Monbukagakusho Scholarship for Postgraduate!!

[clockworkorange]

Hey guys,

Thanks for ur answers. I guess it does depend on the uni. I received an email saying that my LoA is already in the mail. Apparently they sent it by EMS - Express Mail Service. so now i have to send the form that the embassy gave me and ask the office to send it back again. i feel really bad doing this. But i did ask them about it, they just totally never answered me.

I did ask my professor. but he did not get back to me. The only person that did was someone from the Office for international students and she just ignored the question and said.."i sent ur LoA via EMS. U'll get in a week."

I think i will email them a softcopy of the LoA which the embassy gave us. Seems to me like the only option.

Thanks for all ur help.

 

[kimberleylhj]

Congratulations to both clockworkorange and ooilingfan for getting the LOA before 22nd August. Although it's not a sure thing.. at least the chances will be way higher for you two as you all manage to get it before the tight dateline.

Sigh... the universities I applied to just ask me to wait. So here I am waiting...

 

[menrui]

*explosion!

Guys, guess what! I received the embassy recommendation in the mail today! woot~! Kind of weird because I only took the interview like 5 days ago on thursday. But whatever, I'll take it! I'm so excited! now, to get a letter of acceptance...

For reference, my embassys deadline is Sept. 26.

kimberleyhj,
I really hope you get a reply. dont give up just yet! we've gone such a long way.

 

[kshoo]

Hi guys,

I recently double-clarified on the LOA items. It seems that actually submit all three sets, but will need to let them know our preferences. This is Ms. Yin's reply, which I will post below:

The Japanese officer, Mr Fukabori has clarified that all nominees can send in all Letters of Acceptance that the nominees received from the universities in Japan. Nominees must mark/indicate which university is their first, second, third (etc) choice.

Example, Ms X has got 3 Letters of Acceptance at different dates.
Let Letter 1 be the first letter, Letter 2 be the second letter and Letter 3 be the third letter to arrive.

Letter 1: University A (2nd choice)
Letter 2: University B (3rd choice)
------------------------------------------22 August dateline
Letter 3: University C (1st choice)
------------------------------------------30 September dateline

For the above case, Mr X received Letter 1 and Letter 2 before the 22 August dateline, so she can send in the Letter 1 and Letter 2 to the embassy by 22 August 2008, while indicate in writing that:-

"Letter 1 from University A is my 2nd choice, where Letter 2 from University B is my 3rd choice. Currently I am still waiting for the Letter 3 from University C, which is my 1st choice.

I will inform the embassy, by email or by phone call, as soon as I get any reply from University C, which will be expected during ____(date) September 2008 to ____ (date) September 2008."

Mr X can send in Letter 3 by fax (attn: Yin) as soon as she got hold of the letter, and then send the original document to the Embassy of Japan as soon as possible (must be before 1st October 2008).

Hope this clears up more cobwebs.

 

[kimberleylhj]

Wow.. thanks kshoo. This helps a lot!!

 

[menrui]

Hmmm i have a question. are we suppose to leave the Letter of Acceptance(2 pages) completely blank(besides our name and nationality) and then send it to our univ/prof?

 

[jim84]

Hmmm i have a question. are we suppose to leave the Letter of Acceptance(2 pages) completely blank(besides our name and nationality) and then send it to our univ/prof?

Yes.
I suppose it's not their first time filling that so they should know what to do with the form. (my prof actually asked for that form even before we recieve the package).

 

[Vyen]

just got only one week and I have not receive any LOA yet...
nearly give up...don't know what the embassy will do if I can't get one...

 

[MatsuyamaHime]

Lightning fast, Menrui~! Great news!

How many were competing in your jurisdiction?

 

[Charles Barkley]

How many showed up in Atlanta Hime? I imagine you guys will be hearing soon.

I still havent heard anything final about where I am going and I could be leaving as early as 2 and a half weeks from now. Craazy.

 

[menrui]

vyen,
I'm really sorry to hear that. In the case that you can't a LoA, I was told that if the embassy really wants you, they will do their best to assign you to a univ/prof. But keep trying, maybe your embassy will let you reach the sept. 30th deadline. If not, there is still hope.

Matsuhime,
I wanted to know that too, but i thought it would be rude to ask, so i dont really know. At my test/interview, there was only 1 other applicant there. seems low. also, "i think" i saw a list of applicants, and there was about 8 people on it.

 

[fulhamerica]

I know what you are saying C. Barkley, I still haven't heard 100% either. Were you given any idea of a time frame? We are approaching the, 'too close for comfort' zone.

 

[MatsuyamaHime]

11 for post grad research
4 undergrad

Don't think there was another category present.

And supposedly they'll choose ~3/11 and I dunno how many out of undergrad. Cork said "end of August", so here's hoping they're mullin' over me but good. Thing is, while I do act as though I've got all my eggs in this basket, I'm not opposed to going about the scholarship another route or...uh... doing a working holiday in Australia.

Bwahaha! Two people testing?! No wonder they were so thrilled to have you. (Cork was lookin a bit sqinty near the end of the day.) Menrui, where were you? Alaska?

 

[menrui]

I'm in Houston, Texas haha. I think 2 people were testing/interviewed for that one day. I'm not sure how many people were interviewed total.

