My mext situation

Hello all,
New to this place so im going to start it off with some questions if you would be so kind to answer.

Currently i am living in Japan and im getting ready to apply for the mext research scholarship for 2011. I have a friend in the program now, so he was able to answer a bunch of questions for me but only related to his situation. so here are my questions in no particular order.

recommendation forms
I seem to only see forms in English. Are there any in Japanese?

Me living in Japan
Will this hurt or help my chances at getting the scholarship. I plan to go back over to my home country for the interview and application.

Abstract of thesis
On the form it ask for an abstract of thesis. Is this thesis one where you state what you plan on researching or is it asking for your thesis you did back when you were an undergrad? in which case i was never required to write one.

Application
Typed or hand written?

Thats about it for now.
This place has some nice people so i look forward to giving/getting imput here.
All the best


A.

Hmmm just a suggestion, but maybe you can put your questions under MEXT 2011 thread? ^^

People who are also applying for 2011 one will also gather there, so I think it will be much easier for you later .

But anyway, I'll try to answer your questions.

recommendation forms
I seem to only see forms in English. Are there any in Japanese?

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As far as I know from my embassy's website, there are none. They allow us to fill up the form with Japanese though.

Me living in Japan
Will this hurt or help my chances at getting the scholarship. I plan to go back over to my home country for the interview and application.

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I'm an Indonesian, but I have been living in Singapore for the past 4 years. So my situation is much or less the same with you . The fact that we've been living overseas won't hurt our chance, cause it's the nationality that holds the important factor for your eligibility applying for this scholarship.

Abstract of thesis
On the form it ask for an abstract of thesis. Is this thesis one where you state what you plan on researching or is it asking for your thesis you did back when you were an undergrad? in which case i was never required to write one.

Click to expand...

Abstract is basically a summary. I think you can just make a summary of your undergrad thesis. That should be fine.

Application
Typed or hand written?

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Since you can download all the forms from the website, typed forms should be no problem, right?

Hi infokill,

I applied for the 2010 program while in Japan, so maybe I can help with a couple of your questions.

1. Recommendation Forms: I looked for a Japanese copy to no avail. In the end I translated the form myself and gave it to my supervisor along with the original, requesting that he fill out the original English form. If you can't translate the questions yourself, you can probably get a friend to take care of it for you.

2. Living in Japan: It's not going to hurt you, and in some ways it may help: you'll most likely have a recommendation for someone who will vouch that you do fine with the difference in culture/etc., and if you've put some time into language study during your stay, that will look good on your application. But don't count on it too much; in fact, you can most likely assume they'll be other applicants in the same situation. At my embassy there were three applicants who had flown home from Japan for the interview.

3. Abstract of Thesis: I wasn't required to do a thesis in undergrad either. Just tell them that it wasn't a requirement in your program.

4. Typed or Hand Written: I typed mine. I doubt that was the deciding factor, but if you're going to invest a year of your life into this application, you may as well take the extra ten minutes to type it up. You really want every element of your application to look as professional and as serious as possible.

Good luck with the application process!

Faulkner, thanks soi much for your reply!
It helped a lot.

If you are already living in Japan wouldn't the logical way to be passing the entrance exams for a university there and then applying for the Monbusho scholarship through that university? (or going for any other scholarship; Contact some universities you'd like to go to and they'll help you further)
The reason I ask this is because these mext scholarships through the embassy are mainly established to attract foreign researchers/students to Japan.
People who are in Japan would apply for the scholarship through university recommendation (by a Japanese university) if I get it correctly.

I have no idea if you are working in Japan or if your parents are working in Japan or what visa status you have and how long you are in Japan now.
Although it is technically possible to do this one by going back to your country and applying, I would imagine that this could be a reason for mext to reject you.

My 2 cents on this topic is to first check with the Japanese embassy in your home country, that is the country which gave you your passport. MEXT mostly operates in accordance to the directions given by their foreign counter-parts. For example, in India there is an added condition that if you are studying outside of India for more than six months then you need to wait for two years after your return to India before you can apply. I will advise you to check with the embassy in your home country and with your government official to find out if there are any restrictions in it. If there are, the university recommendation is probably the best way to go for you.

Just one thing I read among the requirements for the MEXT scholarship : you can't apply when you currently have the foreign student visa (ryûgakusei). So I hope you are living in Japan with another visa than this one !

Thats good to know jeanmarie. I dont have a student visa so im good to go.
Thanks everyone for your input!