Monbukagakusho Scholarship for Postgraduate!!

[kawabanga]

Hi Kawabanga,
Wow, like Midorineko, you are ahead of the pack without having to go through the research student phase. Will you still be participating in the 6 month Japanese language training?

I most certainly do hope so, unless I am assigned a 24/7 interpreter who doesn't mind me fussing all the time with unreasonable demands!

I am not ahead. Just lucky in that area. Anyway, I don't see any difference between going through the research phase or not. I don't mind and either way as long as I get to eat sushi every morning!

 

[jim84]

Woo Hoo! Ms. Yin rocks!
And by the way, why do we need IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC, etc.? I don't remember it being one of the admission requirements in japan universities (for a science course).

I don't think we really need. Again, just check with your supervisor or graduate school to make sure.

Yea, Ms Yin ROCKS!

 

[menrui]

japandream,
my consulate is closed for the holidays, so i will have to wait until jan. 5. i will call them then. oh, and i havent talked to my professor since asking him for a LoA.

 

[jim84]

Entrance exam & TOEFL... revisited

Hi all,
I know we've discussed the above topic many times.
But as i was running through all previous correspondence with my supervisor, I remembered that he had given me the answers.

Regarding Entrance exam:
ﾂ"There are two entrance examinations in a year. The first one is around August and the second one is around February. If you earned the position in the lab and passed the entrance examination, then you can be a Master student.ﾂ"

"Although MEXT scholarship students are not exempted from the entrance examination for the master program, admission into the master program is almost guaranteed."

Regarding TOEFL:
ﾂ"TOEFL is not required, as all of the courses are conducted in Japanese.ﾂ"

Well, perhaps this is only applicable for my grad school therefore it's for reference only. To confirm, kindly check with your respective grad schools.

 

[kimberleylhj]

Yeap, different grad schools have different requirements.
In the case of my first choice grad school, although the course is fully in Japanese, there is still an English test included in the entrance exam. However if you have TOEFL, you are exempted. This means TOEFL is not necessary but may be helpful.
In the case of my second choice grad school, course is fully in English and TOEFL is needed. You will only be exempted if your native language is English.
Therefore, check the requirements of your grad school and my opinion is to take the TOEFL before leaving IF you need it. Or else, save the money up. =)

 

[kawabanga]

Dear All,

Have a Merry Christmas!

 

[jim84]

Dear Fellow Candidates and Scholarship Hopefuls,

WISH EVERYONE A MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009.
May God bless us all with a bright year ahead with MEXT scholarships 2009!!

 

[abeeyo_q8]

I then received an e-mail from the graduate school office at the Uni saying I was (unofficially) accepted directly into the graduate program with no language training.

I am not sure if this decision was made because of my monbusho application japanese test results. I did do a portion of my interview in Japanese. I am not fluent, but I did a double major in Japanese and History for my B.A. and spent 2006 on a Jasso scholarship doing an exchange program at a university in Tokyo, so I know my way around the language. I am pretty nervous, have not had much chance to speak Japanese over the past year and I do not know if I can keep up with a graduate level course with out a warm up period. I do plan to take advantage of my Universities Japanese language classes.

hey midorineko,

yeah i'm in the same situtation. my prof wants me to enter the biostudies program at kyoudai in april as soon as i get there without the 6 months language studies. i told him several times that i was worried my japanese wasn't sufficient enough. i've studied japanese for 4 years at a university level, but i've never done a study abroad there (lucky you). he just assured me that although the classes are in japanese, the coursework wasn't that intensive.

i was wondering if we can change our mind after like a week or so of classes and take the language courses if we feel the classes are too hard.

i know how you feel...i'm incredibly worried about studying biology in japanese

 

[skfer]

is it possible to take some undergraduate or graduate classes when you are in research student period ?

 

[midorineko]

abeeyo_q8
Congratulations on getting into Kyoudai. Make sure you see the monkeys while in Kyoto , they are the best.
As far as I know, there is no way to do the language training without the university's recommendation. I would talk to your coordinator and see if there is anything that can be done if you are really not comfortable jumping right into class. I am thinking of buying a digital voice recorder to take down the lectures with so I can go back and study anything I miss the first time.

Skfer,
I have been told that part of being a research student is having access to basic courses at the university, but I think what you will be allowed to take is up to your school.

 

[abeeyo_q8]

Yeah I already bought a digital recorder. It's made by olympus. You can get it from any best buy for about a $100. It holds about 255 hours and has a built in USB drive.

 

[midorineko]

Thank you for the recommendation.

To all,
Since I forgot to mention it.
I hope everyone is having a joyous holiday season.

 

[jim84]

A digital dictionary (translator) would be handy. But it's advisable to buy it in Japan. It's cheaper. =)
Happy Holidays~

 

[midorineko]

I plan on buying on of the Jisho pda's from Japanese language tools, but I think I will order it before I leave and have it shipped from Japan so that I can accustom myself to it before arrival.
japaneselanguagetools.com

 

[menrui]

i thought about buying a pda and using it as midorineko^ described, but a pda is rather exspensive. however, it does seem like a great learning tool, plus, you get a hand held computer. i was thinking about buying those mini laptops for around 300-400$. seems popular these days.

hmmm, looks like i have to wait till at least after jan.5 to get any news from my consulate. i was really hoping for an early christmas this year too haha.

happy holidays everyone~!

 

[abeeyo_q8]

yeah I totaly recommend an electronic dictionary or a PDA. They're so useful. I have a canon electronic dict. Been using it since soph year of college. A bit pricey. About $200 but it's so useful. But a PDA has a lot more features. Like the stylus helps with writing kanji and you can add entries to your dictionary. Not all electronic dixt have those features.

