Monbukagakusho Scholarship for Postgraduate!!

[gakudan]

menrui:
oh i see.... nah i'm a community college student. i need to read the research student guidelines over and over again until i fully understand what's required. here's details about my college career:
-in the summer i'll be able to graduate with a general AA degree.
-during the fall i'll be going to a university.
-currently i'm in my third year of school (so i'll have a total of 15 years of school by the end of spring 2009).
i noticed another criteria in the "qualifications" section of the research students guidelines (i still can't post links due to my low post count, sorry)

(3) Academic Background: Applicant must be a graduate from a Japanese university or have academic ability equal or superior to that of a Japanese university graduate. A person will be deemed to have academic ability equal or superior to that of a university graduate, if he/she
① has completed or will complete a 16-year school curriculum in a foreign country (or an 18-year school curriculum if he/she desires to enroll in a doctoral course in the field of medicine, dentistry or veterinary science, or pharmacy which is founded on a 6-year department or faculty)

maybe in 2010 if i stick to going to a university for a year, i can qualify for this research program. i'm trying to draw out what paths i can take, and what qualifications/requirements i need for each one. if i can't follow through with the research program, i'll probably just get a B.A. in english as a second language then get a teaching job in japan. that's another path.

btw, this must mean that everyone applying for the research program got their B.A. degrees all ready?

 

[menrui]

I myself have a BS degree. btw, when you said that joke about being old at 22, it was a bad joke, because theres a good chance we're all 22 or older here .

moving on, you should definitely check with your consulate about those academic qualifications. like, find out what exactly do they mean by "16 years of school curriculum". then, whether or not it is required to have a bachelors degree, or if they prefer it.

 

[jim84]

> menrui, gakudan
I think what they're looking for is a Bachelor's Degree. As the "research student" category is actually leading to a postgraduate (master's or PhD). The entrance exam, in most cases/universities, is a formality, because we come from different countries with diff education backgrounds, some of us (including me) don't even have japanese language proficiency at the point of being granted the scholarship, hence we need to pass the entrance exam to prove that we qualify to enter their grad school.
>Abeeyo
please follow menrui's link to read about the difference between research student and special training. We try to minimize repetition of questions here.

 

[kouki]

>gakudan

Not everyone here got their BA or BSc here. Some of us here are still on the way to get our bachelor degree.

My suggestion: try the October intake, since you will be graduating in fall 2010. I was wondering will you make it on time? (Since I am not sure the exact month you are graduating)

 

[jim84]

>Gakudan
bottomline, you have to complete your Bachelor's Degree before you leave for Japan.
Some finish their degree in Fall so they join the october intake, so you have to adjust your timing well. If you're going for the April 2011 intake, don't apply too early as they are not able to defer your scholarship for 1 year. The application this March is for 2010.

 

[Charles Barkley]

its might be less competitve... but keep in mind, its still no walk in the park. i think 2 are selected from each consulate and there are 20 or more applicants(depends on your location, hawaii would seem like a hotspot). you should definitely still give it a go.

The realization that you are probably right about this makes me realize how "right place, right time," my application under the special one time only JET scholarship period was. Phew.

 

[Charles Barkley]

Good advice. Believe me, I preach this gospel. I have had nothing but terrible luck with this sort of thing dating far back (this scholarship is only a small part).
My anger/depression is more or less because I feel like a bit of a fool for spending two years waiting on this, when I could have made alternate arrangements. Two years in which I didn't put down roots because of my plans to leave. Two years doing stuff I didn't enjoy when I had the option to go. Though my two years in wait haven't been horrible, and had good things come of them, they are two years where I suppressed what I wanted, for no reward at the end.

Although the circumstances under which I "wasted time" are quite different, I understand the sentiment. I will add that good can come from such an experience as the resolve thereafter to 窶佚･ﾅｽ窶凪?堙俄?堋ｷ窶堙ｩ your ﾅｽﾅｾﾅ?ﾃ over other factors. Where I am now is in the upswing (3.5 years in) after a time wasting aftermath, and, in my experience at least, it is easy to maintain a certain momentum when one can favorably compare one's present to one's past trends.

Anyway, good luck.

 

[kshoo]

Hi guys, me again. Just to give a quick update, I recently spoke to the admissions officer at the university i've applied to, they said that MEXT has recently been in contact with them. However the feedback is they are still finalizing the list, and most probably will only provide the official announcement around Feb '09.

Anyone else has any new developments from your side?

 

[kouki]

>kshoo
I have contacted the secretary of my professor. No replies yet, it seems that they might be on their winter holiday, or just got back from their winter holidays and there are loads of things awaiting them. So I guess no reply is getting here soon.
So our first week went without any replies from our universities or embassy. I am getting harder to fall asleep at night now.
By the way, did you state that you are the MEXT scholarship applicant? Because February sounds like the release of the results of the students going into the university's new academic session.

