What's new

MEXT Japanese Studies 2017/2018

Have they informed you about the hour? Do you know how many candidates for the interview are?
 
Actually they didn't inform me about anything lol. All the information comes from my teachers. Maybe that's how they do it in Poland. It will start at 14:XX, I need to check it. And we will have around 15 candidates I believe.
 
So many. Good luck! There were only two of us at the interview. I have no idea if someone else came after or before.
 
That's good for you, your chances are higher ! I think there are so many people because we have 4 national universities and a few private ones with Japanese Studies.
 
It's strange that your teachers have to manage everything for you, that's why I asked you if you applied through Uni Recommendation haha. Anyway, good for you, but waow 15 it's a lot ! Do you know when you will know the results for the first screening? (For us it was one month later, but I know that in some countries it's just a few days later).
 
Hey guys!
I applied for the Japanese Studies Mext scholarship this year and turned in my application on the 17th of February. They recently emailed me and are having me come in for both the written test AND interview on the same day. I'm going to the consulate general of Japan in Denver.

Maybe because I'm travelling from Utah I'm doing them both in the same day but they said they were impressed with my application? So idk. Not nervous about going in but anxious for the answer of whether I will be recommended or not. I have no idea how many people applied or will get recommended.

The schools I chose were Kobe University, Doshisha, and Keio University.
 
Hi Daryk !

Another person applying to doshisha, what a surprise ! Concerning the fact that both the writting and oral will take place the same day, it happened in France last year, but it was not the case this year, I guess it's a matter of organization for them. I don't know if there is a link, but last year there were 70 people applying, while this year we were only 18, maybe if there are a lot of people everything takes place the same day? No idea.

Concerning your application, if they already told you they were impressed, you shouldn't get too worried then, that's cool. Maybe they told you they were impressed thanks to your grades, your JLPT level or your project? They wouldn't say such a thing randomly I guess.
 
Hi Daryk !

Another person applying to doshisha, what a surprise ! Concerning the fact that both the writting and oral will take place the same day, it happened in France last year, but it was not the case this year, I guess it's a matter of organization for them. I don't know if there is a link, but last year there were 70 people applying, while this year we were only 18, maybe if there are a lot of people everything takes place the same day? No idea.

Concerning your application, if they already told you they were impressed, you shouldn't get too worried then, that's cool. Maybe they told you they were impressed thanks to your grades, your JLPT level or your project? They wouldn't say such a thing randomly I guess.
I'll let you know what happens! I go in on March 7th.
 
I'm currently studying and planning on applying for the undergrad scholarship here. Does anyone know if an A- (3.67 GPA) is enough to qualify for testing? Thanks in advance
 
Hi ! The undergraduate scholarship is totally different from the Japanese Studies one, if I were you, I'd take a look at the Undergraduate Students thread, I think they will be able to help you.
 
Oaneyl, yeah I find it strange as well... As for the results, I have no idea. As you can see I am basically kept in the dark about most things ! Hopefully everything will become clear soon.
 
I already know that I passed the test, otherwise I wouldn't have been invited to the interview. The exam was on February 18th and the interview was on March 2nd. I thought that we would get the results by now, but I was wrong.
 
I already know that I passed the test, otherwise I wouldn't have been invited to the interview. The exam was on February 18th and the interview was on March 2nd. I thought that we would get the results by now, but I was wrong.
How hard was the test? I'm going to take it in a few hours :/
 
Alchie: Ah I see, it depends on the embassy but last year when we took the exams on 1st March, we got the results in early april. I think you will get your results during this month or maybe in early April, then.

Daryk: the test is basically split into three parts: beginner (N4-N3 level), intermediate (N3-N2 level), advanced (N2-N1 level). It's the same as a JLPT exam with grammar questions, vocabulary, some Keigo and reading. The only exception is that you will have to write some furigana and some kanji (45 if I remember well) but if you are learning Japanese for years, this part should be quite easy, the kanji part was not that challenging, the most difficult (according to me) is the grammar and the reading parts (because you have to do it quickly and some answers seem to be the same).

The most important part is the intermediate one as well, while you are not supposed to do a perfect score in the advanced one, but if you chose some high-ranked university, nailing this part could help you.
 
I also found some inside information (my boss has an acquaintance working for the embassy, I didn't even ask him for such information LOL) about how they select the candidates here. It's not known how many persons they can send to Japan, but for example if they send two persons, they choose the first two candidates who obtained the best marks in the written examination. Besides those two persons they may call other two persons as reserves, in case the first two candidates are mentally deranged or something. The interview is only to be sure that there are not such cases.
And I keep thinking about the interview and all. I didn't see any others than me and my colleague. And I thought of two cases. Either there are going to choose one of us. Or there are other candidates who might have been called in a different day or at a different hour the same day. (We were supposed to take the interview on the 24th, but we had to have the documents ready a day before the interview. And we had like three days to do so. It was basically impossible to do so. So they gave me and my colleague another week. If there had been any other candidates I don't know other information).So considering all of these things it's really hard not being anxious.
 
