MEXT Scholarship (Graduate Students) 2017

[indojindesu]

I don't believe you need to send it unless the university specifically asks for it. Kobe were happy with pdf copies of all my documents. It's always best to check what each university wants before sending out your only original copy!

(Also I sent my backelor's thesis out like 5 times in 24 hours because there were typos in it, these things happen lol)

Same! One of my University is happy with pdfs. Its the other one which said they need a copy. I'l ask them again on monday if they need the original. Thanks!

I hope the mail thing doesn't cause a bad impression or something xD

 

[minader]

As some may have eluded to, you must take and pass the entrance exam within the first year of your scholarship. If you do not pass the exam then you may need to apply for another school (which may be difficult for you to do unless your advisor works closely with someone from another school, and you would need to contact the embassy about this), or go back to your home country. I don't think it is allowed to extend your stay and try the entrance exam again.
Don't freak out about taking the exam, you will meet a lot of people in your department and they can give you advice on how to study! Everyone that does MEXT scholarship through the embassy must do this so it should be doable. (although this is one of the big reasons why I decided to do university recommended).

Thanks a lot for the precious info! I did not know about the chance to change university, I guess it is not very common so I keep it as a last resort, I hope to enroll at a university with graduate schools that suit me properly.

On a side note, one professor seemed glad to be my advisor but he is abroad untill the end of August so there might be problems signing the letter of acceptance, unluckiness over nine thousand I hope things turns well at the end but I do not know how many chances I have, currently waiting for the International Office to get back to me by e-mai.

 

[minader]

Another thing happened when contacting professor: in one case, I contacted the professor but the International office replied instead, which means he forwarded the e-mail to the office. They asked me to send the documents right away to apply for a letter of acceptance, I do not understand why since in the university's mext page it is clearly stated that is better to contact the professor first.
Now I am not sure if sending the documents (e-mail) because in that case I would have to wait a long time to know the answer and I do know how many chances of being accepted I would have since I have no feedback from the professor :\

 

[mari30]

Another thing happened when contacting professor: in one case, I contacted the professor but the International office replied instead, which means he forwarded the e-mail to the office. They asked me to send the documents right away to apply for a letter of acceptance, I do not understand why since in the university's mext page it is clearly stated that is better to contact the professor first.
Now I am not sure if sending the documents (e-mail) because in that case I would have to wait a long time to know the answer and I do know how many chances of being accepted I would have since I have no feedback from the professor :\

Dear Minader, exactly the same happened to me at Kumamoto University this week. However, if the professor sent your request to the International Office that would mean a tacit approval of your application. Otherwise, he/she would have simply ignored your message.

Maybe your email arrived in a bad moment for the professor and he will reply later... Anyway, I submitted my documents to the International Office immediately. Good Luck !

 

[minader]

Dear Minader, exactly the same happened to me at Kumamoto University this week. However, if the professor sent your request to the International Office that would mean a tacit approval of your application. Otherwise, he/she would have simply ignored your message.

Maybe your email arrived in a bad moment for the professor and he will reply later... Anyway, I submitted my documents to the International Office immediately. Good Luck !

Thank you for your feedback! I am sending the stuff then

Just a question if anyone might know: 16 MB in total for the documents would be too much? Better to send them one by one (one pdf for one document) or to group oll of them in an archive and then send?

 

[mari30]

Thank you for your feedback! I am sending the stuff then

Just a question if anyone might know: 16 MB in total for the documents would be too much? Better to send them one by one (one pdf for one document) or to group oll of them in an archive and then send?

I sent two pdfs:
1) Passing Certificate of the Primary Screening (1 mb)
2) Set of Documents Submitted to the Embassy (34mb)

I compressed the PDF files into a single zip file and uploaded it into Google Drive. Then, I sent a short link to the compressed file using "Google URL Shortener". That way worked perfectly with 3 universities.

However, madphysicist said that a link in a email could send the message to the spam folder. As it could be possible, I would recommend you to use a mail tracking add-on for gmail (e.g. bananatag) that could inform you if the message is open or not.

Good Luck....

 

[minader]

I am back for my daily question
It is about entering a doctoral/master course: if we decide to keep studying after the research, our advisor has to guide us until the end? What if he retires from work before we graduate? I am asking because one professor also told me his retire date when he replied (March 2022). Does that mean that we will need our advisor untill the end of our study, even if we become regular student?

 

[minader]

also, will we be notified by the university if our request for a letter of acceptance is rejected? Logic would suggests yes right...

