Monbukagakusho Scholarship for Postgraduate!! [Archive] - Page 3

Nall-ohki

Jun 26, 2008, 03:02

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?

Nah, MEXT doesn't give that kind of reasoning. Basically, alternate seems to be "We'd give you the scholarship, but our quotas are full".

There's still an outside chance I could get a call from MEXT saying that I've been upgraded to go in October of this year. If that happens, not sure what I'll do. :souka:

I'm allowed to apply again because otherwise I'd have to wait 2 years before I could apply again, and that would be slightly unfair (people who outright failed up front get to apply again, but I wouldn't).

Vyen

Jun 28, 2008, 12:14

hey guys,

does anyone know how many rounds will the interview be held for this time?

menrui

Jun 28, 2008, 15:54

there are rounds!? I thought it was just one big interview...

Vyen

Jun 28, 2008, 21:26

there are rounds!? I thought it was just one big interview...

ohh..I heard that there were 3 rounds of interview for Malaysian last year..not sure about this year..:souka:

tomayto

Jun 28, 2008, 21:34

wth?!!! 3 rounds... waaa i thought this is our final phase d... damn le

Vyen

Jun 29, 2008, 10:38

hopefully it will be just one round..
by the way, anyone from usm? i need to go bac penang to get the letter of recommandation...haiz..:(

ayumi.tt

Jun 29, 2008, 12:48

ohh..I heard that there were 3 rounds of interview for Malaysian last year..not sure about this year..:souka:

three rounds? :mad: i tot jz one round...
how naive i was... sigh...

vyen, i am from usm. there are quite a lot of usm student applying for this scholarship. hope we can make it thru these interviewS :cheer:

clockworkorange

Jun 30, 2008, 15:06

menrui

Jun 30, 2008, 15:17

hmm, my embassy required me to turn in an original(Open and not sealed in an envelope was ok) along with 2 copies of it. My guess is that you need to turn in an authentic original for them to keep.

cravy

Jun 30, 2008, 16:10

hey guys...
was wondering...when the embassy says bring along ur original transcripts and certificates to the interview..does that mean they wan an original transcript to keep with them? or do they just wan to see to verify authenticity?

Have any one received the letter from the embassy yet (in M'sia)?

How should we identify our potential supervisor, b'coz some webpages are displayed in Japanese? I am worried about finding a supervisor now. :(

Cloclworkorange, wat field are you in? Business? Art? Science?:wave:

tomayto

Jun 30, 2008, 21:43

i have an enquiry... ms yin said something about a letter to confirm that im graduating from the university . is it the expected graduation letter ? -_-"

menrui

Jun 30, 2008, 22:06

Cravy:
If you cant find an english page or are having trouble browsing the japanese page, try contacting the international office. Explain your problem and they could send help redirect you.

tomayto:
im not in malaysia but I'll try to answer. I used my diploma, or graduation certicate. It seems like you havent graduate yet. You need a letter, or some form of evidence, that states you WILL be graduating. You should see your counselor for this.

kouki

Jul 1, 2008, 00:59

As far as I know, Ms Yin said that we can ask those who are producing the original certificates to certify our photocopies, if we cannot hand in the originals, since most of us has ONLY one copy. But anyway, you can try bring your originals during your interview.

i have an enquiry... ms yin said something about a letter to confirm that im graduating from the university . is it the expected graduation letter ? -_-"

Hi, tomayto, same thing goes with me. I think it is a letter to be produced by the university, to prove that we are graduating from the university next year. Try talk to your faculty's office or the registrar office. You can try talk with your lecturer first.

Vyen

Jul 1, 2008, 09:03

i think the copies plus the original one are for all the panel member in the interview as they are five of them all together. Some of the documents I think can be returned as they are just one original copy such as graduate certificate.
Does anyone know that can the recommender write on the recommendation form using ball pen? it just stated can type or print. i think I will ask professor to write on it as there is not much time for them or me to type on it.

menrui

Jul 1, 2008, 09:54

^ I'm almost sure that it would be okay for them to write on it with a pen. Just be sure that it is readable.

clockworkorange

Jul 1, 2008, 15:32

To menrui:

Thank you very much for answering my question. I have received my letter from the embassy and it says i need to submit originals but i'm planning to call the embassy and find out for real becoz like everybody else i only have one original and it takes time for my university to produce another. I'm not even sure they'd produce another degree cert for u.

To cravy,

I studied chemical engineering. I haven actually looked for any japanese supervisors but i think, as menrui said, contacting their student services dept or something seems like a good idea. I dun really plan to do this until after the interview though.

I'm also going to write NEATLY instead of type on the form. The forms' print are all pretty small and its in hard copy, i dun see how we're supposed to hand in forms with printed answers. Of course if anyone does see a way to do it, share pls?

I also have another question: I'm actually working, i've been working for 9 months now. The letter that arrived said i need a recommendation from my current employer. Is anyone in the same situation as i am? I find it very awkward to ask my boss since me getting the scholarship would mean me leaving the company. I mean even applying for the scholarship seems to indicate ur intentions. Or am i making a big deal out of nothing? What do u guys think?

Vyen

Jul 1, 2008, 16:22

^ I'm almost sure that it would be okay for them to write on it with a pen. Just be sure that it is readable.

oh..then is the recommender suppose to write on the original form or a separate paper?
I found that there is only limited spaces between the questions. If write on it, only be able to write 1 or 2 lines of sentences.

menrui

Jul 1, 2008, 16:32

^ hehe I really sure they are not THAT strict. Using separate paper should be okay as long as which question they are answering is clearly addressed. Its probably most important that the recommendation in permanent(ink) and sealed. My recommender also had to sign on the seal.

tomayto

Jul 1, 2008, 16:34

clockworkorange,

i think if you can talk to your employer they should understand your situation. beside, it is not as you're jumping ship to another company. you're still young, looking forward to further study and now have the opportunity to do so. try to put them in your shoe? hehe. they should be supportive. i think its always the best to be straight and honest. this is just my two cents. good luck :)

Vyen

Jul 1, 2008, 16:36

dear clockworkorange,

I m also facing the same problem. It is very strange to ask my boss to complete the recommendation form as it gives a signal that I have the intention to leave the company if given the opportunity. haiz...

