Monbukagakusho Scholarship for Postgraduate!!

[backwheelbates]

I haven't heard anything about a send-off or orientation party for Canadians. It sounds like fun though!

Wenling, are you studying Japanese at the Kyoto Institute of Culture and Language as well? It's connected to the Art University. As for where I'll be staying, I have some family in Kyoto, so I will be staying with them. How about everyone else, has everyone found a place to live??

[ochasuru]

yauchildchew,
nothing much 'bout the statements in the PLEDGE letter,
i guess by now you’ve probably received the letter like arshana and wenling.

arshana,
thanks for the reminder. i just overlooked the due date for the send-off party
answer sheet. i guess i will just get everything done and pass by hand.
yeah, they put in bracket (within 2 persons) eh? kinda confusing...
will give them a call tomorrow and get the confirmation on this matter.

wenling,
am bringing both my ma and da along. are u bring both your parents with you?

backwheelbates,
haven't heard from you for quite some time. good for you as you've few family over there in Kyoto. i believe they will take good care of you. as for me, i emailed the university that i'll be attending and asked them if they can arrange a place for me to stay. i received a call from the embassy on 18 March and i checked the university's website on the dormitory application and stuff... and guess what, the due date for that application was on 12 March, it scared the hell outta me. because to find a place to live aside from dormitory in tokyo will cost you a bomb. but i had no other choice but to send an email to the 'student affair' of that university asking if there's any other way that they can recommend me. i got a reply the next day and they were telling me that everything will be arranged by them. they will send someone to pick me up from the airport to the university dormitory. and yesterday i received an email from the university and they're actually conducting 'online orientation'... they asked few simple questions to test my japanese language ability. the purpose is to categorize the foreign students according to their japanese language ability. i've already tried my best answering all the questions and sent my answer to them. gosh... i should've make this shorter but sorry... couldn't help it. ahaha~

nway, cheers and more to come for each of us...

[yauchildchew]

well, have not received yet le (==!!) anyway, wat worry me more is that I sent an email to my supervisor but so far i have not got any reply back yet....

so it seems everyone is at preparation ady.....i think i need to ask boss to let me go early.

Congrates to Arshana & WenLing!

N if I were you Ocha, I would just show them that my Jap is so bad so that they would provide more guide for me during learning Jap.....my Jap is inferior anyway :P

Well, lets prepare well :)

[ochasuru]

well yauchildchew, yours on your way yo, no worries.
as for the language, you just have to put on more effort in order to become better.
i hv no choice cos will be writing my thesis in that language,
so definitely need to absorb as much japanese as possible.
been learning it for about 5 years now but still... long long way to go.
language is an everyday learning process, so we'll be able to learn fast when we're there as that's the only language we'll get to listen and hear soon...

[yauchildchew]

... long long way to go.
haha, very interesting phase!
I presume u must be at JLPT Level 2 ady, am i rite?

So, a very serious question I have wanted it answered so long...;
is it correct that.......

1) we will enrol into the language preparatory course for 6 years, during then, will we begin our research?
2) after language course, is it the research waiting us to complete, is it to complete in another 6 months?
3) after the research, we need to apply to enroll into master's course, which will took another 2 years to complete.

So we will be there
either
at least 1 years to complete language & research only
or
at least 3 years to gain a jap master's degree,
which is it?

I believe I must have mistaken something in the sequence.
Please kindly correct me :)
Thanks for time and attention~!

[wenling]

hi backwheelbates!

I assume that should be the center for the language training...
Wow, having some relatives there sure safe a lot of potential problems and hassle... not to mention the cost for accomodation as well...

I was informed that the university would arrange for me to stay at an international student hostel (Mukaijima Gakusei Center) for the first year... however, till now i do not know the status of the hostel room yet... maybe if not successful, i need to find accomodation on my own...

hope to make your acquintance there...


hi ochasuru!

nice to hear that everything has been arranged by your university.
it should be smooth sailing for you once you touch down in japan...

yup, both my parents should be coming along too... finally they manage to find some time from work to attend the function...

wow, writing your thesis in japanese is indeed a great challenge... but i have confidence that you will pull it through...
for me, if i could speak japanese, that would already been an extraordinary feat for me...


hi yauchildchew!

thanks a lot but dont worry... your letter would definitely arrive this few days...
regarding your supervisor, i think he / she would reply soon enough... i still remember that my supervisor took 3 months to reply my email last year on some research questions... at least this shows that they will definitely reply but just a matter of sooner or later...

my japanese language is totally zero... got to start from scratch... hope all you guys & ladies who are advanced learners to guide me from time to time...

regarding your serious questions... i think you got it real accurate...

according to my master supervisor who was a monbusho scholar, first 6 months = language preparatory, next 6 months = research student (sit for uni entrance examination), second year start your dissertation work.

master degree takes up 2 years to complete
phd degree takes up 3 years to complete

overall, to fully complete master degree = 3 years, phd degree = 4 years (assuming everything goes successfull without any extension period)
basically, its a bit longer to do it in japan then other countries such as UK / Australia / USA...

thats what i was told... please correct me if i am wrong...

[akita]

Well, till now all they've ask from us was a copy after the passport. But the letter of acceptance we gave it long ago. I have no idea where I'll stay. i think in a room provide by the university. :-)

We just need to wait for the Embassy to call us again and give other details about flight tickets and I suppose the place where we will live. I'll do the 6 month of language in the same university that I'll study so I guess this is good.

[yauchildchew]

thx wenling, u too not to worry about language as it will be taught there :)

let say our calculation are correct, does it mean that the transition from the status as a research student to a master's course student is to let us to obtain a master's degree at the end of our long long way? then i wonder why is it in the first place we must be a research student instead of just making everyone of us a postgrad student?

if so, during the 6 months as a research student, we do not need to attend any lecture?

after we become a student, only then we begin lectures and continue the research both together at one time?

this have been the most vague part of my application for this scholarship.

[ochasuru]

yauchildchew,
erm... yeah, i'm done and through with JLPT 2,
in fact took JLPT 1 twice and failed... frustrating eh?!
nway, will try again this year. just wish me luck ;p
regarding the break down of the period of being research student
and post-grad, well i have no idea too. japan is probably the only country
with this kinda system eh?!

wenling,
thank u for the explanation and encouraging words eh! surely appreciate it.
i personally think it's an interesting language, so hopefully you'll enjoy your japanese class k. but of course different people has got different kinda view rite?

akita,
no worries, i'm sure they are arranging it for you now.
at first i worried over the same thing too... but normally universities in japan
will arrange the accommodation for the foreign students (according to one of my japanese teachers) and eventually, it's like a 'tradition' for the school to do so.

[yauchildchew]

hehe, just got a call from home that they received my letter and express-posted to me ady :)

n Ocha, we all understanf how frustrating a failure is but anyway, keep on Fighto!

[bachir]

hello everyone :wave:
just wanted to ask you to participate in the thread i created a few days ago.
the: "which university are you heading to?" thread.
please, let everybody know at which university we'll be .
It takes only one minute maximum. and 4 or 5 words :-)

thanks to all of you . :cool:

[ochasuru]

yauchildchew,

sankyu- sankyu- (thank you thank you)
to you too... keep on fuaito!!!

[wenling]

thx wenling, u too not to worry about language as it will be taught there :)

let say our calculation are correct, does it mean that the transition from the status as a research student to a master's course student is to let us to obtain a master's degree at the end of our long long way? then i wonder why is it in the first place we must be a research student instead of just making everyone of us a postgrad student?

if so, during the 6 months as a research student, we do not need to attend any lecture?

after we become a student, only then we begin lectures and continue the research both together at one time?

this have been the most vague part of my application for this scholarship.


I do not know why the system works that way but probably because the programmes are conducted in foreign language and the ministry wants to gauge our performances before granting us the postgraduate student position.

I am not sure whether we need to attend any lecture during the period as a research student... maybe it all depends on the respective university guidelines or the discretion of your supervisor...

I think most candidates faced the same issue as I myself am not sure since there is no clear information on this part mentioned anywhere... let's hope they will clarify the issues during the briefing period...

Anyone out there knows whether we should bring along our original certificates to show our respective university during registration?

[yauchildchew]

Hoho! Received my letter from home today. Have a better idea of my future study in Jap. So, it will take 2 years to complete my study, but not sure if that would grant me a master's degree or not.

So, WenLing, here are my opinions to some of your queries;

1) for 6 month language course, we do not have to BUT are advised to attend some lectures especially those relevant to ur research and those lectured by ur supervisor. This is to strengthen the supervisor-student relationship and also let you know better ur supervisor's teaching style.

2) as for original certs, I will bring those that are utmost representative there and keep a copy at home country. original certs are essential when we want to apply for something later there.

and ya, so bad that my language and major will both be carried out in Tokyo U, I would prefer to have language course somewhere else :P

and for accommodation, according to the attachment come with the letter, i have been assigned to stay in dormitory.......seem everything is prepared well for me already.

I wonder.....
1) why we are advised to bring USD1500 instead of YEN? I plan to bring YEN.
2) when should we apply for the student VISA? we need to go to Jap Embassy to make one rite? So anyone going to make one during the orientation+send-off party? Anyway, I read from somewhere we need some documents to apply this visa.

Gonna make next friday my last working day :)

[Rizaric]

Just for the record... I don't think you should say 'Jap' cause it's kind of offensive.

As for the 1500 USD... I think its the value that they're stressing and not exactly the USD. Most people are probably more familiar with the USD than the Yen, I'm guessing.

I think, as for being a research student... it lets you (and your supervisor) feel things out before committing to the long haul (2 yrs. Masters, 4 yrs. PhD)....

[akita]

yauchildchew,

akita,
no worries, i'm sure they are arranging it for you now.
at first i worried over the same thing too... but normally universities in japan
will arrange the accommodation for the foreign students (according to one of my japanese teachers) and eventually, it's like a 'tradition' for the school to do so.


Thank you @Ochasuru I guess when everything will be ready they will tell me. I 've waited till now I think a little more not gonna kill me.:-)

I also wander if it's really necessary to bring dollars with me if I can take yens.
Because I'll loose money to change first in dollars then in yens. Also should i bring cash or should a put some on a credit card? I don't know if is true but I've heard there are some problem with foreign credit card in Japan sometimes they don't work well.

[arshana]

I'm bringing both my parents too. I hope the orientation would clear up a lot of our questions.

I spoke to a couple of my lecturers who did their postgrad in Japan. According to them, the entrance exam varies and depends on the supervisor. It could be an exam relating to your study, or they might ask you to translate Japanese into English and vice versa, or they might even ask you to present your research proposal.

[dblbstrd]

Akita, no need to bring US dollars with you.
What they mean is that you should bring roughly the equivalent of that amount (140,000 yen or so). But you may not really even need that much anyway.
All you really need is enough to get to your university, pay rent if you need to, and for whatever you need (food, other expenses) until the first stipend is dispersed.

I always use my ATM/Debit card with the postal savings ATMs to withdraw money, so I don't even really need to bring any cash with me, because they have such ATMs at Narita.

It might be good to bring some cash though, if you're not sure that your debit card (if you have one) will work at the ATM. I will probably take some traveler's checks anyway, just enough to get me to my university.

[yauchildchew]

Just for the record... I don't think you should say 'Jap' cause it's kind of offensive OK, noted but used it with no offence :P

Anyway, after going thru all the attachment in the letter, I have got to know better.

So we are as the Research Student, aka Non-Degree student, will be granted 2 year scholarship from this april, to take part in 6mth language course, and the rest will be the research.

I believe that we wont be given any degree for carrying out this research. This research acts like a stepping stone for us to convert into Graduate Student; or more as a given time for us to prepare for the entrance exam for our Graduate Study in the 3rd year in Japan.

So, I will put it this way;
1) We study 6 mth language, then carry out 1.5 year research, end of MEXT scholarship, go back. TOTAL=2 years WITHOUT any degree.
2) ditto but instead of go back home country, we apply to extend the scholarship to enroll into Graduate school in the condition that we pass the University entrance exam. Then, Master takes 2 years, PHD 3years maybe. TOTAL=4 years to get a Master degree.

So, what do u guys think of my opinion?

n ya, its better to start applying for student visa even without an actual offer letter and a confirmed flight itinerary yet; according to Ms Goh from the Embassy.

[wenling]

n ya, its better to start applying for student visa even without an actual offer letter and a confirmed flight itinerary yet; according to Ms Goh from the Embassy.


What are the requirements of the student visa? is there a deadline for the application?

i have checked the local embassy website on visa application but there is no mention of the things needed for student visa application... the only category there is for business, holiday & visiting relatives...

anyone knows what i need to submit or bring along for the visa application since i might be dropping by the embassy next monday... so might as well just apply it at the same time...

[Rizaric]

Quote:Originally Posted by Rizaric


Just for the record... I don't think you should say 'Jap' cause it's kind of offensive

OK, noted but used it with no offence :P

Yeah, I knew that... just wanted to let you know cause it might have caused you misunderstanding at a later date.

In my understanding, you don't necessarily have to go through the whole first 2 years as a research student if you don't want to. You probably need to discuss it with your supervisor, but depending on the date you take the "entrance exam", if you pass and are qualified, you won't have to spend so much time as a research student.

It won't let me add any URLs, but if you go to the official studyjapan website or wherever you got your original application guidelines, under section 3, Term of Scholarship, you'll be able to see- it says you may be able even to enter directly into your degree program.

So I guess may ask your supervisor about what they think is the best course for you to follow? It also depends on what you want to research-- if you have a concrete research plan in mind already which is approved by your supervisor, I think it'll be easier to jump directly into your degree program.

[yauchildchew]

Extracted from web:

Documents required :

1. Original visa application form
1 for each applicant with 1 passport size photo (must be taken within 6 months)
to complete every column including address and name of accommodation

2. Passport (without cover)
must reserve 1 full page for visa

3. Letter of guarantee from company/firm /organization
preferred typed on firm’s letterhead consists of :
applicant’s name, position, period of service, purpose of journey, length of stay, guarantee of expenses, name of person accompanying (if any), etc.

4. Invitation letter from counterpart in Japan
should be typed on firm’s letterhead consists of :
i ) applicant’s name, passport number, purpose of visit and duration of stay
ii) signature and name of person in-charge
iii) schedule

5. Confirmed flight itinerary from travel agent or airline

Note : documents required for Japanese Visa application might differ based on the purpose of visit.
For submission of documents :
a) Arrange all documents according to sequence as above. Documents submitted will not be returned
b) All photocopies of documents should be in A4 size paper
c) Embassy or Consulate-General of Japan has the right to request for any other documents apart from the above mentioned

Interview
as and when required

Processing period
it usually takes 3 working days to process the visa. In cases where documents are incomplete or applicants are under consideration, it will take delay the process.

Visa fee
For Malaysia passport holder is gratis.

[dblbstrd]

You probably will not actually need all that to apply for your student visa.

I think that as a MEXT scholar, your embassy will just take care of everything for you, and you only need to fill out and sign the application form and give them your passport and an extra photo.

[kishimen]

Agreed, dblbstrd.

yauchildchew, the one you've got here is a really general one, i think, and more for those going on business trips. For 'college student' status, the most important thing you'd probably need to supply is letter of acceptance from university/document confirming that you've been offered a place. Then again, the embassy knows you've got a place, right? Unless you're going to the consulate general in Penang. Again, for college students, interviews are generally not required. Unless things have changed since that I'm not aware of.