Last edited:
alchie,
That's a huge information bomb ! Really interesting stuff. I wonder if it's the same here in Poland. Probably most of it but who knows... Kind of unlucky for me if they decide the candidates by the scores of the written exam, I am sure that third year people had much better ones than me... Also now I will remember not to seem mentally deranged at the interview !
 
Waow you mean that only one person can get the scholarship in your country ? In mine even if we don't know exactly how they finally select the candidates after the first screening, we know that after the writing test, they select something like 1/4 or 1/3 of the applicants. The selected people must conduct the interview (in France it's always the same day or the next day). Concerning the documents, we have to send everything (even the health certificate) one week before the tests, that means that everybody, even those who won't be selected has to send its application fully completed.

As far as I know, everybody who took the interview got recommended. I have never heard such things as other people selected another day in case of problems or whatever (maybe because in France there are a lot of people applying each year...)

Anyway, I don't know if you know about the second screening. Did your boss tell you if the person who passed the first screening got selected for sure in the end (since there is only one person, if I understand well...) ? In France they tend to recommend way too much people for the first screening, so that means that in the end, a lot of people fail between the first and the second screening (last year 20 people recommended, 8 got the scholarship). Some years there are big surprises (two years ago 100% of the recommended got the scholarship, 22 people), but since now they restrict their budget, it won't happen.

Even if we are not sure, some teachers believe that they don't have any quota, each person is in competition against the other people all over the world, country A can get all its students recommended while country B can see all its students rejected, it seems to depend on the grade at the writing test, the quality of the interview, and if they are hesitating between some people who got the same results, the grades at school. I'm not sure though, but that's what we have been told, if somebody has heard something different, feel free to tell.
 
I guess the process is different for each country. I'm not saying that only one person gets sent, although there are many times when only one person makes it in the end (many who take the exam have a lower Japanese level and I think that there is a minimum passing grade).
I think that up until now there are around 1-3 persons per year who get sent with this type of scholarship. I don't know if there are other candidates, who knows. If that's the case if there are other two people before me who have a better mark, then I won't make it. I was the first one who took the interview (at 2 pm sharp) and after me came my colleague (the order was not alphabetical, so I guess it has to do with the marks obtained at the exam). Who knows.

@Orapsag: If you're a third year it doesn't necessary mean that you're better. There are many cases here of second year students who are better than those in their third year. It also matters how dedicated the student is.
 
Last edited:
Ah okay sorry, I misunderstood, I thought they were taking only one person, my bad !

Yeah for the order we encountered the same thing ! 8 people were called to conduct the interview, but the list wasn't in alphabetical order. I don't want to give false hope to you, but yes we had the same struggle and we drew the conclusion that it was from the best to the "worst", the best of the prom was the first on the list then the following people had good marks also. I was at the 5th rank out of 8, so if it's really a matter of grade I'm not that likely to nail it... However, the best were at the top of the list, but the schedules were decided randomly (someone better ranked than me had to take the interview after me and so on).

Anyway maybe it's just a matter of fate, but it's "fun" that we were not the only ones thinkin the same.
 
Yeah who knows. My boss also told me that the cases for someone not being sent because he or she is mentally deranged are extremely rare.
 
Hi, I think that you are getting the scholarships mixed up, as far as I know, we don't have to contact a professor in Japan for this scholarship. Are you sure you are not thinking about the Research Scholarship? Here it's the Japanese Studies scholarship, still undergraduate.
 
So I went in to the Consulate General of Japan in Denver two days ago. This covers only about 4 states, a population of 17 million people so really not a lot of people compared to the rest of America. There were only two of us to take the test and get interviewed. So, maybe good chances? We are waiting on the results now. Hopefully it goes well. The test was sort of hard... I did super well on the reading and grammar portions but not very well on the kanji writing. I never write kanji! Haha. The interview was conducted completely in Japanese for me. It lasted maybe a little over thirty minutes. Two Japanese men and an American Woman. It actually went very well (I think) and they were very easy to talk to. Questions about myself, my Japanese background, reason for wanting to study in Japan and what I will do with my education. Lots of fun!

I wish I knew how many people from America are where I'm at in the process and how many people in America get recommended/the scholarship.
 
Back
Top Bottom