MEXT Scholarship (Graduate Students) 2017

[Kiraboshii]

Hey guys, sharing this information from the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies (GSID), University of Tokyo.

I received an email this morning informing me that they don't have the exact date as to when the result of the application for Letters of Acceptance will be released. But definitely they'd release the result after the 23rd of September. Ugh

The deadline for Philippine candidates to submit their LOAs is on the 24th of September. Talk about girigiri moment. Haha

I was only able to submit LOA applications to Toudai and Meidai but no LOAs yet as of today. I hope the universe connives.

That's all! Congratulations to those who have more than 3 LOAs already!

Oh no, I hope the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is earlier. The 23rd of September is the day my LOA's are due, and they've already told me they can't e-mail me a scanned copy because they're sending the hard copy straight to the Embassy.

They don't make this easy, do they? Haha.

 

[Kamiyan]

Since I have found multiple people saying "I hear that Keio will only admit you if it is the ONLY university you state in your list", but nothing that really confirms/rejects this statement, I'm writing for anyone that perhaps is still wondering or considering taking this risk.

I applied to Keio, and have sent them my list of 3 unis (in which Keio was first, but was not the only one). I got accepted, so I believe if you have a professor that's willing to take you in and a good proposal (or perhaps they even check your background/grades/etc), you will get your LOA from them. Of course, then it is all up to the MEXT committee, but at least getting the LOA from Keio is not impossible!

Thanks for the informative post; I would like to ask something, how much time did it take from receiving the approval from your desired professor to getting the LOA? Did they scan it?

 

[HJAH]

I think it is best to cobtanct as many universities as possible. My contanct at the embassy told me that if possible I shoild get as many LOAs as possible even more tgan the required 3. So far I have received 4 LOAs wc hv been sent by EMS.
So my advice to u is to apply for the LOAs from many unis as possible iregardless of whether u hav already applied to other unis. It will not be too late to make your university choice after receiving the LOAs.

You can even apply for the LOA even without an advisor although the process may take a bit long however it is worth a shot. Some universities like Kyushu Uni take less than Seven days to process yr LoA.

Hop this helps

Is it ok if I submit only one LOA, cuz I received two and I don't want to be placed in one of them. Please help!!!

 

[dauntless]

Is it ok if I submit only one LOA, cuz I received two and I don't want to be placed in one of them. Please help!!!

As far as I know, yes.
I have obtained four LoAs, however I am going to submit only two of them.
Also I asked it from the Embassy and their response was it was ok with only one LoA.

 

[lesychawz]

Is it ok if I submit only one LOA, cuz I received two and I don't want to be placed in one of them. Please help!!!

From previous records, it is possible to get accepted with only one LOA. But my question is "Are you willing to take a gamble?". Because ultimately I believe, it is not a matter of at which university you will be accepted but rather whether or not you get the MEXT scholarship . My advise is for you to list at least two universities in your placement preference form

 

[HJAH]

From previous records, it is possible to get accepted with only one LOA. But my question is "Are you willing to take a gamble?". Because ultimately I believe, it is not a matter of at which university you will be accepted but rather whether or not you get the MEXT scholarship . My advise is for you to list at least two universities in your placement preference form

what is the chance of being placed at my first choice ( it is a national university)?
The problem is that the whole second screening process seems vague to me. Why the university would refuse me while getting accepted by the professor and the LOA is signed by the chair or the department?

 

[lesychawz]

what is the chance of being placed at my first choice ( it is a national university)?
The problem is that the whole second screening process seems vague to me. Why the university would refuse me while getting accepted by the professor and the LOA is signed by the chair or the department?

The chances of you getting placed at a national university are very high. Previous records show that almost everyone who listed a national university as a first choice got placed there. But I believe that there is still a reason why MEXT requires you to list three universities. For example if you list a national university like the university of Tokyo chances are that a lot of MEXT grantees also applied to that same university. And considering that there are certain student quotas allocated at universities by MEXT, MEXT may decide to place you at your second choice.
If you are so sure of your university then just list that university. Because I believe that if your research is truly exceptional to such an extend hat MEXT cannot afford to deny you a scholarship then everything will go well. I wish you the best.