But I think I will ask my boss also since studying master is not a bad thing actually. hope she can understand my intention in a good way.

Another problem is recommendation from advisor or dean. It is a short notice and i don't know my professor is willing to write the letter for me or not. Haiz...a lot of things to do in 2 weeks time..

clockworkorange

Jul 1, 2008, 17:01

Hey everybody,

Thanks for coming to my rescue. Grin.

Neway i called ms. yin again. She's probably very sick of hearing my name.

So this is what i garnered:
1) You can write with pen on ur form. Make it BLACK ink.
2) If u dun have time to get an original degree cert from ur university, its ok. Bring the one u have, they just want to see to verify ur degree is authentic. They will return it to you.
3) Recommendations are to be written on the form given. I didn't really ask if u could attach separate papers with the recommendation but i think you should be able to. Also regarding employer recommendations, it is OPTIONAL. According to ms. yin, they are aware that some of us dun tell our employers about this scholarship.
4) The interview will be 15 minutes and there will be only ONE interview.

Ms. Yin also wishes all of us the best of luck.

menrui

Jul 1, 2008, 17:24

Vyen,
I know how you feel about recommendation letters. I HATE asking for recommendation letter. I've asked for so many... and this is what I concluded: Professor hate writing rec. letters b/c they have better things to do. Most of the professors I asked gave me a feeling that they really dont want to do it, so it always makes me feel bad. Most also reject to do it.
TAs are much nicer about it but its not a good idea to get it from them. My jpn TA wrote me one in a day and now Im in love with her.
Prof will not write a rec letter ASAP, so you better ask them early. I waited 3 month for a rec letter twice.
I had to beg a prof once b/c the deadline was approaching and it was really degrading.
Maybe I just had alot of bad experience but yeah, I hate it.

Vyen

Jul 1, 2008, 18:19

menrui,
I can see why you hate to get the recommendation letter now. what a bad experience..:(
hopefully i dun need to beg for it = ='''

p/s : fall in love with your TA...:cool:

clockworkorange

Jul 1, 2008, 18:57

What is a TA?

Btw, must it be a professor? I asked the lecturer that supervised my final year research. She's not a professor though. or a doctor.

Vyen

Jul 2, 2008, 12:40

i just send the email to my professor, not sure she will reply or not. At the worst case scenario, i will try to ask my japanese lecturer to fill out the form for me...:(

menrui

Jul 2, 2008, 13:51

clockwork,
my embassys' guideline says to get a recommendation from my advisor. I onlymeet with my advisor about once a semester so I didnt think this was a good idea. So i called my embassy and asked about it. He told me it could be from a professor or any one that knows about my performance academically. Im not sure what your embassy wants, so you might want to call and ask... again.

Of course, a recommendation from a prof always "looks" better, so if you can, I would suggest you do that. But of course, I understand that our professors dont always know us the best. I'll leave it up to you. Good luck.

Oh yeah, TA means Teacher Assistant.

clockworkorange

Jul 2, 2008, 19:23

Thanks, menrui, for replying.

I've already sent the recommendation form to my lecturer who supervised my final year research project. she's not a professor but since i worked under her, she's probably the most suitable.

Ha, i thot TA was technical assistant. In my uni, they supervise our lab work.

c0ok1e

Jul 2, 2008, 22:55

Nall-ohki

Jul 3, 2008, 07:38

Hi,
I am from USM and I also got called for the interview. But my graduation is in August and I cannot get the transcript before my convocation and the letter stating that I will graduate is in bahasa malaysia. My sem gred is also in bahasa malaysia. They said I have to produce and english one. How do I get an english version? Anyone facing the same problem?
Thanks mate

You're either going to have to get your school to provide an English one or bite the bullet and pay a translator to do it (a bona-fide translator, too - one that can do official documents). Ask your embassy/consulate if they can recommend someone or perhaps do it for you.

You don't have much choice in this according to what I know: they specifically want an English or Japanese version.

luvearest

Jul 3, 2008, 09:32

You can apparently in UKM to get yout English transcript before August...but not the BM one. For the graduation cert, we can only get in in Aug too...
However, having an OFFICIAL transcript in ENG is good enough. And regarding the cert we can produce it when we get it...just have to state that the cert in pending status...
You try ask Academic Department, they are willing to help up, I guess..
cheers

luvearest

Jul 3, 2008, 09:42

that message is a reply to cook1e by the way...haha...:)

c0ok1e

Jul 3, 2008, 11:52

Apparently the academic division in USM is not that helpful. I have went to get the letter and they seem helpful on the front. But when I request for the english version, they will push the responsibility here and there and make me run around like a monkey going back to the first person I approach. They r such a ***** and i think im farked. If I cannot get any english version from them I think I will need to say buh bye to everyone. Anyway, do you think if I make my own translation and let them certify it will it work?

clockworkorange

Jul 3, 2008, 12:13

Hi, Cookie, i thought nall-ohki had a pretty good suggestion - that is to get a professional translator to do it. or if that is difficult to do, then i guess u wouldn't have a choice but to translate ur own and ask the university to certify for u. I think the japanese embassy would allow it.

Sorry I'm not much help.

luvearest

Jul 3, 2008, 12:52

hi cook1e and clockworkorange
hey cook1e why so blue?
anyway, u can always refer to USM website, whatever page that has portfolio of yours displayed, I m sure there is a site you enter your id n p/w to access your result something like that, semester by semester?...anyway, click the English version of the page, u will have the whole page in English(including the subjects and grades what so ever), it is easier and of course,, OFFICIAL...( as in UKM)
in stead of you know, translate yourself and get a pro translator...which are good options too...anyway
regarding the transcript thingy, in my uni we pay RM10 per copy of transcript, we have the right to have our property, (payment of course to the service given), I cant see why you can't get yours...
any USMer here? maybe they can help up...

thats the suggestion given, hope it helps, smile

cheers

Vyen

Jul 3, 2008, 13:02

I m also from USM. I think we can just translate the transcript n ask the pejabat pendaftar or even professor to certified for us. I think the embassy people will accept it.
i also need to go back to USM to get my english transcript. 1 copy for RM20..:relief: and i plan to buy 4-5 copies in case i need them..

