MEXT Scholarship (Graduate Students) 2017

[hello7878]

Waseda MBA was my 2nd choice last year (I got my 1st choice, Hitotsubashi). Based on my experience, yup most of the MBA profs are not revealing their email online. I managed to get a couple and emailed them, but the mails were forwarded by the profs to the admission office instead.

Admission office replied that I need NOT to contact prof (as stated on waseda's website) beforehand, and to submit the necessary application documents to Waseda only AFTER I passed the primary screening to request for Letter of Acceptance (LOA). There's no need to seek prof's consent personally.

PS: I got Waseda's LOA in the end, but I wasn't place under my desired prof, and the prof I was assigned to, is in a different field from my research area.

By the way if you didn't contact a professor beforehand, who's name did you put down on the document that requires a professors name (next the preferred university)?

 

[MayJay]

I think now all candidates, not just UK, will have to submit this "attachment" with the initial application. But I don't know this for sure.

As I said in my post above, I've had contact with 3 profs. My previous supervisor from a summer project in London suggested 2 of them to me. Didn't have any problem finding their emails. I had to contact them early because I needed a project to write about for the research plan. All 3 have at least said they would accept me if I got the scholarship.

Another thing in the guidelines I've just noticed is that is if I want to transfer from research student to a PhD course in science, there is a time limit of 1 year. I wonder why? All other transfers can be within 2 years.

@MayJay
I don't want your question to be ignored, but the thing is usually the embassy will not give reasons for why they did or didn't select a candidate, so most people won't know what their weak points were.

Whether your particular grades and experience are enough depends not only on which embassy you apply to, but also who else happens to apply that year. The field of candidates might be particularly strong or weak this year at your embassy.

If you really want to study in Japan, I think you should try regardless. If you already have experience and a couple of research papers, and on top of that speak a decent amount of Japanese, it seems like you have as good a chance as anyone.

Thank you for your reply! It's just a little hard to gauge when I'm mostly asking/reading from the experience of PhD applicants. But I guess we're all sort of in the same boat?

I also wanted to ask you about getting in contact with professors. It's awesome that you already have replies from 3 of them. Did you contact them in Japanese or English? And without a concrete research plan yet, how were you able to state your case, especially to the one that you didn't get from your previous supervisor? I don't know how drastically different the process is this year, but there's a a lot of emphasis on already having your research plan written out before getting in touch with professors. At least, that's what I've read from past applicants. I'm currently doing the background research for my plan, but it almost feels like I should have all my steps laid out before even thinking of contacting a professor. But then again, maybe it depends on the school/program. Keio hasn't updated their MEXT/scholarship page yet.

 

[hello7878]

Thank you for your reply! It's just a little hard to gauge when I'm mostly asking/reading from the experience of PhD applicants. But I guess we're all sort of in the same boat?

I also wanted to ask you about getting in contact with professors. It's awesome that you already have replies from 3 of them. Did you contact them in Japanese or English? And without a concrete research plan yet, how were you able to state your case, especially to the one that you didn't get from your previous supervisor? I don't know how drastically different the process is this year, but there's a a lot of emphasis on already having your research plan written out before getting in touch with professors. At least, that's what I've read from past applicants. I'm currently doing the background research for my plan, but it almost feels like I should have all my steps laid out before even thinking of contacting a professor. But then again, maybe it depends on the school/program. Keio hasn't updated their MEXT/scholarship page yet.

I have decided on 3 options for my application, i emailed 2 of them and they informed me they don't give out contact information of professors, however i checked my 3rd option and looked on their facility page for the course I'm interested in (which is in english) and found facility staff and email addresses. I sent an email to one who had interests in the area i have wrote my research plan about, and with in 2 hours he replied simply telling me to send him my CV and research proposal (which i had already written this week).
So i suggest not emailing professors until you have completed your proposal. If you can find email addresses of facility on the website then find one that has similar interests or previous research to your intended research proposal.
If you plan on applying for a Japanese course, you should probably write everything in Japanese, however if you plan on applying to an English course, writing in English will be fine as the facility will teach in English so they will be able to understand. If you read the article about applying for mext by TranSenz who use to work with MEXT applications, you will find how he says sometimes N2 isn't enough to get accepted on to Japanese courses, just something to think about.