Gabatte Kudasai

 

[lesychawz]

what is the chance of being placed at my first choice ( it is a national university)?
The problem is that the whole second screening process seems vague to me. Why the university would refuse me while getting accepted by the professor and the LOA is signed by the chair or the department?

The chances of you getting placed at a national university are very high. Previous records show that almost everyone who listed a national university as a first choice got placed there. But I believe that there is still a reason why MEXT requires you to list three universities. For example if you list a national university like the university of Tokyo chances are that a lot of MEXT grantees also applied to that same university. And considering that there are certain student quotas allocated at universities by MEXT, MEXT may decide to place you at your second choice.
If you are so sure of your university then just list that university. Because I believe that if your research is truly exceptional to such an extend hat MEXT cannot afford to deny you a scholarship then everything will go well. I wish you the best.

Gabatte Kudasai

 

[rss]

To those who received LoA's from Waseda - did they let you know by e-mailfirst to confirm address where to send the letter or just did they just send it without any prior verifications?

 

[Kiraboshii]

To those who received LoA's from Waseda - did they let you know by e-mailfirst to confirm address where to send the letter or just did they just send it without any prior verifications?

I haven't heard any direct yes/no as to whether I've been accepted yet, but I have been speaking to the office and they said they'd give me the tracking info for any potential LOA via email.

 

[Frida]

To those who received LoA's from Waseda - did they let you know by e-mailfirst to confirm address where to send the letter or just did they just send it without any prior verifications?

I didn't receive anything in between me sending the documents and they sending me a tracking number.

 

[rss]

I haven't heard any direct yes/no as to whether I've been accepted yet, but I have been speaking to the office and they said they'd give me the tracking info for any potential LOA via email.

I didn't receive anything in between me sending the documents and they sending me a tracking number.

Thank you for response! Well I think, I'll quit waiting for their LoA and send other three, otherwise it will be to late.

 

[madphysicist]

I received my second LOA from Kobe so that's all for me since I'm not applying for a third.

Except not quite because I am changing my name so I have to give the embassy those documents too and a copy of my new passport which I don't have yet. Almost there...

Is it ok if I submit only one LOA, cuz I received two and I don't want to be placed in one of them. Please help!!!

Because ultimately I believe, it is not a matter of at which university you will be accepted but rather whether or not you get the MEXT scholarship .

I disagree. What's the point in having the scholarship for a university you don't want to go to? You can be proud you got the scholarship but then you'll be miserable for a couple of years. I think a lot of people don't look beyond "yay, I got to Japan!" But if you hate your course or the place you live or you don't get on with your supervisor then you won't be happy about it for long.

So as to whether you should give in the letter - would going to this university you don't want to be placed in actually be that disappointing to you? Do you think it would be worse to go there than not get the scholarship at all? If the answer is "yes", don't give it in.

 

[Kiraboshii]

Got an e-mail from Waseda today saying that my LOA results had been decided and they were sending them out tomorrow. Since I'm not personally receiving it, I'm really curious about what might be inside. Does anyone know if they send out rejection notices, or do they only send stuff to successful applicants?

 

[Kamiyan]

I don't think they would send a rejection notice, it would be a waste of time and money for everyone when they could just reject you by E-mail and be done with it.
And talking about Waseda, they confirmed the reception of my documents on the 22 of August but haven't received any email since then, Frida got her results two weeks after the reception of the documents, how was your case Kiraboshii?, just want to check so I can know if it is time to panic XD.

 

[MatsuJun]

Thanks for the informative post; I would like to ask something, how much time did it take from receiving the approval from your desired professor to getting the LOA? Did they scan it?

hmm.. I contacted the professor before reaching out to the MEXT office, so they didn't have to find a professor (which might have made it shorter). I submitted all the documents on the 4th of August and got a reply on the 29th. And yes, they scanned the document AND send it via mail to me. Hope it helps!

I don't think they would send a rejection notice, it would be a waste of time and money for everyone when they could just reject you by E-mail and be done with it.
And talking about Waseda, they confirmed the reception of my documents on the 22 of August but haven't received any email since then, Frida got her results two weeks after the reception of the documents, how was your case Kiraboshii?, just want to check so I can know if it is time to panic XD.

