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How much do grades influence the chances of taking a scholarship?

darkhriss

Cristina
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Hello! I plan to apply for the research student scholarship in 1-2 years. The problem is that my grades were a bit low in the third university year ( I had quite a few Cs and Ds >< ). Now I am a bit scared because on the embassy website it's written that one of the requirements is "to have excellent grades during university". So how much influence do the grades have? And what does excellent means? Which would be the lowest acceptable grade?

I'm not worried about the japanese exam because I plan to study like a freak until then. And I also took the japanese studies scholarship 2 years ago, which might also be a good recommendation. It's just the university grades that kinda suck...and I'm really worried.

I'd be grateful to hear your opinions!
 
Please, isn't there someone who can help me with an answer?

I'm thinking of freezing the year so I could repeat it and get better grades if they really matter for the scholarship...because going back to Japan means everything to me. My family is going to kill me if I do this because we already paid the yearly fee which is huge, but I'm willing to do it if the scholarship depends on it.

I sent a mail to the embassy asking about this but they're ignoring me. Nobody is replying on any forum. I can't just freeze the year and go into a fight with my family without knowing any information about this. I'm begging you...somebody has to know something!
 
University websites mention their minimum GPA per university (some state that the minimum GPA for MEXT is 2.3 on the Japanese scale, Kyuushuu states somewhere that they don't take anything below 3) but generally there is little to no information. When I called asking them if my 7.8 grade was enough they said that it is, but basically, they don't know anything either. Very confusing.
 
Haha, you're from Romania as well? Maybe we know each other!

I called too and they said my grades need to be over 8, but I can have lower grades as well. Anyway, I managed to retake some exams and my grades are better now so I stopped panicking.
 
Hi. I'm a foreign junior high school student in Japan, and I am trying to get in at Tokyo Metropolitan Kokusai high school next year, but I heard that getting in won't be easy, so I'm here to ask for help. Could you critic my essays based on the school's questions for the last decade at worldsunknown.wordpress.com and give me some honest advice and all that? Help would be deeply appreciated and I'll be forever grateful. I just really need to get in at this school since I gave up all my other school options to be able to take an exam here. Please, please, anything that could make my writing and thinking better and good enough to get in. Thank you.
 
Hi Ami .

I deleted your other 3 posts as duplicates. You only need to post in one place here for everyone to see it. Hopefully you will get some good answers and help over the next few days. Some members only get on during the weekend so be patient while waiting for answers and help.
Most of our members here are older and talk about college , not high school , but you still might get some helpful answers.

Uncle Frank
 
Last edited:
Your answer to the question about learning Japanese doesn't get to the point until halfway through. Tighten that up. And even after you start, you don't give more than superficial answers.

"a better junior high school life, "
"a better future for me, "

I want to be as competent as them, (no reason why)
being able to do all the things they could, (no reason why this is important)
and having the same rights and privileges as they do. (nothing to do with learning the language, really)
 
I had pretty bad grades in my third year as well, though I made it up during my last year with a bunch of As and Bs. My overall GPA (I think, we don't use GPAs in Canada) was below 2.3 but I still got in and got accepted to Todai. So grades aren't everything, but you do need something to make up for it. I had lots of undergrad research experience and I got my low grades in a tough engineering program.
 
I am worried about this a lot as well. But let me tell you, i still applied for the scholarship. I do have a big advantage with my Japanese, but a big disadvantage with my grades.
I am still waiting for the result, but i got through the embassy screening. I did quite well on the Japanese test and i got first for the interviews compared with the other candidates.
I do believe my motivation is really clear, i was able to express myself well during the interview and i think my Japanese also helped me out a lot during the interview.

Conclusion: try. You never know. I got through the first selection...but yes, this whole 'you must have good grades' thinking freaks me out.
 
Embassy Scholarships


Embassy scholarships are among the most competitive scholarships for coming to Japan because they offer a tuition wavier, point to point return airfare, and a living stipend (currently 144,000 JPY per month). On a GPA scale of 4 you probably need 3.5 minimum, and the top graduates in each country get these. (Many universities set a minimum GPA in lieu of taking the graduate school entrance exam - that is usually around 3.2 on a 4 point scale.)

I am sorry to say that with C's and D's your chances are not very good of getting an embassy scholarship.
 

My GPA is more than 3.5 I think. Thank you for the reply.
 
darkhriss said:
My GPA is more than 3.5 I think. Thank you for the reply.
Click to expand...

In Japan, it depends on the scholarship (now many JASSO ones are moving to a 3.0 scale), the 3.2 on a 4.0 scale is usually what grad programs set as the min for entrance for students that do not take the entrance exam for graduate school (normally only foreign students).


Usually on a 4.0 scale, (some universities use a different 4.0 scale)
S (over 90%, and very rarely awarded, often limited to the top 5% regards of the number of people over 90%) is 4.0
A (over 80%) is 3.0
B (over 70%) is 2.0
C (Over 60%) is 1.0

X (59 and below) is 0

So some Cs and Ds will hurt your GPA (D's if a conditional pass, are likely be called a 1.0)

On a 3.0 scale,

S and A (over 80% are 3
B (over 70%) is 2.0
C (Over 60%) is 1.0
X (59 and below) is 0

Hope this helps.

Good luck
 
I'd like to make sure people don't think they don't have a chance with a low GPA, as long as you have other redeeming factors in your application you can still make it. I have a GPA under 2.3 and I was still accepted into Todai.
 
Thanks for your comment. I am glad you were able to get accepted but I would suggest that your case is the exception to the norm. I am curious as to what program you got into (which faculty/which type of scholarship/how long) and if your GPA is on a 3.0 scale or 4.0 scale.

Cheers
 
Well I never wanted to say it was the norm, but from my discussions with other MEXT scholars here it's rare but certainly not completely exceptional and definitely warrants a serious try by anyone with lesser grades if they have something else to show for it.

I'm in the School of Information Science and Technology on a MEXT Embassy Recommended scholarship. I calculated that GPA using a 4.0 scale, my school doesn't give GPAs but average which was in the 70s.
 
i got the scholarship with a GPA of ~7.7/10 (2.25/3 Japanese GPA, 2.4ish/4 on the US system because they don't match well). I'm still worried about my MA admission, but so far everyone said that I shouldn't.
 
I think that is a good point. If your GPA system does not match up very well with the Japanese system, the admissions office of your particular university may have a lot of freedom as to how they interpret your GPA.

So I have to say that a low GPA doesn't mean that you're automatically out of the running, but your chances are much lower. Some schools have a 10% rule as well, that is if you're in the top 10% of your class even if your GPA is below a certain level you may get admitted to the school. However if you do not meet the minimum GPA requirement for jasso, as far as I know, you cannot get a jasso scholarship. Again, As far as I know, there is no exception to that
 
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