attend high school outside the US. The details differ by school and by year, so check every school on your list.
For reference: commonly cited SAT targets
These are rough targets families often ask about, given as a reference. They are not cutoffs: most US universities, and most Japanese universities that take the SAT, set no minimum score.
- 1500 and up
- The usual target for the Ivy League, MIT, Stanford and similar schools. The middle 50% these schools publish for admitted or enrolled students runs from about 1470 to 1580.
- Around 1350-1400
- The middle of the admitted range at popular state universities such as Ohio State, Purdue and Indiana.
- Around 1300
- Within the admitted range at many state universities.
- Japan: Waseda, Keio and others (routes that take the SAT)
- 1400-1450 and up is the commonly cited range. Waseda publishes average SAT scores for admitted students in its English-taught degree programs: about 1415 to 1500 depending on the school (2026). Keio says it sets no reference score.
- Japan: medical schools (returnee routes)
- Only a few accept the SAT (Keio, Science Tokyo and Juntendo among them), and none publishes a target score. Admission rests mainly on written math and science exams, AP or other science results, and interviews. For reference, Juntendo exempts applicants with an SAT of 1450 or higher and high AP science scores from its second-stage exam.
A score is one part of the file. Universities read grades, course choices, essays, activities and interviews together, so no score guarantees an offer and none rules one out. Figures are based on what each university published as of September 2026. Rules change every year, so check that year's official application guide.
AP
AP: college-level classes in high school
AP lets high-school students take introductory college-level courses and then take an exam in them. Colleges see two separate things.
- Your grade in the AP class
- Your grade for the class at school. It goes into your GPA.
- Your AP exam score
- A standard exam each May, about two to three hours depending on the subject, scored 1-5. Many colleges give credit for a 3 or higher (each sets its own rule). It is a measure from outside your school, so it doesn't depend on how strictly your teachers grade.
Colleges look at whether you took on the hardest courses your school offers. That is the real reason to take APs.
What APs increasingly can't do is replace the SAT. From the 2026-27 cycle, only the SAT or ACT meets Yale's testing requirement. AP scores can still be sent, but only as an extra.
Don't take too many
A common mistake is piling on APs until the grades slip and the GPA drops. Take only as many as you can handle while keeping your grades up.
No AP classes at your school?
You can take an AP exam without taking the course. You do have to find a school that will test you, and schools place exam orders by mid-November (some earlier). Japan has no authorized AP test center, so students there need a school that accepts outside test-takers. Talk to us early.
How we support AP self-studyTOEFL
The TOEFL® test
The TOEFL iBT® test measures whether a non-native speaker can keep up with university classes in English. Since January 21, 2026, scores are reported on a 1-6 scale in half-point steps. Until January 2028, reports also show a comparable score on the old 0-120 scale.
- In returnee admissions
- Some universities and faculties use an English test score in the application or in selection. It varies, so check each university's application guide.
- At US universities
- Not required everywhere. Harvard and Stanford don't require it, and Yale requires it only from non-native speakers who haven't spent two or more years at an English-medium school. At a local high school you often won't need it, though being able to study in English is still expected.
For reference: commonly cited TOEFL targets
Rough targets on the old 0-120 scale, given as a reference for families. They are not published minimums, although a few universities, such as Sophia, do publish a minimum score for applying. The US figures apply only where a school asks for an English test score.
- Returnee admissions: Waseda, Keio
- Around 100 and up is the usual target. Neither publishes a cutoff score (Keio says plainly that it has none). Surveys by returnee-prep schools report admitted students averaging around 95-105.
- Returnee admissions: Sophia, MARCH
- 85-95 and up is common among admitted students. Sophia publishes a minimum for applying: 72 in most departments, varying by department.
- US: Ivy League and similar
- 100 and up. Columbia asks for 105. As noted above, some, such as Harvard, don't require an English test at all.
- US: typical four-year universities
- Around 80.
- US: community colleges
- Many accept scores under 60, some as low as 45.
On the new 1-6 scale, ETS's own comparison table puts these at roughly 80 = 4.0, 90 = 4.5, 100 = 5.0, 110 = 5.5 and 120 = 6.0. Some universities set their new-scale requirement higher than the table (the University of California asks for 4.5 where it used to ask for 80; Columbia asks for 5.5 where it used to ask for 105). Always check each school's own requirements.
Essays
Essays: what scores can't show
Grades and scores show whether you meet the bar. The essay shows the person behind them, and at US universities that is where applications start to differ.
The Common App has a personal essay (250-650 words, on one of seven prompts), plus supplemental essays at many colleges, which each college sets for itself.
It has to be written in English, in the student's own voice, which is a high bar for a student who grew up speaking Japanese. Returnee admissions test writing too, in statements of purpose and essay exams.
How hydeSolution helps
I prepared for both routes myself.
A plan that keeps both routes open
Preparation in an order that works for either route, counted back from the deadlines.
Course choices and GPA
Which APs, when, and how many, decided together from your school's curriculum.
SAT, TOEFL and AP
Taught as rules and procedures. AP self-study supported too.
Essays
From brainstorming a topic through structure and revision. The student writes it. We never write it for them.
Start by telling us where things stand.
A free consultation by email or Google Meet. We'll sort out what to start with.
Book a free consultation