[bachir]

Yahooooo :yeahh: ! finally, (i must be the last one on earth to receive something from the ministry) . I AM RELIEVED now that i know who is my professor.
GREAT ! i even got the FAMOUS letter that everyone waited for, for soooo long :happy:
Even better, since everything seems to happen in the same week...i got my invitation to the residence of the ambassador on 17th. :bravo:
So what else :clueless: ah! yes the air plane ticket. I was told that it is on its way right at this moment :win:
Well then, thanks for everyone who supported and encouraged me until now.
And once again... CONGRATULAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATIONS to those who succeded ! :disco:

[backwheelbates]

Congratulations Bachir!!

[xiuxiu]

Congratulations bachir!
I'm really happy for you :cool:

[ochasuru]

hey Bachir,

CONGRATULATION to you...
you finally received the so-called 'important' letter.
bet everyone is happy for you.
all the best with the preparation eh!

[ilus]

Congratulations my friend Bachir!!

It is very nice to know that your persistence and strong effort result in a happy ending.

[akita]

Congratulation Bachir.
Now I guess everybody have more or less everything they need for the scholarship.:-)

[sarubobo]

Hi, I'm new here, yoroshiku!

n ya, its better to start applying for student visa even without an actual offer letter and a confirmed flight itinerary yet; according to Ms Goh from the Embassy.>>> does this mean we (Malaysians) have to go and settle our visa's ourselves?

[ochasuru]

Hi sarubobo,
welcome aboard.
yeah, we really should start applying for the student visa instead of waiting for the next instruction 'cos eventually we don't have much time left according to Ms Goh.
guess we need to settle that out on our own as we are heading to Japan next month(April intake), if we wait any longer, we won't be able to make it there on time eh?!
and the only source we have to refer to is, Ms Goh. let's get through this process asap and head to our destination smoothly and safely.

[arshana]

I guess the April intake students need to rush. Good luck guys. I'm gonna do my visa later, once I get the follow-up letter from the embassy.

[kishimen]

thats make two of us, arshana...

and congrats bachir! Told you it'd be worth the wait hehe:balloon:

and welcome sarubobo!

[xiuxiu]

Hello again everyone,
I just call a call from the embassy. They have my flight schedule, and I leave for Japan on April 1st. Now, I will be flying through LAX, and to do that I need to renew my US visa. I know that can be a long, painful process.
My interview is tomorrow, and I have documents from the embassy that prove that I'm going to Japan to study, so all in all I guess it won't be that much of a problem. I'm still worried, though.

Did anyone else had to get a US visa to go to Japan? Please share your experience!

[sarubobo]

Hi sarubobo,
welcome aboard.
yeah, we really should start applying for the student visa instead of waiting for the next instruction 'cos eventually we don't have much time left according to Ms Goh.
guess we need to settle that out on our own as we are heading to Japan next month(April intake), if we wait any longer, we won't be able to make it there on time eh?!
and the only source we have to refer to is, Ms Goh. let's get through this process asap and head to our destination smoothly and safely.

>>thanks ochasuru, do you think we'll have time to get the visa ready once we get the follow up letter? P.s - i'm also leaving in april. I have tonnes of things to get settled and making a trip to KL just for the visa is a bit 'mendokusai'.:auch: If we could get things done all in one go, that would be much easier wouldnt it!

[xiuxiu]

Ne ermind the US visa. I already got mine and it was no hassle at all.

[wenling]

Congratulations Bachir!

I know you will manage to make it through!
All the best to you and have a safe journey to Japan!

Has other Malaysian scholarship recipients got any flight details yet?
Such as the date of departure and airport arrival information?

[ochasuru]

wenling,

nah, haven't received any flight details yet.
how 'bout the student visa?
am in the middle of applying for it.

[wenling]

wenling,
nah, haven't received any flight details yet.
how 'bout the student visa?
am in the middle of applying for it.

Will be submitting my visa application on the 19 March...
What did you attach together?
You have already submitted?

[yauchildchew]

You probably will not actually need all that to apply for your student visa.

I think that as a MEXT scholar, your embassy will just take care of everything for you, and you only need to fill out and sign the application form and give them your passport and an extra photo.

well, has been busy but.........today's my last working day!!!
What a relief :)

Well, seem like most of u have been in the process of applying Visa.

I believe I will just do it during the orientation day.

[sarubobo]

the visa is supposed to take only up to 3 days to finish, right?
can anyone confirm this?

[xiuxiu]

Yes, my visa only took 3 days, and I didn't have to do any paperwork, just filling a very simple form and attaching a picture

[bachir]

Hello everyone :wave:
For those who are heading to Nagoya. i received three messages from ECIS .
it's a bit weird because i thought it would be very intensive which is not AT ALL.
i mean...just look at this it's brand new (updated on 17th march) :
ECIS 6-month Japanese Language Training Course
COURSE GUIDE(Spring, 2008) for 6-month Japanese Language Training Course
Welcome to Japanese Language Training Course!
1.Course objectives
The Japanese Language Training Course is designed for total beginners of Japanese to:
1) acquire Japanese language skills necessary for dealing with everyday life affairs.
2) acquire basic knowledge of Japanese for academic purposes.
Students who have already studied Japanese at home may be assigned to a different class depending on their proficiency in Japanese. Those who are not beginners will have an interview and a written test for placement.
2. Course Schedule
Opening ceremony: Thursday, April 10,2008
Closing ceremony: Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2006¡Êtentative¡Ë
Course period: Friday, April 11,2008- Monday, Sept. 8, 2008
Summer vacation: Sat., July 19, 2008 - Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008(tentative)
3. Weekly timetable
Regular classes: Monday - Friday, 8:45 am - 2:30 pm
Notes:
Course orientation is to be given after the course starts to explain in detail the course schedule, textbooks, classroom activities, tests, homework and so on.
The course is very intensive. The students will need 3-4 hours of studying
every day at home.
For further information please contact:
KASHIMA Tanomu, Professor and 6-month chief coordinator
Office: ECIS #404
TEL: +81-52-789-4895 FAX : +81-52-789-2199
E-mail: j46082a@nucc.cc.nagoya-u.ac.jp




WHAT ANNOYS ME is that summer vacation is just TOOOOOO LONG ! don't you agree ? is it the same for everyone at other universities ?

[bachir]

By the way, got my visa in three minutes :-) astonishing !
then we were with the ambassador (a very cool person) during TWO HOURS eating various things ! discussing different topics . it was simply :love:

departure date :1st april
itinerary: algiers-paris (AIR FRANCE) paris-nagoya (guess which company ???)

JAL (japan air lines) youpiiiiiiii ! the japanese government paid soooooo much for me ! more than 3000 euro only for the paris-nagoya .
MY DEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRR AND LOVELY JAPAN ! ARIGATOOOOOOO

[arshana]

Language course for 6 months, 5 times a week and nearly 6 hours per day? Yikes, that explains the long summer break. Can we start with lab while taking the language course? Or do we need to complete the course first?

By the way, I noticed in the 'Life and Study in Japan' handbook that the period of study is until April 2010, regardless of when you start, be it April 2008 or October 2008. True? Or did I misread it?

[Saulo de Oliveira]

Hi Bachir,

I´m heading to Nagoya too.
São Paulo > Toronto > Vancouver via Air Canada
Vancouver > Tokyo > Nagoya via JAL

About the japanese course, I still think it's very extensive:

- 6 hours of Japanese class;
- They say we got to study more 3-4 hours;
- Some professor asks you to see some classes and/or stay at your laboratory for a while.

I don't think is that easy, but - hey! - I don't care :cool:

PS: A summer vacation of 40 days is ok to me heheh

See ya later :wave:

[dblbstrd]

Language course for 6 months, 5 times a week and nearly 6 hours per day? Yikes, that explains the long summer break. Can we start with lab while taking the language course? Or do we need to complete the course first?

By the way, I noticed in the 'Life and Study in Japan' handbook that the period of study is until April 2010, regardless of when you start, be it April 2008 or October 2008. True? Or did I misread it?

Actually, I think the long break is the standard break in between semesters in Japan. Usually most of August is off.
Spring break is quite long too-- when I did a two-semester exchange to a school in Tokyo, we had ALL of February *and* March off and started classes in April. Don't forget Golden Week in May, and winter break around Christmas/New Year.
You might think that's a lot of days off but it's basically on par with the amount of days on/off in US schools, just distributed a little differently.

Whether you can work on your research project during the preparatory language program depends on whether or not your advisor would like you to or permit you to do so, basically. If you want to do that, I don't see why your professor wouldn't let you, but wow that prep language program sounds like a lot of work. I won't be doing such a program, but I think I will take some technical and maybe general Japanese classes offered by my university...

And yes, I believe you read correctly-- the scholarship term is until the end of March 2010 for all students selected this year regardless of whether you start in April or October. Of course, you still may have the opportunity to apply extend the scholarship and enroll as a master's or PhD student if you wish.

[arshana]

If that's the case, 6 months is already used up for language and I'll only have a year left since that I'm leaving in October. :(

[wenling]

To all Malaysian recipients,

Please post your flight details here... at least we know who is going to which airport and maybe we could meet up at the KLIA?

I will be heading to Kansai Airport... Japan Airlines... night plane...
Kuala Lumpur > Singapore > Japan....

Anyone else going to Kansai Airport?

[arshana]

You've received your flight details? Was it through mail?

[ayumi.tt]

:haihai:congrats to everyone. seems like most of u got the scholarship. :cool:
i'm going to apply for the 2009 mext scholarship.
i have some problem filing up the form.... hope someone can help me out.
i wonder what should i write on the 'study program in japan' field?
is it the proposal u all have mentioned before?
good luck and all the best to those who r leaving for japan... ganbate:cheer:

[sarubobo]

i havent received any flight detail yet! really starting to get worried here!!

[bachir]

please do NOT WORRY sarubobo !

you know ? i got my flight schedule and the air fare ticket. however, the second grantee here in algeria who is supposed to go in april too; has not received any yet. the embassy says they're still looking for the best itinerary.
because my destination (nagoya) is different from his (tokyo) .
but anyway, don not worry, it is coming :cool:

[Saulo de Oliveira]

Bachir, btw, which dormitory are you heading in Nagoya?

I'm going to the Foreign Students House.

[wenling]

I would like to seek some advices regarding the cash that we are supposed to bring along to Japan.

In the "Life and Study in Japan" book, it was stated to bring along USD1,500. Are we supposed to bring USD1,500 in cash or we could just bring some in cash while the remaining in travellers cheque / bankdraf etc? It would not be safe to travel with so much hard cash right?

I wonder can the rental and deposit fees for the dormitory rooms be paid a few days after we moved in so that the cheque we brought along could be bank in and cleared into our saving account before we withdraw it for payment?

Hope to get some advices from the people who would be going there soon.

[Saulo de Oliveira]

Of course you can bring travelers check and cash (dollar, euro, iene,...). Actually, I prefered to buy Iene, so I don't have to exchange it afterwards.

About the rental and deposit fees I really dont know, but I think you should pay them as long as you arrive. So, I would advice you to bring those costs in cash.

[bachir]

Bachir, btw, which dormitory are you heading in Nagoya?

I'm going to the Foreign Students House.


so am iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii :happy::happy::happy:

let's meet theeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrre :yeahh:

[akita]

Anybody landing on Narita? I also receive my flight details but only Friday I'll be able to take the plain tickets. :-) I'm living in 1 April. The longest flight ever took by me. About 20 hours of flight so I guess i have enough time to learn some more Kangi.

@I believe is better to bring some cash money for the immediate necessities including deposit for the room .

[clockworkorange]

Hey guys,
first of all congrats to those leaving for japan!!

i'm from malaysia and applying for the 2009 scholarship.
i wanted to ask about the application form. especially regarding the study program in japan.it mentioned in my guidelines that the FIELD OF STUDY in the application form must be filled in by referring to the example given in the guideline.

however, the guideline just mentions under the field of study:

Humanities and Social Sciences: Literature...
Natural Sciences: Engineering.....

my question is: does that mean i just write down engineering? (since i want to pursue a masters in that)

i was under the impression that u had to describe the research work you've done and all that.

i would really appreciate it if someone could help me out with this.

i called the embassy but all the person there could tell me was to read the form. i thought it couldn't hurt to ask here.

one more question regarding the study program:
i'm actually interested in doing research that doesn't have much of a connection with what i've done in the past. would that weigh heavily in the selection process?
i suppose they're gonna compare the previous research you've done and what you're proposing.

neway, thanks to anyone helping!!!!

[xiuxiu]

Akita, I'll be landing on Narita on wednesday at about 5 PM.
I'm going crazy preparing for the trip! two suitcases WILL NOT be enough for all the things I need to take with me!

[Saulo de Oliveira]

To Clockworkorange,

About the FIELD OF STUDY, you will have to describe the research you intend to do in Japan, a study project with Title, Filed, Abstracts, Introduction, Objectives, Methodology and Bibliography (that's how I did. You can change it, of course). As the blank space was too small, I write it down in another piece of paper and attached to the application form.

I don't think it will have much weigh in the selection program (I'm graduated in Communications, but I'll start a master's degree in Information Science), but can be a little too hard to find a professor to guide you.

[dblbstrd]

Hey guys,
first of all congrats to those leaving for japan!!
i'm from malaysia and applying for the 2009 scholarship.
i wanted to ask about the application form. especially regarding the study program in japan.it mentioned in my guidelines that the FIELD OF STUDY in the application form must be filled in by referring to the example given in the guideline.
however, the guideline just mentions under the field of study:
Humanities and Social Sciences: Literature...
Natural Sciences: Engineering.....
my question is: does that mean i just write down engineering? (since i want to pursue a masters in that)
i was under the impression that u had to describe the research work you've done and all that.
i would really appreciate it if someone could help me out with this.
i called the embassy but all the person there could tell me was to read the form. i thought it couldn't hurt to ask here.
one more question regarding the study program:
i'm actually interested in doing research that doesn't have much of a connection with what i've done in the past. would that weigh heavily in the selection process?
i suppose they're gonna compare the previous research you've done and what you're proposing.
neway, thanks to anyone helping!!!!

For field of study, you should write down exactly what type of engineering you want to pursue your master's degree in. Mechanical, electrical, aerospace, chemical, etc.

You don't necessarily have to describe any research you've done in the past, but you should have a reasonably clear research proposal, I guess. The only place where you describe research you've done in the past is submission of abstracts of theses or publications... and I suppose it might come up in your recommendation letters, though that's beyond your control.

And, your previous research doesn't necessarily need to be exactly like what you're proposing. But your undergraduate major should be reasonably related to what you want to study. If you want to do engineering, you should have done something in math, science, or engineering as an undergrad. I think that's about all they ask.

Hope that helps!

[clockworkorange]

To saulo and dblbstrd,
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions!!! Grin.

at least now i'm a little clearer on how to fill up the application form. my main fear was that i'd be rejected on the basis of not filling up the form correctly.

[kouki]

I am applying for that scholarship too.

I called the embassy, and the person in charge told me that I should fill in the study program as in a title proposal.

I think for the area of study, if I am in your case, I would write Engineering (your major). Hope this will help. Keep in touch!

