MEXT Scholarship (Graduate Students) 2017

[indojindesu]

Thank you! I have already emailed the professors from Toudai, Kyoudai and Meidai who I know personally.

I am hoping they would respond asap (cause it's already summer vacation).

We have enough time to submit LOAs to the embassy (Japan embassy Manila) but we will have about 11 days to do the legwork in securing LoAs from Japenese universities. >_<

It will probably be fine! Dont worry Professors do check their Emails, because my fellow applicants have been getting replies properly. It would have been better it they had scheduled this during normal working period of the unis. I can understand the stress xD I have no LoAs yet. I have applied to two unis which will declare the LoA result in mid-sept so, waiting and STRESS STRESS STRESS, fretting over nothing and over thinking over small stuff XD

 

[madphysicist]

Well done everyone who got a LoA already!

Mine from Kyoto arrived a couple of weeks ago. More efficient than I expected. My skype interview for Kobe is on Thursday, but Kyoto is my no 1 choice anyway.

And I just spent £300 getting my medical done. Sigh.

 

[Frida]

I just got en email that says that KyoDai has sent me the LoA. So with that I have the 3 LoAs from the 3 universities I submitted in my Placement Preference Form.

Does this mean I can finally sit and relax for a couple of months til December?

This has just been such a stressful process, and I just feel so happy for those of us that are still in the process. This being the 3rd time I applied, I just still can't believe I finally made it this far.

 

[Kamiyan]

Has anyone applied to Waseda? I sent my documents through DHL and they arrived today to their offices but I would like to know how much time it took to contact you since the date of arrival of the documents, thanks .

 

[Frida]

Has anyone applied to Waseda? I sent my documents through DHL and they arrived today to their offices but I would like to know how much time it took to contact you since the date of arrival of the documents, thanks .

In my case, documents arrived July 12th, and they send me a notice telling me they had posted the letter to me on July 26th, so that's exactly 2 weeks

 

[MatsuJun]

Hello everyone! I'm also one of those that passed the preliminary selection phase
I have sent 5 requests for LOAs (just to be sure to get 3, in fact my field is easy to find in multiple universities). For now I received one positive reply. The others are still ongoing.

I wanted to thank you all for your posts in this forum. although I was not commenting, just the thought of other people experiencing the same stress and difficulties as me was helpful!

Has anyone applied to Waseda? I sent my documents through DHL and they arrived today to their offices but I would like to know how much time it took to contact you since the date of arrival of the documents, thanks .

They received my documents last thursday and I got no email whatsoever. I have read it is quite common that they don't contact you unless there is any kind of problem with your documents. I'm guessing it takes more than one week to receive a reply, so it might take some time for you too

 

[madphysicist]

Okay so I paid £300... and they forgot to do one of the blood tests!
So now I have 2 days to get it done and get the form to the embassy.

Fun times, this scholarship.

 

[bononogram]

Okay so I paid £300... and they forgot to do one of the blood tests!
So now I have 2 days to get it done and get the form to the embassy.

Fun times, this scholarship.

Similar thing happened to me a at least one other person I know.

Doctor says "yeah, yeah, I know how to do this. I do 'em all the time - relax."

Sure enough, missing one or two things or he didn't write N/A or whatever on the proper line..... I went back and forth several times.

Didn't have to spend that much money, though. O' Canada.

 

[madphysicist]

Similar thing happened to me a at least one other person I know.

Doctor says "yeah, yeah, I know how to do this. I do 'em all the time - relax."

Sure enough, missing one or two things or he didn't write N/A or whatever on the proper line..... I went back and forth several times.

Didn't have to spend that much money, though. O' Canada.

Unfortunately since I'm running out of time I have to get the doctor to courier it directly to the embassy without me checking whether they filled everything in right... That form is so terribly-designed.

I kind of doubt they would make me give up the scholarship just because the doctor made a small mistake on the form. But I'm paranoid.

I could have got some tests done on the NHS but the timeframe they gave was just too tight

 

[bononogram]

Unfortunately since I'm running out of time I have to get the doctor to courier it directly to the embassy without me checking whether they filled everything in right... That form is so terribly-designed.

I kind of doubt they would make me give up the scholarship just because the doctor made a small mistake on the form. But I'm paranoid.

I could have got some tests done on the NHS but the timeframe they gave was just too tight

The doctor form is one of the few forms they will let you supplement with replacement data after the deadlines (iirc).

Either way, you want to get it right the first time. But I don't think at this point it will kill your chances.

But yeah. Also, I think that doctors hate prescribed forms or something. Every time I bring one in they are all defensive and annoyed, haha. What's up with that?

