MEXT Research Scholarchip (what happens afterwards?)

[Frida]

Hi everyone,
I have some questions regarding the Research Student scholarship. I tried searching the forum but I couldn't find anything, at least remotely recent regarding some questions I have. I hope you guys can help me out:

1. For Research Students, the period of stay in Japan is 2 years. I have read that most people will take the Graduate entrance exam about 6 months after arriving in Japan. If I'm planning to become a regular student, is it mandatory to take the test that soon, or is it just the common doing?

2. What happens if you don't get accepted to the Graduate program? Can you try out again? Is the research scholarship term modified if you don't pass the entrance exam?

3. What happens to the research you were supposed to be doing at that time? Does it transform into your Master's tesis proposal?

4. For those who have taken entrance exams, do the Universities ask that hand in again all the documents? Or do they just keep the documents that the embasy send for that time?

Thank you for all your help! * 3*

 

[AmerikaJin5]

Hi everyone,
I have some questions regarding the Research Student scholarship. I tried searching the forum but I couldn't find anything, at least remotely recent regarding some questions I have. I hope you guys can help me out:

1. For Research Students, the period of stay in Japan is 2 years. I have read that most people will take the Graduate entrance exam about 6 months after arriving in Japan. If I'm planning to become a regular student, is it mandatory to take the test that soon, or is it just the common doing?

2. What happens if you don't get accepted to the Graduate program? Can you try out again? Is the research scholarship term modified if you don't pass the entrance exam?

3. What happens to the research you were supposed to be doing at that time? Does it transform into your Master's tesis proposal?

4. For those who have taken entrance exams, do the Universities ask that hand in again all the documents? Or do they just keep the documents that the embasy send for that time?

Thank you for all your help! * 3*

1. You can take it whenever your university offers the exam during the 2 yr scholarship. Most students take it in the first 6 months to (1) officially begin the graduate program, (2) leave more time to take it again if they don't pass, and (3) move to the higher stipend.
2. You can usually take the entrance exam again if you need to.
3. This depends on your advisor -- sometimes it could change into something else, but likely they would want you to continue the same project.
4. The exams can vary a lot between universities, especially between national and private. The professors at my 1st choice uni (private) said for me the PhD entrance exam will be an interview, just a formality because I will already get accepted. So it depends.

 

[Frida]

AmerikaJin5 thank you for the answers!!! * 3*
I just have one more question
For those of us whos Japanese is still not that good (I just took the N4 test on December), are the 6 months of language class enough to go and take clases at a Native's level?

Again, thank you for your help!

 

[AmerikaJin5]

AmerikaJin5 thank you for the answers!!! * 3*
I just have one more question
For those of us whos Japanese is still not that good (I just took the N4 test on December), are the 6 months of language class enough to go and take clases at a Native's level?

Again, thank you for your help!

I'm probably only barely at N5 level (if that), but I can say from talking to others that the 6 month language course is not enough to work on the native's level...but it will probably add enough to your knowledge that you can fight through the lectures with some help from others. I know some American students who took 2 yrs of Japanese language in undergrad and could barely get by in master's courses taught in Japanese while under MEXT scholarship. But don't let that scare you There is bound to be plenty of support and room to grow more once you are there.

 

[Frida]

Thank you again for your reply
I'm getting all excited just thinking about the possibility!