MEXT Scholarship 2016 (Research)

tolly · 6 Jul 2015

I started to get really anxious today. Like I can't wait anymore Haha I know my interview was awful (one of the guys was even sarcastic and at the end was like "enough, go now") but I still want them to tell me what I already know.
This definitely the worst part, the waiting!
I'm thankful to you guys, reading your personal experiences with this scholarship is interesting and helps with the waiting.

eiraku · 6 Jul 2015

tolly said:
I started to get really anxious today. Like I can't wait anymore Haha I know my interview was awful (one of the guys was even sarcastic and at the end was like "enough, go now") but I still want them to tell me what I already know.
This definitely the worst part, the waiting!
I'm thankful to you guys, reading your personal experiences with this scholarship is interesting and helps with the waiting.

Yep, the waiting game. Doesn't help that for some of us it would be more than a months wait for ANY news to come along regarding the Primary Screening.

But yeah, somebody summed it up best (from somewhere else in these forum): "Being unsure and anxious is an important part of the MEXT application process".

Really, even IF some of us would eventually pass the Primary Screening; the Secondary Screening and whatever that follows up to the official scholarship acceptance announcement in Jan-Feb next year would be more of the same lol: A long waiting game with little indication (or none at all) of whats going on - as with most other (non-corporate) scholarship applications lol.

Or at least that's what the net says. So yeah, grab a few hot drinks and some snacks to tide you over.

*opens popcorn*

That said, anybody else from anywhere who hasn't gone through the interviews yet?

foxfault · 6 Jul 2015

eiraku said:
That said, anybody else from anywhere who hasn't gone through the interviews yet?

I haven't yet. My interview is Wednesday. I'm pretty nervous!

bononogram · 6 Jul 2015

eiraku said:
Yep, the waiting game. Doesn't help that for some of us it would be more than a months wait for ANY news to come along regarding the Primary Screening.

But yeah, somebody summed it up best (from somewhere else in these forum): "Being unsure and anxious is an important part of the MEXT application process".

Really, even IF some of us would eventually pass the Primary Screening; the Secondary Screening and whatever that follows up to the official scholarship acceptance announcement in Jan-Feb next year would be more of the same lol: A long waiting game with little indication (or none at all) of whats going on - as with most other (non-corporate) scholarship applications lol.

Or at least that's what the net says. So yeah, grab a few hot drinks and some snacks to tide you over.

*opens popcorn*

That said, anybody else from anywhere who hasn't gone through the interviews yet?

foxfault said:
I haven't yet. My interview is Wednesday. I'm pretty nervous!

Mine is also Wednesday. Hold me.

eiraku · 6 Jul 2015

Good luck folks, and also for everyone else going for the interview soon.

If there's one advice I can tell you is to just keep calm and let your inner charm shine through. Getting nervous doesn't help really.

Trust me, anxiety - however slight - drills into your mind and whittles your answering ability to nothing, unfortunately.

TranSenz · 6 Jul 2015

@foxfault Good luck getting ready for that interview! I've seen some great interview prep posts from earlier in this thread, so hopefully that should give everyone here a leg up.
Regarding your question on multiple possible advising professors, I dealt mostly with science and engineering applications, so typically there was only one lab where an applicant's research would best fit. The Social Sciences graduate schools, on the other hand, were a lot looser. What I would suggest is to make sure each of your possible professors speaks English - have they published in English? Do they teach courses in English? - Then work out which one you would cite most often in a paper on your topic.
Put that professor as your first choice, then note in your email or cover letter to the university that if that professor is unavailable you would like to study under the other(s).

The social sciences schools were usually more flexible, and some wouldn't even assign an advisor until a student's second year.

@eiraku Thank you! I hope you get to make use of the guide .
I did see that some countries' primary screening results came out much earlier that others. I would start getting applications from some (Mexico sticks out in my mind) in early July, but wouldn't get other applicants until mid-to-late August. Maybe the late ones were only coming to me because they'd been turned down by other schools. For everyone out there, I would say just be prepared to send your applications as soon as the Primary Screening result comes out. The earlier you get them in, the better chance you have of getting a decision/Letter of Acceptance before professors leave for summer vacation in Aug/Sep.

shiro11 · 6 Jul 2015

foxfault said:
I haven't yet. My interview is Wednesday. I'm pretty nervous!

me
I haven't done the exams either :banghead: my embassy started too late their aplications ):

NumesSanguis · 6 Jul 2015

@TranSenz

TranSenz said:
MEXT Scholarship (Embassy) | TranSenz: Expat Living in Japan

Great guide you have there!
I committed the sin of

if you open up your communication with the university by contacting the wrong person (for example contacting professors directly)

, however in my case it turned out well as he even helped me to improve my research proposal for the 1st screening at the embassy.

