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What are my chances to get accepted into either Waseda or Keio?
i think you're overthinking the sat thing a bit. 1200 is low for pearl sure, but spse is genuinely more holistic and your gpa is perfect plus the ielts is strong. the real difference between these two programs is that pearl is basically all in english with a business focus, while spse has more japanese language requirement built in over the years. if your japanese isnt great yet, spse might actually be a better fit long term anyway, theres a whole year of intensive japanese before the real courses start near takadanobaba. also worth noting that waseda's application fee is cheaper and the whole process feels less corporate than keio's, at least from what i've seen from friends who did both
your 4.0 gpa is your strongest asset here, especially for spse where they weight academic consistency pretty heavily. waseda's admissions office in takadanobaba actually told me they look at gpa trends more than absolute sat numbers, so a flat 4.0 over all four years stands out more than someone who dropped from a 4.0 to a 3.5 junior year
for pearl at keio, the 1200 is going to be a hurdle in the initial screening since they use sat as a filter before even reading your essays. ive heard from current pearl students that the cohort this year had a median around 1350, so you'd need genuinely standout ecs like national level competitions or published research to get past that first cut. the ielts 7.5 is fine for both, keio actually prefers that over toefl for pearl
one practical thing - both schools release historical acceptance data by sat range in their annual reports, you can find them on their english admission pages. waseda spse's 2023 report showed about 30% of admitted students had sats between 1200-1300, which is not bad. keio pearl doesn't publish that breakdown but their general admission stats suggest it's more competitive
Your GPA and IELTS are solid, and a 4.0 with strong extracurriculars will definitely help your case. The SAT is the main hurdle, but 1200 isn't a total dealbreaker for SPSE or PEARL, especially since both programs look at the whole application. For Keio PEARL, they're known to weigh essays and interviews heavily, so if you can write a compelling story about why you want to study political science in English in Tokyo, that could offset the score. Waseda SPSE is a bit more competitive on the SAT side from what I've seen, but they also value consistency in your grades and language ability. If you're set on December, focus on polishing your application materials rather than stressing over the test.
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Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.