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MEXT Scholarship (Research/Graduate students) 2019

Hate to add onto the train of negativity, but if you're from the US and you haven't heard back, you might want to prepare yourself for a rejection letter. I received mine today.

Competition must have been intense this year, or budget cuts. But best of luck to the rest of you!
 
Hate to add onto the train of negativity, but if you're from the US and you haven't heard back, you might want to prepare yourself for a rejection letter. I received mine today.

Competition must have been intense this year, or budget cuts. But best of luck to the rest of you!
Which consulate did you apply to?
 
This year there were only four applicants that made it to the test/interview stage including myself. All the other applicants were really cool and gifted and I wish them all the best! I was the only STEM applicant out of the four of us, while the other three were in fine art/art history.

The Japanese language test was...very difficult. I'm fairly certain I passed the elementary section, the intermediate section is a toss-up, and the advanced section I literally guessed on everything! Interestingly enough, the reading comprehension portion for the advanced section was easier than the reading portion for the intermediate section, but I ran out of time and ended up guessing on basically everything in the advanced section.

The English test was easy-peasy (if you're a native speaker), though you could tell the test was clearly not designed by a native speaker. There were some questions to test your grammar that included phrases that nobody would ever say or write. I think we all finished the English test before the limit.

We were told our tests would be graded during lunch and they would let us know by email whether or not we would get an interview. All of us ended up getting interviews (yay!), and I was up first.

The interview panel consisted of the MEXT Scholarship Coordinator, a Japanese man (I assume is high up in the consulate, but I wasn't told what his position is), and what I assume to be a science expert. I think I really lucked out this year because I think the interview was very fair. After talking with the other applicants, we agreed that the interview did not seem nearly as severe as other people had experienced. I did not have anyone try to discredit my research, or try to trip me up. The science expert posed the most difficult questions (although none of them pertained specifically to my research proposal). He clearly understood my research proposal and mentioned that it seemed like I wanted to run my own lab in Japan. He said that in this scholarship I would not necessarily be able to perform my research, but that I would most likely join a professor's lab and work on whatever he is working on. I answered saying that I understand that that's how it would most likely work, and that even if I would not be able to work on my proposal, the important thing is that I would be working with a professor that is an expert in the field, and that I would be able to learn all the skills, techniques, and etc. to perform my own research some day.

All of the other questions were some of the typical questions you would expect from this sort of interview. I think I was able all the questions well. I'm surprised that they didn't ask me to speak Japanese during the interview. Actually, none of the other applicants had to speak Japanese in their interviews. That really surprised me because in their fields, most classes are taught in Japanese. I'm lucky because there are STEM programs in English in Japan. They did ask me how I learned Japanese, and I think they were very impressed that I had reached the level that I had by studying on my own.

After the interview I was told that I would likely know the results of the interview in a few weeks. I guess starting last year the system changed a bit, and the consulate needs to hear back from DC and Tokyo before they tell us the results of the interview or something like that. I didn't fully understand, but the next day I received an email saying we could expect results by early July (so hopefully by the end of next week!).

Hope this helps, and good luck to everyone!
Thanks alot, Swift and informative response!
 
Hello, I got selected as a research student, the universities are preparing the letters of acceptance, but I have a question regarding the Master's degree. I have a certified N3 level of Japanese, although right now I am more or less near N2 or with a N2 level.

Do you think that with the 6 month Japanese studies at the university I will be able to understand the classes in Japanese? I am doubting whether going to a university with the Master in English or in Japanese. The Japanese one is better because it's at the city in which most research about my degree is done (aerospace engineering), and the teacher there has helped me with the documents for the MEXT scholarship, reviewing my research plan, giving me advice and even sending me papers he had published, but I am concerned that I won't be able to understand the classes of the Master because of the specific vocabulary.

Do you know how are the japanese classes that MEXT gives in the 6 first months of the scholarship?
 
Questions about receiving LOAs from two schools: Keio and Tokyo.

Keio: Do LOAs for Keio differ from any other school? They said that they would take up until the 9/25 to distribute the LOA. I've also read on some places that Keio will ask you to submit your preference form to them in addition/instead of your local consulate.

Tokyo: Has anyone heard back from them yet? When I emailed the coordinator she said that things were being processed, but that was already several weeks go. It's been about 4 weeks since I sent everything in.
 
I am not sure about both, but Keio does ask applicants to give them Preference 1 to get their LOA.

If by Tokyo, you mean University of Tokyo, then, didn't you had to apply via T-cens?

Also, since Keio is private, what are the chances that MEXT sends students there and not to other unis in preference form with lower tuition fees?
 
Anybody know a general timeline for:
Secondary screening results
Placement notification
Flight arrangements (and are tickets sent to your house or the consulate?)

Also this year's thread is pretty quiet, are there less people applying? :eek:
 
This time of the process is a dead time, so probably when news starts coming out you'll see more posts. Also, anyone applying for Osaka U?
 
Yup, this is the slow period. Applied and went through the process until now in The Netherlands. I went with Meiji and Sophia. Hopefully we will have confirmation within the year haha.
 
Hopefully new will start rolling out in the middle of November according to the previous years. That's something to look forward to :)
I only got a LOA from Osaka so fingers crossed!
 
I will be graduating in June next year in Japanese Studies and I am planning to apply to the MEXT scholarship right before I graduate. I have something in mind, but I still haven't decided what my research plan will be based on. I was thinking of choosing universities in Kansai (either in Kyoto or Osaka). Good luck to anyone who applies next year!
 
So I got an email from my first choice in Osaka asking whether I still want to join their lab, which seems like a good sign to me. I hope the embassy notification is soon too! Good luck to everyone who is waiting for news too!
 
Hi Wardoosh,
My professor (osaka university) has also contacted about the expected arrival and told that i have cleared second screening.
It seems that MEXT embassy applicants of Osaka University preference are getting clearance.
 
Hey, did anyone else got to know any news from their University or Professor? It's surprising that this year till now only two people got updates from their university.
 
I haven't seen anybody who actually re-applied the following year after being rejected so I am not sure if it is worth it at all (once rejected > always rejected?).

I was rejected the first time I applied, and was accepted this year. Got my LOA and am waiting for the final results.
 
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