ACE Program | APU Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

2022 Online ACE Program

2022 Online Academic and Cultural Experience (ACE) Program

Applications are CLOSED.
The application period for the 2022 Online ACE Program is now closed. Thank you to all students who applied.

Are you looking for an exciting and unique study abroad experience in Japan? Join us for the APU Academic and Cultural Experience (ACE) Program this summer! The event will be held online this year, allowing you to discover Japan and connect with students around the globe from the comfort of your own home! What's more, it’s free to attend and, we have increased the number of participants allowed for this year, which means you will be able to make even more friends from even more diverse backgrounds!

The ACE Program is designed and hosted by Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU). Participation is open to high school students in grade 10 and above at the time of the program. This year the theme of the program is “Developing Cultural Intelligence (CQ)”. You will be able to learn about cultural intelligence while having fun with new friends.

You can look forward to:

Making new friends from all over the world (students from over 30 countries have participated in previous ACE programs).
Improving your intercultural communication skills.
Discovering Japanese language and culture.
Taking part in university-level workshops and group work.
Receiving a certificate for attending APU's most popular pre-enrollment camp!

Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

ACE Program 2022 Poster

PROGRAM DETAILS

DATES AND TIME:

Dates:	July 30 (Sat) - July 31 (Sun) August 6 (Sat) - August 7 (Sun)
Time:	18:00 – 21:30 Japan Standard Time

CAPACITY:

200 students from around the world

LOCATION:

Zoom (further details will be sent to successful applicants)

PROGRAM FEE:

Free of charge

SCHEDULE:

DAY 01: Saturday, July 30

18:00 - 19:30	Welcome Session
20:00 - 21:30	Discover APU (Get to know about the university, student life, Beppu city, and more!)

DAY 02: Sunday, July 31

18:00 - 19:30	Develop your Cultural Intelligence (CQ) Workshop 1 Theme: Self-awareness & how culture influences being with others
20:00 - 21:30	Beginner Level Japanese

DAY 03: Saturday, August 6

18:00 - 19:30	Japanese Culture Workshop
20:00 - 21:30	Mix and Mingle (Let's get to know each other more!)

DAY 04: Sunday, August 7

18:00 - 19:30	Develop your Cultural Intelligence (CQ) Workshop 2 Theme: Understanding how to develop cultural intelligence (CQ) & co-existing in a diverse global community
20:00 - 21:30	Farewell Session

NOTE:

Please be sure to use a computer to join the program as the above sessions are not suited for phones or tablets.
Participants are required to keep their camera on throughout the sessions.
The above schedule is subject to change. Accepted participants will be notified of any changes via email.

CERTIFICATION

Participants in this event can receive a certificate which they can use to supplement their extracurricular activities when applying to APU. You can get one too! In order to receive the Certificate of Completion, you must attend the welcome session, the farewell session, and both CQ workshops. Your participation for a session will only be valid if you attend it for the full 90 minutes.

NOTE:

The Certificate of Completion will ONLY be given to participants who have at the very least attended all four of the aforementioned sessions for the full 90 minutes. Exemptions will not be made for participants who need to attend to urgent issues on the day of, experienced technical issues such as internet connectivity, etc.

HOW TO APPLY

APPLICATION LINK:	*APPLY HERE!* Before you start your application, please make sure to read through the instructions below.
APPLICATION DEADLINE:	*May 31, 2022 (23:59 Japan Standard Time)*
RESULT ANNOUNCEMENT:	June 30, 2022 via email We will let you know if you have been accepted into the program, and if so, which sessions you have been approved to attend.
ELIGIBILITY:	In order to apply for this program, you must be a high school student in grade 10 or above at the time of the program. You may also apply if you recently graduated from high school (within the past 3 years) and are NOT currently enrolled at a university. Prospective transfer students are not eligible to apply. The program is conducted entirely in English therefore it is recommended that applicants who are non-native English speakers have a level of English proficiency equivalent to one of the following: IELTS: 6.0 TOEFL iBT: 75 TOEIC L&R: 750 EIKEN: Grade Pre-1 Cambridge English Language Assessment: 169 PTE Academic: 50 You do not need to submit the above English tests scores to apply. These numbers are only for your reference.
APPLICATION PROCESS:	Before starting your ACE application: Take the 50-minute EF SET test Click here to take the test All applicants including native English speakers are required to take this free online test and submit a test score. Exam duration is 50 minutes: Reading (25 mins) and Listening (25 mins) There is no minimum score required to apply for the program. After completing the test, enter your test score (1-100) and certificate URL (efset.org/cert/XXXXXX) in the online application form. Please make sure to double check if your URL is valid. Please be sure that you use the same name for your EF SET test and your ACE application so that we can verify your score. Native English speakers and non-native speakers will be evaluated separately. Slots will be allocated based on the number of applications per category. Start your ACE application: Step 1: Enter your application information Use the application link above. 2022 APU ACE Terms and Conditions Please read the above document and if you agree, indicate in the online application form. Step 2: Self-introduction recording and Step 3: Critical thinking test After completing step 1, a confirmation page automatically appears. To start steps 2 and 3, please click the link on the page. Or you can use the link in the confirmation email you will receive after completing step 1. When you click on the link for steps 2 and 3, a camera access notification will appear, make sure to click "Allow" in order to complete your recording. This recording must be completed on a desktop or laptop computer. The critical thinking test has 7 questions and takes approximately 15 minutes.