Monbukagakusho Scholarship for Postgraduate!!

[jim84]

Hi all,
just a bit of clarification for my previous posts on the TOEFL issue.
As japanese language training is part of our program, our research student/grad student course will be conducted fully in Japanese. Hence we do not need TOEFL.
The official 1st semester of japanese university is in Spring, April 2009, where they might take in students for english based programs.
But ours are generally in Japanese.

 

[kshoo]

I think this will really depend on the courses undertaken. For my universities they need proof of English (either TOEFL/IELTS), or that i have done my undergraduate in English. So it really depends again...

 

[kimberleylhj]

Yeah, it depends on the university and course that you are planning to attend.

 

[jim84]

Yeah, it depends on the university and course that you are planning to attend.

but we're not pressed to submit the results now right?

 

[Vyen]

I think toefl test can take later since we are applying as research student.
anyone got any luck for letter of acceptance? my result is 1 rejected and 5 no reply.

panic and frustrated...

 

[menrui]

^keep trying vyen! im sure this is a very common problem. my first 5 emails never recieved replies. as of now, i have 2 yes(i think... it seems that way haha) and 8 no replies.

also, if you can, try to contact the international office of your school/departmen, if they have one. maybe they will help you.

 

[kshoo]

So fast they gave replies already? Was it done verbally/via email/ official rejection letter :O
I just sent my documents, and universities have informed me it will take 2-3 weeks before they can give me an indication....

 

[menrui]

oh crap, you know what, i thought he was talking about finding a supervisor...

I just noticed some thing... if the prof says yes, this doesnt mean the univ will say yes too... this kind of worries me.

 

[kimberleylhj]

but we're not pressed to submit the results now right?

Yeap, not in a hurry. For now to get the LOA, mostly they will want to have a look at the documents submitted to the embassy, the passing certificate of the first screening and research proposal.

One of the university that I've contacted said that it's impossible for me to get a LOA by 22nd August because of the BON holidays and asked me to ask the embassy for an extended due date. That also, no promises I will actually get a LOA from them.

What a risk..

 

[jim84]

I think toefl test can take later since we are applying as research student.
anyone got any luck for letter of acceptance? my result is 1 rejected and 5 no reply.
panic and frustrated...

they rejected you so fast?
how did they reject you?
you sent in your documents to them for review already?

 

[c0ok1e]

I approach 3 universities and 3 of also asked me to send the documents and everything over to them by mail. I have sent all over to them and now i dont have anymore letter of acceptance to send. WHat if all reject my applications then im doom..

 

[kimberleylhj]

Too much uncertainties...

 

[Vyen]

they rejected you so fast?
how did they reject you?
you sent in your documents to them for review already?

oh, the professor just replied through email and said that he already got enough research student.
now i need to send to more professor within this week. hopefully got one professor who is kind enough to supervise me..

 

[jim84]

oh, the professor just replied through email and said that he already got enough research student.
now i need to send to more professor within this week. hopefully got one professor who is kind enough to supervise me..

So profs from other universities have no issue that your proposal is too specific (for the first supervisor that you approached) and that what they do is not relevant to it?

 

[Vyen]

I think they are enjoying their holiday now..
now I don't put much hope in getting the letter before 22nd.I only can find some professor from the database and most of them is not directly related to my research field..haiz...
for kobe, iuj, Hitotsubashi, and Nagoya, they wan the documents to be sent by post and only notify the result in september or october...

 

[menrui]

OMG guys! I just came back from my interview. I really think I nailed it! They were sooo nice to me. I'm going to write about my experience now.

The test were fine. the jpn test was only 1 part that lasted 1 hour, it got progressively harder. The eng is just like the sample test.

My interview~~ My panel consisted of a technology professor from univ, a japanese guy(i dont know what he does...), and our embassys MEXT cordinator. First they asked me some questions from my application, about my japanese studies, my short trip to japan, etc. simple. Then, the very knowledgable professor asked my some basic questions about my research, what is it about etc. typical at first. Then she started asking me more detailed question. I knew my research very well, so i was able to answer easily. She seemed very interested(eyes wide and nodding) with every answer i gave. then i think she tried to "me off balance." questions like, why is it important, why japan, how will people benifit from this, can you insure that other will reference your research in the future. Already knew the answers to these so i didnt hesitate to answer.

Afterwards, the interview got alot more casual. i was very relax. they asked some question about japan, some in japanese. I actually told them a story(in jpn) about how my friends and I went to a hanabi, and we got lonely, so we tried to flirt with some girls, and they all said no. The panel was laughing really hard. I even told them i liked anime! and they asked me what kind of anime do i watch. I wasnt able to answer all the japanese questions... there was one that i couldnt answer so i paused for a really long time, then the prof told me to say it in english haha.

they were sooo nice to me. especially the professor. most of the interview came from her, she even gave me some advice. i was very attracted to her b/c of her kindness even though shes like 10-15 years older than me haha(eww right?). i've been to plenty of interview and this one is my best performance BY FAR. even if i dont get the scholarship, this was such a great experience for me.

From my experience, here are my tips to anyone else who is still waiting for an interview: why japan?; KNOW your research; above all, be passionate!

 

[kimberleylhj]

Great job menrui!! Am glad you feel good after your interview.