 

[Fabio G]

Hi guys! Congratulations to those who passed the screening!!! And those who didn't, just don't give up, chances are always there

I would like to address my question to those who won the scholrship from 2nd, 3rd,....attempts.
1) What were the main reasons for failture to pass the screening?
2) What you have done in the next application to increase your chances?
3) Finally, what were the main reasons that helped you to eventually get the scholrship?
Your feedbacks and advices will be valuable, because now I am struggling with preparation strategy.

 

[indojindesu]

I would like to address my question to those who won the scholrship from 2nd, 3rd,....attempts.

Hi! I'm a third time applicant!

1) What were the main reasons for failture to pass the screening?

I was told that my 15 years education background was the problem. In India we have a 3 years bachelor's degree.
EDIT: my Research proposal was kinda lame too. And my grades were okay-ish.

2) What you have done in the next application to increase your chances?

Entered a Master's course. Maintained a good relation/contact with a professor in Japan. Wrote an acceptable Research proposal. Scored good marks in first year of the Master's degree. Passed JLPT N2.

3) Finally, what were the main reasons that helped you to eventually get the scholrship?

I feel the fact that I knew Japanese gave me an edge over the other applicants. Also I had very good reasons for selecting the Universities I wanted to go to. I had Researched a lot about those Universities. And of course, having approval from a professor helped. And I gave good reasons as to why I wish to Research/study in Japan.

I suggest prepare your reasons for applying to Japan or a specific University. Most of the people have no idea about Japan. They apply because its a good Scholarship and dont bother to search or look up stuff about Japan.

 

[Fabio G]

I'm a third time applicant!

Wow! Respect your perseverance!!

EDIT: my Research proposal was kinda lame too. And my grades were okay-ish.
Maintained a good relation/contact with a professor in Japan. Wrote an acceptable Research proposal. Scored good marks in first year of the Master's degree. Passed JLPT N2.

I see, in my case, I had decent proposal from my feeling, but I had no sufficient level of japanese as my topic was related to humanitarian and social sciences. Maybe this could be the problem? However, I mentioned that I found english-program where the professor was willing to work with me.

I feel the fact that I knew Japanese gave me an edge over the other applicants. Also I had very good reasons for selecting the Universities I wanted to go to. I had Researched a lot about those Universities. And of course, having approval from a professor helped. And I gave good reasons as to why I wish to Research/study in Japan.

I suggest prepare your reasons for applying to Japan or a specific University. Most of the people have no idea about Japan. They apply because its a good Scholarship and dont bother to search or look up stuff about Japan.

I understand what you mean. Those are really good to know.
Thank you so much for help, it opened up my mind!

 

[madphysicist]

Lol so I just realised my embassy actually sent me a list of the email addresses of the international offices for pretty much every university in Japan (they attached it to an email). So if you can't find the address for a university, comment here or message me and I'll give it to you.

I see, in my case, I had decent proposal from my feeling, but I had no sufficient level of japanese as my topic was related to humanitarian and social sciences. Maybe this could be the problem? However, I mentioned that I found english-program where the professor was willing to work with me.

How important Japanese skills are seems to vary wildly by which embassy you apply to. Some of them really care a lot, some say it's fine if you can't speak any Japanese at all.

However they do want to know that you will be able to cope with living in Japan. So if you can emphasize any periods you have lived abroad that might help you.

 

[madphysicist]

I suggest prepare your reasons for applying to Japan or a specific University. Most of the people have no idea about Japan. They apply because its a good Scholarship and dont bother to search or look up stuff about Japan.

I think there is more of the opposite problem in some countries. People really want to go to Japan but they don't care about the research. They are just like "here are all the reasons I love Japan" but they don't bother to come up with a good research plan or convincing reasons why their research has to be done there.

 

[TranSenz]

@minader and @mari30 - About contacting the professor and then getting a reply from the international office: I used to see a lot of the same when I worked in an international office handing these applications.
I can't say it's the same for all universities, but we used to recommend that students contact their desired advisor, if possible, to see if that advisor could supervise them. That discussion was really only supposed to be about research topics.
Professors at my university never handled the actual application paperwork, so all of that had to go through the international office. We would receive the files, distribute copies to the right graduate school so they could review it at a screening committee, and keep track of the application's review progress.

also, will we be notified by the university if our request for a letter of acceptance is rejected? Logic would suggests yes right...

Again, I can't speak for all universities, but yes, we certainly did that with all of our applicants.