I have a question relating to

The Embassy is going to tell you that you need a Letter of Acceptance from a professor, but that's not accurate. You need a Letter of Acceptance from the university that is signed by the professor. That means that you need to go through the administrative office that handles applications.

On the Kyoto University webpage for MEXT applicants: Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho:MEXT) Scholarship Students — KYOTO UNIVERSITY
They state the following:

If you pass the preliminary screening by the Japanese embassy/consulate in your country and require an acceptance letter from a member of our academic staff, please choose a prospective academic advisor through our official website. Details of our academic staff can be found on the following pages: "Activity Database on Education and Research (External Link)", and "Kyoto University Bulletin (External Link)". Prepare the following documents and send them to the prospective advisor. If the advisor's contact information is not available, please contact the administration office of the faculty or graduate school to which he or she belongs, mentioning the advisor's name.

Required Items (Not returnable):

Certification of preliminary selection issued by the relevant Japanese diplomatic mission

An official Letter of Acceptance (in the prescribed form)

Copies of the documents you have submitted to the Japanese diplomatic mission in your country.

Any additional documents required by the prospective advisor or administration office.

This seem to indicate that I actually have to contact the professor directly about this?
I wish to apply as research student for half a year at Kyoto University and then progress to the Master course.

Any insights on this?
Thanks in advance!

NumesSanguis · 6 Jul 2015

indojindesu said:
Hello! I'm planning to apply to kyoto and osaka unis! (i'm Indian tho xD )

Hey! Great you want to go to the same university
I've send you a message in private to talk about it more ^_^

foxfault · 7 Jul 2015

TranSenz said:
Regarding your question on multiple possible advising professors, I dealt mostly with science and engineering applications, so typically there was only one lab where an applicant's research would best fit. The Social Sciences graduate schools, on the other hand, were a lot looser. What I would suggest is to make sure each of your possible professors speaks English - have they published in English? Do they teach courses in English? - Then work out which one you would cite most often in a paper on your topic.
Put that professor as your first choice, then note in your email or cover letter to the university that if that professor is unavailable you would like to study under the other(s).

The social sciences schools were usually more flexible, and some wouldn't even assign an advisor until a student's second year.

Thank you so much for your response. You mentioned that the MEXT procedure might vary from university to university, so I looked up Keio's process and it looks like I get to designate two professor choices (1st and 2nd) on my MEXT materials I submit to them. That would make things much easier. Granted, this might mean nothing if my interview goes poorly... lol.

Thanks again for all your help. You're a godsend!

GAugust · 7 Jul 2015

This seem to indicate that I actually have to contact the professor directly about this?
I wish to apply as research student for half a year at Kyoto University and then progress to the Master course.

This also seems the case with some other universities. Actually, i think contacting the professor directly is better and saves a lot of time.

Thanks

vegeta · 7 Jul 2015

Hi,

In my country (Jordan), they mailed me for the written exams which will be held in 13 of June.

1- Will it be only Japanese and English language? I am a "research student" and chose "until completion of master degree".

2- I don't know Japanese now, so I will hand the test empty. How about that?

3- What is the difficulty of the English test? I am good in English.

4- What is the required mark to achieve in the English test? 50%?

5- Will the English test result be a factor to chose between candidates? like sorting them by their marks and so on...?

6- IMPORTANT: They didn't tell me about the interview! Will it happen at the same time?!

thanks friends, I will write a full reply for all of you when I finish the exam/interview... So be sure to help me with these questions, especially those who took the exam/interview.

bononogram · 7 Jul 2015

vegeta said:
Hi,

In my country (Jordan), they mailed me for the written exams which will be held in 13 of June.

1- Will it be only Japanese and English language? I am a "research student" and chose "until completion of master degree".

2- I don't know Japanese now, so I will hand the test empty. How about that?

3- What is the difficulty of the English test? I am good in English.

4- What is the required mark to achieve in the English test? 50%?

5- Will the English test result be a factor to chose between candidates? like sorting them by their marks and so on...?

6- IMPORTANT: They didn't tell me about the interview! Will it happen at the same time?!

thanks friends, I will write a full reply for all of you when I finish the exam/interview... So be sure to help me with these questions, especially those who took the exam/interview.

In many parts of the world the consulates/embassies do exams first before inviting for interviews. This might be the case in Jordan. Good luck with your exam.

AmerikaJin5 · 7 Jul 2015

TranSenz said:
@foxfault
Regarding your question on multiple possible advising professors, I dealt mostly with science and engineering applications, so typically there was only one lab where an applicant's research would best fit. The Social Sciences graduate schools, on the other hand, were a lot looser. What I would suggest is to make sure each of your possible professors speaks English - have they published in English? Do they teach courses in English? - Then work out which one you would cite most often in a paper on your topic.
Put that professor as your first choice, then note in your email or cover letter to the university that if that professor is unavailable you would like to study under the other(s).

