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Monbukagakusho Scholarship for Postgraduate!!

If you keep your options open, there may be a chance for things such as collaborative research in the future, or you may be able to pursue a postdoc etc with that prof if you choose to go that route.

About that preferences page, there is no reason that you have to include it. Just make sure that the Universities/supervisors are aware that you have contacted multiple schools.

Menrui, about that prof, you should consider that you will be working in their group for the next few years at least. For everyone in the process of getting a Letter of Acceptance, one of the good things about the process is you can get a clue into how your profs operate- are they efficient, quick, considerate? One of the things that contributed greatly to my rankings on the order in which to list my choice of Universities was the personality of the supervisor who I'd been in contact with. I'm going to be doing a PhD to 4-5 years under someone who I don't agree with wouldn't be a desirable situation.

It may be a little late for some now, but one thing I did was ask the prof's for the contact of a student in their lab so I could get a sense of how things worked- this also helped me make my decision. If the prof has nothing to hide, they will gladly provide this information.
 
^although i wouldnt go as far as emailing the students, i understand what you are saying.

"that" professor i mention earlier is really falling off my radar. the other 2 professor i contacted seem much more sincere. They even took the time ask me interview questions that reveals my character. After exchanging some emails, i feel very comfortable with these 2 professors. But it saddens me that i can only choose one of them.
 

In my previous post, i've mention that that page with choices of unis should be left out. The embassy returned a set of certified documents without that page. So it's totally unnecessary to send to unis.
I did not send that at all and it's not a problem.
So guys, it's perfectly safe to leave that out. It's for MEXT's reference only.
 
VISA question, (perhaps this only pertains to Americans) for intended length of stay, what if I am undecided on the PhD etc.? It could be 2,3 years or as many as 5 years. Should I just write down 5 years?
 
^no idea

ooilingfan,
yes i found that out the hard way....
 
I've been reading what u guys posted here and I have to ask if all of u had ur documents returned by the embassy. Especially the malaysian candidates. Or did u guys get ur documents certified because the university requested it?

I'm asking because I'm worried. Not that I'm complaining or anything but I seem to have gotten my LoA pretty easily. It hasn't arrived but i emailed the professor asking if he would like to be my supervisor. He said yes. So I scanned photostated copies of my MEXT applications forms, academic transcripts and so on and emailed it to him and the international students office. The next day, the office emailed me back to say that my LoA was on the way. So i really didn't have the need for any documents to be certified by the embassy.

The professor himself didn't ask me anything else. I've been reading what u guys posted about interviews or at least questions the professor asked u guys about ur research.....I had none of those. I dunno what to make of this.
 
clockworkorange, i think it depends on the university. my process was almost the same as yours and i have received the softcopy of my LOA and it looks fine. i mean, it's exactly as what is needed by the embassy. so i think you do not need to worry.
 
clockwork,
i think you are getting a bit confused from our post. anyways, i dont think you need to worry. maybe your professor just knows about the scholarship really well. I think its mostly my post that has been confusing you. First, my professors didnt really know how the scholarship worked. And not only are they supervising my research, they are putting me in their research group. Also, one of my prof told me he had really bad experiences from accepting foreign researchers too quickly. So yeah, I had to go through some email exchanges with them. reasonable
 
Standing Documents

I called Miss Yin this morning. Personally, I think that she prefers phone calls rather than e-mail, she seldom replies. Furthermore, she is the one asking us to call our professors in our universities. She is very helpful, so don't worry about calling up her again and again... though don't do that just for the sake of doing that

So this is what I can conclude from our conversation:

1. Standing documents - you will have to call Miss Yin to confirm about that, since everyone is different.

2. Formal letter stating the delay of the date of submission for LoA - We will have to submit a formal letter (I guess should be a normal mail, anyway, I will go to the embassy directly tomorrow, since it is too late for me to go for Pos Laju, as the fastest it gets there will be next Monday). So what I will do is, send a softcopy today, and hand in the hardcopy tomorrow. In fact, I am expecting one of my LoA's to arrive tomorrow afternoon. Embassy opens until 4pm.

