Same! One of my University is happy with pdfs. Its the other one which said they need a copy. I'l ask them again on monday if they need the original. Thanks!I don't believe you need to send it unless the university specifically asks for it. Kobe were happy with pdf copies of all my documents. It's always best to check what each university wants before sending out your only original copy!
(Also I sent my backelor's thesis out like 5 times in 24 hours because there were typos in it, these things happen lol)
Thanks a lot for the precious info! I did not know about the chance to change university, I guess it is not very common so I keep it as a last resort, I hope to enroll at a university with graduate schools that suit me properly.As some may have eluded to, you must take and pass the entrance exam within the first year of your scholarship. If you do not pass the exam then you may need to apply for another school (which may be difficult for you to do unless your advisor works closely with someone from another school, and you would need to contact the embassy about this), or go back to your home country. I don't think it is allowed to extend your stay and try the entrance exam again.
Don't freak out about taking the exam, you will meet a lot of people in your department and they can give you advice on how to study! Everyone that does MEXT scholarship through the embassy must do this so it should be doable. (although this is one of the big reasons why I decided to do university recommended).
Another thing happened when contacting professor: in one case, I contacted the professor but the International office replied instead, which means he forwarded the e-mail to the office. They asked me to send the documents right away to apply for a letter of acceptance, I do not understand why since in the university's mext page it is clearly stated that is better to contact the professor first.
Now I am not sure if sending the documents (e-mail) because in that case I would have to wait a long time to know the answer and I do know how many chances of being accepted I would have since I have no feedback from the professor :\
Thank you for your feedback! I am sending the stuff thenDear Minader, exactly the same happened to me at Kumamoto University this week. However, if the professor sent your request to the International Office that would mean a tacit approval of your application. Otherwise, he/she would have simply ignored your message.
Maybe your email arrived in a bad moment for the professor and he will reply later... Anyway, I submitted my documents to the International Office immediately. Good Luck !
Thank you for your feedback! I am sending the stuff then
Just a question if anyone might know: 16 MB in total for the documents would be too much? Better to send them one by one (one pdf for one document) or to group oll of them in an archive and then send?
Hi! I'm a third time applicant!I would like to address my question to those who won the scholrship from 2nd, 3rd,....attempts.
I was told that my 15 years education background was the problem. In India we have a 3 years bachelor's degree.1) What were the main reasons for failture to pass the screening?
Entered a Master's course. Maintained a good relation/contact with a professor in Japan. Wrote an acceptable Research proposal. Scored good marks in first year of the Master's degree. Passed JLPT N2.2) What you have done in the next application to increase your chances?
I feel the fact that I knew Japanese gave me an edge over the other applicants. Also I had very good reasons for selecting the Universities I wanted to go to. I had Researched a lot about those Universities. And of course, having approval from a professor helped. And I gave good reasons as to why I wish to Research/study in Japan.3) Finally, what were the main reasons that helped you to eventually get the scholrship?
Wow! Respect your perseverance!!I'm a third time applicant!
I see, in my case, I had decent proposal from my feeling, but I had no sufficient level of japanese as my topic was related to humanitarian and social sciences. Maybe this could be the problem? However, I mentioned that I found english-program where the professor was willing to work with me.EDIT: my Research proposal was kinda lame too. And my grades were okay-ish.
Maintained a good relation/contact with a professor in Japan. Wrote an acceptable Research proposal. Scored good marks in first year of the Master's degree. Passed JLPT N2.
I understand what you mean. Those are really good to know.I feel the fact that I knew Japanese gave me an edge over the other applicants. Also I had very good reasons for selecting the Universities I wanted to go to. I had Researched a lot about those Universities. And of course, having approval from a professor helped. And I gave good reasons as to why I wish to Research/study in Japan.
I suggest prepare your reasons for applying to Japan or a specific University. Most of the people have no idea about Japan. They apply because its a good Scholarship and dont bother to search or look up stuff about Japan.
I see, in my case, I had decent proposal from my feeling, but I had no sufficient level of japanese as my topic was related to humanitarian and social sciences. Maybe this could be the problem? However, I mentioned that I found english-program where the professor was willing to work with me.
I suggest prepare your reasons for applying to Japan or a specific University. Most of the people have no idea about Japan. They apply because its a good Scholarship and dont bother to search or look up stuff about Japan.
also, will we be notified by the university if our request for a letter of acceptance is rejected? Logic would suggests yes right...