 

[Lawrence1]

Okay so I paid £300... and they forgot to do one of the blood tests!
So now I have 2 days to get it done and get the form to the embassy.

Fun times, this scholarship.

Similar thing happened to me a at least one other person I know.

Doctor says "yeah, yeah, I know how to do this. I do 'em all the time - relax."

Sure enough, missing one or two things or he didn't write N/A or whatever on the proper line..... I went back and forth several times.

Didn't have to spend that much money, though. O' Canada.

I feel you guys pain. Same happened to me when I had to fill out my health form.

 

[dauntless]

Hi everyone,
Congrats for all who could obtain LoAs.
I really appreciate all the information and comments about the MEXT Scholarship and getting LoAs. Indeed they were very helpful for me.
I have a question about choosing kinds of universities...
All of the universities that sent me LoAs are private ones. What are my chances of being rejected if I make all of my choices private universities?
Thank you very much!

 

[MatsuJun]

Hi everyone,
Congrats for all who could obtain LoAs.
I really appreciate all the information and comments about the MEXT Scholarship and getting LoAs. Indeed they were very helpful for me.
I have a question about choosing kinds of universities...
All of the universities that sent me LoAs are private ones. What are my chances of being rejected if I make all of my choices private universities?
Thank you very much!

I don't think there is a unique answer to this question. From what I understand, if there is a public university willing to accept you, it is unlikely the Mext Committee will reject you (since you already got approved by the Embassy).
The situation is different for private universities. They will probably re-check your research project, and if they don't believe it is good enough, they might decide to not give you a scholarship (in this case, I believe having 1 or 3 LOAS from only private universities makes no difference).

But I have also heard of people that, although listing public unis as their 2nd and 3rd choice, got sent to private universities (like Keio or Waseda). Perhaps their projects were extremely good, or perhaps they nevertheless decide to send at least a few people to the big private universities.

I think it depends on multiple factors: is the name of the university more important than the actual content of the program (or the professor if you're only aiming at research) for you? If so, I would list private unis. They are not TOTALLY excluded from the scholarship, some people do get in.

 

[dauntless]

I don't think there is a unique answer to this question. From what I understand, if there is a public university willing to accept you, it is unlikely the Mext Committee will reject you (since you already got approved by the Embassy).
The situation is different for private universities. They will probably re-check your research project, and if they don't believe it is good enough, they might decide to not give you a scholarship (in this case, I believe having 1 or 3 LOAS from only private universities makes no difference).

But I have also heard of people that, although listing public unis as their 2nd and 3rd choice, got sent to private universities (like Keio or Waseda). Perhaps their projects were extremely good, or perhaps they nevertheless decide to send at least a few people to the big private universities.

I think it depends on multiple factors: is the name of the university more important than the actual content of the program (or the professor if you're only aiming at research) for you? If so, I would list private unis. They are not TOTALLY excluded from the scholarship, some people do get in.

Thank you!!! It is very good point. In any case I am still trying to get at least one LoA from a National uni. Hope I can make it to the deadline.

 

[madphysicist]

Got the health form to the embassy on time and they accepted it, thank goodness.

I was all excited to find out my blood type but it's the most common one lol. O+

But yeah. Also, I think that doctors hate prescribed forms or something. Every time I bring one in they are all defensive and annoyed, haha. What's up with that?

Yeah every time I need a form or a note they seem pretty annoyed about it even if it's a simple one, IDK why... And in this case the receptionist was also being rather condescending to me even though they were the ones that screwed up.

 

[madphysicist]

All of the universities that sent me LoAs are private ones. What are my chances of being rejected if I make all of my choices private universities?
Thank you very much!

Unfortunately no one here works for MEXT or knows their inner workings so hard to say what the chances are exactly... they have a limited budget and can therefore only send a certain number of people to private universities. Buuut honestly I have never seen anyone say that they were rejected after handing in their LoAs - it seems to be extremely unlikely that you would not be placed anywhere as long as you handed in at least one.

However if you would be happy to go to that national university, I think you should try to get their LoA just to be on the safe side.

 

[minader]

I have obtained only one LoA and even though I sent the documents at the beginning of the month, I am still waiting for the other universities' answers. I am a bit worried that they won't let me know within the deadline (31 of this month), in which case I won't be able to send the documents to other universities if they reject me...
I'm puzzled about what is the best thing to do, I was thinking about two things:
- Contacting the universities and asking if it's possible to have at least an unofficial answer before the 31, even if the LoA is not ready yet... however, in this case I'd have to explain the situation, especially the fact that I need an answer because in case of rejection I'll be able to send the documents elsewhere (it might sound rude?)
- Sending directly the documents to another university before waiting for the answers, but are we allowed to do so?

Any suggestions guys?