But wow, 3 of 11 people are selected?... that makes me feel really lucky. My backup plan was to apply to graduate school in the US... but ever since I got the embassy recomendation, I was thinking of not applying at all. Bad idea maybe, because if i dont get the scholarship for some reason, im screwed for another year.

 

[clockworkorange]

Wah, menrui, that was fast. Congrats!!!! Where do u plan to go? Which uni?

A question for u guys...u know our LoA? What exactly does the first page say? Coz i bugged my professor to fill it up for me and he went..."okok, i'll fill up page 2 and send it to u asap.".....i really dun wan to bug him again and say...."er, could u fill up page 1 as well?"

I never really occured to me that page 1 could be something i could fill up myself. I have no idea what it says. Any help, guys?

Thanks!!!

Btw, i hope vyen and kimberly are getting positive responses from the professors. Seems quiet lately.

 

[menrui]

Clockwork!
The first page requires an OFFICIAL SEAL from the professor. So you have no choice but to tell your prof. to fill in the first page too.

But if you do need to translate it, I have a word file(.doc) version of it(attached), you could copy and paste the kanji into a dictionary. I did this at first because I thought we were suppose to fill it out XD . Sorry to say, I didnt understand how to fill out the bottom part.

Which univ do I plan to go to? right now, my top choice is Osaka univ. Before the interview, I exchanged email with the professor and he seemed willing to accept me if I pass the preliminary. I will email him again next week to ask for a LoA. My next choices are Kobe U(emailed prof, he seemed willing) or Nagoya U(emailed international office, they sent my MEXT application to the prof. but i havent contacted him yet).

 

[jim84]

Hey Menrui, you applying to Osaka too?
Which graduate school are you applying to? I'm applying to grad school of science. We may be uni mates.

I just received the LoA from my supervisor in Osaka Uni. He also sent me the orientation handbook. OMG, i'm so excited yet so worried. Gonna be really disappointed if can't get through the last selection by Tokyo head office.

 

[menrui]

^Oh cool! Yeah, im applying to the graduate school of science too, specifically the chemistry department. Which department are you entering? I think I remember you saying something about biology... I'm not sure.

I have a question for you~ do you know if we can send all our documents via email? I think the univ admissions webpage stated that we can but im not completely sure.

 

[jim84]

^Oh cool! Yeah, im applying to the graduate school of science too, specifically the chemistry department. Which department are you entering? I think I remember you saying something about biology... I'm not sure.
I have a question for you~ do you know if we can send all our documents via email? I think the univ admissions webpage stated that we can but im not completely sure.

Yea, applying to the dept of biological sciences.
My prof actually asked for the PDF file at first, but i kinda 'kiasu' so i send the certified documents in hardcopy as well.
I think should be alright since we're applying to the same grad school.
According to my supervisor, I will have to (perhaps you too) enrol in the japanese language centre in the suita campus in April 2009 for the intensive jap course. So i suppose we will all be taking the course in respective Unis.

 

[Charles Barkley]

I finally heard my consulate and it looks like I will be studying at Waseda's Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies come September.

You stress me out MEXT (first I was an alternative for JET before being moved up, then this long process) but you never let me down.

 

[Nall-ohki]

But wow, 3 of 11 people are selected?... that makes me feel really lucky. My backup plan was to apply to graduate school in the US... but ever since I got the embassy recomendation, I was thinking of not applying at all. Bad idea maybe, because if i dont get the scholarship for some reason, im screwed for another year.

Don't feel lucky about ANYTHING until you have the scholarship in-hand.

I got screwed last year, and it cost me (yet another) year.

Do not go without a backup plan. You could be selected as an alternate.

 

[AbdouKun]

I'm stuck!! need help

Hy every one, I'm going to ask a noob question, I'm a little bit dazzled.
I got throught the preliminary screening, but I'm stuck with the letter of acceptance... I'm quite lost, many universities ask for the original of the certificate of screening, others require a direct contact with the teacher others do this others do that!!!
can one help me out, or show me threads that directly deal with this issue.
Doooomoooo arigato gozaimasu

 

[menrui]

^you came to the right thread. You seem really lost. Each university has his own admissions process. But most of then of alike. I'm just going to give you the basic outline that goes with most universitiies.

1. First, you MUST contact a professor and obtain his/her consent to be your supervisor. This is usually the case.
2. Apply: you will most likely need to apply through your graduate school of interested. Mention the professor that you contacted. OR, i think some unversity only require you to apply through the professor, not very likely.

To apply, you will be sending the univ/prof your MEXT application, your certificate(original or not, it depends on the univ), a blank letter of acceptance form, and maybe a application for the univ.

3. wait.

Its best that you look at your desired univ website for admission process information.

 

[AbdouKun]

Still, foggy

I have tried to conatct professors but none answered me, I have contacted a dozen of admins but seems like they just copy/past what's being said on the FAQs. Anyway, I just hope to get an answer. and if any one is applying for economics or business management... we should try to figure out thing all together to make things smoother.

Thanks anyway.

 

[menrui]

^a professor not replying is a very common problem for all of us. be sure to mention that you are a monbusho scholarship applicant and the you have passed preliminary screening. hopefully that will increase your chances.

You could also try to contact the international office of your univ or graduate school. they could help you get in contact with the prof