Excellent advice, @TranSenz ! I took that same approach when seeking out doctoral positions (at various universities in Japan and around the world).
In my case, I contacted several professors about joining their labs long before I ever heard of the MEXT scholarship...so they suggested I apply for it and they helped me with the proposal and other things. (I got the MEXT 2015 scholarship through embassy recommendation.)
I got placed at my 2nd choice, but I'm still in very close contact with the 1st/3rd choice professors and we plan to collaborate over the next few years (not to mention, going out for drinks! ) so it all works out in the end.

Good luck to everyone waiting! 頑張ってね!

GAugust · 7 Jul 2015

@vegta

1- Will it be only Japanese and English language? I am a "research student" and chose "until completion of master degree".

For research students is going to be Japanese and English Exams.

2- I don't know Japanese now, so I will hand the test empty. How about that?

At this case, you can just write your name since you will go through 6 month intensive course if you got accepted as a MEXT scholar. Note that it is important to know Japanese Language if your studying program is in Japanese.

3- What is the difficulty of the English test? I am good in English.

You can download previous English exams from study in Japan website, some members on this forum have posted 2012 and 2013 samples, check them out to know how is it going to be.

4- What is the required mark to achieve in the English test? 50%?

This will depend on the embassy, some set 70 as a success mark and some set 50.

5- Will the English test result be a factor to chose between candidates? like sorting them by their marks and so on...?

Through English test, they are trying to reduce the number of applicants and determine those who will be interviewed. So, yes it is going to be an important factor.

6- IMPORTANT: They didn't tell me about the interview! Will it happen at the same time?!

The interview is usually after the exams. May be you should check the embassy website, they could have posted a selection schedule or some thing.

Best wishes.

TranSenz · 7 Jul 2015

A few people have mentioned contacting the professors directly as a good course of action, so I should clarify what I meant. Contacting professors directly is great if you can swing it. Especially in he way that @AmerikaJin5 did: contacting them regarding interest in their research long before you begin the MEXT application process. That's good sense networking and it's going to give you a huge leg up when you apply. I absolutely recommend that as a long-term strategy.

What I meant was that contacting professors directly when you need your paperwork processed in a hurry is not a good idea. This time of year is final exams for the spring semester and summer break, so they're probably going to be busy and distracted. Not all professors are going to know what to do with a MEXT application, but all administrative offices will, so the admin office is the safer choice, IMO.

@NumesSanguis - I checked a few of the records on the links you included and I couldn't locate any direct contact information for professors (granted, I did not do a comprehensive search). A few of them had their school's administrative office listed as their contact address. Clearly you got in touch with a professor directly (and congrats for getting help on your research proposal! Sounds like you found a great professor.), but I could not find one.
If Kyoto University is telling you to contact the professor directly or their administrative office (and not listing the professor's address), they're basically making sure that you have a specific advisor in mind before you apply and, hopefully, write that professor's name on the package. That helps the university, because they don't have to go back and figure out which professor you wanted, and also makes sure the paperwork gets to someone who knows what to do with it

But I will repeat my caveat: Every university is going to have their own way of doing this, so make sure you research their website

kishimi8 · 7 Jul 2015

Sam

eiraku said:
Yep, the waiting game. Doesn't help that for some of us it would be more than a months wait for ANY news to come along regarding the Primary Screening.

But yeah, somebody summed it up best (from somewhere else in these forum): "Being unsure and anxious is an important part of the MEXT application process".

Really, even IF some of us would eventually pass the Primary Screening; the Secondary Screening and whatever that follows up to the official scholarship acceptance announcement in Jan-Feb next year would be more of the same lol: A long waiting game with little indication (or none at all) of whats going on - as with most other (non-corporate) scholarship applications lol.

Or at least that's what the net says. So yeah, grab a few hot drinks and some snacks to tide you over.

*opens popcorn*

That said, anybody else from anywhere who hasn't gone through the interviews yet?

R here yet to do the interview, nor has anyone been invited yet. Jp embassy in nigeria seem to be operating on okinawa time

kishimi8 · 7 Jul 2015

TranSenz said:
Hey all,
I used to work at a private university in Japan processing MEXT applications (Embassy and University). I can't really talk about the Embassy interview phase, which is where it sounds like most posters here are, but once you pass the Primary Screening, I've written up a guide based on my experience at the receiving end, for what it's worth:
MEXT Scholarship (Embassy) | TranSenz: Expat Living in Japan
I see from some of the posts here that a lot of you had to submit your university and professor choices ahead of time, a requirement that varies from country to country, but I wanted to chime in on the discussion about private university placement on the previous page. I was at a large, private university away from Tokyo and about 20% of the students we issued letters of acceptance to ended up coming to us. Almost all of our applicants had us as first or second choice. 30% MEXT scholars being placed in private universities is a pretty small number if it's true, since about 80% of universities here are private, but it is possible.

