MEXT Scholarship (Graduate Students) 2017

[zobel]

Congratz Every one
happy to see people passed the interview
mine will be the day after tomorrow, wish me all the best
will is be standing during the interview ? or they will bring me chair to sit ?

Hahaha.. Don't worry bro, you won't stand on your feet during the interview. Prepare your answers in English and in your native language, Just in case.

 

[Tagy]

Hahaha.. Don't worry bro, you won't stand on your feet during the interview. Prepare your answers in English and in your native language, Just in case.

hahahahahahahahaa
yeah some one told me that
one more thing, did you contact professor ? computer science professors aren't easy to contact

 

[kobayakawa]

Received my embassy recommendation today! Does anyone know of any example formats to email professors about your proposal (especially in Japanese; I'm a little worried about formality and introductions)?

Omedetou @hxcpanda!

Happy to hear the good news and good luck on your communicating with prospective professors.

I have a question. Did the embassy return to you a copy/copies of the documents you submitted to them for the document screening?

 

[kobayakawa]

Hello all
i had passed the exam and i am preparing for the interview after 5 days from now,
please comment if you can help with interview questions, specially the japanese part

one more thing, is there any studied computer science field or informatic ?

Hello Tagy! Congratulations! You did it! For the interview part: In my case, the panel of interviewers did not expect me to respond in Japanese so I answered in English.

For the possible questions, the questions about your research will be standard. So you must anticipate what questions they would probably ask about your research topic.

The other standard question is on how you expect to cope with studying in a foreign country and your plans after you get your degree.

Your answer should convey to the panel your willingness to explore/new things, culture, food, etc. Or, if you have been to Japan, let them know about it. That could in fact be your take off point to tell the panel why you decided to apply for a Japanese scholarship.

The Japanese government is not giving away scholarship for free and without expected returns. The panel will be interested in your plans after your degree. They will have preference of course to applicants who will be able to become "bridges" for understanding and cooperation between Japan and your country.

Good luck for tomorrow's interview!

 

[Tagy]

Hello Tagy! Congratulations! You did it! For the interview part: In my case, the panel of interviewers did not expect me to respond in Japanese so I answered in English.

For the possible questions, the questions about your research will be standard. So you must anticipate what questions they would probably ask about your research topic.

The other standard question is on how you expect to cope with studying in a foreign country and your plans after you get your degree.

Your answer should convey to the panel your willingness to explore/new things, culture, food, etc. Or, if you have been to Japan, let them know about it. That could in fact be your take off point to tell the panel why you decided to apply for a Japanese scholarship.

The Japanese government is not giving away scholarship for free and without expected returns. The panel will be interested in your plans after your degree. They will have preference of course to applicants who will be able to become "bridges" for understanding and cooperation between Japan and your country.

Good luck for tomorrow's interview!

Hello kobayakawa
Thank you very much for your support, yes i did it, wish me luck with my interview
i have already saved some answers to their questions, even save japanese statements.
since english is not my native language i will try my best to be fluent.
again Thank you very much for your support.

 

[Tagy]

one more thing
how many will be taken from your country ?

 

[kobayakawa]

one more thing
how many will be taken from your country ?

Hey Tagy,

Based from the 2012 - 2015 data, MEXT awards no less than 20 research scholarships every year for Filipinos (highest was 29, lowest was 22). Mostly are from the engineering and sciences; very few from the social sciences. Like last year, there were only 3 scholars in the social sciences track. I hope this year would still be the same. The Japan Embassy in Manila interviewed about 32 research scholarship applicants.

 

[Tagy]

Hey Tagy,

Based from the 2012 - 2015 data, MEXT awards no less than 20 research scholarships every year for Filipinos (highest was 29, lowest was 22). Mostly are from the engineering and sciences; very few from the social sciences. Like last year, there were only 3 scholars in the social sciences track. I hope this year would still be the same. The Japan Embassy in Manila interviewed about 32 research scholarship applicants.

Wooow, that's nice
in my country they take only 4 , no more
did they ask you what will you do if they won't select you for the scholarship ?

 

[hxcpanda]

Omedetou @hxcpanda!

Happy to hear the good news and good luck on your communicating with prospective professors.

I have a question. Did the embassy return to you a copy/copies of the documents you submitted to them for the document screening?

Thanks! The embassy is sending me my entire application from my understanding, and it's in transit right now. To get the LOAs you should have to send copies of the materials to the schools you're applying to, so they send it back with official stamps on it.

 

[hxcpanda]

Actually, FYI the embassy was reluctant to send me the placement preference form back as applicants in the past year have apparently been refused by universities because they weren't the number 1 choice on the application. So unless one of your schools specifically requires it (one of mine does, so I had to request it), I might avoid sending that form in with the rest of your application...

