MEXT Scholarship for Postgraduate 2011: General Discussions.

[ykk]

Never too soon to start this topic!
Even though there's plenty of useful information around the forum let's gather here all 2011's applicants!
This is my 3rd time applying for the scholarship. Graphic design is my field.
I think I'm going to change the subject of my research this year :? maybe I'll be luckier in that way.
Don't forget to visit MEXT Scholarship for Postgraduate 2010: General Discussions.
and Monbukagakusho Scholarship for Postgraduate!!
Those two topics saved my life and gave me a lot of confidence through the selection process.

 

[ekoy]

Hey ykk! It's nice to see you again! Good luck in your application, and third time's a charm?

 

[qwie]

hi all!!

i'm new member here and interested to apply fo MEXT scholarship.
however, i've an enquiry before applying for this scholarship.
could you guys pls answer if u all know - just wanna know whether MEXT scholarship is only for student who interested to do research or it can also be applied for coursework study?

 

[hjordis]

Oh, are we starting it already? I should start one for undergrad, but I don't know how well it'll do. There don't seem to be many undergrad applicants here.

 

[Scalemx]

YKK, do you have any idea about why you didn't get the scholarship?
I admire your courage to go for it a third time, but that would also mean that you have something new to add that you didn't have last time you applied. Changing your research plan might be a good idea, if that was the reason you didn't succeed last times.
Kyushu university has a while back absorbed a design school and now has quite an extended faculty of design. If you are willing to study there, I'm sure you can find a professor there, I think. http://www.kyushu-id.ac.jp/kyushu-u/english/
I wonder do you speak any Japanese? I'm quite sure if the people at the embassy see that your Japanese has suddenly improved, they will know that you are really trying hard to get there and not just applying again because of 'you never know'.

could you guys please answer if u all know - just want to know whether the MEXT scholarship is only for students who are interested to do research or can we also be apply for coursework study?

This is a scholarship for research students/postgraduate studies. Usually when you get this scholarship you become a research student. After 6 months/1 year/2 years you can choose (pass entrance exams) to either study a master's course or in case you already did a master's course, a doctorate course. You can start the master's or doctorate course right away if this suits you better. Usually both a master's course and a doctorate will require you to write a thesis/dissertation. Depending on your field of study and the professor who is supervising you, you may learn more or research more yourself, but a certain amount of research will usually be necessary. If you would give more information about what field you are planning to go into, it will be easier to give a clear answer.

 

[Ajay]

Good Luck folks! I have a small proposal for the people from 2009-2010 timeframe, Once we are done with this whole MEXT business and have joined some univ in Japan, I propose that we should post as much as of our application stuff here as possible. I for one can post my research proposal and few more docs, of-course while removing the personally identifying information from them. It may or may not be possible for everyone to post their research docs, but if it is, then it will be very helpful. For me, most probably I will be working on something different so, I don't have any issues in sharing that document.

 

[Scalemx]

Ajay, while I admire your altruism, I will not post any of those things online. You can do whatever pleases you, though. Here is my reason why I will refrain from sharing that info from my side.

The selection procedure is meant to select people based on their skills. This means being able to fill out forms correctly, be on time for appointments, be correct in handling contact with an official office (the embassy). Furthermore they want to make sure your academic skills are trustworthy and if you are able to write and compose a research plan. They also want to test your language skills and how well you do in an exam. Finally they want to find out if you are a presentable person and how well you can defend your research proposal and how well you can answer questions and how you appear to people.

The application process for this scholarship is nothing compared to what difficulties you will encounter while in Japan. Filling out forms, contacting people, asking for help, being on time all the time. You will need your academic skills to do well in Japan; your professor might ask you to write a rapport and you will need your writing skill. You will encounter people who don't understand or appreciate your research and you will have to persuade them or explain to them the value of what you are planning to do. In short: you will have to put into practice everything that the embassy tested you on.

This means that it is important to know the hardships of trying to find out how to fill out documents that are vague. I think rather than having a certain idea of what an application looks like, they will just consider the documents and look if you have been thorough in filling them out and if they have a certain structure in them. Wearing a suit on the interview will profile you differently than if you are wearing jeans. Neither will immediately disqualify you, but if you wear a suit, you should act accordingly. If you don't wear any fancy clothes you will give the message that your research is the only thing important. You only advertise your research and not yourself. (this will most likely result in lots of questions about the research and if you can do the research well) With a suit, however, you also want to show them that you are also the person for the job. (There will come also questions about why you want to go to Japan, what qualifications you have and so on.)

Rather than trying to find the holy grail by asking what other people did and how they did it, will only result in you having documents that are not advocating yourself. As a result on the interview, you will have a hard time to explain everything. This is why I find that it is important to administer advice to your case, rather than shaping your case around the advice of others.

 

[ykk]

thanks for the replies! I was Off on holidays

Thank you for your interest! I'll check that site you posted. Everything helps.

 

[Scalemx]

YKK, thank you for posting the whole story.

You are really determined. (this is a good point) From what I hear the reason they didn't give you this scholarship is because of the fear that you may have trouble in Japan, because your plan was directed at an education and business, rather than academic research. My suggestions (note that they are suggestions) are:
-Search for a university professor and persuade the professor of your research plan. If he/she is willing to vouch for you and support you even before you get the scholarship, your application will sound much stronger. They are not saying 'no' to you, but also to the professor who already said yes to you, which makes it harder for them to reject you. Searching the professor before you pass the embassy selection can be hard, but if you succeed in doing this, this also means that your research proposal is strong. If you can't find a supervisor, maybe you have to ask yourself the question if your research proposal is strong enough or not.
-You want to study in Japan, which is admirable, but doesn't mean that they have to give you money to do so. If they get the feeling you are more excited about going to Japan than you are about doing this research, they might have doubts.
-Take a long time writing your research proposal. Depending on which field you are studying in, there will be big names. It can be Tadao Ando for architecture, Saussure for linguistics, Keynes for Economy, Nishida Kitaro for philosophy and so on. If you can compare to or base your research proposal on certain big names, it will have much more weight. This does mean you will have to read books by these people and know them well, but isn't that the only way to get more academic?