On a side note, one professor seemed glad to be my advisor but he is abroad untill the end of August so there might be problems signing the letter of acceptance, unluckiness over nine thousand I hope things turns well at the end but I do not know how many chances I have, currently waiting for the International Office to get back to me by e-mai.

MEXT's rules are that you have to contact the university before the end of August. They don't require that you get the LoA by then, so you should be OK. Where I worked, we would collect all of the applications in August, but almost none would get reviewed until September, because August is summer vacation and the screening committees weren't able to meet.

Now I am not sure if sending the documents (e-mail) because in that case I would have to wait a long time to know the answer and I do know how many chances of being accepted I would have since I have no feedback from the professor :\

Not getting feedback from a professor is not unusual and not necessarily a negative thing. Some professors will give you feedback. Others don't want to spend any time on you until they know that you will certainly be studying with them. Since Embassy MEXT lets you apply to 3 schools, many universities know that there's a good chance you could end up somewhere else, so they don't consider you "their student" until MEXT tells them that you've been assigned to that school.

Hope that helps!

 

[minader]

Thank you TranSenz for your reply! And of course also for your marvelous site, I learned a lot from there.

@minader and @mari30
I can't say it's the same for all universities, but we used to recommend that students contact their desired advisor, if possible, to see if that advisor could supervise them. That discussion was really only supposed to be about research topics.

In fact, I only e-mailed the professor about the research topic, giving him the PDF file of my Research Proposal. However, he forwarded the e-mail to the international office. By the way, one thing I forgot: if I have not misunderstood, the international office asked me to send to them AND also to the aforementioned professor all the necessary documents. Nothing difficult but I thought it was a bit strage because normally it is the internation staff handling the stuff, right?

Again, I can't speak for all universities, but yes, we certainly did that with all of our applicants.

Nice to hear! I hope they will let me know as fast as possible, so in case of rejection I can contact another university.

MEXT's rules are that you have to contact the university before the end of August. They don't require that you get the LoA by then, so you should be OK. Where I worked, we would collect all of the applications in August, but almost none would get reviewed until September, because August is summer vacation and the screening committees weren't able to meet.

Sorry, I forgot to write some details in that e-mail: even though what you say is true, my embassy told me that I have to send them the placement form AND LoAs altogether by the 12th of September! What is worse, they also told me that they want me to send hard copies of the LoAs. Therefore, if the professor is in German until the end of August, it is virtually certain that I won't make it within the deadline.
The professor was really kind to me saying that if the international office sends the documents to him, he will write the LoA and then send it to me as fast as possible, but 1. I contacted the international office for advise and I do not know whether they will be positive about it or not and 2. I would feel guilty towards the professor because he would have to send the documents himself while abroad for work. I am already causing problem to him and I am not even there (which would be my first choice anyway...). The other option suggested by the professor, is that he fills in the LoA and then send it in PDF format to the International Office, but I do not know if they will accept it, that would help a lot though...

 

[Lawrence1]

I am back for my daily question
It is about entering a doctoral/master course: if we decide to keep studying after the research, our advisor has to guide us until the end? What if he retires from work before we graduate? I am asking because one professor also told me his retire date when he replied (March 2022). Does that mean that we will need our advisor untill the end of our study, even if we become regular student?

From my experience, if the professor plans on retiring soon he would not take in another student (if it means that he retires before the student can graduate) unless of exceptional circumstances or if he closely works with another professor (for you to go to next) or if you have a coadvisor in the school. In general a Ph.D student can not graduate without a research advisor's guidance. It is very common in the USA (not sure about Japan) for the research advisor to also be the person who decides when his student is fit to graduate (since you have to do a dissertation and your thesis and he knows if it is good enough for the professor's reviewing it to give you your degree). If you are a masters student that does not require research or a thesis, then it may not be necessary to have an advisor.

Sorry, I forgot to write some details in that e-mail: even though what you say is true, my embassy told me that I have to send them the placement form AND LoAs altogether by the 12th of September! What is worse, they also told me that they want me to send hard copies of the LoAs. Therefore, if the professor is in German until the end of August, it is virtually certain that I won't make it within the deadline.
The professor was really kind to me saying that if the international office sends the documents to him, he will write the LoA and then send it to me as fast as possible, but 1. I contacted the international office for advise and I do not know whether they will be positive about it or not and 2. I would feel guilty towards the professor because he would have to send the documents himself while abroad for work. I am already causing problem to him and I am not even there (which would be my first choice anyway...). The other option suggested by the professor, is that he fills in the LoA and then send it in PDF format to the International Office, but I do not know if they will accept it, that would help a lot though...

