GOOD LUCK ALSO I LOVE UR PFP U SEEM SO COOOOLL!!Hi everyone, is there anyone applying for MEXT Japanese studies (Nikkensei) program? We had an exam at the embassy yesterday and i got an email today that i'll have an interview in 2 days
Thanks for sharing your experience. It will for sure help someone!Its me again. This thread is beyond dead but i'll post anyway, again - i want to leave as much info as possible for future applicants. I was talking with other applicants on reddit and it looks like selection process got stricter this year. Person from one european country told me that only one applicant passed this the first screening this year from their country when last year they took like 4 people with N4-N3 level.
As embassy later said, the reason for rejecting like 7 other applicants was the fact that they didnt meet the minimal exam passing grade. One more person from other european country failed their first screening even though they were the only applicant from their country (i dont know about the level but the person seemed knowledgeable in japanese). Anyways, an applicant from Turkey told me that 11 people passed the exam from their country (wow) but 2 (Including the person in question) were rejected after the interview, which is VERY, VERY rare. Now it might just be a coincidence that the only people that i found on the internet that also applied to this program were rejected under weird circumstances and in other countries the selection process goes the same as in previous years, but i just want to overthink because the wait is killing me.
To say honestly it really feels like they became stricter with how they select applicants. In my country there were 4 of us at the exam and me and other person who passed the first screening are around N2 level (though somehow i knew most of the N1 grammar that appeared on the exam) and the other 2 who failed seemed to be around N3 level or maybe below. Now, Nikkensei is a program for any japanese level above N4 and its possible in theory for someone to pass with N4 if competition isnt big in their country. At least it was like that. The conference is a craze in general, and you need to have amazing results to be able to compete with the best students.
Now even with lack of competition it looks like they want AT LEAST high N3-N2 perfomance at the exam. Why? Well idk. In my experience N3 is more than enough to attend language classes in Japan and live everyday life, so why deny people? My theory is that they either cut available slots or just dont bother accepting people with mediocre language knowledge. I would say that the slot cut theory seems more believable, but the amount of slots is a factor only on second screening, not the first one (unless MEXT told embassies to up their language requirements, which definitely could happen but its too much speculating), so i doubt it. And to add to that, MEXT drastically cutting slots is not unheard of, but is very rare.
Whats my conclusion? Idk, the less competition at second screening the better for me.
I've heard that interview is there to let people who decide whether to recommend you or not see your face and make sure that you are mentally sane and know what you are gonna do with your scholarship. If they decide that you are not interested enough/don't have any real plans for your life/don't know what you want to do in Japan/just a negative person, they will probably reject you no matter how well you did on the exam. I've heard about someone getting rejected after interview even though they were the only applicant and passed the exam, so i guess embassy decided that the applicant isn't the right fit for Japan even though their Japanese language is on a decent level. In my case i didn't stress much at the interview (at least not more than other people who shared their experience on the internet) and i think my answers and attitude didn't have any problems because a couple hours after the interview i got a call from the embassy and was asked to bring some documents (which is kinda an unofficial acceptance sign)The one thing not being mentioned here is when a person has negative personality 'issues' (not friendly enough, etc). I mean, that's part of why they have interviews, right? How often are people being rejected because of 'issues'? Being polite is HUGE in Japan. If I was an interviewer and someone was "not polite enough", I'd reject them right away.
Hi everyone, it's me again. It's been almost 2 months since my last post here and it's kinda sad to see that no one posted here hahaha
Hi, thank you for kind words. Unfortunately no, they didn't move anywhere, at least i can't really find any active group on the internet. Anything MEXT related is usually about graduate or undergraduate program, not Japanese Studies. Japanese studies related posts are either very old or have like 1-2 people replying to it. I made a couple of posts on the mext subreddit and only found like 5 people who applied to the program and only 2 of them passed the first screening and they are as clueless about the whole process as i am, so it's kinda hard ahahaha. Well at least yesterday someone told me that i should expect something by middle of june, so there's that at least.Yeah, our formerly active MEXT crowd has probably moved to a Facebook Group, Reddit, or whatever social media realm is popular these days. Thanks for updating this thread, and good luck with your results!
What is your ultimate goal in terms of studies/degree?Hi, thank you for kind words. Unfortunately no, they didn't move anywhere, at least i can't really find any active group on the internet. Anything MEXT related is usually about graduate or undergraduate program, not Japanese Studies. Japanese studies related posts are either very old or have like 1-2 people replying to it. I made a couple of posts on the mext subreddit and only found like 5 people who applied to the program and only 2 of them passed the first screening and they are as clueless about the whole process as i am, so it's kinda hard ahahaha. Well at least yesterday someone told me that i should expect something by middle of june, so there's that at least.
To be honest i'm not even sure myself, Japan wasn't even my main plan originally. (unrelated to the question) When i was graduating from high school my original plan was to go somewhere in Europe to study international relations. I studied hard for IELTS and similar exams and in the end got into KU Leuven (In Belgium i think?) but was denied by my parents for reasons i still don't understand. Anyways, i had to get into an university somewhere in my country and since it was entrance exam period when i was told that i can't go abroad, i didn't have much time to prepare and my result was mediocre at best. That's why my faculty choice at universities was pretty limited and i chose the one related to Japan, mostly because i had some knowledge of japanese language from the middle school (wanted to move there but kinda gave up and chose europe) and my interest in Japan wasn't completely dead yet. I decided that i'll try Japan one more time and even went there as an exchange student for a year. I don't regret choosing Japan again, but i do greatly regret choosing the university i chose for many reasons, but i didn't really have a choice and it's too late to change universities.What is your ultimate goal in terms of studies/degree?
Puis-je avoir des informations sur la bourse MEXTHi everyone, is there anyone applying for MEXT Japanese studies (Nikkensei) program? We had an exam at the embassy yesterday and i got an email today that i'll have an interview in 2 days
Well, i chose 2 universities that i would like to be placed at. The first one is Saitama university and the second one is Tokyo university of foreign studies (or something like that). I think (and hope) that i will be placed at Saitama, their requirements are pretty light and not many people apply so there is no competitionCongratulations! I'm curious to know which uni picked you.