For letter of recommendation, can we send the original form which is used by embassy to the university in Japan? I don't think they accept this simple form...:souka:

luvearest

Jul 3, 2008, 13:41

actually i haven't get the letter from embassy yet....(worried), but I get hold of lecturers who can write we recommendation letters already...
any of you still have not receive the letter from embassy yet..

to vyen, I don't know how simple is the form provided by embassy...anyway, I hope the Japan University can accept it...smile

clockworkorange

Jul 3, 2008, 17:32

Vyen,

I dun really understand why u would want to send the recommendation form to a university in Japan unless u are planning to ask a Japanese professor to recommend u for the scholarship. If that is so, then u have to use the form sent with the letter.

If u meant sending the completed recommendation form to a Japanese professor to help u gain admission into a university, then I dun see why u shudn't send in the form. I think it works a lot better than normal recommendation letters. Plus if u think the recommendation form is too simple, the person recommending u can add in additional pages to elaborate on certain aspects of ur character or whatever it is the person wants to elaborate on. But i think u shud check first what is usually sent when making contact with a professor.

neway, that would be my opinion. Its always better to check with someone who actually knows and has experience with these stuff.

Vyen

Jul 3, 2008, 18:23

Clockworkorange,

I think you are right. But the original recommendation form will be handed over to the embassy during interview. So, we need the professor to write a letter for us afterall.

my professor didn't reply my email which i sent yesterday.:(
I think she is too busy since this week is orientation week. Maybe i will try to meet her next week if she willing to spare some time with me. :relief:

c0ok1e

Jul 3, 2008, 23:59

to Vyen: You want to buy the transcript for RM 20?? Are they selling that piece of shizt for RM20 to students who need it? What a bunch of azz... cashing in on students who need them.. However when I went to the stupid cancellory that monkey told me that I can only get the transcript after convo because they are too lazy to move their azz to get our transcript done fast.. so the buying thing is just your planning or u have already asked?

kouki

Jul 4, 2008, 00:25

Hi, dear graduates of USM,

Just would like to share something:

Our semgred is in BOTH English and Malay, but our cangred is in Malay only. I think it would be suitable for us to send in the semgred photocopies, which I am going to do that... Just a kind reminder, the cangred is the one we used to get at the beginning of semester to register our course, and the semgred would be the one being distributed at the middle of the semester, which most of the students do not get from the school's office. Try talk to your schools, most possibly they are keeping the copies, or the Registrar Office.

Another thing: We are NOT allowed to translate on our own transcript, as according to the school office, it is an uncertified transcript and it is considered illegal and the school would not certify the copy. However, you can try call Miss Yin again to confirm whether you are allowed to do that in that case, where in the case of embassy, they would accept it, as long as you can produce the original Malay transcript. Try ask about that.

Answering to the Kampus Sejahtera results, it is not a certified one, and the school office would not certified it. So the resolution would be:
1) Go back to USM to solve that
2) Ask the embassy what we can do about that

Thanks for your sharing. Keep in touch.

Vyen

Jul 4, 2008, 00:50

Cookie,

I just sent an email to the pejabat pendaftar this afternoon. One copy of transcript is actually RM 10. So I ordered 4 copies which cost me RM 45(RM 5 is the "search" fee). I will go to collect them on Monday and make the payment on the spot. :-)

luvearest

Jul 4, 2008, 09:28

Hi to all,
I finally got my letters from the embassy
I have 10 days plus to work on it

Best of luck to all of us

c0ok1e

Jul 4, 2008, 11:36

Yo Vyen,

Can you give me the details of the pejabat pendaftar and about the transcript?? I would like to email them as well.. This will help me solve one problem.

Thanks dude. If I meet you in Japan, remind me to treat you a piece of sushi

Nall-ohki

Jul 4, 2008, 11:53

Yo Vyen,
Can you give me the details of the pejabat pendaftar and about the transcript?? I would like to email them as well.. This will help me solve one problem.
Thanks dude. If I meet you in Japan, remind me to treat you a piece of sushi

Just a piece?

Man, at least make sure it's Oo-toro.

c0ok1e

Jul 4, 2008, 12:39

Of course its only a piece. Lol..
By the way, in one of the application form, theres also a section for field of study in Japan and detailed field of study. And its only given one line for you to fill in your sentences. What are we suppose to write on the line? Or do we ignore it and write on field of study and study program form?

Nall-ohki

Jul 4, 2008, 13:00

clockworkorange

Jul 4, 2008, 17:48

Apparently the recommendation form i sent my lecturer hasn't arrived yet. The next time she'll be in the office to check will be on Tuesday.

Worry worry.

Vyen

Jul 4, 2008, 18:27

Cookie,

sent the email address to you just now.

everyone, gambare and see you all on tuesday.

c0ok1e

Jul 4, 2008, 22:47

Vyen,

Got your message. Thanks for thehelp. Another thing is the letter of graduation. Are you going to get an english version or just use the bm version for the interview?
Remind me to treat u a piece of maki mayo when we get to Japan.

cravy

Jul 5, 2008, 22:10

Anyone know the difference between Research Student and normal Master/Doc student?

1. Does everyone of us applying to the postgrad scholarship must be a research student first before we can take master>?
2. If we only have Honours degree, we can only apply master but can't apply doc. degree directly?
3. There is one application attachment form stating that " Do u have any particular U u wish to enrolled", so wat should we put? I only know that i wan to student in Tokyo U or Kyoto U, but still dunno supervisor yet, so what should i fill in?
4. For the study field n program form, can we just copy n paste the same thing as we written in our first application form?
5. Application form page 3, Q12- THe first course we wish to take in jp- research student, master etc... so we should select wat?
6. Is the 2 yrs scholarship means for JP course + as Research student, then after u gain entry to do master in JP Uni, u can continue to get scholarship within the duration of course?

Sorry, too many questions to ask. Hope all senpai, or friends here can give me a help. Many thanks.

ilus

Jul 5, 2008, 23:07

Hello...