[clockworkorange]

Thanks, kouki!!!

Good luck to both us!!

[nazo]

Hey guys,
first of all congrats to those leaving for japan!!
i'm from malaysia and applying for the 2009 scholarship.
i wanted to ask about the application form. especially regarding the study program in japan.it mentioned in my guidelines that the FIELD OF STUDY in the application form must be filled in by referring to the example given in the guideline.
however, the guideline just mentions under the field of study:
Humanities and Social Sciences: Literature...
Natural Sciences: Engineering.....
my question is: does that mean i just write down engineering? (since i want to pursue a masters in that)
i was under the impression that u had to describe the research work you've done and all that.
i would really appreciate it if someone could help me out with this.
i called the embassy but all the person there could tell me was to read the form. i thought it couldn't hurt to ask here.
one more question regarding the study program:
i'm actually interested in doing research that doesn't have much of a connection with what i've done in the past. would that weigh heavily in the selection process?
i suppose they're gonna compare the previous research you've done and what you're proposing.
neway, thanks to anyone helping!!!!

Hi clockworkorange and everyone, it's been a while..

Clock:
This forum helped me out on that issue, I think it's on page 3 that there's some info on that... Tonikaku, I can tell you what I did using that and some information I found using google (note: I used no more than the space given -1/2page for field of study and 1 for study program, in MS PMincho 7.5).

Field of Study
Major specification and breif description.
Competences the major fosters.
Advantages of studying it in Japan/University(ies) you aim to enter.
Career options you will have by graduating.
Relevant Courses of the desired major.
State-of-the-art of the feild (what has traditionally been done, what needs to be explored in the future?).

Study Program
Note: Google translates "研究計画：詳細かつ具体に記入すること" (in front of study program in the form) to "Research project: Enter in detail and concretely"... thought you should know :-) ) --> I filled this out as if I was presenting a research project at any university.
on with the topics I covered, this time phrased in questions.
-What do you want to do (background, objectives)?
-Why is it important?
-How do you plan to do it?
-Why would you want to do it in Japan/aimed university(ies)?

If you want to say something about your major but don't know for sure, use information posted in university(ies)'s website or ask google-san. (Example: for career paths, most universities say what past graduates have accomplished, you can also query in google "career options in sustainable development")

Everyone:
Something relevant to mention and that I also wanted to announce is that with this application I got a "university recommendation"!! That made me really happy because it's an alternate way for being presented to MEXT (no tests, no interviews!). However, I am kind of lost because all the info that is posted on the Interet refers to the "embassy recommendation". The uni in kyoto told me MEXT would make the definitive decision in June and that, if positive, I'll go to Japan in september.. Does somebody knows about this type of recommendation, like how are the chances of getting the scholarship in this situation?

I even called the embassy and they said this path was new in my country and that they didn't know specific information about it :souka: ...

I would appreciate if somebody comments about this.. clock, if you have any questions about filling out the application I would gladly help you with my experience.

cheers!
nazo

[alabsinatheer]

Hello everyone. I have a scholarship from Monbusho since April last year 2007 for two years but the problem I am in Tokyo University and the entrance exam in my faculty is only in February, there is no entrance in October and I did the entrance exam in last February 2008 but they didn't accept me and they said I have no other chance to try to enter master because next April will be more than two years and that means my scholarship will stop by the end of March next year 2009. Please any one had an experience like this situation, tell me it might help me.

[isumasama]

HI all, just register to this forum.. ^^.. I am also applying for the MEXT 2009.. but I guess i've already disqualified coz i didnt realized till the day I posted the form,, that I need to send them the certified transcript.. T^T.. btw what does that means... certified transcript.. are they gonna accept a photocopy?

p/s: congrats to all the receiver *\(^o^)/* (especially to a friend, arshana ^^)

[nazo]

HI all, just register to this forum.. ^^.. I am also applying for the MEXT 2009.. but I guess i've already disqualified coz i didnt realized till the day I posted the form,, that I need to send them the certified transcript.. T^T.. btw what does that means... certified transcript.. are they gonna accept a photocopy?
p/s: congrats to all the receiver *\(^o^)/* (especially to a friend, arshana ^^)
I think certified transcript refers to the grades of your undergraduate studies, issued by the university's administration (records). I don't think it's supposed to be a photocopy, but maybe you can talk with them and see if you can attach an official copy to your application.

[clockworkorange]

hey everybody!!!!

Thanks, nazo, for the help. it was detailed - a great guideline for me in my application.

Thank you so much!!!!

To isumasama, I can't say for sure...but I'm gonna send a photocopied transcript that has been verified by my university. This means that someone from my university (from the Exams Unit) stamped "certified true copy" on it and signed it. I called the embassy and they said that the important thing is that the person who stamps, signs and verifies has to make sure that the university's name is included in the stamp.

I hope that helps.

[kouki]

I supposed you should photocopy your transcript and get it 'certified true copy' from your university. That's what I know.

[isumasama]

oh.. tq. Today is already saturday, and the application closed yesterday. I might wait till monday to ask whether i could re-send them my transcript T^T.. May I know how long does it takes before they call you for interview? or Do they inform you if u're not selected for the interview?

[osging]

Hello everyone. I have a scholarship from Monbusho since April last year 2007 for two years but the problem I am in Tokyo University and the entrance exam in my faculty is only in February, there is no entrance in October and I did the entrance exam in last February 2008 but they didn't accept me and they said I have no other chance to try to enter master because next April will be more than two years and that means my scholarship will stop by the end of March next year 2009. Please any one had an experience like this situation, tell me it might help me.

Hi Alabsinatheer,
Sorry to hear about that, that is the downside of enrolling in top universities such as Todai and Kyodai. I know of two people in Kyodai who had the same problem as you, one of them had to switch faculty and one just left Japan last week unfortunately.

I was just wondering, would you be able to make it in time for February 2009's entrance exam? If not, I guess your best bet would be to switch to another faculty which doesn't require entrance exam or another safer option although easier said than done would be just to change university. You have to discuss this with your sensei to get a clearer picture of the whole thing.

Good luck in your next step.

[clockworkorange]

Hey, everyone!!!!!

First of all, I'd like to say thanks to everyone here in the forum that helped me out. In filling up the application form, i used the advice here as my guideline and I've sent my application to the embassy. Its a huge relief!!!!

Now i know that nothing can be done about it since i've send it but i was wondering how long usually ppl would write regarding the study program. I took the advice here and maybe i got too carried away but I had 3 additional pages attached to the application form just to explain the study program. I just wanted to know what the average length is. :P...i really did try to prune and summarize.

one more question:

Did most of u guys here learn japanese before taking the japanese examination?

I don't know much about japanese...i've bought "teach yourself japanese" books and know hiragana but thats about it. I've downloaded the past year questions and i can't even answer the easiest paper. Though I've called the embassy and they say they take into account the fact that most ppl in my country dun speak japanese, i'd still like to know if there's anyone out there who had absolutely no Japanese language skills and still got the scholarship. That would be a huge encouragement for me. :P

Thanks for all ur help!!!!!

[Charles Barkley]

Maybe this has been addressed already, but could any americans tell me about the style of the interview? Is it a panel? How many people? Usually all embassy workers, or Japanese professional, or what? Thanks in advance for the help.

[arshana]

i'd still like to know if there's anyone out there who had absolutely no Japanese language skills and still got the scholarship. That would be a huge encouragement for me. :P
Thanks for all ur help!!!!!

Hey! I didn't take the Japanese exam and I made it. They select based on the result of the English exam. The Japanese exam is just to gauge which level you're in, so that they'll know if you would need Japanese classes later on in Japan.

[Rizaric]

Chuck,

In my case, it was a panel of 3, 2 Faculty members at the University as well as the Vice Consul. They asked me a couple of questions in Japanese.

[clockworkorange]

Thanks, arshana!!

does this mean that u didn't show up for the japanese exams?

well, i'll need to be shortlisted first anyway. :P

[arshana]

Thanks, arshana!!
does this mean that u didn't show up for the japanese exams?
well, i'll need to be shortlisted first anyway. :P

The English exam and the Japanese exam are held one the same day. You'll sit for the English paper first. It's for an hour. If you know Japanese, then you can sit for the Japanese paper. There's 3 sets of paper for the Japanese test, an hour each, if I'm not mistaken. I didn't even look at it because I can't even read or write. Or speak as a matter of fact.

[clockworkorange]

The English exam and the Japanese exam are held one the same day. You'll sit for the English paper first. It's for an hour. If you know Japanese, then you can sit for the Japanese paper. There's 3 sets of paper for the Japanese test, an hour each, if I'm not mistaken. I didn't even look at it because I can't even read or write. Or speak as a matter of fact.


You have no idea how much ur reply relieved me :relief:. I knew there were 3 sets of papers and i thot that if u got shortlisted u'd have to take all 3 regardless of whether u knew japanese onot. I kinda realise now that it would be absolutely pointless to take the papers if u didn't know japanese. :blush:

Thanks once again!!!!!

[fulhamerica]

Hey everyone, new to the forum but just have some questions. Is anyone else doing the new JET program alumni Monbukagakusho? I have been selected from my embassy to be a participant (passed the stage one), but does this mean that I will be studying in Japan? Are there ever any cases when the embassy recommends you, but when your application gets to Tokyo, they reject you? Or, basically I am in now? Any advice is appreciated!

[YoYo=)]

HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY to everyone!!!!!!! i've read your posts about the Monbukagakusho mext scolarship! So, i do have a problem also with ih! Last year i tried to pass it, but i failed MATH!I ALWAYS HATED IT! PLZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ would smb, more experienced in such kind of things, give me an advice how could i practice myself in it, esspecially for monbujagakusho, 'cos there are NO any topics posted about HOW to prepare for it, moreover, it's not an european stylE. SO... PLZZZZZZZZ.....HELP! finding the answer, in wich way i could properly study it, what basically????:bluush::bluush::bluush:

[manhul]

hey everyone !
im new here and i am from
the philippines.

its nice to know that there bunch of MEXT hopefuls like me
btw
Im applying for the gakubu-ryuugakusei this year.
I wish everyone luck this year. this forum really helped me a lot !


thanks :)


--------------------
am i the only filipino here?
anyway, its nice to share some things with you all

[mohamed100100]

I was at the embassy of Japan in Cairo from 2 days, introducing my application. I want to study Orthodontics in Japan, I saw soooooo many applications really very competetive. I attached with the application the IELTS and TOEFL results, is that may help? i am afraid really.

[manhul]

i guess, good knowledge of the english would really help.
howeever, since we are applying for study i8n japan, japanese language proficiency would be really an advantage. people at our embassy say that a JLPT certificate would be good...


I'm not quite sure though.....

[mohamed100100]

the idea is i may be good in English and already hold international certificates as IELTS and TOELF and i attached them with the application, but i am afraid from their tricky english exam, most of previous candidates said this point.

[manhul]

I saw some of the exams from the previous years and english is quite tricky


and mathematics was hell!

[scarlet]

hello !!
this is my first time to write here, even am following for more than 3 days ..
thank you all for the information you listed above.
I am from Sudan, and am applying as a research student.
I received an acceptance from a professor in University of Shizuoka. and he was so nice that he specified the research topic for me, as i didn't have a specific one.
now i am about to fill that application form and I hate filling them!!!!

I need help in the the following: plz plz plz plz
- I have graduated as electrical and electronics engineer - telecommunication option, but the laboratory am accepted in is for mechanical engineering (i am in contact with a phd student from the lab and he has my case, he told me it is ok). My Question is: what to write in the study program? mechanical engineering? or electrical and electronics ?
- i heard that the japanese embassy have a bad impression about the sudanese females, because they r always quitting after getting the acceptance. so the chances for the females are not that much. is that possbile to be True??

[mohamed100100]

Mlle Scarlet;
I ask you to complete way till the end, apply and try, they are practical personalities, and they know that each case is different.
I wish you really good luck, I am Mohamed from Egypt, i applied last week in the embassy in cairo but i am in dental field

[scarlet]

Mlle Scarlet;
I ask you to complete way till the end, apply and try, they are practical personalities, and they know that each case is different.
I wish you really good luck, I am Mohamed from Egypt, i applied last week in the embassy in cairo but i am in dental field
(ebn al3am ent :) )Hello cousin :wave:
I am so scared, this is a golden chance and i want to win it, ya mohamed
i applied last year but i wasn't accepted, I may applied wrongly or there is something missed in my application form. because now i know many tips i should do in the application, and i didn't do it before .
I wish you good luck,, I wish more to keep in touch, ya ebn al3am :bluush:

[mohamed100100]

(ebn al3am ent :) )Hello cousin :wave:
I am so scared, this is a golden chance and i want to win it, ya mohamed
i applied last year but i wasn't accepted, I may applied wrongly or there is something missed in my application form. because now i know many tips i should do in the application, and i didn't do it before .
I wish you good luck,, I wish more to keep in touch, ya ebn al3am :bluush:

but you entered the exams and the interview last year, or you didn't enter from the begining, law mafeesh moshkela we can talk over messenger da asra3

[scarlet]

but you entered the exams and the interview last year, or you didn't enter from the begining, law mafeesh moshkela we can talk over messenger da asra3

sure mafe mashakil .. i sent u my email in a pm ..
thank you ,,
-----
anyone who has an experience in this.. wud u plz help me?
p l z

[scarlet]

To saulo and dblbstrd,
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions!!! Grin.
at least now i'm a little clearer on how to fill up the application form. my main fear was that i'd be rejected on the basis of not filling up the form correctly.
I am so afraid of that too :(

[luvearest]

Hi everyone, I am new here, from Malaysia.Applied for the Postgrad research schol. The exam will be in mid June.

I have a question : about the 3 sets of Japanese tests, do we have an option to IGNORE it, or still have to answer although I do not know japanese，I had a look at the sample questions already.They are all objectives.

Or is there anyway for me to have a quick learn of Japanese? How do you guys suggest?

[dionell_dizon]

manhul,

have you passed all the requirements to the japanese embassy already??
im also from manila, and im feeling so nervous na about the application...the selection would be very difficult daw, and unfortunately, i really don't have knowledge abt how challenging this scholarship would be...

[MatsuyamaHime]

I'm an ex-JET going for the research scholarship. Sadly I missed the special JET Alum opp, but oh well...

[Charles Barkley]

That's too bad about missing the special 2008 JET alumni deadline. I had already finished some of my materials for 2009, and had acquired other necessary things (like transcripts) for language school applications, so I was able to put together all of my documents in a week, send them off from Japan (I am actually currently on JET, just will finish in 3 months), book a flight to atlanta, return home for the interview and find out I got the embassy recommendation all in less than one month. What a whirlwind. Now I am trying to get a sponsor at a university and fretting over the 1% chance this thing falls through at the tokyo approval stage.

The good news for you is that there will still be additional JET scholarships available next year as well, or at least that was what my embassy told me. If you dont mind my asking, did you simply not hear about the scholarship in time, or was there not enough time to put together the application materials, or some other reason?

[Charles Barkley]

Hey everyone, new to the forum but just have some questions. Is anyone else doing the new JET program alumni Monbukagakusho? I have been selected from my embassy to be a participant (passed the stage one), but does this mean that I will be studying in Japan? Are there ever any cases when the embassy recommends you, but when your application gets to Tokyo, they reject you? Or, basically I am in now? Any advice is appreciated!