Also for those with iPhones and itouches there several Japanese dictionary apps. Some cost but some are free. So that is def another option. But I don't know how they compare to PDAs and electronic dictionaries.

 

[jim84]

you can get an Iphone in japan that comes together with the phone line subscription. I'm thinking of getting one next April as well.

 

[luckyme]

Hi everybody,
It seemed that many of you received acceptance from MEXT. I don't know how many of you still wait for a final result like me. Actually, I known about this forum some months ago, since July when I search through Internet to find some tips for the interview. You guys help me a lot and I really appreciated for that. I want to wait until receive final result to join in this Forum but today I received very bad new, I feel really sad and I want to have somebody in the same boat to encourage me.
I studied Japanese for 4 years in University and took more a year to study myself. I really want to have a chance to study Master in Japan but it seemed to be difficult because my major is Econonics. Then, I quit study Japanese and started to study English. Actually, together with applied for MEXT scholarship through the Embassy, I also applied for another program scholarship at Japan. Today, I received e-mail that I failed and I'm very sad. All of my hope is now MEXT scholarship only. I don't know what should I be if I fail?
I ever read about the case of one people in Argentina. She said that she even deny the wedding propose to be free to go to Japan. I'm nothing compare with her but I know how shocked I am if I failed.
Last year, we received result from our Embassy this time but now I so worried that I not have enough confidence to contact with them. I scare that the result will make me hurt. Waiting is making me crazy. But how my life could me if I was failed. In addtion, my country celebrates Luner New Year and we not have holiday in Christmas time.
I hope there is somebody ever in the same situation can understand me. I'm sorry because it's quite a sad story when you are celebrate Christmas.
@Nall-Oki: I know that you are fainful. Now I have the same feeling, really disappointed. I don't know what is your major. I know another way for apply MEXT scholarship, directly through University. There are a lot of another kind of scholarships like ADB, WB, however, almost of them are for enginering programs. Unfortunately, I am not qualify for this and some another course are conducted in English which is difficult for me because my English is not as good as Japanese.

 

[kouki]

>luckyme

I am sorry to hear that. But don't be despaired.

You can still apply for MEXT Scholarship once you have pass your entrance examination in the graduate school. I am not sure how much is the success rate, but I think you might want to try that.

Try contact some professors, which can support you through your post graduate course. However, I think life like that would be hard then, since you have to juggle between work and study.

Anyway, you might want to consider Malaysian universities, as currently, I am seeing a huge number of Vietnamese here, studying in my university, Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Just believe that there are always hopes in your life. If you are determined to get to your target, you will reach it one way or another, with your will. 諦めちゃだめ、もうすくし自信を持ってください。信念があれば、夢が必ず叶えるんです。一緒にがんばってください。

 

[gakudan]

hey everyone.

found this forum from a google search. i actually didn't get my results yet. no email, no letter in the mail, no call from the embassy, so i'm really nervous. i know i won't get anything in the mail today because it's christmas, but maybe i'll get something in an email. it's good to see that for a lot of people there's closure in this "will i be going?" question. congratulations to those who were accepted, even the tentative ones. for the people who weren't accepted (i only saw luckyme's post but there's possibly other people too) i'm sorry to hear that. but don't give up hope though because there's always an opportunity to go to japan. just need to have the persistence.

i'll post in here again when i finally do get my notice.

 

[abeeyo_q8]

luckyme,

you shouldn't be so discouraged
i have a friend in keio university in tokyo, he's a monbusho student and he's an economics major. so don't give up just cause you think your major isn't what they want or anything like that!

 

[menrui]

i think kouki might have read luckymes post wrong. she was rejected from the "other" scholarship, but is still waiting for the MEXT "tentative" results(and final results). correct? so that means she still has a chance of getting the MEXT scholarship, but she is just really worried about it.

luckyme,
im sure we all understand how you feel. im still waiting for the "tentative" results too. after receiving the recommendation, your chances of receiving the scholarship should be high, but not 100% of course. im surprised to hear the story about the argentinan girl rejecting a marriage proposal. for me, im not risking anything to get this scholarship(besides money)... but i have alot to gain by receiving it.

gakudan,
i havent received anything either. if your consulate is anything like mine, your consulate should be on a big holiday break until jan5. so maybe we shouldnt expect anything until then? actually, i think my consulate is open tomorrow(friday), but i will wait until jan5 to call.

anyways, just be pantient guys! the results will come out soon im sure.

 

[jim84]

abeeyo is right, luckyme
don't give up just yet. You've come this far.
I've been rejected by scholarships, perhaps more than anyone else here. Just this year alone i have been rejected 4 times. This is also my last shot.
So hang in there girl. We're all in the same boat.
Lets pray for a great year ahead with MEXT!

 

[kouki]

>menrui,

You are right, I am sorry. I think I might have misunderstood what luckyme said... but anyway, I was trying to offer some plan B, C, D... to him...

 

[luckyme]

Hi guys,
Thank U all. I fell better now. At least, I'm not the one who is waiting for the final result. Let's pray!
I had just contact to my Consulate today. They still not have the result. May be early next year, I'll know it. Usually, in my country, we know the result right after Christmas. However, it seemed to be late this year. I'm so anxious now.
About the way to receive the result. I think it's quite different between many countries. I'm worried when some of you said that receive e-mail, phone call from your Consulate. In my country, actually, the official result is post on the website of Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). All of news from Consulate is not official and I remember that through many process from document review round to interview round, I never received any e-mail, call from both MOET and Consulate. It's all post all the website.So don't be worry if you still not receive anything. I fell better to have more people on the same boat.