After not signing in for quite a long time ..., I wish to congratulate all of you who got the embassy recommendation, especially to my friend, Nall-ohki ...

to cravy:
1) no, there are a few who actually enter directly, but if this the case, usually your professor will ask you to come earlier at your expenses to do the entrance examination ...
2) -
3) you should write something because this will show that you have done your research on japanese universities.. but as a word of caution, if you do not know why you choose tokyo/kyoto uni, and merely write this down because of your preference in high ranking universities, you might encounter some difficult questions in your interview...
4) I have not looked through this year application, so I don't know.. But I think copy n paste will not give a good impression of you in the eyes of the committee... I suggest at minimum, you shoud re-prase some of the content. A whole new different text would be better though ..
5) If you have no basic japanese language skills, I would suggest "research student".., that way, you will have more time to prepare yourself for real academic life in Japan...
6) do not worry about this... once you get the scholarship, and perform well academically.. your scholarship is secured until you finished research student and masteral/doctoral term

ok, goodluck to all of you... be patient and persistent at the same time!!!

menrui

Jul 5, 2008, 23:13

Cravy,
As a research student, you are just doing research and not getting a degree for it. Mast/doc, you are an official graduate student trying to get a degree.

1. I heard, you can actually apply directly to graduate school and aim for a masters instead of being a research student first. But it is rarely done. Perhaps because most graduate schools require you to take entrance exams AT the university, which is a hassle if you dont live in japan. I think most people apply as research students first and apply for graduate school while they are in japan with the scholarship.

2. Whats an honors degree? I think, you can only apply for the Doctoral only if you have obtained a masters.

3. If you do not have a potential supervisor yet, it is okay to leave this blank. However, Im sure that providing a potential supervisor will give you a better "image" but it isnt necessary.

4. Is this the descriptive Field and study form? I think, in the application, you write briefly about it. And in this form, you write a very detail layout or plan on how you plan to approach your desired research.

5. If you want to enter as a research student, select research student. If you want to enter directly as a graduate student, select masters. etc.

6. After being under the scholarship as a research student, you can apply to extend your scholarship as a graduate student. I think most people approach graduate school this way.

FYI, I am apply in an american embassy. Our application process is a bit different from malaysia i think. We turn in a large application package first (application, study plan, medical certificate, transcript, graduation certificate, recommendation, Graduation thesis, etc.) then do the test and interview.

cravy

Jul 6, 2008, 00:48

Thanks menrui and ilus, all of u r very helpful.
Need to start filling up the forms now. Still got many things dunno how to fill in. Hope that all of u will visit this forum frequently.

I just got a new job recently, so very busy everyday and seldom online. Really hope that I can finish all the thing in a week.

Thanks again.

kouki

Jul 6, 2008, 03:00

To cravy,

In Japanese graduate schools, you are not allowed to skip masters before you do your doctors, even if you got a first class honour.

Most of the students will have to go through entrance examination and interview, before being accepted by the graduate school. In this case, I will suggest you to be a research student first, so that, if you are taking the April entrance, you might have 2 chances of taking up the entrance examination, for September/October, you will only have a chance.

I am not sure how will the MEXT scholarship do, supposing you are choosing to be a graduate student directly. Because almost all of the classes and 'semi's are conducted in Japanese, rather than English, I will suggest you to be a research student first. Plus, while you are in your 6 months Japanese course, you may be free to go for your researches in your graduate school. Once you are admitted into the graduate school, you can continue your research work.

I heard to qualified as Masters, in Engineering particularly, you will have to submit a certain number of papers before that. You might want to consider doing that during the time as a research student. Although being said that a masters will take up two years, you might need some time for your papers to be published. While it is not published, you are not considered as a master student. Same thing goes with the doctorate course.

Good luck to you!

Nall-ohki

Jul 6, 2008, 16:38

Hello...
After not signing in for quite a long time ..., I wish to congratulate all of you who got the embassy recommendation, especially to my friend, Nall-ohki ...

Hey ilus, you really haven't be around for a while, have you? Not that I should talk - I'm kind of a lurker myself.

Anyway, thanks for the congratulations, and I want to reiterate it with a big congratulations to everyone who got the recommendation.

To those who didn't make it this time - if you really want it, work hard and try again next year. I was where you are one year ago. :note:

JapanDream

Jul 7, 2008, 01:39

Hi All,
I just found out about this forum and you guys have been posting some really helpful feedback. Thank you. I have a few questions regarding filling out the forms though. There are quite a number of them (feeling dizzy)--is everyone using a pen to write in or is there someone out there who actually know of a way to type / print in the fields? In my opinion, especially for the study plan section, it will be a lot easier for the review board members to read if it's typed/printed. What do you guys think? Also, when it mentions " photocopies", does it mean we need CERTIFIED copies for our degree certs?Many thanks to y'all in advance.:-)

menrui

Jul 7, 2008, 02:00

^ i would definitely suggest you "type" as much as possible. Easier to read and looks more professional. My embassy supplied the forms as a 'word' file so I could type in it. If you have a PDF, you could use a simple PDF reader(like FoxIt Reader 2.3, use the typewriting tool) to add text to it. For the study plan section, you can type on the form or type it in 'words' and just attach it to the form.

Im assuming that you are just talking about the degree certificate? When I did my application, I had to turn in 1original, and 2copies. Obviously, im not going to give them my diploma. The guideline states:

"Note 5: The graduation certificate and the degree certificate obtained from the last university attended may be substituted for by a photocopy thereof provided that the copy is attested by the authorized person of the university. "

Going back to my university and getting someone to copy it would be a big hassle, so I gave my embassy a call. He said 3 photocopies is fine, and i just assumed i didnt need to certified it. So I turned in 3 photocopies.

In any case, please check with your embassy, or maybe someone else from malaysia has an answer for this.