I am in the same position as you fulhamerica. I heard from my consulate (Atlanta) that they expect every consulate to receive at least one scholarship receipient. My consulate said that I was number one on their recommendation list, so they said I had a 99% chance of being accepted, but I don't know if that means they nominated other candidates who would then have the embassy nomination but be less likely to receive it. You would probably be best served by trying to contact your consulate and inquiring about your specific situation. They might be vague about your chance or unable to tell you anything, but then again maybe they will.

I had somewhat special circumstances when I was asking my question because, due to issues that arise when applying for a student visa, I would have rendered myself ineligible for the scholarship if I kept the process moving for my backup plans (applying to language schools in Japan). I wanted to know what my odds were before making an all-or-nothing committment to it, so perhaps that made the consulate more likely to give me information.

Anyway, contact the consulate, and even if they dont say anyhting, from what I have read on other threads here, it looks like it is unusual, though not impossible, for those receiving the embassy recommendation to not receive the scholarship.

I am keeping my fingers crossed for you (and for myself as well).

[manhul]

manhul,

have you passed all the requirements to the japanese embassy already??
im also from manila, and im feeling so nervous na about the application...the selection would be very difficult daw, and unfortunately, i really don't have knowledge abt how challenging this scholarship would be...


i havent still....

bad trep nga eh. makunat ung registrar samen....
wla pa ung transcript ko...
ewan ko kung mkkpgpsa ako pero ssbkan k pren :p

sbi nga mahirap daw. tnakot nga ako nung librarian dun sa jicc eh.
last year isa lang ung nkpsa tapos na sya nung college at nag me-med na sya..
anong year mo na ?
tsaka san ka nag aaral?

[MatsuyamaHime]

They failed to notify me about any such opportunities in a timely manner. I only got the specific email about the scholarships mid-April, a week before the JET deadline. Pfft. I subscribe to the ATL consulate newletters, but nuthin. I wasn't too impressed with that.

Anyway, I'm going for the July 1st deadline, which is quite generous compared to other consulates around the country. The proposal writing is stressin me because I haven't written academically in a long time and my topic is kinda narrow and not that popular in Japan.

I'm working on obtaining a Letter of Acceptance, since flying to ATL from RK just for an interview that could take me nowhere (when money is tight and I'm trying to save) isn't enough to warrant the trouble. I'd rather have my school/professor lined up and waiting for MEXT's call, thus guaranteeing my spot.

[Charles Barkley]

Yeah, they did not notify me. I simply got very lucky, as I had been asking my consulate when the 2009 forms would come out, and they had been saying late march, so I was checking the website every day around that time period and just happened to stumble upon the scholarship announcement. Had that not been the case, no chance I could have submitted it on time.

If you are having trouble with the proposal, one thing I recommend is to go to websites of schools (in any country really) that are conducting research on your topic and see if they have any research proposals written by professors, students, etc listed on the site. I was not familiar with how to write a post-graduate research proposal, so learning to include things like 'reading contemporary work on the topic to avoid duplicating existing work' (not my exact words, but you get the idea) and some of the other 'research phrases' helped add a bit of polish to my ideas.

Good luck flying home. I did the same thing and it looks like it has worked out, but even had it (or does it) not, I think I would have been kicking myself if I hadn't tried. If you can turn the trip into an extended vacation, that can help justifying the cost...

[dblbstrd]

That's cool about them offering a sort of priority opportunity for JET alumni.
I just started last month and I'm having a blast! It's still very surreal to me, I kind of can't believe I'm actually here doing this.
This is a nice program, the income might not be quite as comfortable as what you'd get on JET, but it's definitely enough to get by (might be a little tight in Tokyo, however).
I wish you guys luck, hope you get it!
And I must say from my experience so far, I'm not terribly surprised by the relative lack of communication. A lot of stuff it seems has been passed on sort of at the last minute or even later. There were things that I didn't even know anything at all about (stipend dispersement, mainly) until after I got here. I don't think they mean to do this, they just have so many people and things to handle, and so many formalities, that it's hard to get everything communicated to everyone.
At the end of the day it all works out somehow, and they're giving me and a lot of other folks one heck of a sweet deal, so it's easy to get over the political "jumping through hoops" and the general mysterious nature of the people in charge...
:D

[fulhamerica]

Charles Barkley et al, I will third the JET specific Alumni Scholarship lack of communication. I will not get into my particular case, but basically if you want to get the scholarship, I think the Consulates/Embassy's have the opinion that, "You gotta fight for it!" So to speak.

Also, word of advice for you out there applying now, if you can do so- write your Kenkyu Keikaku in Japanese. I did, and I think it made a lot of difference. Aside from that try to study nihongo hardcore.

I have passed the interview/test, and received the recommendation from my consulate/embassy and I have also received a letter of approval/recommendation from my first choice university/department. So my question to everyone is, does this mean I get to study there? How can I make sure that I will study there? My process has gone pretty smooth with my uni, not like w/ the embassy, so I am kind of reluctant to rest on my laurels so quick. What else should I be doing?

[dblbstrd]

Writing your plan in Japanese probably gives a good impression but definitely isn't necessary. I was going to do it with mine, but I didn't really know the technical terms so well at the time, and my professor (who has handled quite a few students under monbusho) said not to bother with it.
And in the process of re-submitting a plan to apply for extension from research to master's student, it seems my prof. is still strongly preferring that it get done in English. The people in my department all write a lot of their papers in English, too, so I imagine that my thesis won't even be in Japanese.. there will be some places where I'm going to have to use it, and in my opinion, I've come all the way to Japan, so I'd better be using Japanese.
But yeah, how much Japanese they want you to do really depends who your prof is, what university/department you're at.
If you've already got the consular recommendation, and the go-ahead from your proposed university, then there's really not much you can be doing at this point other than waiting for the final word. For me, I got notification of the consular recommendation in July or so, got my letter of acceptance turned in in August as requested, and from that point there was no communication until the end of December when they told me I had been accepted, and even then no details were really specified. Two months later, they finally provided me with some solid details, with two months to go before I would leave.
It's not 100% set in stone at that stage, my prof said i his experience he hadn't seen anybody be turned away after getting consulate/university acceptance, but one forum member here said unfortunately that he was eventually told that he was picked as an "alternate" this year.
If you're applying through this JET offering, it kind of sounds to me that this is sort of a special consideration so you might have a pretty good chance of ultimately being selected at that stage, but the whole thing is pretty mysterious, we know very little about the Tokyo side of this magical entity that is the Monbusho...
Anyway, I wish you good luck and hope it works out for all of you guys!

[fulhamerica]

dblbstrd brings up a good point, a poorly-written kenkyuu keikaku in Japanese is not a substitute for a well written one in English. Rather, I meant to express that if possible the document, when written in Japanese, possibly flows better once in Japan. A prof. during my experience actually mentioned this to me as well, as the document can be sent to anyone quickly. But, like dblbstrd points out, an english Keikaku is just as well if completed correctly.

With regard to the stipend, is all of the money furikomi-ed to your account? Or how does it work? Also, is the actual 17 man sent? or do they find a way to take a bit off the top?

Is there anyone else who actually received the JET alumni specific Monbugakushou? If so, I'd like to touch base if possible.

[Charles Barkley]

The universities I am contacting are very very slow. I don't want to be a complete pest with my emails, but I might have to become one soon.

Fulamerica: did your consulate say anything about when it wanted the letter of approval from a university?

[fulhamerica]

Charles Barkley: I was directed to post it to them as soon as I receive and can make a few copies for my own records. I want to get it to them ASAP though so things move quicker.

The uni's can take time, my uni came through quickly because the professor I was dealing with is awesome about returning my emails. For the most part, I would wait a week, and then if nothing comes maybe send a Kakunin email and be as polite as possible.

Charles, are you doing to JET program alumni scholarship?

[dblbstrd]

It kind of sounds like the JET specific opportunity might be a new thing, this is the first I've heard of it. So there might not be anyone yet who has actually gone through with it.

As for the stipend, they put it straight into your account (they make you open a Postal Savings account specifically for this) and the amount that goes in is 17man exactly. After the first year it's supposed to drop to 16man, that's what my senpai gets. I was actually told at the consulate that the amount was going to be reduced slightly from what the app guideline said, but I definitely got 17man so fortunately that didn't happen.

In my case the JASSO people had us open a separate account at a different bank, as well, specifically for the purpose of using their medical expense reimbursement program. I don't really like having two separate accounts, but I guess it's no big deal, the latter one will only be used when the need arises.

[MatsuyamaHime]

I don't think it's a special JET Monbusho Scholarship - it was a chance for only ex-JETs to apply in a less competitive setting. A few dozen applicants instead of a few hundred. I'm think they'll still give me more consideration because of my alumni status, but I still need to make sure my stuff's up to snuff.

No way in hell I'm writing it in Japanese. I'm planning on writing an abstract in Japanese to send to potential advisors who show interest after my initial email/fax, but other than that I'm sticking to the language that won't sound dumb on me.

And...I'm most certainly going to go for more scholarships/grants/moonlight should I get accepted. I have too many financial responsibilities to take care of at home.

[Onestepfromhome]

Alright, I truly need some help with this and I hope that there is SOMEONE out there who has applied themselves from the United States and give me some information.

I'm currently in the process of applying and deep in paper work. I've been in contact with both the consulate and the prospective college I wish to study at for graduate school up past a Doctoral degree. I've studied in Japan for some time now and came back this year to apply for the graduate program through this process. I'm very serious about continuing my study, so I want to do my absolute best on the application process and prepare ahead.

So that is my situation, and here are my questions that I truly hope someone might be able to assist me with.

1: My plan is graduate school. However, many students join first as a research student and then go for graduate school after they are working as a research student at that college. There is the scholarship acceptance and then the graduate school acceptance so my concern is that if I do not aim for a research student at first, then I may run into trouble if I'm denied the graduate school chance at the school I'm initially applying. Does anyone have any advice on this?

2: My topic will be covering some post-war issues. I don't want to go into this specifically, but has the education committee in the past denied scholarships on the basis of controversial topics?

3: If I am chosen for the scholarship, I will have to get a letter of acceptance from the college I wish to attend. Is there anyone who can give me an idea of the general chances or difficulty of receiving this letter from a major college if you have already received the mombukagakusho scholarship for graduate school?

4: I am to list alternate colleges as options. I have only focused on one college so far and spoken with a teacher there, and I'm not even sure if he will allow me to study under him (I have however met with him before). Do I need to be concerned about seeking out a teacher in each of the alternate choices as well? I'm still vague on what I truly need to prepare for in this area of the application.

5: There will be an interview as well as a Japanese language test. What can I expect from these? The interview doesn't scare me as much as the Japanese language test. I've completed about 4 years of study and I'm at JLPT 2 level. What type of test and can I prepare for it in some way?


Thank you to anyone who can help me answer these questions during a very stressful and "in limbo" time during my life.

[dblbstrd]

I can't answer all of your questions but I will answer what I can.

1. I recommend going the way of "research student" first. The benefit here is that you can arrive in Japan and already be on scholarship while you prepare for and take your entrance exam, and if needed you have up to four chances to take the entrance exam in the two years you are allocated as a research student.
If you want to go directly into the master's or PhD program, you are required to travel all the way to Japan to take (and must pass) the entrance exam in order to be finally granted acceptance to the school, and thus ultimately the scholarship as well.

2. can't help you on that one, sorry...

3. The way it works is, if the consulate recommends you as a preliminary candidate, you must then make your best effort to obtain a letter of acceptance from your proposed place of study. At this point you are not yet necessarily granted the scholarship, the selection process in Tokyo is still to follow.
The application guidelines say that the Monbusho may make an effort to find placement for you in the event that you are unable to gain acceptance or if for some reason later on in the process the university is unable to accommodate you, but it would make a lot of sense if they'd prefer those who have gotten acceptance somewhere. My impression is that many of the successful students I've run across have had professors who were receptive/interested to have them somehow or other. This doesn't have to be 100% true all the time though.

4. You don't necessarily need to list alternative placement choices. I only listed one. However, in my case my proposed study was quite specific to the department/professor I chose, and before actually submitting the application, I had been in contact with the professor and gained his support to some degree. If you are not so sure that the advisor you propose will accept you, it may be a good idea to get in touch with some alternatives.

5. The interview was pretty quick for me, they just asked me briefly about my proposed research, my previous experience with Japan, what did I know about the city/university I had chosen, and a couple simple questions in Japanese. It ended in like 15 minutes but felt like five, and going out I didn't feel I got enough in depth to fully demonstrate my qualifications or interest in this endeavor, but it worked out OK anyway.
The Japanese test is basically just to gauge your ability. You will also have to take an English test, and the requirement to get the consulate recommendation is that you pass one or the other-- just to demonstrate that you are proficient in a language in which you can communicate with your advisor. The Japanese test is also used to place you in a preparatory language program if necessary. In the three parts of the test, I whizzed through the easy one, had not too much trouble with the medium one (could easily pick out the meanings and main ideas of words that I didn't even know, to answer the questions) and then got *nothing* on the last and hardest one. The university still decided not to place me in the 6-month intensive program based on that.. so I'd say if you can do JLPT 2, the Japanese test will be no issue at all for you.
Since your proposed field is a social science kind of thing, and hence more likely to be language-inolved, they might expect Japanese language ability from you, but like I said, being at JLPT 2 level is plenty.

Hope that helps!

[Onestepfromhome]

Thank you so much Dbl. I've been in contact with two professors, but I'm not sure if they would actually sign off on my research yet... I've been told to submit copies to the college office and THEY find a suitable professor, instead of what seems to be the regular process where I contact the professor directly.

I really appreciate the help. If anyone else has any views on the question I'm open to that too. Again thank you.

[Charles Barkley]

1: Do you have to specify on your application whether you want to be one or the other? My impression, and perhaps it is wrong so i would recommend contacting your consulate, was that the application process would be the same for people who start as 'research students' as it is for people who start on a degree program. First you get the scholarship, then, if you dont have a letter of acceptance to study in a degree program, you by default start as a research student, but if you do, you can move immediately into a degree program. Again, this might be mistaken, so try emailing your consulate.

2: Although I have not quite received the scholarship yet, I have gotten the embassy recommendation on a topic about nationalism in East Asia, which basically touches on a lot of the more controversial issues in contemporary Japan(ese politics).

3: Do you mean to become a research student (i.e., get a professor's OK that he will supervise you) or to become a degree student (i.e., be accepted into a graduate program itself)? I don't really know about the former, but as for the latter each school sets its own policies. You may have to take the same test in Japanese that normal Japanese applicants take. Other schools/programs have special/relaxed admittance procedures for international students...

4: Don't know.

5: My interview was 30 minutes. Reminded me a lot of my JET interview, only a bit longer and with some questions in Japanese/reading a short Japanese article out loud. We had a special Japanese test during the recent JET interviews (that I imagine you won't end up having) that was freaking impossible. I am a strong 2kyuu (with reading/grammar at least) now and was filling in random blanks on that one...

[clockworkorange]

Hi there,

I applied for the Monbukagakusho Postgrad scholarship in April this year.

has anyone received a reply yet from the embassy (the embassy in Malaysia)? A reply asking to attend the test?

I was wondering when would one usually get a reply. Any malaysians out there who could help answer the question?