I will probably send you a private message soon with more detailed info, if I find the time.

 

[infokill]

Great story YKK, i wish you the best of luck this year.
I`m also in a similar feild. I`m going for Media design.

Scalemx, great advice. Its hard to get a hold of those professors. How would you suggest doing so? WOuld you happen to know any famous Japanese designers in my feild to look up?

What level of Japanese would you say the test is YKK? comparing it to the JPLT 1-4.

 

[Scalemx]

Infokill:
If you study media design:
think Sony/Nintendo/Canon/Toshiba/... They all have designers who work for them. Try to find some of those. See which one of those fit most your style and so on. Your examples don't necessary have to be Japanese people. You can google them, but reading some design magazines might also be handy. This is your field, try to get good at it.

Getting hold of professors is not easy. First you look up a professor who is teaching in your field. After that you have to e-mail him. Most likely he doesn't know English very well, so be sure to include Japanese in the first line. Then you tell him that it's important for you to get his support before the interview and you baffle him with your research. This means you have to be good. For design you can probably do this by attaching pictures of previous designs you made and by telling which style you usually prefer and so on. Alternatively, you can ask your current university professor(s) for help.

The test I took (the same one as YKK) had 20 texts in one hour. You get 3 minutes to one text and answer the question. I think it was about JLPT 2 level (about 5 texts 2,5 level about 10 texts 2 level and 5 texts 1,5 level). Compared to the tests of the previous years, this one was much harder for everyone, except for maybe Chinese/Korean people who know all necessary kanji. The previous year's test had all sorts of different exercises, half of them JLPT3 and half of them JLPT2.

 

[tiko]

Monbukagakusho Preparation Guide

Hello everyone!
I'm so anxious/nervous to start the 2011 selection process. I've been trying to prepare myself for this since I entered college. I'm about to graduate majoring in Computer Science IT with a minor in Business Administration. I'm hoping I can pursue a Masters program in something related to MIS, e-business, e-commerce from a top Japanese University.
I'm going step by step and my major concern now is passing the English test (English is not my fist language). In my country Costa Rica everyone applying for the scholarship takes the exam and then they will call for an interview only those that pass the exam.
Any recommendations on preparing for such examination? Anyone from Costa Rica applying or have applied?
I also heard there is preparation ebook guide, but it is not available in the website anymore. Did anyone manage to buy/get one?
Looking forward to your inputs,
Thanks

 

[ykk]

Hi tiko,
This page may help: www [dot] studyjapan [dot] go [dot] jp/en/toj/toj0308e.html
There you can find some English tests, but they haven't uploaded last year's (yet).

The selection process in Argentina very is similar, but we stay @the embassy until the results are out, and that very same day we have the interview (I'm kind of an expert, I've done the whole process TWICE already )

My recommendations: Study English, a lot if you aren't very confident. Read a lot too. Look carefully at the grammar rules. Do you speak Japanese? that might be a plus too.

You can PM me in spanish if you want to. I'm not very good at English as you can see

Cheers!

 

[tiko]

ykk-
Thanks for the info che...I'll PM u soon...

 

[tiko]

Hey ykk,
This forum wont let me send more than 2 PMs....it say I have to wait 1440 minutes (24 hours). So, I'll send u my email whenever I'm allow to do so again.
Thanks

 

[clipvain]

I'm thinking if I should go for it again this year, since we were told MBAs are generally not favoured, at least in my country =|

 

[ykk]

go for it! you've got nothing to lose...

 

[clipvain]

ykk: yeah thanks, you're right! and it would be good to start preparing earlier!

 

[willtwr]

During the procedure, I have to get the letter of acceptance from the university, right?
May I know how do I apply for Master in University? (My target is Tokyo University, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies)
Do I have to go to Japan for interview or other procedure to apply the Master course?

 

[neonfish]

The university must agree to accept you as a research student only.

 

[gcarmelino]

I think I will join here guys, cos i failed this year selection ... again. I guess I ll apply the 4th time charm to get the scholarship. I have to do it this year....wish me luck ! bye

 

[ekoy]

@clipvain : Gambatte kudasai!

@willtwr : You will only need to get the letter of acceptance (LoA) after you have passed the English/Japanese exam and interview. No, you don't need to go to Japan for the interview. Lastly, there are courses where they would directly admit you in to a regular Masters course without going through the research period. I'd suggest that you check with the university first. Hope that helps!

@gcarmelino : Good luck!!!

 

[ykk]

This week I'm starting my japanese lessons again.
I was thinking of practicing for this year Japanse test with texts form JLPT 2. Do you remember how was last year's level? I remember it was quite hard, but can't recall the difficulty of kanji (not JLPT 4 or JLPT 3, that's for sure!)
Please post resources to start practicing for this year's exams, if you have any!

 

[clipvain]

i think last yr's paper was at least JLPT2 standard, if not higher..
there were just chunks and chunks of texts which most of the people just fumbled through... i

 

[akaitsume1]

Yeah, those questions were definitely JLPT level 2. I'd actually seen one of them before in practice tests for the level two. >_< A website called jlist.com is a good resource for study materials for the JLPT, so you should be able to find what you need there.

This is, of course, assuming they don't change the test again. I was told by my embassy that this test was a trial run. >_<