On a side note, one professor seemed glad to be my advisor but he is abroad untill the end of August so there might be problems signing the letter of acceptance, unluckiness over nine thousandI hope things turns well at the end but I do not know how many chances I have, currently waiting for the International Office to get back to me by e-mai.
Now I am not sure if sending the documents (e-mail) because in that case I would have to wait a long time to know the answer and I do know how many chances of being accepted I would have since I have no feedback from the professor :\
In fact, I only e-mailed the professor about the research topic, giving him the PDF file of my Research Proposal. However, he forwarded the e-mail to the international office. By the way, one thing I forgot: if I have not misunderstood, the international office asked me to send to them AND also to the aforementioned professor all the necessary documents. Nothing difficult but I thought it was a bit strage because normally it is the internation staff handling the stuff, right?
Nice to hear! I hope they will let me know as fast as possible, so in case of rejection I can contact another university.Again, I can't speak for all universities, but yes, we certainly did that with all of our applicants.
Sorry, I forgot to write some details in that e-mail: even though what you say is true, my embassy told me that I have to send them the placement form AND LoAs altogether by the 12th of September! What is worse, they also told me that they want me to send hard copies of the LoAs. Therefore, if the professor is in German until the end of August, it is virtually certain that I won't make it within the deadline.MEXT's rules are that you have to contact the university before the end of August. They don't require that you get the LoA by then, so you should be OK. Where I worked, we would collect all of the applications in August, but almost none would get reviewed until September, because August is summer vacation and the screening committees weren't able to meet.
I am back for my daily question
It is about entering a doctoral/master course: if we decide to keep studying after the research, our advisor has to guide us until the end? What if he retires from work before we graduate? I am asking because one professor also told me his retire date when he replied (March 2022). Does that mean that we will need our advisor untill the end of our study, even if we become regular student?
Sorry, I forgot to write some details in that e-mail: even though what you say is true, my embassy told me that I have to send them the placement form AND LoAs altogether by the 12th of September! What is worse, they also told me that they want me to send hard copies of the LoAs. Therefore, if the professor is in German until the end of August, it is virtually certain that I won't make it within the deadline.
The professor was really kind to me saying that if the international office sends the documents to him, he will write the LoA and then send it to me as fast as possible, but 1. I contacted the international office for advise and I do not know whether they will be positive about it or not and 2. I would feel guilty towards the professor because he would have to send the documents himself while abroad for work. I am already causing problem to him and I am not even there (which would be my first choice anyway...). The other option suggested by the professor, is that he fills in the LoA and then send it in PDF format to the International Office, but I do not know if they will accept it, that would help a lot though...
This is really an essential information, thank you so much. Currently, I graduated from a three-year course from my home university and I was awarded with a bachelor's degree. If I enroll as a regular student I would have to do a master first and then Ph.D. So if this professor retires by March 2022 and if, hypothetically, I do one year of research + 2 master + 3 Ph.D (this is how it is supposed to work in his university), then I would be one year late I am afraid (2023).From my experience, if the professor plans on retiring soon he would not take in another student (if it means that he retires before the student can graduate) unless of exceptional circumstances or if he closely works with another professor (for you to go to next) or if you have a coadvisor in the school. In general a Ph.D student can not graduate without a research advisor's guidance. It is very common in the USA (not sure about Japan) for the research advisor to also be the person who decides when his student is fit to graduate (since you have to do a dissertation and your thesis and he knows if it is good enough for the professor's reviewing it to give you your degree). If you are a masters student that does not require research or a thesis, then it may not be necessary to have an advisor.
Yes, it was the professor the one suggesting this, however he also suggested that I should be the one contacting the International OfficeIf you professor suggested that he could fill out LoA and send it to the international office via email (but he wasn't sure if this was allowed), you should ask him to send the international office an email (maybe with you CC'd) about it. The international office should not be so strict about this if it is your professor asking about it especially since of this special circumstance.
If this is your idea and he did not suggest it, I recommend asking your professor about it in a nice email since it would make both your lives easier.
If he did suggest this but it didn't seem like he wasn't sure, then I would recommend just telling your professor that you think his suggestion is best and it will make things easier.