 

[darkhriss]

Hello everyone!

I am also applying for the scholarship this year. It seems that my country is a little behind because we're taking the exam next Thursday.

I took my application papers to the embassy yesterday and I am very discouraged.

But let me tell you my story first. I learned Japanese in college and was awarded the Japanese Studies scholarship in 2011. I studied for an year in Tokyo and came back to my country in 2012, then finished college. I now made my research plan on kanji (I adore kanji!). I want to observe the kanji learning system in Japan and maybe come with something new in the foreign kanji learning. I'm not sure how interesting my project is but it's the only thing I found related to my field of study that appealed to me.

Now, back to what happened yesterday. I took my papers to the embassy and the lady wouldn't receive my application because I put only one university on the list. I don't understand what is the problem with that. I read on the internet that there are many people who did this and there are no official rules regarding it. The thing is that I really want to be accepted into that university. I didn't want to waste their time and add three of them, so they would contact two more universities that I'm not really interested in.

The lady accepted my papers in the end, but she told me I will have to bring some VERY good reasons for this. I almost felt like a criminal or something.

I'm really scared this will lower my chances before even taking the exam. What are you thoughts on this?

 

[madphysicist]

Now, back to what happened yesterday. I took my papers to the embassy and the lady wouldn't receive my application because I put only one university on the list. I don't understand what is the problem with that. I read on the internet that there are many people who did this and there are no official rules regarding it. The thing is that I really want to be accepted into that university.

It is quite obvious why the embassy doesn't want you to list only 1 university. After they select (for example) 8 people who passed the primary screening, if half only picked 1 university and half of those are rejected by their 1 university, that means a maximum of 6 people get the scholarship. The embassy cannot pick new candidates for that year. Effectively they have lost 25% of the funding they were promised by MEXT. (I don't know what the actual rejection rate is, but in TranSenz's article* he states "most applicants did not get letters of acceptance at my university", implying higher than 50% rejection). Therefore the embassy will try to pick mainly candidates with 2 or 3 universities. Suppose the rejection rate is 50%, then by choosing 2 universities that cuts the overall rejection chance to 25% and 3 cuts it to 12.5%, in a rather crude calculation.

I think actually the lady at the embassy was doing you a favour by pointing out this weakness in your application. You now have a chance to think about how to defend your choice in the interview. If you really need to study at that university and only that one, you should have a good reason for it. Most embassies will not tell you that they want you to pick more than one, but for the reason I just explained it's natural that they prefer flexible candidates.

I am probably the only person ever to list Toudai as their third choice, but I realised it would make a stronger application to include it.

*MEXT Scholarship (Embassy) | TranSenz: Expat Living in Japan

 

[darkhriss]

Thank you for the reply madphysicist!

Wow, these things didn't even cross my mind. I put just one because I sincerely want to be accepted by that university since it perfectly fits my study plan. And I also know from past candidates that universities don't want to see themselves in the second or third choice. If I'm not wrong someone wrote about it earlier in this thread. I thought that putting just one university will also prove the fact that I am determined and know what I want. I will say these things at the interview of course but I'm really afraid I screwed it up this year, and it saddens me that it's not because I lack abilities. I wish they could've written this on the embassy website if it was so important...

 

[madphysicist]

And I also know from past candidates that universities don't want to see themselves in the second or third choice.

As was mentioned above you often don't have to submit the list of choices to the university... and even if you do, there's no real proof they will reject you for not being 1st choice. They want MEXT scholars; it's free funding for them. The only university I've heard wants to be the "one and only choice" is Keio (and frankly I don't believe they have the kind of international reputation they think they do to be playing games like that... but that's a different discussion).

I will say these things at the interview of course but I'm really afraid I screwed it up this year, and it saddens me that it's not because I lack abilities. I wish they could've written this on the embassy website if it was so important...

People who only listed one choice can still get the scholarship if they are otherwise good candidates. But if you can't tell them a good reason why you only wrote one, the judges might assume you just didn't spend enough time looking into universities in Japan.

See this post:
Field of Study - MEXT program research proposal. Fine Arts | Japan Forum
"Another point of contention, however -- I have my heart set on Keio University and it was my only choice in my application. They didn't understand my reasoning and questioned it for a good 5-10 minutes -- "why only Keio? You're putting all your eggs in one basket. Isn't that a bad idea? What if you don't get accepted? Have you been discussing your research idea with a professor there already?" etc, etc."

If you can get in contact with a professor at that university before the interview, that will help to reassure the judges that you will not be rejected after the primary screening.

 

[darkhriss]

People who only listed one choice can still get the scholarship if they are otherwise good candidates. But if you can't tell them a good reason why you only wrote one, the judges might assume you just didn't spend enough time looking into universities in Japan.