 

[Lawrence1]

I have obtained only one LoA and even though I sent the documents at the beginning of the month, I am still waiting for the other universities' answers. I am a bit worried that they won't let me know within the deadline (31 of this month), in which case I won't be able to send the documents to other universities if they reject me...
I'm puzzled about what is the best thing to do, I was thinking about two things:
- Contacting the universities and asking if it's possible to have at least an unofficial answer before the 31, even if the LoA is not ready yet... however, in this case I'd have to explain the situation, especially the fact that I need an answer because in case of rejection I'll be able to send the documents elsewhere (it might sound rude?)
- Sending directly the documents to another university before waiting for the answers, but are we allowed to do so?

Any suggestions guys?

Well, maybe you should check with the embassy if you can send your one LOA first right now and send your other LOA at a later time.

Does the schools where you asked for an LOA know about the August 31 deadline? If this is the first time you contacted about this since the beginning of the month, I don't think it would be rude to ask for an update because you were worried about making it in time for the deadline for your embassy. Don't mention applying to other universities. Just say it is because you don't want to be late for the deadline. Maybe someone else can weigh in on this.

 

[minader]

Well, maybe you should check with the embassy if you can send your one LOA first right now and send your other LOA at a later time.

Does the schools where you asked for an LOA know about the August 31 deadline? If this is the first time you contacted about this since the beginning of the month, I don't think it would be rude to ask for an update because you were worried about making it in time for the deadline for your embassy. Don't mention applying to other universities. Just say it is because you don't want to be late for the deadline. Maybe someone else can weigh in on this.

Sorry, maybe in my previous post it was not clear but the deadline I was talking about is the one to apply to Japanese universities (to send the documents and ask for a LoA). The deadline for my embassy is the 12th of September and both the universities know about it, I also asked them for a scan of the LoA in case the hard copy might arrive late.
However, if they give me a negative answer after the 31, I won't be able to apply for other LoAs...

Of these two universities, I contacted one around 20 of August and the other one around the 5th. Maybe it's ok if I contact again the second university because it's been 3 weeks since the last contact.
So do you think it is better not to mention that I'm planning to apply elsewhere? Unfortunately, I think that if I don't mention that, it might be difficult to come with an excuse for asking for an unofficial answer withing the 31th, because they already gave me all the info: at the beginning of the month they told me the LoA would have been sent around 1-10 of September and I replied it was ok as long as they send the scan copy within the 12th of September X(
I don't know how to ask without mentioning the other universities

Hello everyone! I'm also one of those that passed the preliminary selection phase

But are we allowed to ask for more than three LoAs at the same time? In that case I would send documents to another university right away since I already have a professor which approved my project X(

 

[indojindesu]

I have obtained only one LoA and even though I sent the documents at the beginning of the month, I am still waiting for the other universities' answers. I am a bit worried that they won't let me know within the deadline (31 of this month), in which case I won't be able to send the documents to other universities if they reject me...
I'm puzzled about what is the best thing to do, I was thinking about two things:
- Contacting the universities and asking if it's possible to have at least an unofficial answer before the 31, even if the LoA is not ready yet... however, in this case I'd have to explain the situation, especially the fact that I need an answer because in case of rejection I'll be able to send the documents elsewhere (it might sound rude?)
- Sending directly the documents to another university before waiting for the answers, but are we allowed to do so?

Any suggestions guys?

I haven't received any LoAs till now. I am also scared of messing this up by waiting till mid September for the LoAs.

You can contact the universities and ask them when will you get the result of the LoA screening. Both my universities have told me that there will be a screening of my documents by the faculty and that I'l get my results in mid September.

I have been in contact with my professor for a long time, so I trust him enough to wait for these results and not apply to other universities. Besides its difficult to find labs related to my research topic.

If you have confidence in your prospective supervisor, I dont think you need to apply to other unis.

Also, keep in mind that its summer vacation right now. So Whatever screening process will take place, it will happen AFTER the vacation i.e in September.

so to answer your questions,
1. You can ask when you will receive the LoA or any confirmation about it.
The staff at international office dont take the decision the faculty does, so they cant give you any confirmation but they can provide you with some sort of date/period.

2. If there are more unis with professors in your research area, you can go ahead. We were told to submit 3 LoAs, but nothing was said about contacting more than 3 unis.

Remember, if you get more than 3 LoAs you will have to choose which you want to submit to the embassy and tell the university/professor of your decision too

 

[Lawrence1]

Sorry, maybe in my previous post it was not clear but the deadline I was talking about is the one to apply to Japanese universities (to send the documents and ask for a LoA). The deadline for my embassy is the 12th of September and both the universities know about it, I also asked them for a scan of the LoA in case the hard copy might arrive late.
However, if they give me a negative answer after the 31, I won't be able to apply for other LoAs...