Thanks!!

[Onestepfromhome]

I am curious... right now I haven't turned in my documents yet nor know if I will get through the initial period of mombukagakusho, but as for the letter of acceptance... how is it best to go about this?

Yes, each college has its method. However, which way is best for contacting professors and departments outside of Japan. Obviously a face to face meeting is the best, but beyond that are there any methods? For emails, what subject works the best? What is best to put in the content? Should it be long and short. Why?

I think a lot of us here are wondering what is the best way to go about contacting professors after we make it past the first major bump.

[fulhamerica]

Hey everyone, for the 2009 application forms. Does anyone have the word files instead of .pdf's? My embassy says that only .pdf is available, but I mean come on...how the hell are you supposed to do this? By hand? It's 2008!

[Rizaric]

I think everyone has done them by hand... it's not such a big deal. :)

[MatsuyamaHime]

The ATL consulate has forms in doc format.

I sent some emails and got some replies. At least one professor's interested and another questioned the feasilbility of my topic but asked for a finalized proposal (which I'm still working on) to make any further decisions. Not bad.

I actually am ready to go back to writing the proposal. Tired of looking for professors...

[Rizaric]

Don't be discouraged if potential supervisors don't respond... eventually you'll be able to find someone that fits your research wants. As for me, I probably contacted ten + supervisors, probably 70% responded, most of the positively, but there were some that I found out after emailing to them a couple times that I wouldn't want to work with. Pretty standard stuff in any country, not only in Japan.

Profs know all about the scholarship, and really, if you demonstrate ability and a well thought out research plan they can't lose by being your supervisor cause basically they don't have to really use up any of their funds to support you.

I also asked the profs to provide me the contact info of other students in their labs/departments to get a good impression about what their whole academic processes are like, and they are really good at that.

Hope that helps.

[MatsuyamaHime]

Yeah, I'm not worried about being able to find a supervisor anymore. Thanks, though! I'm quite sure it'll work out in my favor. Right now, I'm actually rewriting my proposal.

[dionell_dizon]

thank God!!
im finally done with all the requirements for the professional college training!!!``````````````````````i'll keep my fingers crossed!!!! good luck everyone!!!! ingat!!!

[menrui]

wow, this is the most active forum about the monbusho scholarship i could find... I am currently applying for the scholarship and I have learned alot reading through everyone's post. Thanks guys.

I still have a question though, If I want to enter the monbusho scholarship as a graduate student, am I still required to fill out the "Study program" form? In this form, you write about your research plans in detail and such. If your applying as an entering graduate student, there is no need for this form right?

[nikitto]

Hi everyone,
I want to ask about the japanese Test, there are 3 types of tests : A, B, C. A ist easiest and C the hard one. Schould I make all test at the Interviu ( 3 hours) or should I choose one, and if I choose one ist there some tricks.
Thanks for the answer :)
Cao

[luvearest]

hi clockworkorange,luvearest here...I called the embassy, the officer said letters of wether or not we are shortlisted will be sent by next monday, which is 26th?
Goodluck to both of us!

[noisyarsenic]

Hi there,
I applied for the Monbukagakusho Postgrad scholarship in April this year.
has anyone received a reply yet from the embassy (the embassy in Malaysia)? A reply asking to attend the test?
I was wondering when would one usually get a reply. Any malaysians out there who could help answer the question?
Thanks!!


Just when i started to wonder whether my crappy written japanese research proposal failed to impress the people from the embassy, I received the notification letter asking me for a written test on yesterday morning. :-p

However, i'm a bit suprised when i learnt that only shortlisted candidate from the test would be awarded for an interview because a senior of mine who had applied for the scholarship last year told me otherwise. According to him, the test and the interview are suppose to be held on the same day. So what i'm worrying now is that they changed the format of the written test just like what they did with the candidate selection process.

So, can anyone who has taken the test clarify this? Thanks

[Charles Barkley]

wow, this is the most active forum about the monbusho scholarship i could find... I am currently applying for the scholarship and I have learned alot reading through everyone's post. Thanks guys.
I still have a question though, If I want to enter the monbusho scholarship as a graduate student, am I still required to fill out the "Study program" form? In this form, you write about your research plans in detail and such. If your applying as an entering graduate student, there is no need for this form right?


You will need this form. MEXT wants to see that you have a plan in mind, that paying for you to come to Japan will produce some tangible benefits in the future. You can't simply say 'I want a degree in ___'

The best thing to do is to begin thinking more deeply about what you actually will be studying when you do your graduate degree. Once you enter the graduate school, you would, I am sure, be able to change your research to a different topic if the one you wrote your research proposal on became unpalatable.

You could probably write a very very general plan, such as studying 'international relations,' but that kind of plan probably will not impress the people at the embassy screening as much as a plan that shows you already know, in some kind of detail, what you want to study.

Good luck.

[menrui]

thanks Sir Charles! I love your TNT show btw.

I just decided like 2 days ago to go in as a research student so I can be in Japan for 2 years and at the same time, take entrance exams and such.

I have a degree in biochemistry and I have never done independent research ever. So I'm a bit lost. For the past week I've researching how to do research haha. I need to think of some thing original and simple, but alot of those types of research have already been done. Then I need to write a formal research proposal to show to a professor who I want to research under. So hard. My deadline is June25.

In other news, I just graduate last week and I heard it might take more than a month to mail my diploma... so I'm in a bit of trouble here. better make some phone calls.

And to some of those other questions above, I have no idea how to answer those.

[ayumi.tt]

Just when i started to wonder whether my crappy written japanese research proposal failed to impress the people from the embassy, I received the notification letter asking me for a written test on yesterday morning. :-p
However, i'm a bit suprised when i learnt that only shortlisted candidate from the test would be awarded for an interview because a senior of mine who had applied for the scholarship last year told me otherwise. According to him, the test and the interview are suppose to be held on the same day. So what i'm worrying now is that they changed the format of the written test just like what they did with the candidate selection process.
So, can anyone who has taken the test clarify this? Thanks

i received the notification letter today. really excited... alt i am still very far away from studying in japan.
the test for both english and japanese are one hour each.
i supposed, there will be only one paper for japanese test?
i read the past year paper for the japanese test. the last two paper were very difficult for a japanese beginner like me... kind of worried...

[dblbstrd]

In other news, I just graduate last week and I heard it might take more than a month to mail my diploma... so I'm in a bit of trouble here. better make some phone calls.


Congrats on graduating! I just finished my BS at the end of march, myself.
I wouldn't worry about the diploma thing. It's pretty much standard for that to take a month or two after your official date of graduation anyway.
Your official transcript should note that you have successfully earned your degree, which is completely sufficient.
Besides that, it's possible to apply and be accepted before you actually graduate, provided that you are going to graduate before your scholarship is set to begin.

[noisyarsenic]

i received the notification letter today. really excited... alt i am still very far away from studying in japan.
the test for both english and japanese are one hour each.
i supposed, there will be only one paper for japanese test?
i read the past year paper for the japanese test. the last two paper were very difficult for a japanese beginner like me... kind of worried...

I've roughly skimmed through the Jap papers, it seems quite easy to me. Anyway, jap test isn't going to be the main factor in selecting candidates, it merely provides you an additional advantage. The main test at which we should ace is english test where they had mentioned clearly that they'll made their selection base on its result. On the other hand, the english test also seems to be trickier than the jap test though.:relief:

Kind of wonder whether i can pull it off as my english is not so proficient.:(

[tomayto]

me and 5 of my classmates applied for this scholarship. currently only 3 of us received the reply. hopefully the other 3 will also receive good news soon. im not proficient in japanese so will totally be dependent to my english test performance.saw the past years question, a bit tricky i say.kind of worried here. haha. btw anyone planning to do research on comp science related field?

[clockworkorange]

Hi everyone!!!! Its good to hear from the other malaysian candidates. I received my notification letter last week as well.

To noisyarsenic, i'm not sure if the format of the test paper has changed either. I think the best way to find out would be to just call the embassy maybe? and from your post, i gather our interview day will be on a different day from the exam? I'm quite surprised that they used to hold the exam and interview on the same day as I assumed only those who succeeded in the exam will get interviewed.

Also, to ayumi, i'm not really sure if there will be 1 paper for the japanese exam although in the notification letter the jap test is only one hour i think. I spoke with the embassy back in march and according to the guy i spoke to there will be 3 papers. But things might have changed since then. I wun be taking the japanese exam as i can't speak or write japanese. :P

Anyway, good luck to all of us!!!!!

[menrui]

a~~~
anyone else spending alot of money on all the health check-up? My parents, they are kind of retarded, do not have health insurance for the family. So I am having to pay fully for all the medical stuff straight out of my pocket... it sucks, but it'll be worth it once I get the scholarship :) .

Oh, I just found out that I am a bit hearing impaired, I cant hear really low noises as a normal person can. Hmmm It has never really been a big problem for me, but it does explain why I cant hear low whispers some times. Anyways, I hope they dont take that too seriously haha.

In other news, I have almost all of the application completed. I need my advisor recommendation and to finish up my research plans.

[dblbstrd]

a~~~
anyone else spending alot of money on all the health check-up? My parents, they are kind of retarded, do not have health insurance for the family. So I am having to pay fully for all the medical stuff straight out of my pocket... it sucks, but it'll be worth it once I get the scholarship :) .
Oh, I just found out that I am a bit hearing impaired, I cant hear really low noises as a normal person can. Hmmm It has never really been a big problem for me, but it does explain why I cant hear low whispers some times. Anyways, I hope they dont take that too seriously haha.
In other news, I have almost all of the application completed. I need my advisor recommendation and to finish up my research plans.

I had health insurance so I only had to pay like a $15 copay at the time of checkup, and a few bucks that I was billed later for, myself.
I wouldn't worry about the slight hearing thing. I had a minor issue that the doc noted but I was never even asked about it. The doctor I went to even said, "From the looks of the questions on this form, it seems as if they're trying to screen for diseases or something."
So, yeah, no problem there I believe.

Good luck getting the rest of your stuff together!

[timarin]

Hi all. I found this forum about a month ago when I was looking for info on the MEXT scholarship and I'm just now finding some time to post. I found it to have a lot of useful information for preparing my application. Anyways, I sent my application to the New York consulate a couple weeks ago and now it's wait time. I have mixed feelings about my finished research proposal. But I guess it's the same for a lot of us. There are always things that we'd go back and improve on. Anyways, good luck to everyone else applying for 2009. Hopefully I'll be back on here with good news sometime.

[kumakumasan]

English Questions

I had some questions about the English portion of the exam and wondered if this might be a good place to post them. I'm having trouble figuring out what is wrong in questions III 4, III 8 from this previous exam: (I don't have enough posts to add the url, but it's at wwwDOTstudyjapanDOTgoDOTjp/en/toj/pdf/08-004.pdf
The answer key: wwwDOTstudyjapanDOTgoDOTjp/en/toj/pdf/08-kenkyu_answer.pdf

Any help would be great! Good luck to all those applying!

[menrui]

^ I really hate those types of question and I'm not very good at english altogether, so I probably shouldn't be answering your qeustion. Furthermore, I'm not sure whats wrong either haha.

My guess... for III4, besides those weird dashes, I think "become" should be past tense, "became." For III8, I think there should be a comma before "which."

Anyways, I was writing my research as if it were a formal research(chemistry) proposal and it is getting quite long, with citations and notes from previous researches and such. So I decided to cut it short and save the formal ones for the professors. Anyone know if keeping it long and complicated would impress the committee? Or do you think it would just confuse and bore them?

[もみじ]

Hi everyone,

It's was great to meet everyone here. I was also applying the postgraduate sholarship and I received the letter to go for the written test. In fact, I have a few questions in which I was in the circumstances of confusing.

1.) Minimum how many marks we need to gain in order to secure for an interview? Actually both my English and Japanese proficiency was in the medium level. I'm worrying about the written test now (especially part three). Is there anything we can do at least to fairly improve the grammar part ?
2.) I'm interested in Master programme. However, is it impossible for a foreigner to straightly enroll as Master Degree student without being a research student for 6 months or 1 year?
3.) To check out whether anyone has interest on the proposed research, do we need to start to contact with the university professor who we want to work with although we not yet past the preliminary selection stage? Is it ok to do so? Because as I know they might against a sudden email from an acquaintance?
4.)I've finished my research proposal both in English and Japanese, I only have 5 pages in total (for both languages )to speak for my whole research. How many pages be consider as "presentable"?

[kumakumasan]

Thank you very much menrui!!!

もみじ:
1) For me, my tests and interview are on the same day; perhaps your country has different requirements. You can check the instructions that came with your application; they list the criteria. Here's what mine says: "Written examination: Must show that the applicant obtained scores better than a certain level either in Japanese or English".
2) ?
3) Of course you're free to contact professors for research ideas anytime, for example to see if they wold be your advisor if you applied to that school, but I think generally for this scholarship, they give you time after you pass the exams/interviews for this process.
4) ?

Best of luck to everyone!!

[Charles Barkley]

もみじ: If you receive the scholarship to study at a school and you have already passed the entrance examinations/been accepted to that school's graduate program, you should be able to begin working on a degree from the beginning.

Also, did you copy the same thing in English and Japanese? Maybe I am wrong, but that seems redundant. They just want one or the other. My research proposal + field of study spanned 3 pages, single spaced in English. That seemed plenty.

[Charles Barkley]

^ I really hate those types of question and I'm not very good at english altogether, so I probably shouldn't be answering your qeustion. Furthermore, I'm not sure whats wrong either haha.
My guess... for III4, besides those weird dashes, I think "become" should be past tense, "became." For III8, I think there should be a comma before "which."


III4--> gyrating oil prices--with the exception of a brief spike during the gulf war--seem to have become a thing of the past. 'A brief spike' would not seem to be an exception to the conclusion that 'gyrating oil prices have become a thing of the past.' But I am not entirely sure about this point. The wording is not how I would have done it, so perhaps there is something wrong with the structure, not the meaning as well, but I cannot pinpoint it, so I am going with my above explanation.

III8--> consistent should be changed to 'inconsistent,' since the passage as it is contradicts what immediately precedes it.

The dashes--or things that can be used like parentheses to add extra information--are not weird.

'Have become' is correct as is.

'Which consists in' does not require a comma and would read strangely were one added.

ETA: But I will admit those were very hard questions--I did not notice anything wrong during my first reading, though there were a couple of mistakes outside of the underlined areas. Props to non-native speakers who can ace that test. I hope my Japanese will one day be so good...

[kumakumasan]

Thanks CB!!! Wow, it's easy to miss these things. Thanks for taking the time to post these answers!

[MatsuyamaHime]

Dood, my proposal's gettin lengthy.

Simple Copy and paste into Word is 7 full pages.

If I cut out certain parts that aren't detrimental and the time-line table, it's 4 full pages.

And this...without the literature review!!!

I'm actually happy that there's too much. That means that I can cut stuff and have it still be exceptionally precise and informative.

*pats self on back*

Anyway, time to focus on the other parts of the application!!!

[fulhamerica]

I am sure the answer to this question will depend greatly upon both uni and field of study, however, I am curious to know about the actual day to day events of the Research Students. For any current or former research students out there. Do you report to your professor everyday? How is your evaluation conducted? Is most research/work conducted under the guidance of a professor, independent etc.?
I am just curious as to the daily routine of the research student, and any specific experiences they might have.
Thanks

[clockworkorange]

Hi guys,

I was wondering if anyone could tell me where u guys get the past year exam papers? I get them from studyjapan but the posts here mention answers. I can't seem to find the answers to the english papers though.