I really hope they're smarter than that With an application so carefully written and so much interest in their country (everything I did for the past 7 years was related to Japan - study, work, travel, everything), to assume I am too lazy to find two more university names? *sigh*

 

[madphysicist]

I really hope they're smarter than that With an application so carefully written and so much interest in their country (everything I did for the past 7 years was related to Japan - study, work, travel, everything), to assume I am too lazy to find two more university names? *sigh*

Well, so far you have not actually said why you only want that one university, so I have been wondering if it was just that you couldn't easily find another. What was the actual reason? What's wrong with the others?

The embassy have already pointed out that it's an issue you don't have a back-up. You need to justify this to them. But honestly I think this is not your biggest issue. I think you have the wrong attitude towards this scholarship. If I were a judge I would pick a candidate who wants to study at a Japanese university because that's the place that would be best for their research, not a candidate who wants to study in Japan again so looked around for a research topic that even they are "not sure is interesting". EVERYONE applying is really interested in Japan and many candidates have lived in Japan before or speak Japanese well. Those things can help but they will not compensate for a weak research plan or weak justifications.

Perhaps I sound harsh to you but the judges will be harsher and you need to have some good answers for why your research is worth doing, why it needs to be done in Japan and why it needs to be done at that particular university. Give these answers some thought now while you have time and make sure you can justify every choice you have made in the interview.

 

[mari30]

Hi everyone,

I would like to ask if someone has heard about a reduction in the number of scholarships available via Embassy Recommendation ?

This year the Government of Japan reduced the number of scholarships awarded via University Recommendation. Specifically, each university lost at least 1 scholarship.
Monbukagakusho University-Recommended Scholarship Slots Slashed – 2016 | TranSenz: Expat Living in Japan

Number of Scholarships awarded to each university in FY 2015
2015年度国費外国人留学生（研究留学生）申請に当たっての留意事項：文部科学省

Number of Scholarships awarded to each university in FY 2016
2016年度大学推薦による国費外国人留学生（研究留学生）の推薦可能人数等の取扱いについて（通知）：文部科学省

Hence, I wonder if an Embassy/Consulate has said something about a reduction in the number of scholarships.

 

[DezireeAngel]

Up to 6 years (theoretically 7, if you are in medicine and were to join at the M.Sc. level). You have:

• Up to one year of free play aka Research Student (kenkyūsei). More on that later.
• 2 years for your M.Sc. (if you apply at this level)
• 3 years for your Ph.D. (4 if medicine).

I applied on a 5-year program (Osaka U. biotechnology). Does it mean I would stay in Japan for 6 years? Since my first year could be allotted for studying Japanese language and as a research student? Any idea guys?

 

[minader]

Interview in a few days and I'm freaking out :/
I was wondering, how should I greet the professors when I enter the room for the interview? Should I bow, shake hands with each of them or...?
I don't know perhaps it depends on the country, but what were your manners?

 

[kobayakawa]

Up to 6 years (theoretically 7, if you are in medicine and were to join at the M.Sc. level). You have:

• Up to one year of free play aka Research Student (kenkyūsei). More on that later.
• 2 years for your M.Sc. (if you apply at this level)
• 3 years for your Ph.D. (4 if medicine).

I applied on a 5-year program (Osaka U. biotechnology). Does it mean I would stay in Japan for 6 years? Since my first year could be allotted for studying Japanese language and as a research student? Any idea guys?

Hi Deziree, from what I have gathered:

1. If you went thru the embassy recommendation track, you have at most two years as a kenkyuusei. This is the period where you will (1) study Nihongo, (2) get admitted to the MS/PhD Program admission, becoming a full pledged MS/PhD student, (3) prepare the paperwork re MEXT extension. In most cases, the two-year kenkyuusei period is not fully consumed because it's too risky not try early on the admission process/requirements of your intended program. But yes, on paper one can stay for 2 years as kenkyuusei + 2years MA/MS + 3 years PhD.

2. In your case (ie university recommendation track) you have one year and a half as a kenkyuusei (read: study Nihongo, get admitted to your MS/PhD program, and request for MEXT scholarship extension).

 

[DezireeAngel]

Hi Deziree, from what I have gathered:

1. If you went thru the embassy recommendation track, you have at most two years as a kenkyuusei. This is the period where you will (1) study Nihongo, (2) get admitted to the MS/PhD Program admission, becoming a full pledged MS/PhD student, (3) prepare the paperwork re MEXT extension. In most cases, the two-year kenkyuusei period is not fully consumed because it's too risky not try early on the admission process/requirements of your intended program. But yes, on paper one can stay for 2 years as kenkyuusei + 2years MA/MS + 3 years PhD.