 

[hello7878]

I have decided on 3 options for my application, i emailed 2 of them and they informed me they don't give out contact information of professors, however i checked my 3rd option and looked on their faculty page for the course I'm interested in (which is in english) and found faculty staff and email addresses. I sent an email to one who had interests in the area i have wrote my research plan about, and with in 2 hours he replied simply telling me to send him my CV and research proposal (which i had already written this week).
So i suggest not emailing professors until you have completed your proposal. If you can find email addresses of faculty on the website then find one that has similar interests or previous research to your intended research proposal.
If you plan on applying for a Japanese course, you should probably write everything in Japanese, however if you plan on applying to an English course, writing in English will be fine as the faculty will teach in English so they will be able to understand. If you read the article about applying for mext by TranSenz who use to work with MEXT applications, you will find how he says sometimes N2 isn't enough to get accepted on to Japanese courses, just something to think about.

 

[MayJay]

I have decided on 3 options for my application, i emailed 2 of them and they informed me they don't give out contact information of professors, however i checked my 3rd option and looked on their facility page for the course I'm interested in (which is in english) and found facility staff and email addresses. I sent an email to one who had interests in the area i have wrote my research plan about, and with in 2 hours he replied simply telling me to send him my CV and research proposal (which i had already written this week).
So i suggest not emailing professors until you have completed your proposal. If you can find email addresses of facility on the website then find one that has similar interests or previous research to your intended research proposal.
If you plan on applying for a Japanese course, you should probably write everything in Japanese, however if you plan on applying to an English course, writing in English will be fine as the facility will teach in English so they will be able to understand. If you read the article about applying for mext by TranSenz who use to work with MEXT applications, you will find how he says sometimes N2 isn't enough to get accepted on to Japanese courses, just something to think about.

That's how I imagined I would do it. I'm planning on doing the English course, I have a feeling I'd crash and burn if I did the Japanese course. Part of me wants to wait until after preliminary screening notification to contact professors, just in case I don't make it past that.

 

[hello7878]

That's how I imagined I would do it. I'm planning on doing the English course, I have a feeling I'd crash and burn if I did the Japanese course. Part of me wants to wait until after preliminary screening notification to contact professors, just in case I don't make it past that.

From my understanding after looking at the Pakistan embassy documents, you have to put your 3 universities and professors on a document to submit for the preliminary screening but I'm not sure.

 

[MayJay]

From my understanding after looking at the Pakistan embassy documents, you have to put your 3 universities and professors on a document to submit for the preliminary screening but I'm not sure.

Yeesh. That's even less time to write my proposal. Oh well, I can deal. I don't think the guidelines will be that much different at the embassy here. I appreciate your reply!

 

[hello7878]

Yeesh. That's even less time to write my proposal. Oh well, I can deal. I don't think the guidelines will be that much different at the embassy here. I appreciate your reply!

I emailed the UK embassy and they said the applications became available on 20th of April last year, so you have 2 weeks plus the duration of the application period.

 

[madphysicist]

I also wanted to ask you about getting in contact with professors. It's awesome that you already have replies from 3 of them. Did you contact them in Japanese or English? And without a concrete research plan yet, how were you able to state your case, especially to the one that you didn't get from your previous supervisor? I don't know how drastically different the process is this year, but there's a a lot of emphasis on already having your research plan written out before getting in touch with professors. At least, that's what I've read from past applicants. I'm currently doing the background research for my plan, but it almost feels like I should have all my steps laid out before even thinking of contacting a professor. But then again, maybe it depends on the school/program. Keio hasn't updated their MEXT/scholarship page yet.

In physics the supervisor proposes a masters or PhD project, not the student. It would be pointless coming up with my own plan, because the research has to fit with what the group is doing so the chances of me being able to carry out my plan would be zero. As it is, I'll probably describe 2 different possible main projects in my plan even though the groups are collaborating on the same large-scale experiment.

I wrote in Japanese because I thought they'd be more likely to reply (less effort for them) and so they could see I had some ability. I said I'm interested in doing a PhD in this field and that X recommended I contact them. The 1st prof I contacted gave me the name of the 3rd, so I namedropped him not my ex-supervisor in that case. I asked would they consider taking me on if I got the scholarship, and if so what PhD projects would be available in their group? I only attached my CV (I have research experience and graduated from a very high-ranked university, which may also have helped my case).

Two replied enthusiastically and offered me a lot of help. Actually I contacted the Kyoto prof ages ago and he offered to recommend me for the university route, but it was impractical for me to apply at that time. The other (Toudai...) replied eventually after Kyoto prof poked him for me, but hasn't been that responsive generally.

BUT having said this I am not familiar with academia from the humanities side, and for humanities you may indeed need to have the proposal in hand first.