 

[menrui]

Oh i forget,

I just wanted to thank everyone on the message board for their advise and sharing their experiences. Without you guys, I sure I wouldn't have done as well as I did.

 

[clockworkorange]

menrui, u sound like u had a really good time!!!!!!

I really hope u get it (i think u will though....from what u described, it seems to me like a sure thing). grin.

And frankly i dun think being attracted to the professor is eww at all. ....I've gotten attracted to older men a few times. I mean they really listen to what u have to say.......

neway, attractions aside.....i got a reply from the Tokyo university professor!!!!!!! I'm really really happy...

His words:

"I would like to accept being your supervisor."

I'm smiling like an idiot in the office.

I only applied to 2 universities so far. i was planning to apply to more this weekend since I know its really hard to get a professor. So I know this is something to be extremely thankful about. Thanks guys for all ur help in everything!! I hope u guys get replies soon too. Then at least we all could celebrate or something together.

 

[jim84]

neway, attractions aside.....i got a reply from the Tokyo university professor!!!!!!! I'm really really happy...
His words:
"I would like to accept being your supervisor."
I'm smiling like an idiot in the office.
I only applied to 2 universities so far. i was planning to apply to more this weekend since I know its really hard to get a professor. So I know this is something to be extremely thankful about. Thanks guys for all ur help in everything!! I hope u guys get replies soon too. Then at least we all could celebrate or something together.

Congrats clockworkorange.
We can celebrate after we submitted everything or when we got our replies in Feb =) hopefully all of us got it
the we'll join menrui in japan

i'm still waiting for my one and only prof to reply..... no news since i sent him the documents

 

[MatsuyamaHime]

Nicely done. I wish my panel asked more questions specifically about my research. The oddest one was

MEXT coordinator: "What do you think about kogals?"
Me: "That's so 1992!"

 

[menrui]

clockwork,
wow, tokyo U! good job!

oiling,
teah its definitely fustrating. maybe he/she is on bon vacation? anycase, keep trying and dont give up. you've already come this far.

I didn't have any really weird question. but, the most interesting that happened was, when i was leaving the room, the female professor said, "bai bai~". hehe i thought it was really cute.

 

[clockworkorange]

Hi guys,

Thanks ooilingfan and menrui for the congratulations. i shud remember it doesn;t mean i get the scholarship though.

I actually would like to ask a question. I know the Malaysian candidates for the scholarship got a package from the embassy. The package contained pur certificate saying we passed the 1st round and a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) form that had to be completed by the university. My question is where do u guys send this LoA form to? I know its mentioned in the form that u send it to the admissions office but some universities have different offices based on the graduate school and some have offices specially dealing with international students. at least thats the case with the University of Tokyo. I have emailed the admissions office, the international office and the professor. but none have replied except the international office. the international office said that the professor has accepted me and they will send me a letter of acceptance but didn't mention anything regarding the form that the embassy has sent us.

Does anybody know anything about this? If u have any experience, especially those in Tokyo uni, i would appreciate the help. Thanks.

 

[kshoo]

Re: Clockworkorange - again, it depends on universities.
My universities specify exactly where to forward my documents to - normallly a specific department which handles all MEXT applicants (e.g. Waseda) or specific graduate schools (e.g. Hitotsubashi). My thought is universities nowadays would have posted up a link to all MEXT scholars on their websites where to send all the documents, since they do know we are all working on a tight schedule. The ones that i have sent to will liaise with the professors on my behalf, and they have all committed to get back to me within the next 2-3 weeks.

 

[jim84]

Hi guys,
I actually would like to ask a question. I know the Malaysian candidates for the scholarship got a package from the embassy. The package contained pur certificate saying we passed the 1st round and a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) form that had to be completed by the university. My question is where do u guys send this LoA form to? I know its mentioned in the form that u send it to the admissions office but some universities have different offices based on the graduate school and some have offices specially dealing with international students. at least thats the case with the University of Tokyo. I have emailed the admissions office, the international office and the professor. but none have replied except the international office. the international office said that the professor has accepted me and they will send me a letter of acceptance but didn't mention anything regarding the form that the embassy has sent us.
Does anybody know anything about this? If u have any experience, especially those in Tokyo uni, i would appreciate the help. Thanks.

Hi,
I have been notified by my supervisor that the Dean has issued the LoA for me!! yay! hope i'll receive it this week.....

Ok, i'm not sure about Tokyo Uni, but for your reference. I did the below for Osaka Uni:
1. I get 'verbal' confirmation (by email) from my supervisor that they are working on the LoA.
2. I send in a copy of the application documents + passing cert + form for LoA by international mail to my supervisor
3. I scan in the exact same sets of documents in PDF file and email it to my supervisor.

the form for LoA will be attached together with the LoA issued by the Dean/Admission office. So you'll need to send them, softcopy or hardcopy.
I actually sent the original certified copy of documents to my supervisor but he say he already made a copy and will send it back to me just in case i need it. So i suppose they only need it as a reference.

Hope it helps. Btw, have you contacted your potential supervisor in person yet? I think you need to deal directly with him/her. It's faster and safer than just going through the admission office as all the decisions need direct advise from the Dean/supervisor.