2. In your case (ie university recommendation track) you have one year and a half as a kenkyuusei (read: study Nihongo, get admitted to your MS/PhD program, and request for MEXT scholarship extension).

Whoa thank you for this info! As usual, you've been very helpful to us! But can you send me the link please? I already had and passed my email-based entrance exam. I was accepted as M.S. student by Osaka U. (Stated in the letter they sent me). And now I'm wondering if I'd start right away as an M.S. student or use my 1-1.5 year as a research student. If so, will MEXT still provide us stipend?

 

[madphysicist]

Whoa thank you for this info! As usual, you've been very helpful to us! But can you send me the link please? I already had and passed my email-based entrance exam. I was accepted as M.S. student by Osaka U. (Stated in the letter they sent me). And now I'm wondering if I'd start right away as an M.S. student or use my 1-1.5 year as a research student. If so, will MEXT still provide us stipend?

If you've already been accepted on a master's course, you will start directly on it without a research student stage.

I'm not sure I understand your question about the stipend... MEXT pay for the research student stage as well, they just pay a tiny bit less per month. But you will start as a master's student and therefore get paid as a master's student.

JAPANESE GOVERNMENT （MONBUKAGAKUSHO:MEXT）SCHOLARSHIP FOR 2015（RESEARCH STUDENTS）：文部科学省

Interview in a few days and I'm freaking out :/
I was wondering, how should I greet the professors when I enter the room for the interview? Should I bow, shake hands with each of them or...?
I don't know perhaps it depends on the country, but what were your manners?

Since you're not in Japan I don't think you need to act like you are. Give a polite smile, say "Good morning, I'm ---- " or similar and shake their hand if they offer it to you. Wait until they invite you to sit down before sitting.

If you're freaking out, try looking up advice for job interviews online - there's tons of advice and nearly all of it is applicable to a scholarship interview.

 

[minader]

Since you're not in Japan I don't think you need to act like you are. Give a polite smile, say "Good morning, I'm ---- " or similar and shake their hand if they offer it to you. Wait until they invite you to sit down before sitting.

If you're freaking out, try looking up advice for job interviews online - there's tons of advice and nearly all of it is applicable to a scholarship interview.

I would like very much to say "good morning" but the interview will be in Japanese , sorry I should have clarified it in the previous post. That is the main reason I was not sure about the required manners, but I guess bowing might be awkward as you say. Perhaps just a "shitsurei itashimasu" when entering the room will be fine (not sure if I should say "konnichiwa" as well though).

I just watched some interview jobs videos on youtube and then prepard a bunch of answers, I don't know if that will be enough and I am not that confident about my Japanese language skills but there is not much more I can do... I just hope their questions won't be too cruel, I found some on the Internet which were scary :/

 

[madphysicist]

I would like very much to say "good morning" but the interview will be in Japanese , sorry I should have clarified it in the previous post. That is the main reason I was not sure about the required manners, but I guess bowing might be awkward as you say. Perhaps just a "shitsurei itashimasu" when entering the room will be fine (not sure if I should say "konnichiwa" as well though).

Oh, if the interview is completely in Japanese then you should follow Japanese interview etiquette. I assumed it was not since most embassy interviews are not - you are applying for the research scholarship right...?

Yes it's normal to just say "shitsurei itashimasu", no it's not normal to say "konnichiwa". Normally you will introduce yourself with a jiko shokai. But once again there are a whole lot of articles about interview etiquette in Japan, just google and have a browse.

Remember all candidates will be nervous and you don't have to be the best interviewee ever, you just have to be better than the competition!

 

[DezireeAngel]

If you've already been accepted on a master's course, you will start directly on it without a research student stage.

I'm not sure I understand your question about the stipend... MEXT pay for the research student stage as well, they just pay a tiny bit less per month. But you will start as a master's student and therefore get paid as a master's student.

JAPANESE GOVERNMENT （MONBUKAGAKUSHO:MEXT）SCHOLARSHIP FOR 2015（RESEARCH STUDENTS）：文部科学省



Since you're not in Japan I don't think you need to act like you are. Give a polite smile, say "Good morning, I'm ---- " or similar and shake their hand if they offer it to you. Wait until they invite you to sit down before sitting.

If you're freaking out, try looking up advice for job interviews online - there's tons of advice and nearly all of it is applicable to a scholarship interview.

My sensei asked me if it's OK with me to take Japanese language class, and I said yes ofc. Since I have 10% to almost zero knowledge of their language. And now I'm wondering if I'd have to take the language course simultaneously with my biotech courses, or do I get the chance to use my first year as a "research student" studying/focusing on Japanese language before I can start my M.S.degree.