NIC is introducing its Top School Placement Program to help students target prestigious schools in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. With applicants already entering such esteemed west coast schools in the United States, such as UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC, UC Davis, and UC Santa Barbara, NIC is expanding its program to prepare students for prestigious schools on the east coast of the U.S. and England, as well. Among the many U.S. schools where students in this program can attend are Columbia University, M.I.T., Cornell University, Boston University, the University of Pennsylvania and other top schools on the east coast. In addition to such opportunities in the U.S., applicants opting to pursue degrees in England will have prominent schools such as Oxford University, Cambridge University, London University and others to choose from. Students in this program also prepare to gain entry into top-level schools through additional courses in IELTS or TOEFL depending on their destination. Preparatory courses for SAT also help students to meet the requirements beyond those concerning the classroom. The foundation of the preparation, however, lies in our intensive EAP courses, which will help strengthen the individual’s academic ability and ensure a successful transition to university coursework abroad. In our program, students enhance essay and research writing, fine-tune note-taking skills, and develop reading comprehension to become competitive in all areas which are demanded on students at top-level universities. As a result, approximately 40% of Japanese students at UCLA are known to be NIC students (according to the UCLA Japanese student association list).