To もみじ:
all ur questions have pretty much been answered but just to share what little i know:

1) The guy I spoke to at the embassy said it is important to score in the english exam as they take into account that most malaysians dun speak japanese (like me. :P)
But obviously, japanese would be an advantage i think.

2) Like Charles said, I think you have to pass the entrance exam first in order to skip being a research student and move straight to the degree.

3) I dun see why u can't contact the professors now if u wan to. A lady i spoke to at JASSO told me that i shud send something very much like a curriculum vita to them when i'm going to contact them.

4) I'm a bit confused on this one. What exactly is the research proposal for? U must have passed the initial application process to be going for the exam. Does this mean its for the professors?


Like fulhamerica, I'm also curious about life as a research student over there. Actually I'm more concerned about where they live.. hostels? do universities provide accommodation? I'd really appreciate if someone could answer!!

[もみじ]

Hi everyone,

Thanks guys..... Ur advice is very useful for me. The proposal that I mentioned here actually is for the professors in Japan about the research/study programme I wanna undertake.

So I've been prepared it in both languages as for reference. What I mean is it ok if I attached the proposal in both languages when I send my curriculum vitae to them?

Thanks a lot for your info ya:)

[iprashant]

Hello all,

I gave my English test on May 30. The questions were a bit trickier as discussed earlier in the thread. In our country we don't have to give Japanese test and i haven't learned Japanese yet so it was a relief for me to appear for English test only. Anyway i am waiting for further calls for interview.

The main problem i had was preparing Research Proposal and i prepared my proposal in two days and don't know how reasonable and logical it is. I dint even revised it :).

[dblbstrd]

I am sure the answer to this question will depend greatly upon both uni and field of study, however, I am curious to know about the actual day to day events of the Research Students. For any current or former research students out there. Do you report to your professor everyday? How is your evaluation conducted? Is most research/work conducted under the guidance of a professor, independent etc.?
I am just curious as to the daily routine of the research student, and any specific experiences they might have.
Thanks

I almost don't see my professor at all outside of the class he teaches, and he rarely checks on me. The only times I've heard from him have been regarding prepping for the entrance exam and applying to jump from research to master's level, and whenever the administration office calls to complain that I haven't turned in some papers that I was supposed to.
I have found myself lightly involved in projects being conducted by PhD students, and the people in charge of said projects are who I deal with rather than the professor who accepted me here.
I've gathered from other research/grad students that they are often left to work pretty independently, though in my particular lab there are "teams" that work on certain things, and everybody eventually winds up in one of those teams and probably working on something pretty specific.
This all depends largely on what school/department you go to and your professor.

To answer clockwork orange on accommodation, this depends what university you go to and where it is located, but if you go to a national university or other certain universities, or are in a city where such a thing exists, there are dorms available for foreign students. At my university we're offered the opportunity to live in the dorm (which is VERY cheap, must be subsidized somehow) for 12 months and then are expected to find our own place after that.

On the research proposal, you can keep it plain and simple. Whatever is enough to thoroughly describe the most basic idea of your research plan is sufficient. I don't believe that my proposal was any longer than one single-spaced page, and I made it through...

[kumakumasan]

Anybody care to compare answers for this practice English exam:
wwwDOTstudyjapanDOTgoDOTjp/en/toj/pdf/06-004.pdf
I'm just a little confused about section III; everything else is fairly straightforward.
Thanks and good luck everyone!! :cheer:

Oh, and if anyone has the answers to this exam, that would be great! I couldn't find them...

Here are my answers for section III:
1:d 2:d 3:d 4:b 5:b 6:d 7:b 8:b 9:c 10:a

[luvearest]

hi all
for the postgraduate written test, anyone here going to leave the Japanese test blank?
Can we choose not to answer?

Looking forward to u guys there.

[noisyarsenic]

hi all
for the postgraduate written test, anyone here going to leave the Japanese test blank?
I'm going to sit for the test.

Can we choose not to answer?
Yes, we can.

Looking forward to u guys there.
:wave: i wish you good luck in the exam. 1 more week before judgement day, i'm getting quite nervous already.

[uranussama]

I've been keeping an eye on this thread (as well as a few others) for several weeks now... I'm actually applying for the Japanese Studies scholarship from MEXT, not the postgraduate, but I suppose I could write about my experience anyways incase anyone's interested. :-)
I went to the consulate for the test back in March. Since I was applying for Japanese Studies, I only had to take the Japanese test and nothing else. It was EXTREMELY difficult. I've been studying Japanese for four years and I guessed on about half of it. I commented on the difficulty of the exam to the guy and he said that some of the Japanese people in the office were looking the exam over and were saying how if you can pass it, you dont NEED a scholarship to study Japanese :relief: He really acknowledged how hard the exam is so it gave me the impression that they take that into consideration. :cool:
The interview was a few hours later. It was an American guy and two Japanese gentlemen. The American did most of the talking, the two Japanese men were really stoic and intimidating until towards the end they livened up a bit. They just basically asked me why I'm studying Japanese, why I want to study in Japan, what I plan on doing once I get out of college... things like that. They seemed to be really interested on whether I'd fare well in Japan or not... they asked me questions that seemed to be gauging whether I could handle life there or not, i.e. "What kind of hardships did you have in Japan the last time you went" "Are you able to stay for the full year" "Do you have any aversions to Japanese food" etc etc etc. I think they were kind of impressed that I had studied in Japan before :smug:
Anyways several weeks later I received word that I had been shortlisted! So I've been waiting these past two long months for the final okay from MEXT... supposedly I should hear back from them sometime this month! :win: I've been pretty antsy lately though, that's for sure :worried:
So that was my experience. I have a few questions though... does anyone know where I could find statistics on how many people are taken from each country for each type of scholarship? For example how many they take from the US for post-grad, undergrad, Japanese Studies, etc.? I think I remember seeing a graph like that somewhere on the web but I cant seem to remember where I found it :souka:

[dblbstrd]

studyjapan.go.jp tends to have the list of how many students are accepted yearly for each scholarship category. Not sure if they have Japanese-studies listed on there but they might.

If you don't get the monbukagakusho scholarship for the one year in Japan, you should see what programs your own school's international office has. When I was a first year undergrad, a friend of mine from Japanese class was getting set up to go on one of the programs and he told everybody in the class that they had another program that nobody had signed up for, and they had spots for a couple or three people with scholarships. All I had to do was sign up and they gave me a JASSO scholarship, which paid for plane tickets both ways and 80,000 yen per month for 10 months. Not as much as the monbusho gives you, and 80k yen a month doesn't go that far in Tokyo but I was also able to get a couple of outside scholarships that year that gave one-time stipends, and somehow or other I made it work.
From what I understand, a certain number of the JASSO scholarships are allocated each year to certain exchange programs that accept one-year students. Depending how big your home university is and how popular their study-abroad programs are, it can be very easy to get into some of these as it was in my case.

Anyway, good luck to you!

[kumakumasan]

uranussama: You studied in Japan before? For how long? I studied there for a year and I find the practice exams hard as well. I'm taking the Japanese test next week. I wonder if you had to take the same exam (I'm taking the exam for postgrad. There are 3 levels A, B, C). Did you ever find out how you did on the tests?

Good luck to you!!

Everyone: Anybody see my English test questions on the bottom of page 16 :(

[uranussama]

kumakumasan:
I studied in Japan for only four months but I had a great time! There was only one level of test for the Japanese Studies scholarship but I dont know which level it was... I'm thinking probably level C. I didnt find out how I did on the tests... which was okay, I really didnt want to :relief:

[Charles Barkley]

This test that was so difficult--did it start out with like 10 or so not so hard multiple choice, than have some harder short questions, then have 3 long passages (the last of maybe 6 pages) of increasing difficulty (when I say increasing, I can only assume that, though I couldnt do the second or the third at all), and then at the end have a kanji bit where you had to physically write kanji readings and the kanji themselves?

That was the test I took for the special JET exam. I was expecting the 3 exams, and expecting ace the first, do very well on the second, and then fail the third, but the one they gave was just brutal. Much harder than reading say, a normal article in Japanese newsweek...

[fulhamerica]

I sat the same exact test that Sir Charles is speaking of. This test was quite difficult, I agree. Especially the section about Agaru and Noboru. The definitions were very detailed. I have been studying Japanese for 8 years, and lived in Japan for 3 of those years and I think that I scored about a 70-80%.
Does anyone know if there is deadline to send in the Naidakusho? My Naidaku has been written, but is taking some time to arrive so I don't want to miss out because of this. Any comments?

[menrui]

Well, I am almost ready to turn in my applications. All I need is the recommendation form from my professor... Hopefullu she will pulls through for me!

My proposal ened up being 3 pages. I thought it would be better to keep it simple so they can read it.

I looked over the 3rd section of the japanese test and wow, that is a huge jump in difficulty. I've been taking classes for 3 years and I dont recognize most of those kanjis...

Any ways, good luck to every one! see you in japan!

[clockworkorange]

hi all
for the postgraduate written test, anyone here going to leave the Japanese test blank?
Can we choose not to answer?

Looking forward to u guys there.


Hi luvearest!!!!

first of all, i'd like to apologize for not replying to ur earlier post about when the notification letter would arrive. i actually missed the post!!! :(

And i know this is probably too last minute to help ease any worries u may have but i'm NOT taking the japanese exam as well!!!!! Just taking the english one!!

I still haven done the past english papers. I actually took leave to prepare for the tests but i was swamped with work this week (of all weeks) and had to cancel it. I tried doing the tests on the train to and from work but i kept worrying about getting stabbed in the chest by my pen if the train lurched. (which is very weird of me, i know).

Neway, all the best to everyone tmr!!!!!! I'm so nervous....:(

[midorineko]

皆さまよろしく！ I am applying for the 2009 scholarship and have just received notice from my consulate to attend the exams and interview later this month. The practice tests available show the Japanese exam in three hour long parts of varying difficulty. However, the exam schedule I received only provides one hour for the English exam and one hour for the Japanese exam. Does anyone know if the Japanese exam will be like part A, B, or C? Do we choose which difficulty we would like to take?

[menrui]

^ I thought it was an hour for each Japanese exam, a total of 3 hours. But I'm not sure and I would like to know the answer to that question as well.

I have a question of my own. After looking around, I noticed some embassies place a "if applicable" next to the "abtract of thesis" requirement. My embassy did not and I never had to write a graduation thesis. I'll call them on monday, but does any know if I could replace this with anything? I've taken plenty of class laboratory and I read some where that I could replace it with my best lab paper.

[midorineko]

I thought it would be a three hour test as well, but the instruction sheet I received from the consulate is as follows:
9:45am—10:45am English Examination (optional)
10:50am—11:50am Japanese Examination
11:50am—1:20pm Lunch
The interviews are supposed to take place after lunch. Since it looks like I will have only time for one out of three possible exams I am curious which level I will be taking.

[kumakumasan]

I just took my Japanese test; this year it's only 1 hour and only one Japanese test. Starts off easy, then the last two sections are quite hard.

[midorineko]

Kumakumasan:
Thank you for the clarification. I am really nervous about this exam.

[fulhamerica]

Kumakumasan is right that the Japanese test is now just one hour. It does become more difficult, however if you have a bit of experience with Japanese, it isn't as bad as some other exams I have written.

[midorineko]

Well, my proficiency should be close to level 2 of the JLPT, hopefully that should be good enough to give me a passing score. Speaking of which, does anyone know what percentage is considered a passing score?
I have read that other countries are required to take the English test while the Japanese test is optional. Is the English exam weighted the same for native English speakers as it is for other? I.E. if I bomb the difficult portions of the Japanese test but do well on the more basic questions, and do really well on the English exam, would that be enough to qualify?

[もみじ]

After taken the written exam for both english and japanese, I have a strong sense of I will not be selected! This year only 70 students will be selected for the postgraduate scholarship! So worry now!

[dblbstrd]

Well, my proficiency should be close to level 2 of the JLPT, hopefully that should be good enough to give me a passing score. Speaking of which, does anyone know what percentage is considered a passing score?
I have read that other countries are required to take the English test while the Japanese test is optional. Is the English exam weighted the same for native English speakers as it is for other? I.E. if I bomb the difficult portions of the Japanese test but do well on the more basic questions, and do really well on the English exam, would that be enough to qualify?

All that is required to qualify for consulate recommendation is that you simply *pass* one or the other. So as long as you pass the English exam, you wouldn't necessarily even have to answer anything at all on the Japanese one. The idea is that they want you to demonstrate proficiency in at least one language in which you can sufficiently communicate with your research advisor (many professors speak English, so English is ok in that case).
They would, however, use the Japanese exam to judge what placement you need (if any) in language school before you go to your research department.
If you think you are at about 2kyuu level, you should be fine.
What I would say is more important for selection is your research proposal, and whether or not you can find a professor who would be interested in having you (I suspect this last point makes a big difference in many cases).

Hope that helps :)

[midorineko]

dblbstrd,
Thank you so much for your reply, I found it immensely helpful and reassuring.
I already have a professor who has agreed to accept me once I pass the interview screening. I have been working on this scholarship for the better part of the last year. My field of study is history, so I expect it will be necessary to demonstrate some proficiency in Japanese during the exam/interview. I studied at a Japanese university for the year of 2006 while getting my BA and passed my classes there with a 4.0 so hopefully that will reflect favorably on my ability to cope with life in Japan...
I guess there is not much left to do but try and think of answers to possible interview questions and brush up on my Japanese.

[fulhamerica]

もみじさん、
70 meaning worldwide I assume, correct? Did your embassy say this would be the number?

Just out of curiosity, has anyone else also heard this number?

[dblbstrd]

In most recent years the number has been around 4000 worldwide each year, according to JASSO or whatever. I don't know how many they will accept in the upcoming year.

Midorineko, it kind of slipped my mind, but now that I think of it, you're right-- if you're doing something like history that would require language ability, you will need to demonstrate some proficiency. But yeah, if you've studied Japanese in Japan and have a reasonable intermediate level, that should be enough. There will probably be Japanese classes available for you if you want, but at that level they might not require you to do the 6-month intensive language program.
My school opted me out of the language program, and I was not able to answer anything on the hardest of the three tests, but I think I did pretty well on the medium one...

[menrui]

^ hehe, I just wanted to say, that I'm trying to enter in the field of chemistry, and it seems like any scientific research requires English and only English. I read that laboratories are conducted in english and furthermore, I have never seen any scientific research paper written in any language other than english. So maybe my japanese ability won't be important haha.

[Charles Barkley]

もみじさん、
70 meaning worldwide I assume, correct? Did your embassy say this would be the number?

Just out of curiosity, has anyone else also heard this number?

He probably means out of malaysia...

[menrui]

I wonder how many people actually apply... Anyone know the statistics? I remember there was a website about it but I don't remember it...

[luvearest]

Hi to all

clockworkorange: Hi! Hope everyone did good for the exam. I freaked out when my status of Japanese examination was Y! At last i gave up doing it. I do not have basic of it.