For the university application process, we wouldn't talk to applicants until after they had passed the primary screening. As hard as everyone's working for the Embassy screening though, keep in mind that none of that carries through. There's no communication between embassies and universities so when you hit the university, you're starting from scratch again and the Research Proposal is everything.
I don't handle applications anymore (so there's no conflict of interest), but I'd be happy to answer follow-up questions on the blog post above (sorry, but I don't think I'm going to be able to keep pace with this thread).
Anyhow, best of luck to everyone!

Read through your guide, I must say I saw a lot of mistakes I made, now I'm feeling sad as I've submitted my application already.. thanks the guide was informative.

bononogram · 7 Jul 2015

To those who already wrote the exam: Was it a mixture of fill in the blank/multiple choice, or was it ALL reading comprehension?

The difference between the publicly available 2009/10 exams in quite stark. I wonder how they are this year.

EDIT: @indojindesu , thanks for posting your info about the exam a week ago.

Anyone got anything different?

tolly · 7 Jul 2015

hojoojoheasy said:
To those who already wrote the exam: Was it a mixture of fill in the blank/multiple choice, or was it ALL reading comprehension?

The difference between the publicly available 2009/10 exams in quite stark. I wonder how they are this year.

EDIT: @indojindesu , thanks for posting your info about the exam a week ago.

Anyone got anything different?

They were super easy, , like the ones from 2008 or 2007. Fill the blank, find the mistakes and reading comprehension. All multiple choice.

vegeta · 7 Jul 2015

tolly said:
They were super easy, , like the ones from 2008 or 2007. Fill the blank, find the mistakes and reading comprehension. All multiple choice.

OK, so one can get 90% easily? I saw the 2009 exam and it had a hard question which is the one having 4 underlined sentences within a paragraph and you must pick the wrong one. It is not very hard but confusing.

Was your test the same? AND, did they interview you at that day?

bononogram · 7 Jul 2015

As a Canadian， I am mostly concerned about the Japanese exams．．．
Wishing you guys well on the English on to though！
がんばろう！

tolly · 7 Jul 2015

vegeta said:
OK, so one can get 90% easily? I saw the 2009 exam and it had a hard question which is the one having 4 underlined sentences within a paragraph and you must pick the wrong one. It is not very hard but confusing.

Was your test the same? AND, did they interview you at that day?

Yes, my test was like that one. And that was the most difficult part. I'm not sure about my score because I didnt ask but in my country the passing score is 70 and most of the people who passed got 85-90. So I guess its possible to get 90 easily. The guy from the embassy said the exam was way easier compared to the last couple of years.
Yes, I had the interview the same day.

vegeta · 8 Jul 2015

tolly said:
Yes, my test was like that one. And that was the most difficult part. I'm not sure about my score because I didnt ask but in my country the passing score is 70 and most of the people who passed got 85-90. So I guess its possible to get 90 easily. The guy from the embassy said the exam was way easier compared to the last couple of years.
Yes, I had the interview the same day.

Hmm so that question did exist! I am good in English (not my mother tongue) but I haven't practiced for a long time.

What is the duration of the test? how much did it take for you to complete it? is there any time for revising and stuff?

So the interview came after the test immediately? I expected this. how long did it took? can you please tell us about it and how did it went?

I ask a lot because I've done lots of efforts during preparing the research topic and choosing professors and contacting them... xD

My dream is to live and work in Japan so studying there is the first step towards that.

tolly · 8 Jul 2015

vegeta said:
Hmm so that question did exist! I am good in English (not my mother tongue) but I haven't practiced for a long time.

What is the duration of the test? how much did it take for you to complete it? is there any time for revising and stuff?

So the interview came after the test immediately? I expected this. how long did it took? can you please tell us about it and how did it went?

I ask a lot because I've done lots of efforts during preparing the research topic and choosing professors and contacting them... xD

My dream is to live and work in Japan so studying there is the first step towards that.

Ypu will probably have time to revise. They give you 60 min and it took me 50 to complete everything but im also very slow so dont take me into consideration.
First they went through the tests and then the interview. remember, the tests are part of the screening.
Im not sure, it depends on country to country, mine lasted 15 min.
They didnt know too much about my proposal so they said it was interesting and only asked questions related to why japan, my previous japanese knowledge and if i was ready to give up my job for this opportunity.

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