Yes I have seen old threads where this was mentioned. I agree with what you are saying as well. A good Research plan is as important as the reasons why you wish to study in Japan. I was just speaking from my experience. Everyone was ready for the interview with all sorts of answers and details regarding their field of study and research plan, but nothing, I mean zero, preparation about information related to Japan. I was very surprised by this. How can you know nothing about a country where you are planning to spend at least one year in? (Its probably just India XD )I think there is more of the opposite problem in some countries. People really want to go to Japan but they don't care about the research. They are just like "here are all the reasons I love Japan" but they don't bother to come up with a good research plan or convincing reasons why their research has to be done there.
Glad I could help. Good luck with your application!I understand what you mean. Those are really good to know.
Thank you so much for help, it opened up my mind!
This was asked to every person who was interviewed. How will you cope with living in Japan and all.However they do want to know that you will be able to cope with living in Japan.
Thats very helpful of them. Thanks for the offer!Lol so I just realised my embassy actually sent me a list of the email addresses of the international offices for pretty much every university in Japan
On a side note, one professor seemed glad to be my advisor but he is abroad untill the end of August so there might be problems signing the letter of acceptance, unluckiness over nine thousandI hope things turns well at the end but I do not know how many chances I have, currently waiting for the International Office to get back to me by e-mai.
Sorry, I forgot to write some details in that e-mail: even though what you say is true, my embassy told me that I have to send them the placement form AND LoAs altogether by the 12th of September! What is worse, they also told me that they want me to send hard copies of the LoAs. Therefore, if the professor is in German until the end of August, it is virtually certain that I won't make it within the deadline.
The professor was really kind to me saying that if the international office sends the documents to him, he will write the LoA and then send it to me as fast as possible, but 1. I contacted the international office for advise and I do not know whether they will be positive about it or not and 2. I would feel guilty towards the professor because he would have to send the documents himself while abroad for work. I am already causing problem to him and I am not even there (which would be my first choice anyway...). The other option suggested by the professor, is that he fills in the LoA and then send it in PDF format to the International Office, but I do not know if they will accept it, that would help a lot though...
Guys I need a suggestion for my problem with the professor in Germany, the International Office (and the faculty letter which I contacted at the same time) has yet to reply back and time is running fast! The professor will be able to sign the LoA only if the internation office send to him the documents within the 15th of this month...
Now, the university is Osaka university and on their website there is a specific e-mail to contact when asking for the letter of acceptance, do you think it would be wise to write to them as well? I would send them the required documents and add some details to my question, in the previous e-mails I only asked advise about the problem... however, it would be my third e-mail so it might be rude. I will of course apologise for this in the new e-mail!
I am quoting my previous posts of this forum where I explain the situation if anyone is interested.
Thank Indojin, any answer is helpful and welcomed!Contact that special office or whatever for LoA and contact the international office too. Add both of them and ,your professor's email, too as CC's to the email. (Talk with your professor first before making this move , just to be safe.) So basically, send one Email to the LoA section, International office and your professor describing your problem. Maybe this will help.
Thank Indojin, any answer is helpful and welcomed!
At the moment, I have contacted two offices, International office and the Faculty to which the professor belongs because he suggested me to do so, however they have yet to answer. Now I was wondering if contacting the specific address for requesting letter of acceptance and explaining again the problem and at the same time attaching all the documents for application (which I have yet to send).
I think that today I will do as you suggest and contact them as well, I just hope to get some reply from them otherwise I will be at a total a loss, I need at least a notice from them to have a confirmation that they are handling the problem and not ignoring it...
Hope that helps. Just send one email listing all the concerned offices and your professor as cc. Drastic step, but might help. You can call them too. I would start looking for other universities as well. I understand that they are busy or something, but this scholarship is also important. For that you need LoAs .Thank Indojin, any answer is helpful and welcomed!
At the moment, I have contacted two offices, International office and the Faculty to which the professor belongs because he suggested me to do so, however they have yet to answer. Now I was wondering if contacting the specific address for requesting letter of acceptance and explaining again the problem and at the same time attaching all the documents for application (which I have yet to send).
I think that today I will do as you suggest and contact them as well, I just hope to get some reply from them otherwise I will be at a total a loss, I need at least a notice from them to have a confirmation that they are handling the problem and not ignoring it...