Menrui and all: the 70 people thingy, i think the speaker just making an example. She was saying this : "...OKay, if out of the 187 of you here, let's say, 70 of you get the mark above the cutting point,let's say 80 marks, then 70 of you get the interview. and from that, screen again....."

From the newspaper cutting this year, total of 31 sent to Japan from Malaysia.

So i guess next year will be around 30 also from Malaysia herself

[zheng_ys]

Hi..Everyone. I'm new here. Yesterday I just took the English test. A lot of traps. I would like to know that is it they will inform the result of the examination screening by phone call or just post by mail? Thanks

[もみじ]

Hi everyone,

So sorry for making some of u confuse! Wat I mean the 70 those from Malaysia who are chosen to go for the interview.

[noisyarsenic]

Hi to all
clockworkorange: Hi! Hope everyone did good for the exam. I freaked out when my status of Japanese examination was Y! At last i gave up doing it. I do not have basic of it.
Menrui and all: the 70 people thingy, i think the speaker just making an example. She was saying this : "...OKay, if out of the 187 of you here, let's say, 70 of you get the mark above the cutting point,let's say 80 marks, then 70 of you get the interview. and from that, screen again....."
From the newspaper cutting this year, total of 31 sent to Japan from Malaysia.
So i guess next year will be around 30 also from Malaysia herself
I don't think that she was not making an example, they are going to turn down roughly 60% of the applicants.
My own estimate...
187-(187*0.6)=74
74-(74*0.6)=30
Anyway, i also felt that i won't be selected though. I didn't do well in the english test though i personally felt that the japanese test was easier compared to last year.

[ayumi.tt]

I don't think that she was not making an example, they are going to turn down roughly 60% of the applicants.
My own estimate...
187-(187*0.6)=74
74-(74*0.6)=30
Anyway, i also felt that i won't be selected though. I didn't do well in the english test though i personally felt that the japanese test was easier compared to last year.

actually on that day. i couldn't hear clearly what the speaker said. i jz have a rough idea that they will select the top 70 candidates with the highest marks.
then they will jz filter thru who will be going to japan. so, may be that time only 30 will make it?
let's pray that we will be called for interview :-)

[cravy]

Hello everyone, I am new here.
Yup, I took the exam too. The questions were tricky. Well, just manage to finish it on time. (No extra time to check again).
Hope most of us can make through the next round.
Actually when should we contact our potential supervisor? Before or after interview? Or after we get the scholarship?

[zeleninovatorta]

My biggest question after the first round of language tests is:

HOW IS THE INTERVIEW LIKE?
I am applying in Slovakia, but I am wondering how the interviews are like in other countries. By this question I mean:
WHAT KIND OF QUESTIONS they ask ? AND do they ask in JAPANESE too??
:?

If anyone has some hints, it would be great help not only to me, but many other nervous applicants !! appreciate it~

[menrui]

To Cravy:

It would be great if you did contact a potential superviso even before you apply. Giving him/her a notice that you are applying and and have an interest in him/her is a great idea. But it isn't necessary.

I think, after you pass the 1rst screening(application, test, and interview), you are required to do everything you can to get accepted into a university under a supervisor, which I think is much easy because of the monbusho scholarship. Afterwards, is the 2nd screening, to make sure that you did get accepted.

[cravy]

Thanks menrui.
Will browse through all potential supervisor's information.

[clockworkorange]

actually on that day. i couldn't hear clearly what the speaker said. i jz have a rough idea that they will select the top 70 candidates with the highest marks.
then they will jz filter thru who will be going to japan. so, may be that time only 30 will make it?
let's pray that we will be called for interview :-)


Frankly, i couldn't really get what she was saying either. i thot she shud have made the explanations regarding the interview AFTER the exam.

I'm not really sure how many will be shortlisted but my dad who took me to the exam had a chat with one of the ladies who was responsible for registering the candidates. according to this lady, they will shortlist ard 60 candidates from the exam (could be 70 also, I'm not sure) and from there, they will shortlist a further 30 from the interview. So u guys got it rite, I guess.

at any rate, best of luck to all of us. I found the english test very tricky. I didn't even take the japanese exam (did u take the jap exam in the end, luvearest?) so i dun really know how this could end up for me. But it doesn't hurt to hope for the best!!!!

[zheng_ys]

Can I know what program are you guys applying ?

[fulhamerica]

Does anyone know what the percentage is, of people who obtain the Naidakusho from the University they desire and then go on to study at that Uni? Is it a high percentage?

[menrui]

To Zheng:
I'm applying under nataural science, specifically chemistry.

To Fulhamerica:
I'm not really sure, but it seems that if you pass the 1rst screening, your chances should be high because you have the monbusho scholarship associate with you when you apply. However, I'm sure if you are applying to a prestigious university like tokyo U, Kyoto U, etc, you will have difficulty because of their popularity

[menrui]

Hmmm I'm beginning to worry about my research plans. I stated I am most likely not able to design a research that will occupy the 2 year term. Thus, it would be necessary for me to conduct more than 1. I also state that I will make an effort to attend scientific related lectures, seminars, etc to get ideas for future projects while conducting my frist one. Also, along with an outline of my first research, I provide 2 additional abstract research proposals to cover me.

Anyone think this is a good idea? Or should I try to extend my one research to a full 2 years?

[midorineko]

Anytime I talked to my consulate about what they would like to see on the study plan, they emphasized that they want a really concrete plan that one could just step into upon arrival in Japan. I think it would be better to have a plan that at least covers the term of the scholarship.

[Charles Barkley]

Hmmm I'm beginning to worry about my research plans. I stated I am most likely not able to design a research that will occupy the 2 year term. Thus, it would be necessary for me to conduct more than 1. I also state that I will make an effort to attend scientific related lectures, seminars, etc to get ideas for future projects while conducting my frist one. Also, along with an outline of my first research, I provide 2 additional abstract research proposals to cover me.
Anyone think this is a good idea? Or should I try to extend my one research to a full 2 years?


Of course it is entirely up to you to plan your application strategy, if it were me, i would not do that.

I would fear that adding a second research proposal would dilute the efficiency of the first. Also, if they start asking you questions about the second research proposal, you might not be able to respond very convincingly. I could also imagine other 'difficult to answer' interview questions arising because from it.

I would imagine adding a second proposal would merely confuse the interviewers and make them lose focus. There is probably no need for you to set an exact timeline for your first proposal--they don't expect you to have a script all planned out for exactly what you are going to do, since research, espcially when you don't know where you will be doing it, is not really that kind of thing.

Why state that you were not able to design a 2 year research proposal? You are bringing attention to a problem that need not exist in the first place, since it is acceptable to use the scholarship for less than the full two year term, and since there's no real way you know your project won't last for two years.

Simply state what you want to study, the kind of resources the opportunity will provide you that will enable you to study it, and why you believe your study will be beneficial to you and to Japan. Don't get caught up in writing down all of your worries or your hypothesis or anything else that. While it may be important in your mind in regards to your project, doesnt really provide outsiders any insight into why they should give you the schoalrship.

I think that saying you want to attend classes to broaden your understanding of the field of study under which your research project falls is a good idea. I broke my proposal up into 3 parts and I think it worked for me:

1 Basically why they should give me the scholarship
2A General Study--the classes I wanted to take and general things I wanted to study and how those could help my future
2B Specific Research Study--more specific information on my topic and the benefits of that specific project


My specific research project was only one dense, fairly vague page. The rest was two more pages. I am not saying you should do it this way--this worked for me because I really wanted to do a lot of general study, take language classes, etc. If your focus IS more on your research, focus more on that.

I guess what I am trying to say is do not write anything in your proposal that will not help you get the scholarship. Save all that other stuff for your discussing with your friends or your advisor after you come to Japan.

[menrui]

To midorineko & barkley:
Yes, you're both definitely right. And barkley is definitely right that I really don't know how long my research will take because I never actually done independent research before. I'm sure synthesizing and analyzing chemicals is much harder than it looks on paper.

Well, I have about 7 more days until my deadline. I'm still waiting for my recommendation form to come in from the mail. So, I'm going to give more detail in my research plan so that it doesn't seem too simple and short term. Also, I'm going to elaborate more on the type of studies I would like to do about my field, like attending lectures and seminars and such.

thanks again guys

[zheng_ys]

Im applying for landscape architecture. But currently I have the Bachelor degree and Master degree in Urban & Regional Planning. But I'm confusing that I should pursuing landscape architecture in Master degree or PHD. Could anyone give me some advice? Thanks...

[MatsuyamaHime]

Barkley's advice is spot-on.

I have a BA in anthropology and asian studies, and my proposal (4 pages double-spaced + 2 pages of a tentative time-line) is sociological and media studies centered. I'll be studying (like how I assume success?) how black entertainers are marketed (star text, public image), whether black entertainers in Japan become famous due to their ethnicity or talent (or both) what with the kind of publicity they receive, and so will (hopefully) empirically reveal whether attitudes towards blacks (celebrity and otherwise) has changed since the importation of racist Americana ideals.

[cravy]

I applied for the Biotechnology field.
I don't even now what to write in the Study Program / research plan in the application letter. I just simple wrote that I want to do something related in stem cells and nervous system etc.
So, I in the future, when they ask me give more detail plan, I don't think I can answer.... lol

[menrui]

You know what, I just typed a long post, and the website gave me an error... here's a short version.

Cravy:
not to be rude, but i dont think thats a good idea.

MatsuHime:
I like your topic. I wonder why Jero is so popular. I dont know anything about enka so i cant judge his music. once, when i was in japan, some one told me "I like black music". I was really shock but it was funny. Thats how they categorize rnb, hip hop, rap etc.

I have a BS in biochemistry. My study field is chemistry, specifically organic chemistry synthesis. my research is about using histidine as a catalyst to provide selectivity in the asymmetric addition of grignard reagent to aldehydes. my length is much like Matsu's, (12font) 2pg single space, paragraph form + 2 pg procedure outline

[menrui]

BTW, I've been meaning to post this. I found this a while ago. Some guy named Lars* Martinson recieved the monbusho scholarship and wrote about every thing he went through to get it. I think its a great guide with alot of details on his preparation, research planning, professor contacting, and interview etc. Check it out.
larsmartinsonDOTcom/how-i-got-the-monbusho-research-scholarship-part-1-of-4/

*Typo!

[Charles Barkley]

I don't know how much the importation of american racial ideas has directly affected how race is viewed in Japan, but I also think hime's research topic would be interesting. There certainly are a number of figures, across a variety of media (and of course the military), that you could use as case studies.

Other things:

-I checked the website, and the guy's name is Lars, not Lard. A small point, but I think he would appreciate my correction.

-That guy really went all out on his application. He was definitely straddling the border between obsessive time wasting and trying his best to get accepted (I won't say which side of it I think he falls on).

-I hate waiting for this final acceptance from Tokyo. Sigh. Please, please, tokyo, tell me that I have secured a place, and its at Waseda, and tell me soon so I can direct my attention to other things.

[menrui]

Charles:
Do you really think he spent an excessive amount of time? I was actually using what he wrote as a guide haha, except I only spent a total of 1month.

I could understand how he feels. I want this scholarship really bad. Heck, I'd even slap my mom for it(no not really..). Receiving this scholarship would just make my life explode, in a good way. This is a HUGE scholarship, so I always thought it was really competitive. Also, I'm getting really tired of getting rejected haha(college, med school, etc)

[Charles Barkley]

When he says things like, 'it would be better to include a timeline down to the week,' 'I contacted some professors through a friend of theirs who had written on the professor's blog,' and doing things like taking the English language test when one is already a native speaker (eye roll), I just think he went a bit overboard, to the point I could even see it putting off interviewers. Anyway, he got the scholarship, so good for him, and its his time to waste as he wants. I am merely saying that past a certain point, nothing you do will really improve your odds of getting the scholarship.

One thing he didn't seem to do that much, that I highly recommend, is getting a number of friends to mock interview you. Very very helpful, not only for this application process, but for any application that requires an interview.

[clockworkorange]

Hey guys,

I went to the website menrui recommended and after reading thru his blog, i sort of panicked. My initial plan was to start contacting professors AFTER i'd passed the interview. I know u can contact professors anytime and it is generally better to start early i suppose but i also figured that it would be much easier to get a professor interested if u have the embassy recommendation already.

After reading lars account, i'm getting the idea that ur supposed to contact professors BEFORE the interview. Is this true? if so, then i guess i'm in trouble if i'm called for the interview. Could anyone shed light on this matter?

Also, i have two more questions and i would appreciate anybody's help in answering this:

1) Is it really necessary to get a professor that fits ur research topic EXACTLY? i want to do a masters in chemical engineering and my research topic has to do with environmental systems (air pollution). would that mean i have to find a professor whose research pertains to air pollution? or would it be ok to email other professors in an environmental engineering dept?

2) Has anyone gotten an embassy recommendation but not managed to get a professor to supervise or a university placement? What would happen then?

Thanks to anyone willing to help!!

[Charles Barkley]

Hey guys,
I went to the website menrui recommended and after reading thru his blog, i sort of panicked. My initial plan was to start contacting professors AFTER i'd passed the interview. I know u can contact professors anytime and it is generally better to start early i suppose but i also figured that it would be much easier to get a professor interested if u have the embassy recommendation already.
After reading lars account, i'm getting the idea that ur supposed to contact professors BEFORE the interview. Is this true? if so, then i guess i'm in trouble if i'm called for the interview. Could anyone shed light on this matter?
Also, i have two more questions and i would appreciate anybody's help in answering this:
1) Is it really necessary to get a professor that fits ur research topic EXACTLY? i want to do a masters in chemical engineering and my research topic has to do with environmental systems (air pollution). would that mean i have to find a professor whose research pertains to air pollution? or would it be ok to email other professors in an environmental engineering dept?
2) Has anyone gotten an embassy recommendation but not managed to get a professor to supervise or a university placement? What would happen then?
Thanks to anyone willing to help!!

あわてることはないよ！

As I said earlier, that guy's preparations were perhaps excessive. You will be fine if you do not start contacting professors until after you have received the embassy nomination--after all, that is what your consulate might (if it is like mine) instruct you to do.

I followed those instructions, sent out letters to professors at my top two schools immediately after receiving the embassy nomination, and received the required acceptance forms from both schools, signed, 3 and 6 weeks later. If you send letters out to more schools, you might get one even faster (though factor in that I live in Japan, so its a bit easier for me to mail/receive things).

Making initial contact with professors before the interview would probably be a good policy (though I didn't do it). I would not recommend snooping around their blogs for friends and contacting their friends though--if professors do not have their email addresses displayed on the website, it probably means, I dunno, they don't want randoms contacting them. My advice would be to contact secretaries or offices of departments in schools you are interested in, tell them what you are studying, what you want, and asking if they could help put you in contact with a professor.

At Waseda, my top school, the procedure for receiving the form is to contact the department, send your forms directly to them, and they will do the rest. Although I received the word of a professor saying he would advise me (within 3 weeks of my sending the papers to the school), I have yet to even contact him directly (I really should do that soon I suppose)!

I think the advisor will not have as large a role as that blog made it out to be either, though perhaps it will vary based on school. Professors have a lot of other responsibilities, so I imagine (and based on the accounts of current scholars that I have read) monbu advisors will serve in much the same capacity as college advisors. Consequently, the fact that your project might be obscure and not match up exactly with what professors are studying will probably mean very little in terms of the application process (though of course for the sake of your research, closer might be better).