If you professor suggested that he could fill out LoA and send it to the international office via email (but he wasn't sure if this was allowed), you should ask him to send the international office an email (maybe with you CC'd) about it. The international office should not be so strict about this if it is your professor asking about it especially since of this special circumstance.

If this is your idea and he did not suggest it, I recommend asking your professor about it in a nice email since it would make both your lives easier.

If he did suggest this but it didn't seem like he wasn't sure, then I would recommend just telling your professor that you think his suggestion is best and it will make things easier.

 

[minader]

From my experience, if the professor plans on retiring soon he would not take in another student (if it means that he retires before the student can graduate) unless of exceptional circumstances or if he closely works with another professor (for you to go to next) or if you have a coadvisor in the school. In general a Ph.D student can not graduate without a research advisor's guidance. It is very common in the USA (not sure about Japan) for the research advisor to also be the person who decides when his student is fit to graduate (since you have to do a dissertation and your thesis and he knows if it is good enough for the professor's reviewing it to give you your degree). If you are a masters student that does not require research or a thesis, then it may not be necessary to have an advisor.

This is really an essential information, thank you so much. Currently, I graduated from a three-year course from my home university and I was awarded with a bachelor's degree. If I enroll as a regular student I would have to do a master first and then Ph.D. So if this professor retires by March 2022 and if, hypothetically, I do one year of research + 2 master + 3 Ph.D (this is how it is supposed to work in his university), then I would be one year late I am afraid (2023).
I guess I need to talk to him as soon as I can about this matter too.

If you professor suggested that he could fill out LoA and send it to the international office via email (but he wasn't sure if this was allowed), you should ask him to send the international office an email (maybe with you CC'd) about it. The international office should not be so strict about this if it is your professor asking about it especially since of this special circumstance.

If this is your idea and he did not suggest it, I recommend asking your professor about it in a nice email since it would make both your lives easier.

If he did suggest this but it didn't seem like he wasn't sure, then I would recommend just telling your professor that you think his suggestion is best and it will make things easier.

Yes, it was the professor the one suggesting this, however he also suggested that I should be the one contacting the International Office so I did it, trying to explain as best as I could the problem in Japanese, I hope I was clear enough. I also quoted the passage where the professor suggested those two options, to be double sure the matter was 100% understandable.
I am waiting for their answer now, hoping it arrives no later than Monday..

 

[indojindesu]

I think there is more of the opposite problem in some countries. People really want to go to Japan but they don't care about the research. They are just like "here are all the reasons I love Japan" but they don't bother to come up with a good research plan or convincing reasons why their research has to be done there.

Yes I have seen old threads where this was mentioned. I agree with what you are saying as well. A good Research plan is as important as the reasons why you wish to study in Japan. I was just speaking from my experience. Everyone was ready for the interview with all sorts of answers and details regarding their field of study and research plan, but nothing, I mean zero, preparation about information related to Japan. I was very surprised by this. How can you know nothing about a country where you are planning to spend at least one year in? (Its probably just India XD )

 

[indojindesu]

I understand what you mean. Those are really good to know.
Thank you so much for help, it opened up my mind!

Glad I could help. Good luck with your application!

 

[indojindesu]

However they do want to know that you will be able to cope with living in Japan.

This was asked to every person who was interviewed. How will you cope with living in Japan and all.
@Fabio G have a look at the interview questions, we all have posted them in this thread.

Lol so I just realised my embassy actually sent me a list of the email addresses of the international offices for pretty much every university in Japan

Thats very helpful of them. Thanks for the offer!

 

[minader]

Guys I need a suggestion for my problem with the professor in Germany, the International Office (and the faculty letter which I contacted at the same time) has yet to reply back and time is running fast! The professor will be able to sign the LoA only if the internation office send to him the documents within the 15th of this month...
Now, the university is Osaka university and on their website there is a specific e-mail to contact when asking for the letter of acceptance, do you think it would be wise to write to them as well? I would send them the required documents and add some details to my question, in the previous e-mails I only asked advise about the problem... however, it would be my third e-mail so it might be rude. I will of course apologise for this in the new e-mail!
I am quoting my previous posts of this forum where I explain the situation if anyone is interested.

On a side note, one professor seemed glad to be my advisor but he is abroad untill the end of August so there might be problems signing the letter of acceptance, unluckiness over nine thousand I hope things turns well at the end but I do not know how many chances I have, currently waiting for the International Office to get back to me by e-mai.

