Hello everyone. My name is Iken and I have just sent my application for MEXT through University Nomination today. I applied for the Peace program in Hiroshima University. I'd like to share with you my experience on how I prepared for this application.
Initially, I applied for the Embassy Recommendation last year since I have planned to study this April 2012. I was able to talk to three professors from different universities who wanted to take me in. When I called the Embassy of Japan in my country around June 2011, I was told that I failed to pass the first screening. Well, I got really sad about it and I felt kind of embarrassed. So I decided not to tell the professors right away. (Guys, don't make the same mistake that I did. This is really a bad idea, tell them right away!)
I was able to go to Japan last October to visit my friends. The experience just made me want to study more in Japan because I have seen how great it was to live there. On the last week of November 2011, I decided to send a message to the professors who I talked to back in May and told them about the results. One of them responded and told me about the University Recommendation. He advised that I should apply. However, one of the things that I need to undergo is to have a face-to-face interview with him. To refer to a previous post, I definitely agree with BuDZ regarding the different procedures of various universities; checking the websites or maybe sending an email to the Student support office really helps because there are requirements that applies to one university but doesn't apply to all. Also, you will be surprised on how fast they are in replying to your inquiry. They're very helpful.
Anyway, luckily, the professor I wrote to will visit my country (they had a conference here) and wanted to arrange a meeting with me. That was pretty convenient on my end, but man, I had to sit through the interview with 3 professors from Hiroshima University and I was really nervous. They sort of "dissected" every part of my research proposal and told me why it didn't work. They gave me suggestions on how I could make it more appealing to the scholarship committee. I was really grateful for that meeting with them. At the end of the consultation meeting, one of the professors said that I should pay them $100 each for consultation fee, so I asked "Do you take credit cards?" He said, "Yes!"
The thing good thing is, I had two meetings with the professor so we were able to come up with a hypothesis and I started to work on that. My professor and I worked on the research proposal for 2 weeks. I constantly emailed him on how I will make the research proposal clearer. I even had to ask about APA referencing which was a bit hard for me.
I had some problems with the TOEFL Score because I haven't taken that test. I also have limited time to study and they told me that I have to get at least 100. I prepared for 3 weeks and I got a decent score. I used Notefull.com on youtube for the speaking and the writing part. The Official Score Certificate from TOEFL is an important requirement in my program because the medium of instruction for all the classes is English so they need to know if my level of proficiency is enough for me to understand the lectures. Since I have only taken the test last December, the score certificate won't get to Japan in time for the deadline which is Jan. 17. I was told that it takes about 3 weeks to be sent from TOEFL office to other locations. I just hope that they will still consider my application even if I sent an unofficial score taken from the website.
The professor told me that the scholarship will be awarded to 4 students. He said that I have to pass the screening of the University first, then if things go well, they will recommend me to MEXT. They will meet in February and MEXT will inform them if I pass maybe around late June or early July 2012. I think they are about 30 teachers in my program so let's say, if about half of them has a prospective applicant for MEXT, the competition is still high. I don't know yet if I can make it this time but I'm hoping that my professor will vouch for me to get a slot.
My advice to other applicants is 1. take the TOEFL (if it's an English program) way early to meet the deadline, 2. Be honest to your professors, talk to them about your research and don't hesitate to ask for advice.
I wish everyone a great year ahead and goodluck to all applicants. Cheers from the Philippines!