My consulate also said that even if one doesn't get a note from an advisor, that will not affect one's ability, or likelihood, to receive the scholarship. That might have been a special condition for the JET round of scholarships however, so I would recommend not tempting fate and working hard to gain an advisor.

To sum up, as long as you don't diddle around after receiving the embassy nomination, and as long as you conduct yourself in a professional manner, I doubt you will have any problems getting an advisor, even if you have not begun to contact any before the interview. The process is insanely long and frustrating at times, so for the sake of your own sanity you should not stress too much about minor details...

[MatsuyamaHime]

Black people (of America) and Japan have actually had quite an interesting discourse in the 20th Century. I didn't know much about it either til I started digging into what little lit there is.
That guy really went all out on his application. He was definitely straddling the border between obsessive time wasting and trying his best to get accepted (I won't say which side of it I think he falls on).
Well, he is an artist. :okashii:
I also read his blog and it got me thinkin hard about the advisor thing. I went ahead and, once I'd finalized my proposal, contacted professors directly and got 2 positive responses within 2 days, plus the guy who said "don't like this topic, but I'll keep you in mind since you've got good ideas". I put their names on the application. Best part is that they're in the cities I want to live in. Best news?
I SENT THAT SUCKA THIS AFTERNOOON
So, yeah, glad that's over with. (Except for my Uni rec letters and transcripts, which are already in America waiting for me mum to overnight them to ATL) I'll admit it consumed my life these last 5 weeks. Which is okay, since it takes my mind off...

[menrui]

dekimashita!

I turn in my application yesterday too! I'm glad its over.Now I play the waiting game... so fustrating

I personally handed it to the mext coordination of the embassy and we made some small talk. Then he asked me if I would be available for an interview as late as early august *hint *hint, *wink *wink, *nudge *nudge, yeah... hopefully that was a good sign. Of course, I agreed, but don't most university applications have deadlines around the end of august? I really hope this doesn't put a big time contraint on me.

[MatsuyamaHime]

ATL's interviews are Aug 1st.

[menrui]

I dont like it...

^ that message is too short to be posted

[shimul92]

I have known lots of things about Monbukagakusho Scholarship from this thread.

I have recently got application materials for post graduate study from the Embassy of Japan. But, I am confused and not sure what to write in the field of study ans study program. Moreover, it is said in the letter that these two parts are very important for selecting the candidates for scholarships.

I humbly request the members of this forum to help me by giving advice and suggestions as how to give answer to these two questions.

The deadline for submitting the application form is 24 June, 2008. So, there is very little time in hand.

Thanks.

shimul92.

[menrui]

Wow you are cutting it really close shimul. I hate to say this... but maybe you should wait till next year...

It still is possible to turn in your application on time but its going to take alot of will power. I think your biggest problem will be filling out the medical certificate. It took a week for my blood work to come back.

Anyways,if you go to page 13 of this forum, Nazo posted a very good description of what you should write in those areas. I followed most of those descriptions when writing mine, it really helps. Thanks Nazo!

If you have any more question, I'll try to answer asap.

[Charles Barkley]

Except for my Uni rec letters

Maybe you, like me, are another American who has been living overseas too long. I go back home for the holidays and use 'Uni' and receive only blank stares in return.

Or do they say Uni where you are from in the states?

[menrui]

^you mean like, you actually say "uni"? As in, "hello, I go to the Uni of Texas"? haha, do people really say that?

[MatsuyamaHime]

I once said "lol"..............................

[Charles Barkley]

^you mean like, you actually say "uni"? As in, "hello, I go to the Uni of Texas"? haha, do people really say that?


You wouldn't say it that way--the usage is more of a general term like 'college.' i.e.,

What uni did you go to? or
When I was in uni, blah blah blah.


British/Australian thing it's easy to slip into if you're living overseas.

(especially for me, last four years I have lived in australia one year, then dated an australia here in Japan for over a year and a half...)

[clockworkorange]

Hi everyone!!

Thank you, charles, for answering my questions.

After reading ur reply, i decided to just stick to my original plan. (like there was much else for my to do..:P)

and the japanese embassy just called me to tell me i passed the exam!!!!! grin. grin. grin.
I'm so happy i can't concentrate on my work. I keep thinking..."i have to go back home to prepare for the interview!!!"

has anyone else received a call from the embassy too?

[tomayto]

i havent heard anything from the embassy :((

[cravy]

clockworkorange, u already received the call, so nice... I hope I will be called for interview too.
*_*
When is the interview?

I saw the embassy website, they sponsor ~31 people to do postgrad, but only 6 for undergrad, wonder why. Izit undergrad need more money than postgrad?

[menrui]

Keep your heads up guys!

^im not really sure why they choose sponsor mor postgrads over undergrad either

BTW, I cant seem to find any statistics on monbusho acceptance rate. any one have a link or some information ?

[tomayto]

yeay!!!

i just received a call telling me i passed the exam too! happy happy hapy :) :) :)
clockworkorange, the lady said like there is a lot of stuff to take care before the interview. maybe i can have your contact so we can share, so neither of of would miss anything :)

[clockworkorange]

Hey guys,

Just hang in there. Which i know is really easier said than done.

Just make sure ur handphone is with u AT ALL TIMES.
The embassy called me ard 2pm today. They do have ard 60-70 ppl to call but they're bound to get to ur name soon!!!

The person that called me told me that the interview will be held on the 15th, 16th OR
17th July. The actual date of ur own interview will be in the official letter sent to us.

Pls let me know when u guys get a call. It'll be nice to know there are friends at the interview.

[clockworkorange]

hey tomayto,

I've already sent u a private msg that has my contact details. :P

[fulhamerica]

I totally agree with Charles about the use of "Uni " after exposure to more int'l english this is for sure a word you would pick up.

I too am from the States, and if I say the word Uni to anyone....I may as well be speaking a foreign language.

The thing is, saying Uni makes more sense than College. By saying College, the meaning can be construed a number of ways from Junior College to Undergrad, and some might point out the use of college as a term for high school. But, Uni? You know this means a 4 year, institution of higher education. Plus, it's short and to the point.

[menrui]

^Hmmm, i think i got the wrong idea. I thought charles meant that replacing "University" with the abbreviation phrase "Uni" was weird. I totally understand the word University vs. college.

[midorineko]

Menrui, I believe you are right. Charles was talking about replacing the word university with the abbreviation "uni." fulhamerica was just pointing out that uni can be a more accurate phrasing to use as it specifically denotes a four year institution, whereas college can refer to a variety of higher educational facilities, including four year universities.

[Nall-ohki]

Hey again,

It's been quite a while since I posted last, after I had been selected as an alternate for 2008.

I'm back now, and a few days ago I got the Embassy recommendation again this year!

Needless to say, I'm excited and hopeful that I'll get it again.

I was wondering how everyone is doing this year so far - congratulations to everyone who has a recommendation!

[menrui]

I'm so envious of you Nall.

I turned in my application about 4 days ago. so I'm still wait for a call to take the exam.

[Charles Barkley]

Hey again,

It's been quite a while since I posted last, after I had been selected as an alternate for 2008.

I'm back now, and a few days ago I got the Embassy recommendation again this year!

Needless to say, I'm excited and hopeful that I'll get it again.

I was wondering how everyone is doing this year so far - congratulations to everyone who has a recommendation!

I don't know how you managed to apply again after that. And if I remember correctly, you also said something like you had been disqualified on a technicality in a previous year? You've got patience man.

Your saying you were made an alternate after receiving the embassy recommendation actually spooked me a bit, since I hadn't received any other indications that that could happen at that late a stage. Hopefully that wont happen to anyone this year.

[luvearest]

hey guys
i received call that i was shortlisted as well! happy but worried for the interview.

:-)

[menrui]

It seems like every one receiving a call is from malaysia. When was the application deadline in malaysia? In the US, specifically houston, the deadline is tomorrow. Test are held in july, and interviews could be as late as august.

[Nall-ohki]

I don't know how you managed to apply again after that. And if I remember correctly, you also said something like you had been disqualified on a technicality in a previous year? You've got patience man.
Your saying you were made an alternate after receiving the embassy recommendation actually spooked me a bit, since I hadn't received any other indications that that could happen at that late a stage. Hopefully that wont happen to anyone this year.

Yeah... my attempts over the last few years have all ended in failure, it's almost dark comedy-worthy.

Year 1: Couldn't go for personal reasons that came up suddenly.
Year 2: Visa rejected due to technicality (new guy in charge of immigration)
Year 3: Applied, got recommendation, MEXT selected me as alternate.
Year 4: Applied, got recommendation, awaiting pending doom :okashii:

Also, I'm making alternate plans to go to school regardless of MEXT's decision - I'm tired of being jerked around. If I don't get it this time, I'll damn well pay for it myself somehow (having saved for 4 years should give me enough to scrape by, but at the cost of all my savings and probably some loans).

Anyway, yeah. I've been there, been on the bad end for quite a while now. Those who did not get the recommendation have my sympathy.

As for getting selected as an alternate: that blindsided me, too. I had no idea being an alternate was really a possibility. I suspected that I could be rejected for some reason, but thought it was an outside chance. Being an alternate was almost worse - I got laid off from my job in February and couldn't really make any plans until April came so I could see if I got picked or what...<sigh>

[cravy]

It seems like every one receiving a call is from malaysia. When was the application deadline in malaysia? In the US, specifically houston, the deadline is tomorrow. Test are held in july, and interviews could be as late as august.

The application deadline in Malaysia is 11 April, Test is 15 June, Interview is ~15 July.

:( Still dun receive any call.

[luvearest]

to cravy
why don't you give japan embassy a ring? My friend did. And the lady who called me, is apparently very helpful. Good luck. Japan Embassy 03-21427044
best of luck

[clockworkorange]

Congrats, luvearest!!!!

I exchanged contact details with tomayto so that we dun miss anything to bring to the interview. I think its a good idea. maybe u could share urs as well? If u dun mind. If u do mind though, thats ok.

cravy, i hope they call u very soon! I'm crossing my fingers for u.

the applications in malaysia started in march (march 15th i think) and the deadline, as cravy said, was on april 11th.

[midorineko]

Please think good thoughts my way, I am going in for my tests and interview today.

[Nall-ohki]

Please think good thoughts my way, I am going in for my tests and interview today.

Good luck sir. Just be confident and not arrogant and you'll have a shot.

[cravy]

Yes, I made it. Thx god. I called just now asking for my status and they said I pass the exam. Yahoo.
Trying to prepare for the interview now.
clockworkorange, luvearest, and tomayto, mind to exchange contact details?

Yes, the woman in the embassy, Ms Yin or Yin, is quite good actually. ^_^

[tomayto]

congrats cravy! now lets prepare ourself for the interview :)

im glad to exchange my contact details with you hehe

[clockworkorange]

Congratulations, cravy!!!

I'll send u my contact details.

does anyone know who will interview us? what the panel is going to be like? who is the panel exactly?

to midorineko, all the best!!!!

[cravy]

I tot there is a person's blog in "tinkosong" or something like tat website, stating wat there will ask in the interview.

tinkosong.com/2006/02/28/monbukagakusho-scholarships/

I think if u browse through these 20 pages of post in this forum, u can get a rough idea.

Thx clockworkorange, waiting for u msg.

[Nall-ohki]

does anyone know who will interview us? what the panel is going to be like? who is the panel exactly?


I think that's going to depend a lot.

In my case, both times, I was interviewed by the education group at the consulate I went to along with a local translator and this year, a local professor.

It can be a little intimidating, as there were like 8 people there, but just try to stay calm, be confident, and make your case as to why you should receive the scholarship, and you should have a shot.

Good luck!

[luvearest]

Yes, Yin is very helpful as i mentioned, in fact she was with us at the registration booth...
I will give you guys (clockworkorange,cravy,tomayto) that's all I think?haha...

She said five panels will be interviewing us.Goodluck.

[clockworkorange]

Hey guys,

First of all, thanks, nall-ohki, cravy and luvearest, for answering my question. And also for giving some encouragement. The truth is I'm terrified of the interview.

I just called the embassy to find out what we may prepare for while waiting for the letter. Things we must bring that we can prepare now:

1) One original academic transcript + 4 photostated copies of the same transcript.
2) Your original degree certificate + 4 photostated copies of said cert.
3) 1 Recommendation letter from either your professor or your current employer. You may choose which one u want to approach for the letter. The recommendation letter must be done using a form which will be sent with the letter. So essentially what we can do now is just let the person (professor or employer) know that we're going to need a recommendation letter from them.
4) 4-5 (i forget the actual number) copies of passport- sized photos.

So tomayto, u were rite!! I asked about the medical check-up, she said they required that AFTER u pass the interview.

I also asked about the panel for the interview. According to the very helpful ms. yin there will be 5 ppl on the panel:
a) 1 from the embassy
b) 1 from JPA
c) 1 from ALEPS - (Alumni Look EAST Policy Society)
d) 1 from JAGAM - (Japanese Graduates Society - I'm not sure about their actual full name)
e) Ms. Yin forgot where this individual is from but he/she is either from another society or will be a professor.

Thats all i thot to ask. Anyone else with extra info or conflicting info, do let us know.

[tomayto]

wow... really informative colleen. thanks a lot. you're really helpfull. for the copies of certificate and transcript do we need a chop from pesuruhjaya sumpah?

[Vyen]

Hi~~nice to meet you all...
i also just received the call from embassy for interview. now, i need to contact my professor and hopefully that they are willing to write the recommendation letter for me. :-)
clockworkorange, thanks for all the information yaa..

[Vyen]

wow... really informative colleen. thanks a lot. you're really helpfull. for the copies of certificate and transcript do we need a chop from pesuruhjaya sumpah?

tomayto,
according to Yin, we don't need to certified the copies as long as we have the original together with them on that day. but you wanna do so, it think it is ok..

[tomayto]

i see. i see. if no need then nvm lo. less work. hehe

[luvearest]

BIG HI to Vyen!

cheers

[menrui]

Hmm, my embassy required me to turn all those stuff in with the initial application. Even the medical checkup/certificate. I guess the process is different depending on the embassy. I spent like 300USD out of my pocket to complete the medical certificate, if would really suck if i didn't even get pass the application.

[Nall-ohki]

Hmm, my embassy required me to turn all those stuff in with the initial application. Even the medical checkup/certificate. I guess the process is different depending on the embassy. I spent like 300USD out of my pocket to complete the medical certificate, if would really suck if i didn't even get pass the application.

Yeah, I hear you - it cost me about 500USD out of pocket the first time to get all this stuff together - some of my records had to be re-issued and such.

It's hard, but at least if you don't pass this time, you'll be prepared for next year... it worked for me. :-)

[MatsuyamaHime]

Holy crap. I paid about $30 for mine.

Korea's good for a few things. ^_^

[menrui]

Well, it would be alot cheaper... if my parents bought health insurance... but they are kind of retarded so we dont have it. So any medical bill that comes our way, we pay straight out of the pocket.

[fulhamerica]

Nall-ohki
Just out of curiousity, in your Year 3 description above. Did MEXT give you a reason as to why you were selected as an alternate? And, since you were selected as an alternate, but are applying now, is it accurate to assume that you weren't taken from the alternate status and given the scholarship?