Sorry, I forgot to write some details in that e-mail: even though what you say is true, my embassy told me that I have to send them the placement form AND LoAs altogether by the 12th of September! What is worse, they also told me that they want me to send hard copies of the LoAs. Therefore, if the professor is in German until the end of August, it is virtually certain that I won't make it within the deadline.
The professor was really kind to me saying that if the international office sends the documents to him, he will write the LoA and then send it to me as fast as possible, but 1. I contacted the international office for advise and I do not know whether they will be positive about it or not and 2. I would feel guilty towards the professor because he would have to send the documents himself while abroad for work. I am already causing problem to him and I am not even there (which would be my first choice anyway...). The other option suggested by the professor, is that he fills in the LoA and then send it in PDF format to the International Office, but I do not know if they will accept it, that would help a lot though...

 

[indojindesu]

Guys I need a suggestion for my problem with the professor in Germany, the International Office (and the faculty letter which I contacted at the same time) has yet to reply back and time is running fast! The professor will be able to sign the LoA only if the internation office send to him the documents within the 15th of this month...
Now, the university is Osaka university and on their website there is a specific e-mail to contact when asking for the letter of acceptance, do you think it would be wise to write to them as well? I would send them the required documents and add some details to my question, in the previous e-mails I only asked advise about the problem... however, it would be my third e-mail so it might be rude. I will of course apologise for this in the new e-mail!
I am quoting my previous posts of this forum where I explain the situation if anyone is interested.

Contact that special office or whatever for LoA and contact the international office too. Add both of them and ,your professor's email, too as CC's to the email. (Talk with your professor first before making this move , just to be safe.) So basically, send one Email to the LoA section, International office and your professor describing your problem. Maybe this will help.

 

[minader]

Contact that special office or whatever for LoA and contact the international office too. Add both of them and ,your professor's email, too as CC's to the email. (Talk with your professor first before making this move , just to be safe.) So basically, send one Email to the LoA section, International office and your professor describing your problem. Maybe this will help.

Thank Indojin, any answer is helpful and welcomed!
At the moment, I have contacted two offices, International office and the Faculty to which the professor belongs because he suggested me to do so, however they have yet to answer. Now I was wondering if contacting the specific address for requesting letter of acceptance and explaining again the problem and at the same time attaching all the documents for application (which I have yet to send).
I think that today I will do as you suggest and contact them as well, I just hope to get some reply from them otherwise I will be at a total a loss, I need at least a notice from them to have a confirmation that they are handling the problem and not ignoring it...

 

[Lawrence1]

Thank Indojin, any answer is helpful and welcomed!
At the moment, I have contacted two offices, International office and the Faculty to which the professor belongs because he suggested me to do so, however they have yet to answer. Now I was wondering if contacting the specific address for requesting letter of acceptance and explaining again the problem and at the same time attaching all the documents for application (which I have yet to send).
I think that today I will do as you suggest and contact them as well, I just hope to get some reply from them otherwise I will be at a total a loss, I need at least a notice from them to have a confirmation that they are handling the problem and not ignoring it...

I agree with indojin. If you send another email make sure you have CC'ed your professor but ask him first to be sure. (It could be that the office has already made the preparations and are speaking with your professor directly but it is not possible to know right now) But also don't be too anxious or it might look bad for you too. I think it is better to double check with your professor than be anxious and risk annoying people in that department and faculty (it won't help you at all). I know it is scary and uncertain but be cool about this. If you have waited two weeks with no answer, I think it should be ok. It might be also be good to ask a friend in your future lab to simply go directly to the office and ask them too (if your professor has given you a tutor or introduced you to anyone there) just so you can get any idea of the situation. If you speak to you professor about this, word your email in a way that shows simple interest of the current situation. Be cool about it is what I mean.

 

[indojindesu]

Thank Indojin, any answer is helpful and welcomed!
At the moment, I have contacted two offices, International office and the Faculty to which the professor belongs because he suggested me to do so, however they have yet to answer. Now I was wondering if contacting the specific address for requesting letter of acceptance and explaining again the problem and at the same time attaching all the documents for application (which I have yet to send).
I think that today I will do as you suggest and contact them as well, I just hope to get some reply from them otherwise I will be at a total a loss, I need at least a notice from them to have a confirmation that they are handling the problem and not ignoring it...

Hope that helps. Just send one email listing all the concerned offices and your professor as cc. Drastic step, but might help. You can call them too. I would start looking for other universities as well. I understand that they are busy or something, but this scholarship is also important. For that you need LoAs .