Hey Guys:
I am currently receiving the MEXT scholarship and thought I would post some info / words of advice for everyone who is applying or thinking about doing so. I used to lurk on this forum a lot when I was going through the interview process in my home country, waiting for results, etc, so I thought it would be nice to give something back to the JREF community.
A little about me:
I'm a 1st year PhD student studying engineering at Gunma University. Gunma was my first choice and I couldn't be happier with the school. The first day I sat down with my professor, he said that, based on my work experience, I should go directly to the PhD program (in all my paperwork I said I just wanted the MS) and so after some simple entrance exams, etc, here I am.
For me the hardest part of the whole process was the long wait. Once you've been accepted to the program and have provisional acceptance letters sent back to your embassy / consulate (Aug I think) you have to wait a solid 6 months with absolutely no information before you get the final notice that you're going sometime in February.
Other tidbits:
My school has a large population of Muslim students (especially from Malaysia) which I think is kind of neat, considering we're in Japan.
My professor can understand English perfectly, but tends to only speak to me in Japanese, hence I am studying the language mostly to make my life easier. I'm probably just shy of passing 窶愿コ窶怒ナ津ェ窶拿窶氾最スナスナ陳アN2 if that means anything.
Since I'm in the PhD program, I can do all of my presentation / write papers in English, and all the technical papers I read are in English. In fact, if/when I attend international conferences, everything has to be written in English.
My lab seems to be pretty well funded, so whenever I have to attend a conference, etc the lab pays for transportation / hotel fees (YMMV on this point especially)
That's all for now--let me know what questions you have!
I am currently receiving the MEXT scholarship and thought I would post some info / words of advice for everyone who is applying or thinking about doing so. I used to lurk on this forum a lot when I was going through the interview process in my home country, waiting for results, etc, so I thought it would be nice to give something back to the JREF community.
A little about me:
I'm a 1st year PhD student studying engineering at Gunma University. Gunma was my first choice and I couldn't be happier with the school. The first day I sat down with my professor, he said that, based on my work experience, I should go directly to the PhD program (in all my paperwork I said I just wanted the MS) and so after some simple entrance exams, etc, here I am.
For me the hardest part of the whole process was the long wait. Once you've been accepted to the program and have provisional acceptance letters sent back to your embassy / consulate (Aug I think) you have to wait a solid 6 months with absolutely no information before you get the final notice that you're going sometime in February.
Other tidbits:
My school has a large population of Muslim students (especially from Malaysia) which I think is kind of neat, considering we're in Japan.
My professor can understand English perfectly, but tends to only speak to me in Japanese, hence I am studying the language mostly to make my life easier. I'm probably just shy of passing 窶愿コ窶怒ナ津ェ窶拿窶氾最スナスナ陳アN2 if that means anything.
Since I'm in the PhD program, I can do all of my presentation / write papers in English, and all the technical papers I read are in English. In fact, if/when I attend international conferences, everything has to be written in English.
My lab seems to be pretty well funded, so whenever I have to attend a conference, etc the lab pays for transportation / hotel fees (YMMV on this point especially)
That's all for now--let me know what questions you have!