I think not many LoA's reached her. I heard her mumbling something like "Seemed most would not be arrive one time." ☝Has anyone submitted that?

Good luck everyone!!!
 

Don't worry clockworkorange, I think as long as you get the original stamped LoA from them, it would be good enough. You can always send in to the embassy, and check with Ms Yin to see whether all your documents are in place and correct.
I send in 'certified' copies of the documents is because:
1. I didn't keep a copy myself, so i have to ask it from the embassy. Since they're making a copy for me i might as well ask for a certified one cause one of the uni i applied to asked for it (forgot it's nagoya or TUS).
2. I'm kiasu.

My prof sent the exact original copies back to me anyway. So the so called certified copies are with me now. So it's not really important unless your uni says so. They doubt you will cheat them by sending a different set of documents from those sent to the embassy. That is a silly risk to take.

In a nutshell, certified or not - only matters if your uni refuses to issue you the LoA without one.

so, chill k?

goodluck to everyone,hope to meet up with you guys soon.
 
Got my second acceptance letter. That makes Tokyo University and Hokkaido University. I'm still waiting on Waseda, so we'll see when they get things to me.

Gosh I'm tired - I went into the consulate and was barely coherent.
 
^speaking of which, I called my coordinator today and asked for another certificate and he replied "you're applying to more than 1?" *stumped. He has to check with his supervisor about this. Make me wonder(again) if I should turn in more than 1 LoA and how the whole application process with the LoA works.
 
Nall-ohki, congrats. We may be able to meet up depending on where you go.

Menrui- from the application guidelines

If a candidate grantee has received a letter of provisional acceptance from a university, first of all MEXT will request the university to receive the grantee, and place him/her there upon its approval. If a candidate wants to enter a public or private university, the grantee's preference may not be met due to budgetary reasons concerning school fees, etc.
If a candidate has obtained neither admission nor a letter of provisional acceptance, MEXT will contact related universities and decide at which university to place the candidate in consideration of his/her preference. In this case, the candidate is not allowed to raise an objection to the decision. In a case where a candidate fails to obtain admission or a letter of acceptance and MEXT discusses the case with related universities, the candidate may not be accepted and therefore not definitively selected by MEXT, if his/her research program is vague or unclear, the content of his/her research is not substantial, or his/her desired major field presents difficulty from the perspective of research guidance.

From my consulate,

In the case that you receive a couple of ﾂ"Letter of Acceptance,ﾂ" MEXT will firstly contact your first choice university. If the university refuses to accept you (because of lack of budget etc), then MEXT will contact your second-choice university. Therefore, you need to clearly state your preferences in order at 7. iii) of the ﾂ"Attachment.ﾂ"


I think that the embassy and MEXT expect that some candidates will have received multiple LoA's, thus the space for 3 universities on the ranking sheet.
 
Malaysian candidates were given three copies of the passing certificate (first screening) and the letter of acceptance. Three because they have allocated three choices for us in the attachment forms as well. I was told in the interview to make contact with all the universities I have listed there. So, I believe that they do expect us to apply to more than one university.
 
Hahaha, ooilingfan, thank you. All kiasus, unite!!!!

I only have one LoA. I applied to 2 universities but only one came back. which is Tokyo Uni. I dunno if having only 1 LoA actually affects ur chances at a scholarship but it has to be better than nothing.

Actually I wanted to ask Nall-ohki if they gave u any reason why u were chosen as an alternate before? I think u mentioned it before but I can't really remember. I'm sorry. Would you mind saying it again? Thank you.
 
clockworkorange, i applied to 3 and until today also just 1 came back. but i'm happy enough. at this time i don't really wanna think if 1 LOA gonna reduce my chance. i think i've did my best and it's up to them now. haha..
 
ARRGGGHHHH>>>>....all the waiting is getting to me. I should have gone direct to the professors instead, but can't help it. Now that I've started going through the various centers, i guess i just have to tough it out. Anyway, i've sent out my mail to Ms. Yin already, stating that i'm still waiting for the unis.

