chidori1404 said:
Describe articulately the research you wish to carry out in Japan, must include methodology, metric formula, data, graphic, chart, research plan with detailed milestones, etc.
This is strangely specific. It could be the case that the Japanese embassy in Vietnam has a very narrow view of the kind of Master's they want to fund, but ask yourself this: if they absolutely required all of these how would anyone win a scholarship in anything other than hard sciences? If the MBA courses are largely taught courses until the second year (or whatever the case it) say so, and lay it out to show you understand the course structure and how you will use that.
So, Japanese Embassy here categorized MEXT scholarship into 4 types: Research student (Master, Doctor), undergraduate student, college of technology student, specialized training college student.
2 other specialized types are Young Leader Program (I will talk about this later) and Japan study
For the first 4 types, I'm qualified for Research student only, because I'm overage for the rest.
There are a plenty of MEXT alumni in my country, however no one applied for business. They all studied sience, medicine, biology etc with very detailed research plan and they followed MEXT instruction of course. They made a topic and contacted professor, and if professor accept then they can be accepted for university too.
When they heard about my case that I have to apply by essay and graduate schools do not allow contact with professors before interview, they were surprised. Indeed, they could not help much since their procedure was different from mine.
I managed to find an alumni on this forum. He/she graduated from MBA program of
Kyoto U, and he/she made a research plan. But he/she seemed not to have to clarify many details as what Japanese embassy in my country requested.
At the same time, I heard that there are alumni with MEXT scholarship for MBA program at other schools such as Waseda, Hitotsubashi too. I couldn't find them to ask for experience though.
chidori1404 said:
This sounds like requirements for Master of Research to me... MBA is a taught program so normally they don't require something like this.
Basically all master's have a thesis element, that's what's being asked about. Yeah, the emphasis of an MBA is on the taught cause but whether you do an MBA at Harvard, LBS, or indeed Waseda (according to a glance at their website) will include a thesis that carries some significant weight.
This may differ a bit I think.
I applied to Hitotsubashi before. They stated that "Applicants who apply for MEXT through Embassy can not apply for MBA program. Only applicants who apply for MEXT through university can do this".
Students can choose 1 year program or 2 year one. For 1 year, they do not have research module. For 2nd year, they have optional routes: research, exchange, internship or double degree.
chidori1404 said:
I never found any paper about this topic before so I couldn't refer any data from other professors.
Having also successfully gotten through embassy screening for a research question where there's a gap in the literature I hope I can help here. I think part of the reason the embassies are so hot on references is that they are not subject matter experts and rely on the presence of references to 'prove' that what an applicant is suggesting is grounded in something real. The customs data is a great basis, but can you really not find any references to support the idea that Vietnam's potential as an exporter of FMCGs is an area of legitimate interest? What about [Goto, Kenta, Kaoru Natsuda, and John Thoburn. "Meeting the challenge of China: the Vietnamese garment industry in the post MFA era."
Global Networks 11.3 (2011): 355-379.] Seems like a great reference to say 'similar questions have been asked about other areas' as a justification. Then find references to justify why Vietnamese exports to Japan is an important area in general (even if it hasn't been answered). Find some references to justify why Japan would want more Vietnamese imports in sectors like FMCG.
Great, thanks! Maybe I focused too much on keyword FMCG, therefore I didn't notice relevant topic.
chidori1404 said:
And yes, I have to write when I apply to Waseda and Hitotsubashi (I had an offer from Waseda).
So previously you applied to Waseda via the university scholarship route? Or you got an offer, didn't take it up for financial reasons, and then tried to apply for a scholarship unsuccessfully via the embassy? Or does the scholarship application process work differently in Vietnam? (would hardly be a surprise lol)
Let me clarify here a little bit.
Thanks to alumni, I knew that MEXT is not the only way to come to Japan.
Some business schools, such as Hitotsubashi ICS, they award based on quality of application. Some people had scholarships with the same value as MEXT. For example, one alumni had 710 GMAT, and he was awarded INPEX full-ride scholarship in 2 years.
They advised me to apply asap, then I would know how much grant could be awarded for me. So, I just do it.
Last year, I couldn't finish GMAT on time with deadline of MEXT with uni so I just apply directly with Waseda (March 2021) and Hitotsubashi (Feb 2021) for school year 2021 - 2023.
Hitotsubashi rejected me but Waseda accepted. Unluckily that Waseda couldn't offer anything for me, but they encouraged me to join 1st semester first, then I could apply for other scholarship from various funds in Japan.
I looked forward to the acceptance of Hitotsubashi a lot because their tuition is reasonable but well. Waseda is super nice too, my former director graduated from there but the tuiton is just too much. So I'm so sad that I have to reject them this time.
The application for school year 2022 - 2024 will open in Aug 2021. So I consider to reapply, even I'm not qualified for MEXT but the sooner I apply, the more scholarships are available. Before, I applied for the 2nd of 2 rounds of Hitotsubashi, and the 4th of 5 rounds of Waseda, therefore the number of scholarship was not many at that time.
chidori1404 said:
1. Summary of undergraduate dissertation: Must include methodology, data, charts, graphic and conclusion
I presume that was no problem?
Yeah right, I can submit one copy of my dissertation too.
Embassy here prioritize people with publication on academic journals, but it's sad that I had nothing oops...
Lastly, talking about Young Leader Program I mentioned above. It is limited within a number of courses, each university will hold 1 course and Hitotsbashi offer 1 year MBA.
It's great for people who do not want to compete for MEXT with embassy/university but I wanted to apply for 2 year (I will change my career after graduation) so I ignored it