JapanDream

Jul 7, 2008, 02:23

Hi Menrui,

Yea, that's what I thought I'd do (typing) if the embassy had provided soft copies for download via the web. But in Malaysia, for those shortlisted for the interview round, we're all given hard copies. So that makes it a little tougher to go for the "typing" option DIRECTLY onto those pages since it's stated clearly on the letter that no amendment of the format of the form is allowed. Thanks for sharing your own experience though, really appreciate your fast response =D

menrui

Jul 7, 2008, 02:31

Hmm, im not sure if all the form are the same for all the embassys, but you could easily search and download the forms online. Heres a link to my embassys webpage where I downloaded it.

http://www.houston.us.emb-japan.go.jp/en/culture/page11-2.htm

mauri

Jul 7, 2008, 02:33

hye everyone. hv been following this forum quite a while but this is my first time posting. hehe :p

JapanDream.. check page 21 of this forum. clockworkorange post something bout filling out the form. n yes, it wud be better if the embassy gave us the soft copy of the form instead of a hardcopy.
anyway, good luck! :cool:

clockworkorange

Jul 7, 2008, 14:32

Hey guys,

To JapanDream,

I filled mine up using black ink. Of course, typing would be neater but i think they're reasonable ppl. so long as its neat, i think they'll accept it. After all, its really the content that matters rite?

Having said that, i agree with you about the study program section. what i'm thinking about doing is to write whatever i can on the form itself and type up the rest on extra sheets of paper. What do u guys think? Better yet, what are u guys planning to do with ur own application forms?

Question 2: Did anyone of u go to university to do ur degree directly after ur SPM? I remember during the test, Ms. Goh said that lower secondary would be SPM and upper secondary would be STPM or its equivalent. I did not take STPM or anything, i did my degree straightaway. So i don't know what to fill in for my upper secondary. Anyone who knows what to do?

Question 3: If anyone could help me, i'd like some guidance on how to fill in the form when it comes to our preferred universities. I do know which univerisity would be suitable for my research but i haven contacted the professor yet. I would actually prefer to do it after i pass the interview (i hope i do). Do i write down the name of the university neway? Or is it more advisable to leave the entire section blank?

Thanks for all the help. I need it!!!

menrui

Jul 7, 2008, 14:56

^ my handwriting looks like chicken scratch.

I had a soft copy, so i just typed it on the form and attached any extra pages. Not to be rude, but I'm going to have to give a big NO to writing it and then typing it. Seriously, please don't do that haha. Type it all, or write it all. Typing would probably be the best idea since they will be reading alot.

#2 what is SPM? is that a malaysian thing?

#3 Letting the embassy know that you have put some consideration into which university and professor you want to study under is a plus+, of course. But, from what Ilus said above, they might ask you questions relating to your university or professor of choice. So, I probably wouldn't fill this out if you havent done some research and are not prepared to answer the question

clockworkorange

Jul 7, 2008, 15:24

Haha..no offense taken. I agree with you but I considered typing the extra sheets coz i've already filled up the form and well....my writing sucks.

Yup, SPM is a malaysian thing. Kinda equivalent to O-levels. STPM is equivalent to A-levels. I didn't take any A-levels or STPM. Right after my SPM i got into a university and just did one year of a preparatory course and then after that, did my degree. The preparatory course doesn't have any certificate. It just meant I took longer to finish my degree. Instead of the normal 4 years, i took 5 (1 year preparatory + 4 years degree).

Well, the thing is I do know why i wan to study there. It has the facilities. I'm a bit reluctant to email the professor though before i actually get the embassy recommendation. I can't help thinking that if the professor does reply my email and then i DUN get the embassy recommendation, he would have wasted his time. And if i dun get it this year, I plan to try again next year. Doesn't seem like a good idea to piss a professor off when u know u might contact him the next time.

And if this seems like a lot of negative thinking, well...I've always been the glass is half empty sorta person. :P Can't help it!!

kishimen

Jul 7, 2008, 18:16

Hello USM-ers,
I don;t if this is too late but about the transcripts thingy,
all you have to do is submit your Semgred as Kouki suggested.
That's what I did last year...
I went through all the trouble to get my Cangred and something else, I forgot what, (which was only in BM) translated and certified and I ended up wasting 30 minutes tearing them away before the interview because apparently they weren't needed...
You can still provide them with the latest results after you get your transcript.
Then again, you an always slrify with the embassy...

Anyways, good luck (^_^)

clockworkorange

Jul 7, 2008, 19:00

cravy

Jul 7, 2008, 19:46

Wat should we fill in the 'prefer university' n professor section?
I only able to identify one potential supervisor but haven't contact him yet.
Can we juz put Uni tokyo, kyoto, and osaka......?

Should we use black or blue ink to fill in the form?

How should we type in the application form? anyone got an idea?

menrui

Jul 8, 2008, 00:17

^ It is not necessary to to fill this section. If you have identified a potential supervisor but havent contacted him, assuming my application is the same as yours, you can circle "not yet acquired" under the 'acceptance' column. And then you need an excuse to write in the blank. A lot of universities require you to get the preliminary acceptance from MEXT before even attempting to apply so i thought this section was kind of weird. I wrote some thing like "MEXT preliminary acceptance is required before applying".

Hmmm, i wouldnt just write down the university name. you want to show them that you put some thought into it and writing down the name of a prestigious doesnt really show much. I myself, only researched 3 professor, without contacting them, and wrote them as potential supervisor. Again, they might ask you questions about your univ. and professor, so dont blindly write one down.

Black ink! OMG! Im freaking out!

How should you type? Umm, use a basic font(arial, new times roman, etc, 12pt). You probably have a hardcopy like every one else. If you do, just write neatly as you can. But for the study plan form, I would definitely type it.

kishimen

Jul 8, 2008, 00:32

Hi kishimen,
May i know what sort of questions they usually ask?
And if u already contacted the relevant professors and filled the form with ur chosen universities when u went for interview?
Thanks for the help!!!
Hi Clockworkorange,
Well, for me they asked my about my study plan and research topic because if you've seen my previous posts wayyyy back, I'm doing translation studies which a rare subject to pursue in Japan so they were asking me a lot about the feasibility and impact of the stuff I proposed to do.
I think they really just want to see you speak up because I understand that you can change topics after discussing with your supervisor there.
And again because mine is a rare field of study, I didn't manage to get any professors who were willing to supervise me:(
So I left it to Monbusho to select the uni and a supervisor for me :relief:
P/S: Cravy, I think black pen is best :-)

clockworkorange

Jul 8, 2008, 13:22

Thanks kishimen, for ur help.