They received mine on the 25th and I also didn't hear anything from them. Perhaps they have more work now that everyone sent their request, so we will have to wait a bit longer.. don't be worried just yet
I do hope it arrives before the 15th (which is my embassy's deadline).

 

[Kiraboshii]

I don't think they would send a rejection notice, it would be a waste of time and money for everyone when they could just reject you by E-mail and be done with it.
And talking about Waseda, they confirmed the reception of my documents on the 22 of August but haven't received any email since then, Frida got her results two weeks after the reception of the documents, how was your case Kiraboshii?, just want to check so I can know if it is time to panic XD.

It would be a waste of time and money, but when I was clarifying things with Todai they asked me if I only wanted the letter sent to the embassy if I passed the application process, which implies they at least do send out some kind of rejection... I'm just super nervous about it all, haha!

I got confirmation of receipt on the 23rd August, and I think they started processing it on the 26th because they asked me to clarify something. The speed of the process might have more to do with the particular advisor/Graduate School than the office?

 

[hsark]

Is it ok if I submit only one LOA, cuz I received two and I don't want to be placed in one of them. Please help!!!

my Embassy said I only need to submit one, I only applied to 2 but the 2nd Prof. will only write me a LOA if I didn't get my first as my original research proposal is really specific to my first university........

 

[hsark]

by the way also call the Office as well some profs. seem to be quite forgetful(holiday, new semester) I`ve experienced this a bit and got the letter of acceptance the following day after the call....after I had waited the mandatory month

 

[dauntless]

Guys I have a problem.
Today I submitted my LoAs listing Rikkyo first, Hosei second and Doshisha third.
After I submitted them I got a message from Waseda University. They informed me they have sent the admission results by Nippon Courier Service and confirmed the Tracking number of it.
I am worried whether they sent me rejection mail.
However I called the Embassy and said I would like to change my choices of universities and add Waseda in the First place. Lady at the Embassy said that was ok and asked me to bring the LoAs and Placement Preference Form again on September 14, which is the last day of submission.
I have done this because I really want to study at Waseda.
Please help me guys! What do you think about Waseda 's result? Can it be rejection?

 

[dauntless]

Also, has anyone received Soft Copy of the LoA?
It is ok if I submit the soft copy of it until the original is delivered.

 

[dauntless]

I mean only from Waseda. Because other universities used to send me soft copy first, but Waseda is different.

 

[bononogram]

Guys I have a problem.
Today I submitted my LoAs listing Rikkyo first, Hosei second and Doshisha third.
After I submitted them I got a message from Waseda University. They informed me they have sent the admission results by Nippon Courier Service and confirmed the Tracking number of it.
I am worried whether they sent me rejection mail.
However I called the Embassy and said I would like to change my choices of universities and add Waseda in the First place. Lady at the Embassy said that was ok and asked me to bring the LoAs and Placement Preference Form again on September 14, which is the last day of submission.
I have done this because I really want to study at Waseda.
Please help me guys! What do you think about Waseda 's result? Can it be rejection?

Are they sending it to you? If it's a rejection, then why not just 're-submit' the list and letters as you already have. Use the 14th to sort of double check - if Waseda is a yes, put them in at the top. If they are a no, go with your original order.

Or is the problem that you can't find out whether they have accepted you or not. I feel like even if they are sending it STRAIGHT to the embassy, someone there who opened it could indicate to you the results. Otherwise you would waste a line on your 'list of three' and everyone involved would waste some time.

 

[dauntless]

Are they sending it to you? If it's a rejection, then why not just 're-submit' the list and letters as you already have. Use the 14th to sort of double check - if Waseda is a yes, put them in at the top. If they are a no, go with your original order.

Or is the problem that you can't find out whether they have accepted you or not. I feel like even if they are sending it STRAIGHT to the embassy, someone there who opened it could indicate to you the results. Otherwise you would waste a line on your 'list of three' and everyone involved would waste some time.

Good idea!
How about the soft copy? Do they ever send a soft copy?

 

[bononogram]

Good idea!
How about the soft copy? Do they ever send a soft copy?

Most of my school sent me a soft copy when they posted the hard copy. All hard copies were posted to me and I brought them into the embassy.

My schools included both national and private and all sent electronic and hard copies directly to me. Keio and Waseda seem the outliers in many categories, here - haha.