Of these two universities, I contacted one around 20 of August and the other one around the 5th. Maybe it's ok if I contact again the second university because it's been 3 weeks since the last contact.
So do you think it is better not to mention that I'm planning to apply elsewhere? Unfortunately, I think that if I don't mention that, it might be difficult to come with an excuse for asking for an unofficial answer withing the 31th, because they already gave me all the info: at the beginning of the month they told me the LoA would have been sent around 1-10 of September and I replied it was ok as long as they send the scan copy within the 12th of September X(
I don't know how to ask without mentioning the other universities

Sorry. Might be better to not mentioning anything at all since they already told you that they will give you your acceptance letter on time.

Are you happy with the school you got an LOA from? From what I heard by most people in this forum if you have an LOA, you will have a great chance of being selected for a scholarship to that school.

I know you are bit uncertain about your request for an LOA from your other schools but it isn't so good to request an LOA and contact a laboratory in too many schools since that only adds more schools that you will need to reject.

If you are really not happy with your school that you already got an LOA from and want to apply for a better school (in terms of reputation or laboratory research) you are free to do so but just keep in mind that the more you apply, the more you will need to reject. If it was just an admissions committee, it may not be a big deal but if you are contacting a professor it may hurt future relationships.

 

[indojindesu]

Sorry, maybe in my previous post it was not clear but the deadline I was talking about is the one to apply to Japanese universities (to send the documents and ask for a LoA). The deadline for my embassy is the 12th of September and both the universities know about it, I also asked them for a scan of the LoA in case the hard copy might arrive late.
However, if they give me a negative answer after the 31, I won't be able to apply for other LoAs...

Of these two universities, I contacted one around 20 of August and the other one around the 5th. Maybe it's ok if I contact again the second university because it's been 3 weeks since the last contact.
So do you think it is better not to mention that I'm planning to apply elsewhere? Unfortunately, I think that if I don't mention that, it might be difficult to come with an excuse for asking for an unofficial answer withing the 31th, because they already gave me all the info: at the beginning of the month they told me the LoA would have been sent around 1-10 of September and I replied it was ok as long as they send the scan copy within the 12th of September X(
I don't know how to ask without mentioning the other universities


But are we allowed to ask for more than three LoAs at the same time? In that case I would send documents to another university right away since I already have a professor which approved my project X(

They already told you that you will get it im September. It will be fine. The faculty is on leave. Like I said, its summer vacation.

And no, I wont recommend informing or telling them that you are planning to apply to other universities and thats why you are asking for some sort of confirmation from them.
Thats rude XD Also shows that you are not serious about the university or the lab.
Makes for a bad impression.
(They know you are going to apply to other unis because we get 3 choices in the form so, you dont have to tell them that. )

 

[minader]

Yes, they told me that they would have sent the LoA within the 12th of September, but since they had yet to examine the documents I think that they meant "In case we accept you", so I was worried that after the wait they might just reject me.
Ok, I'm definitely avoiding to mention other universities for whatever reason xD

And yes, I like the university where I got the LoA from! The reputation is excellent and it is a national university, the only problem is that I might not be able to enroll for a doctorate, but the university is still ok for me. The main reason was that I wanted to have at least two LoA in case, I don't know, something might not go well? I really hope my chances are high even with only one LoA!

Anyway, I think I will remain in standby as you suggest, thank you guys for your help!

 

[kobayakawa]

Good evening guys!

I have been quite busy with my work and couldn't check this thread.

I have sent by DHL today my application documents for the LOA at the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies (GSII) of the University of Tokyo.

(Anyone who's also gunning for GSII's ITASIA Program?)

The last day of application for LOAs in GSII is on the 31st of August. We were instructed by the Japan Embassy Manila to submit our LOAs by 24th of September.

Did Kobe University require a hard copy of the application documents to be mailed? Or are they happy with just scanned copies?

Is it the same with Kyoto University?

Thanks

 

[Lawrence1]

Good evening guys!

I have been quite busy with my work and couldn't check this thread.

I have sent by DHL today my application documents for the LOA at the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies (GSII) of the University of Tokyo.

(Anyone who's also gunning for GSII's ITASIA Program?)

The last day of application for LOAs in GSII is on the 31st of August. We were instructed by the Japan Embassy Manila to submit our LOAs by 24th of September.

Did Kobe University require a hard copy of the application documents to be mailed? Or are they happy with just scanned copies?

Is it the same with Kyoto University?

Thanks

Let us know if todai gives you an LOA and if you decide to go. It is nice to know more people in this forum going to todai