I'm nervous about the interview.

I identified only one university so far and one potential supervisor...i couldn't decide whether to include them in the application or not.

Another thing which i'm worried about is the thesis abstract which we're supposed to include. It says in the guidelines that they need 1 original and 4 copies. I only have my final year research project paper. What is an original exactly? Does it mean i print out my abstract and get my supervising lecturer to sign or something?

Thanks to anyone replying!!

mauri

Jul 8, 2008, 16:27

menrui

Jul 8, 2008, 16:42

^ oh crap, I never thought of it that way! I just printed out my abstract and turned it in. Now I am a bit worried. But it doesnt say anywhere on the guidelines to have it certified...

Question #19 ask if you posses or have japanese nationality. I assume it meant if i have any japanese ancestry and such.

MatsuyamaHime

Jul 8, 2008, 18:28

*on pins & needles*

Well, kinda. I wanted an email this morning saying "We got your proposal and we shite our pants. Can you fly in tomorrow?!" to brighten my day, but alas...

(They do send out emails for the interview, right?)

kouki

Jul 8, 2008, 20:12

I will use black ballpen. Japanese are particular about this, according to my lecturer. Furthermore, the writing will be clearer if you are photocopying that.

ayumi.tt

Jul 8, 2008, 21:55

Hi there,
this forum really helps! i'm confused about the application form . would someone please help me with this confusion?
1. for the aplication attachment, the field of study in japan and detailed field of study in japan, the space is so small. i wonder what should we write ? aren't we going to write it on the study program?
2. the space for field of specialization studied in the past is so small. should i just write the course i took. and that's all?

I've sent email to a japanese prof a few days ago... seemed like he is not going to reply me... this is tough... ganbate!

menrui

Jul 8, 2008, 23:14

^#1. I think for the field of study on the application form, you could write like, the major or department that best suits your research. For me, i just wrote down "synthetic organic chemisty", simple as that. For detailed field of study. I summed up my research plan in 2 sentences. I just stated "what" im going to do, leaving out the how and why.

#2. I had a problem with this too. I'll just state what i did for this. I didnt want to just down my major, biochemistry, because maybe the reader wont know what biochemistry is or what type of courses i take within this major. So I briefly wrote down the types of classes that I've taken(biology, chemistry, physics, biochemistry). I also included that my major requires a handful of laboratory classes, which i think is a plus in for this scholarship.

Prof didnt email you back? Trust me, this is VERY common, so keep trying.

ayumi.tt

Jul 8, 2008, 23:20

Menrui,
thanx a lot. this is really helpful.

Met many obstacles applying for this scholarship.
no matter how hard, i won't give up!
hopefully we can meet in Japan! :)

Thanx a lot~

feel so tension now~

menrui

Jul 8, 2008, 23:40

Of course, that would be great. I hope I can meet every one from this forum in japan! Good luck guys!

Vyen

Jul 9, 2008, 01:06

I just got the recommendation form filled by my lecturer. but i forgot about the abstract of theses.:(
I think i will just hand in a print out copy..that's all...

MatsuyamaHime

Jul 9, 2008, 07:59

*on pins & needles*
Well, kinda. I got an email this morning saying "We got your proposal and we shite our pants. Can you fly in tomorrow?!" and it's brightened my day

fxd.

Time to brush up on my Japanese and get my friends to pretend to drill me a la consulate panel style.

The email also stated how "competition for the scholarship this year is extremely intense, and being granted an interview is no guarantee that you will be awarded a scholarship." Why didn't I discover this thing 2 years ago?! :(

Charles Barkley

Jul 9, 2008, 08:47

fxd.
Time to brush up on my Japanese and get my friends to pretend to drill me a la consulate panel style.
The email also stated how "competition for the scholarship this year is extremely intense, and being granted an interview is no guarantee that you will be awarded a scholarship." Why didn't I discover this thing 2 years ago?! :(

What are they going to say: 'You'll probably get the scholarship even if you bomb the interview, but since we don't want to get your hopes up and then have you come yelling at us if on some off chance you don't get it, pretend we never said that' ??

It did look much less competitive 10 years or even 5 years ago, judging by the charts I have seen, but I doubt 2 years made a big difference.

Getting your friends to interview you is great. Its the kind of thing everyone ought to do, but I doubt all that many actually do.

MatsuyamaHime

Jul 9, 2008, 18:17

Two years makes a difference for my situation, smartass. :smoke:

menrui

Jul 10, 2008, 07:08

MatsuyamaHime

Jul 10, 2008, 08:03

A shirt and tie should do it. Good luck! :wave:

Charles Barkley

Jul 10, 2008, 08:35

Anyways... I'm starting to freak out too! According to my embassys' website, the application due date was on June 25, and test & interview date(tentative) is on July 10, tomorrow. I can see it says tentative but still, waiting is just torture! When I turned in my application, the coordinator also told me it can be as late as early Aug.

Any one know how early they give you a call before an interview? Are all candidates interviewed on the same day? Should I buy a suit for this interview?(I'm buying one any ways)

If you have a suit (which really, you should have) I would recommend wearing it. A suit is still basically the standard in Japan, and there are likely to be Japanese men on the panel. Not likely to make a difference, but worth it just in case...

fulhamerica

Jul 10, 2008, 08:48

For sure a suit. Remember, it doesn't have to be GQ-cover-worthy, but rather that you make an effort to be professional about the interview.

Nall-ohki

Jul 10, 2008, 11:04

For sure a suit. Remember, it doesn't have to be GQ-cover-worthy, but rather that you make an effort to be professional about the interview.

Double important.

In my case it was two American guys and four Japanese women, but I think the suit was a must.

cravy

Jul 10, 2008, 23:22

If i select kyoto U and professor xxx in my application form and stated that i haven contact them yet. In the future, when i passed the interview, can i still change to professor yyy, although intially i stated prof xxx? Anyone know wat i mean?

menrui

Jul 10, 2008, 23:44

^I'm not 100% sure about this but i think this part of the application is just there to see if you have put some thoughts into which Univ and professor you would like to study under. Also, it can be used for more questioning during the interview.