 

[c0ok1e]

Im actually hoping the results will come before february after chinese new year because i need to finish up my work before resigning... im doing research hence do not 1 2 b irresponsible leaving it halfway and run away.. also i need to clarify with my supervisor whether i will be going for the 6 months labguage course which im really hoping to go.. but i have a feeling my supervisor wants me to go there as soon as possible and be a research student before joining his lab... he actually told me what he planned for me while obtaining the letter of acceptance... hope can negotiate with him..hehe

 

[menrui]

nothing officially new for me either. i havent even received a tentative letter . but wow, february is only a month away. it feels like i've been waiting forever.

cookie,
yeah my professor gave me a feeling that he wants me to skip the language courses too. he said something like, 'you dont need japanese to do research. when i was doing research in germany, i didnt learn any german and i did fine.'

 

[jim84]

hmm....but germany is in europe. You can survive with english.
Japan....it's a homogenous society. The language is crucial for survival.

Anyway, february is really late....i may not be able to resign and handover in time. Damn.

 

[kouki]

>ooilingfan

Let's hope for the best. There are still 2 weeks before Chinese New Year.

By the way, my professor insisted me to go for the Japanese Language Training.

 

[kimberleylhj]

my professor insisted on japanese language training. in fact, he wrote in the admission letter itself that in order to do the research, i must be well verse in japanese. and that really makes me scared! haha.. coz what if i can't catch up with the language and not the research.

 

[kouki]

>kimberleylhj
That means that we are on the same boat. But according to a site, students can pick up the Japanese language in 6 months, in a completely native Japanese environment. So I think you should not be too worried about that.

 

[gakudan]

>kimberleylhj
That means that we are on the same boat. But according to a site, students can pick up the Japanese language in 6 months, in a completely native Japanese environment. So I think you should not be too worried about that.

i wouldn't doubt that is true, for reading kanji at least. it really depends on how determined you are to study japanese though. like always apply in conversations what you learned from studies, rather than only sticking to what you all ready know and are familiar with. talking to japanese people also helps a lot with accuracy and speed since you can see in the people's faces if they understand what you say or not.

nobody else got notifications? is everyone in here doing the research program? good luck

 

[kimberleylhj]

yeah, the biggest challenge for me will certainly me kanji. and i totally agree that i have to apply what i learn rather than sticking to what i already know coz that's exactly what's happening to me now. but well, i would say i'm pretty determine to learn. so, i hope i'll do fine.

i got a feeling notification will only be out in feb, i have no idea why. =(

 

[jim84]

doesn't matter when it comes, as long as it comes with GOOD news. =p

 

[menrui]

"picking up" the japanese is 6 months? sounds really tough. i wonder how "intense" the 6month course is... lately i've been getting really overwhelmed with kanji. its like, pouring water into a cup and causing it to overflow .

im going to give my consulate another call tomorrow. hopefully my MEXT coordinator will be there and maybe he can give me some news.

 

[jim84]

It's gonna be very very intense.
Suppose after the course we're expected to be equivalent to JLPT 2.
I think we'll be in the course for 1 year (according to what my supervisor told me). For month 7th-12th, no. of hours for japanese language will reduce while research in the lab starts.

 

[kouki]

Don't worry too much about kanji. You have the electronic dictionary. It is impossible for us, even for Chinese, to know all kanji. So when we come across those word, that's when the electronic dictionary comes in handy.

In my opinion, quite a number of those words in JLPT 1 would not be used in our daily life. At least, when I am trying to watch Japanese dramas and magazine, most of the words have been covered in JLPT 2 or 3.

>ooilingfan

I thought the Japanese Language course would only last 6 months? I remember reading it somewhere in a few universities' FAQ for Monbukagakusho Scholars.

 

[luckyme]

Hi guys,
I think some universities provide program in English, especially engineering or IT related programs normally conducted in English so don't worry about it. Even economics, some universities offer program in English (like MBA). I don't know how MEXT define us to learn in English or Japanese and can we change the option after coming to Japan?
To be honest, I think that 6 months is a short-time and it's very difficult to master Japanese. However, with your hard-work, you can manage to reach 2 kyuu level but the important is how well you are cause the people with 340 is very different with the one with 240, which is enough is pass.
I guess many people here study natural sience, so I think you guys don't have to worry since I think you will work in the lab most of the time and don't have to write reports as much as people learning social sience.
I think we shouldn't worry about the language right now since the result is not official yet and we not secure whether we will receive a scholarship. I know that everything is not defined yet but somehow I can't control my feeling, I keep thinking about going to Japan all the time and can't concentrate in working, learning. I'm really bad.

 

[Nall-ohki]

"picking up" the japanese is 6 months?

I don't know - I think I learned 85-90% of my Japanese in the first 6 months I lived there and did nothing but speak Japanese (having one year studying at school previous to it). I was able to pass JLPT 2-kyuu about a year later without major study.

I think 6 months is enough to make you competent and with the tools to learn anything you need to deal with whatever challenges they give you if you work hard at it.

 

[kshoo]

Hi Kouki,

Yes, i did confirm with them that I am a "tentatively selected" MEXT scholar. I think what MEXT Tokyo plans to do is to coincide the release of their list with the university's official announcement. I understand that most of the unis i applied to confirms incoming students in February, and I wouldn't be surprised both will come out back to back, in Feb '09.

So now, it's back to waiting...

 

[menrui]

jlpt2kyuu in 6 month(or more)!? i've been taking jpn class at my university for 3 years, and i think im around jlpt2.7... im so ashamed.