Re: deadlines, usually it's about end of May or beginning of June. Don't panic.

 

[MayJay]

@hello7878
That's not bad. I'll do more scoping on the US embassy's timeline.
@madphysicist
Oh yeah, that's very different from what I thought I'd have to have. But I'll wonder if Keio and other schools I find aren't doing something similar (group research, that is). What's your fluency in Japanese?

 

[madphysicist]

@MayJay
I passed N2 in December and can have a normal one-on-one conversation. I can talk with the profs without any big problem, though I usually get my Japanese friends to check my emails first just in case, because keigo isn't my strong point.

 

[MayJay]

@MayJay
I passed N2 in December and can have a normal one-on-one conversation. I can talk with the profs without any big problem, though I usually get my Japanese friends to check my emails first just in case, because keigo isn't my strong point.

Nice, I'm jealous! I'm a terrible test-taker and didn't make N4 (took it twice, only a few points away from passing the second time, but still). But the last time I took it was 2014 and I've had more opportunities to use Japanese (classes, study abroad, self-study, etc.), so I'm attempting N3 this December. I'm kinda the opposite. My speaking ability is weak, but keigo has pretty much been imprinted in my brain since I started learning.

 

[SpottyGiGi]

Hi everyone! I'll be applying this year and am wondering if you must have an advanced level of Japanese to apply for a degree program. I would like to apply for a Masters in a humanities subject unrelated to Japanese, but am only N4 level, so does that mean I should apply for a non-degree course instead? I am applying because there is a particular supervisor I want to work with who is very well-known and respected in my field.

 

[Geminz]

By the way if you didn't contact a professor beforehand, who's name did you put down on the document that requires a professors name (next the preferred university)?

I just put whoever I preferred to be supervised by. I guess it doesn't matter much if the prof on the LOA is different from the one you submitted to the embassy, because in the end, they are from the same university, and MEXT pay the same amount to the uni regardless if you are placed under prof A or prof B.

 

[madphysicist]

Hi everyone! I'll be applying this year and am wondering if you must have an advanced level of Japanese to apply for a degree program. I would like to apply for a Masters in a humanities subject unrelated to Japanese, but am only N4 level, so does that mean I should apply for a non-degree course instead? I am applying because there is a particular supervisor I want to work with who is very well-known and respected in my field.

If you can find a degree course taught in English, there is no Japanese requirement. There is normally an English test (TOEFL, IELTS...) requirement for non-native speakers, but if you're from the UK they probably wouldn't ask for anything.

You may wish to check that your supervisor speaks enough English for you to communicate with him/her without difficulties, if you haven't talked to them before.

 

[SpottyGiGi]

If you can find a degree course taught in English, there is no Japanese requirement. There is normally an English test (TOEFL, IELTS...) requirement for non-native speakers, but if you're from the UK they probably wouldn't ask for anything.

You may wish to check that your supervisor speaks enough English for you to communicate with him/her without difficulties, if you haven't talked to them before.

Thanks for replying! I'm actually not from the UK, just studying here so I'll be applying in my home country. I don't know the supervisor personally but I do know he speaks and writes English fluently. I'm planning on contacting him soon. I know some of the courses are listed as taught in English but some are in Japanese. He teaches at Kyoto University so they probably have high language proficiency standards anyway. I guess I will apply as a non-degree student just to be safe.

Is the 6-month prepatory Japanese language course thingy only for non-degree students since you are already expected to have a high level of fluency when applying for a degree program?

 

[madphysicist]

Thanks for replying! I'm actually not from the UK, just studying here so I'll be applying in my home country. I don't know the supervisor personally but I do know he speaks and writes English fluently. I'm planning on contacting him soon. I know some of the courses are listed as taught in English but some are in Japanese. He teaches at Kyoto University so they probably have high language proficiency standards anyway. I guess I will apply as a non-degree student just to be safe.

Is the 6-month prepatory Japanese language course thingy only for non-degree students since you are already expected to have a high level of fluency when applying for a degree program?

Even if they didn't have an official Japanese requirement, that's not really your problem. If you're only N4 at the moment, it would be extremely difficult to get to a level where you could take a class in Japanese by next April.

Do they not have a whole master's degree taught in English? That would really be the easiest option.

Usually you can't apply directly for a degree program because you would need to take an entrance exam in Japan, so nearly everyone will start as a non-degree student ("research student") anyway. I'm not 100% sure, but I think you can't do the language course at the same time as a degree because it's pretty much full-time.