I think, after you pass the interview, what you do to gain acceptance is entirely up to you. So it would be ok you didnt even contact the professors you listed.

kouki

Jul 10, 2008, 23:55

Sorry, some errors in internet connection

kouki

Jul 11, 2008, 00:02

You can always do that, since this is not the finalized submission you will have to do. After the interview, you will be informed that you are nominated as Monbukagakushou Scholarship candidate and will be asked to send in application to universities of your choice. You will then have to wait for the reply from your professor, which will take you some time. Then you will have to submit your letter of acceptance from your universities of choice to the embassy. After that, you will have to wait for the processing of Monbukagakushou in Japan, and it usually take you more time in waiting, until February or March.

Can anyone confirm what I am saying here is correct? But cravy, to be exactly sure on what I said, do you mind calling Ms Yin again?

uranussama

Jul 11, 2008, 08:28

Arrrrgh I'm STILL waiting for the final answer! He told me I should know by mid-June but here it is nearing mid-July and still nothing! :? It sucks because I'm not going to have much time to get ready as it is. :auch:
Im getting really nervous, though. I mean, it seems like if I had made it they wouldve told me right away... right? I dont want to keep bothering the people at the consulate but I feel like calling everyday. :worried: Anyone else have this experience?

menrui

Jul 11, 2008, 08:41

^ you mean, you've already done the exam and interview?! Wow, that seems early for some one in the US. I know how you feel... but I only turned in my application. That was 2 weeks ago and I'm dying to get a call for the exam and interview. ahhh~~~

uranussama

Jul 11, 2008, 08:56

Yeah I had my interview back in March. But I'm trying for the Japanese Studies scholarship, not the postgrad. That's probably why the timetable's different. But if I get it, I think I'll be leaving at the end of September so theyre really cutting it close here!

Charles Barkley

Jul 11, 2008, 09:57

I just found out that Tokyo accepted me for the 2008 round of JET scholarships. Sweet. I still don't know the school I will be studying at yet, but come October I will be somewhere in Japan getting paid to learn what I want to learn.

For me the scholarship was a bit of a gamble, as I had to get down to Tokyo from my inaka hamlet, then buy a ticket from tokyo to atlanta on short notice, spend a couple of nights in Atlanta, then another flight from atlanta to DC before returning to Japan, and I also basically had to renounce all of my backup plans, as getting the visa for language schools (the applications for which cost me almost 500 dollars) would have rendered me ineligible for the scholarship. A decent sized gamble, but it looks like it paid off.

I hope the sacrifices that everyone else is makign pay off as well.

MatsuyamaHime

Jul 11, 2008, 18:55

Congrats! :bravo:...........

mamoo

Jul 11, 2008, 19:03

Hi, I've just been notified to attend the exams and I realised that there are 3 types of Japanese language Exam paper at the Study in Japan website. So I would like to enquire on the actual day of the exams, will we take 3 different sets of Japanese language papers or just 1 set?

menrui

Jul 11, 2008, 19:39

dumex

Jul 12, 2008, 03:20

I'm kinda worried today after collecting my recommendation form back from my project supervisor. I think she somehow feels that simplicity and precision work best. What she answered are: excellent, good, good, pleasant, recommended and with the date written 7.8.08. Hahaha... :(

mamoo

Jul 12, 2008, 03:55

^From what I hear, this year, they decided to combined all 3 sets into one. So, instead of taking three 1hour test, each one more difficult than the other, you will be taking one 1hour test, which increases in difficulty as you go. Did they give you a schedule for the exam/interview day? If the exam slot is 1 hour long, there is a good chance you will be taking the new(only 1 set) format.

yeah, in the schedule i have a 1hr english language paper and a 1hr japanese language paper. I'm also wondering would the standard of the actual paper be tougher than the papers posted on that website.

menrui

Jul 12, 2008, 04:39

mamoo

Jul 12, 2008, 05:03

menrui, thanks for the information. I guess I'll have to study harder for the japanese and hope that i score well for it. maybe dumex's referee showed him/her the recommendation form before sealing it. sometimes the referee does that so that we know what they wrote.

MatsuyamaHime

Jul 12, 2008, 08:40

I saw one of mine for MEXT. She wrote something pleasantly surprising and wanted to make sure it sounded right. English is her SL.

Once had a professor write a rec for me, but I didn't use it and I opened it. Was curious what a recommendation really looked like. Luckily, all good news.

*might have written her own recommendation and had someone sign it* Not for this, but for something else. I wrote it as an example, but they were like "hey, that's great. I'll just sign that one..."

cravy

Jul 12, 2008, 09:57

menrui

Jul 12, 2008, 10:13

I bet my prof. wrote that I am an underachiever...

Charles Barkley

Jul 12, 2008, 12:15

dumex,
yeah that sucks... Anyways, you were actually able to look at your recommendation? That's kind of odd, you're never suppose to be able to see your own recommendations, ever. My recommendation form required the recommender to have it in a sealed envelope and sign the seal too before giving it to me. Is it not the same in Malaysia?

Although I think many people assume that you are never allowed to look at your own recommendation, that is not really true. There are some instances when it is forbidden, such as when an application specifically states that you cannot look at the recommendation (and indeed in those cases you often have to check a box on the application that waives your right to do so), however otherwise it is up to the recommender.

Particularly if you are requesting a recommendation from a non-native speaker, writing your own recommendation, or doing your own translation of one of theirs, can be essential. Similarly some professors or bosses will often specifically tell you to write your own.

Regardless, one thing you should almost always do is to talk with the person who will write your recommendation about that kinds of things you would like them to write. Remind them of your successes, give them a copy of your resume, tell them what kind of attributes you want accentuated for this job, etc. If you want, go through the recommendation form point by point, explaining what they could write about you. Setting up a 20 minute meeting with your recommender beforehand will help the recommender know what to write and ensure you get a good recommendation.