Good job kimberlyljh, clockworkorange...
 
You will have to be patient--you are unlikely to get the final word from Tokyo until 2009, so get ready to wait wait wait.

I could be leaving for Japan as early as September 1st and I STILL don't have a definitive date for my flight, nor have I received a single piece of direct correspondence from my supervisor.
 
waiting for the final result is really going to suck....

Anyways I just wanted to say this:
remember that professor that asked me to select only him? well, he's really starting to scare me.
First he requested that i dont apply to other universities. Then he ensures me a position in his group up to a PhD degree. He constantly tells me to select his univ as my first choice. and now he trying to convince me how great his univ is....
Seriously, how many professors do you know actively try to convince applicants to "choose" them. It makes me think that the university isnt very good... Oh maybe its something else
 
Hello Everyone,

It's been a while since I posted anything here. Shibaraku desune. I, too, like most applicants in Malaysia, have been having a REAL hard time getting replies from professors and unis. The thing is it's quite common for prof's email addr not to be listed on the dept website, so what I had to do was go thru the dept office, usually students or academic service office, to get to the prof. This too would eat up a few days time. Good thing there was a prof that showed some interest. There was a few email exchanges here and there, but his average response time each time was 3 days. The silence between each of my email and his reponse was really making me nervous, since I think some prof might just ignore you if they feel they're not interested in you. Correct me if I am wrong though. Fortunately, after going back and forth for 2 weeks, he finally agreed on the LoA. I'm delighted at his decision. Anyways, I just thought I'd share my side of the story and I want to ensure you guys that WAITING is truly a big part of this scholarship, of course depending on the individual prof as well. You might have sleepless nights from time to time too. And of course, the coordinator at the Embassy is a very important person in making this whole experience as pleasant and as informative as possible. In Malaysia's case, kudos to our Miss Yin! You rock!

Hi Menrui,

You're facing a really interesting situation. Mind telling us which uni this prof is from? I think he's probably a little old-fashioned. From what I know, loyalty is something that most older Japanese put great emphasis on. Or maybe he's old school. If you think his style doesn't suit you, decline and focus on the other 2 profs. Hope you'll be able to find a way out.
 
> Menrui,

Yeah, it is an interesting one. Mind telling us which university is the professor from? To be the fact, Japanese don't usually boast about their ability, therefore, I think to professor is a really good one. Can you find his webpages? How many Japanese students he is taking? If there are a lot, I think he is a very famous one there. And look through his bibliography too...

I suppose being able to say that you can choose him, and definitely will get into laboratory, he is a powerful people, who can convince the MEXT and the university to send you directly in. You might want to consider him to be your supervisor. Seldom are there professors who are willing to contact those who are interested in him. It is a rare case, Menrui! Try contacting him more... I am sure he is willing to tell you more.

Is he someone from the Imperial university, one of that seven old universities in Japan?

I have contacted a few professors thus far, none of them dealt that way... surely it is a good experience to share with us, haha... Looking forward to hearing that.
 
japandream,
the time zone difference in the US its like +14hours. some times i stayed up till 4am just to exchange email.

Anyways, I think its better if i didnt reveal the university haha. but i will let you know that it is not one of the imperial universities. He says its one of the top10 univ in Japan. According to my research its not, and my other professor is from Osaka U(rank#3 i think).
He doesnt have a webpage, and he told me that he has alot of foreign students in his lab, so i should "fit in".
I am considering him... that is, after my first 2 options.
I dont need to contact him, he will contact me . This are my favorite 2 lines i say to him:
"Thank you, I will take it into consideration"
"The final decision of which univ i am place under is up to MEXT"

akward~~ maybe its a result of "rikei banare". science students are declining so the prof are forced to seek more students haha.
 
Haha...

If you are in science stream, possibly you are referring to those newly established institute of science and technology, such as NAIST, JAIST... Most of the students there are foreigners, and you have a good chance of using English there, instead of Japanese. They are top universities, but only for postgraduates...
 
^ no its not an institute. no more guess because im not telling.
 
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