Most people applying for a degree with MEXT don't have a high level of Japanese, so they take their degree in English. The 6-month course is really more for coping with everyday life, because if you're not already about N2/1 level when you arrive, 6 months is not going to get you to the level where you can understand lectures in Japanese.

 

[MayJay]

To those that have contacted professors or are knowledgeable about that part of the process: Would it be okay/allowed to want to work under someone who's titled "senior assistant professor"? I have a few in mind that I'd like to contact, but the person with that title has experience that aligns the closest with my field of study. Sort of a silly question, but I thought I'd ask before doing anything.

 

[madphysicist]

@MayJay
I think it shouldn't be a problem as long as they're a professor of some kind, not a postdoc/ research assistant.

I think in Japan they normally have full professor (教授), senior assistant professor (准教授) and assistant professor (助教), and any of these could be your official supervisor.

 

[SpottyGiGi]

Even if they didn't have an official Japanese requirement, that's not really your problem. If you're only N4 at the moment, it would be extremely difficult to get to a level where you could take a class in Japanese by next April.

Do they not have a whole master's degree taught in English? That would really be the easiest option.

Usually you can't apply directly for a degree program because you would need to take an entrance exam in Japan, so nearly everyone will start as a non-degree student ("research student") anyway. I'm not 100% sure, but I think you can't do the language course at the same time as a degree because it's pretty much full-time.

Most people applying for a degree with MEXT don't have a high level of Japanese, so they take their degree in English. The 6-month course is really more for coping with everyday life, because if you're not already about N2/1 level when you arrive, 6 months is not going to get you to the level where you can understand lectures in Japanese.

When I was looking at the descriptions for Japanese courses for MEXT students on Kyoto University's website there were several different levels and I'm pretty sure I would fall under the Upper Intermediate level if I took a placement test. I passed N3 JLPT almost ten years ago in high school under the old ranking system and have sort of been studying on and off since then which is why I assumed I'm N4 level now. There is definitely no MA program in English in my field because I think it's just too specialized to attract enough people. I only know of two schools in North America that offer a masters degree in my field. This is the main reason I want to study with this professor in Kyoto (the Japan factor is just an added bonus). It's so rare to find a program like the one at Kyodai and it would be amaaaaaazing to do it. I guess I should just try and make contact with the professor and ask for his advice.

Anyway thanks for your advice so far. I read your blog and it's really helpful.

 

[MaffeyAlan]

Hello, I don't know if I should post this here or not but...
Could someone help me with this?

I sent an email to my country's (Argentina) embassy a few days ago asking if I could still apply for this year's scholarship for the Mext's undergraduate program and they replied me that I can't apply to it since I don't meet the age requirements.
In the webpage it specifies that I must be between 17 and 21 years old as of April 1st 2017 (born between April 2nd 1995 and April 1st 2000)

I am currently 21 years old and my birthday is on March 23rd, 1995... So I would be 22 before 2nd April, but its only 1 week's difference to the established limit.

My question is: If I were to go in person to the embassy and somehow appeal to them would they let me apply? Or are they really strict about the age requirements and its meaningless to go to the embassy? (I really don't want to be shot down again in person, it already sucked enough by email)

Well, any advice anyone might have... is well received. Thanks.

 

[madphysicist]

@MaffeyAlan
This is the wrong thread for undergrad MEXT, but I'll answer anyway.

If you are already 22 by the 1st April, you are not eligible. They can't change the requirements for you, because then someone else could say "but I'm born on 1st March, that's only 1 month before!" and so on. Even if the embassy somehow changed their mind or didn't notice your age, and selected you, the MEXT screening commitee would notice you are too old and reject your application. Sorry.

 

[MaffeyAlan]

@madphysicist
I thought it was going to be like that, but had to ask anyway... thanks for clarifying.
If I had known this scholarship existed before... u.u....

Welp, it seems that I'll have to start saving up D:
Once again, thanks.

 

[hsark]

Fyi On the placement reference I asked about the supervisor and they said you don`t need to have when applying first time, that's for RSA not sure about the rest.
2nd thing on the reference form it states you should mention if you have obtained admission to a university of preference. anyone understand this?

 

[kezia]

hello every1, great comments and just what i need.
i am graduate of Industrial Mathematics from one of the university in Nigeria.i hv a challenge in sorting out schools that offer mathematical science in japan as i would love to carry out my research in mathematical modelling of viral diseases.pls can someone help me