JETs returning to their own countries got to attend a great professional development conference, and this was one of the many useful tips we got. I have used it since and been happy with the results.

clockworkorange

Jul 12, 2008, 13:06

hye everyone~
clockworkorange, ive asked miss Yin about the original copyof the abstract thesis and she said what we should do is print out the abstract n ask the supervising lecturer to sign it.
she also said to be careful when writing the university that u want to study because as menrui said, they might ask some questions about the universities and professors.
now my concern is that i will only start working 2 days befor the interview so should i write my current status as employed or unemployed? if i write it as employed they might ask questions about my job but by then, i'll be working for just 2 days n im afraid that i will have problems answering. well, my brother suggest me to put a date before i start working as the 'date of application". anyone can help me with this?
another thing, wat is the question for number 19 in the application form?
its written in nihonggo so i cant understad it. hehe..
thanks for the help people~

Thanks mauri for ur reply. I haven been able to come online for the past few days ...went back to uni to get everything.

I dunno if this reply is too late or if it is really all that helpful but I think ur brother's suggestion is pretty good. But i think that even if u put employed its ok because u also have to put ur employment starting date and from there they can see that u haven been working for long at all. and if they expect u to know details about ur job beyond a general job description or what the company does, i think that would be very unreasonable. so i think its ok to write down that u've been employed.

I also have other questions and i'd appreciate anyone who could answer.

1) Do we have to write everything in BLOCK LETTERS? Even for the study program details?
2) On the application form, no 8 says to state the titles of books and papers. Is this books and papers authored by the applicant? If u haven written any books or papers, do u just leave the thing blank?Or do u write "have not authored books or papers" or something like that?
3) If some of the questions dun apply to u, do u leave it blank or do u filled them up with a dash?

Thanks!!!

dumex

Jul 12, 2008, 14:57

menrui,
Yeah, we had been asked to ignore the "seal it" statement during our written examination, and being reminded in the notification letter as well. So basically we were asked to go against the rule.. Haha. By the way, my lecturer just left the form outside her room for me to pick up. All the newbies who went to see her yesterday had actually taken a close look on that right before my arrival. What I could say is that she must have practiced the transparency concept very well. He he.

mamoo,
The newly implemented 1-hr japanese laguage test is actually a combination of all 3 Jap A, B, C papers. Therefore you could possibly anticipate something easy in the begining and slowly move on to passages as in those of Jap C. Good luck!

cravy

Jul 12, 2008, 17:02

Thanks mauri for ur reply. I haven been able to come online for the past few days ...went back to uni to get everything.
I dunno if this reply is too late or if it is really all that helpful but I think ur brother's suggestion is pretty good. But i think that even if u put employed its ok because u also have to put ur employment starting date and from there they can see that u haven been working for long at all. and if they expect u to know details about ur job beyond a general job description or what the company does, i think that would be very unreasonable. so i think its ok to write down that u've been employed.
I also have other questions and i'd appreciate anyone who could answer.
1) Do we have to write everything in BLOCK LETTERS? Even for the study program details?
2) On the application form, no 8 says to state the titles of books and papers. Is this books and papers authored by the applicant? If u haven written any books or papers, do u just leave the thing blank?Or do u write "have not authored books or papers" or something like that?
3) If some of the questions dun apply to u, do u leave it blank or do u filled them up with a dash?
Thanks!!!

2. I tot in the form the mentioned "if any"? mebbe can put -NIL-
1. YES, I THINK EVERYTHING SHOULD BE IN BLOCK LETTER.
(Unfortunately, my supervisor fill in the form using mix letter- sometimes BLoCK sometimes normal... sigh)
3. I thing Dash will do as they know wat it means....:blush:

I think most of us very scare that we will fail to get the scholarship because of filling in the wrong thing in the form.... :okashii: very stressed

cravy

Jul 12, 2008, 18:18

If at the end of the interview they ask us "any question u wan to ask", then wat should we ask?

-I know is a silly question- ;P

menrui

Jul 12, 2008, 22:26

^"Where's the restroom because I really need to pee... and maybe throw up too." Thats probably what I want ask.

But really, after reading that if we cant find acceptance, MEXT will attempt to provide a university and supervisor for us, I was a bit concerned. It seems like MEXT would just send us to the first university that is willing to accept us. What if the professor doesnt suit us? or the university? etc

cravy

Jul 12, 2008, 23:47

^U can only either accept or decline the offer..... lol
How you know the prof they choose won't suit u? Mebbe thats where the research student is needed for. To try working with the prof before you start your master. I guess.

Finally manage to find four prof from three of the top uni in japan and did some research on them. at least got something to fill in to the form.

Btw, is Kyoto a nice place to live in compare to Tokyo? or Osaka? Coz I found that Kyoto University's research projects interest me more.

clockworkorange

Jul 13, 2008, 00:26

If at the end of the interview they ask us "any question u wan to ask", then wat should we ask?

-I know is a silly question- ;P

Ask them if kyoto is a really nice place to live in....grin.

I think it is though..i wanted to go to kyoto as well because i think it has such great history...but the uni isn't doing any research that is related to my research topic.

Btw, i wanted to ask.. as a research student, we'll be working on our research topics or will we be helping professors out? Or doing both? Or maybe we find a professor who could provide guidance for our research and learn what we can from him/her but we dun actually do the research until we get ourselves in a masters course?

Anyone out there who can help?

Thanks!!

cravy

Jul 13, 2008, 00:44

^ I like Tokyo drift :P more than history....lol

c0ok1e

Jul 13, 2008, 00:58

NExt week will be my interview and im a little nervous. Can someone tell me what I should prepare and what to bring for the interview?
thanks

mauri

Jul 13, 2008, 01:48

clockworkorange..
thanks for the suggestion.

cravy...
mine also wrote the recommendation in mix letters (though ive asked her to write in block letters) *sigh* and i am sooo scared if i didnt get the scholarship just because i didnt fill the forms correctly. :(

interview is next week. im stressed.

MatsuyamaHime

Jul 13, 2008, 08:57

Don't sweat it. First, they accepted my application and the only block letters were on the actual application form. Everything else (proposal, recs, abstracts...) was written normally.

Second, block letters are for clarity or legibility. As long as the other application parts are written clearly and legibly, no problem. They just want to be able to read it easily.

Mmm..."Tokyo Drift".... The lead female looked like botox La Toya Jackson, but the rides made up for it having to look at that mug.

kishimen

Jul 13, 2008, 17:55

It seems like MEXT would just send us to the first university that is willing to accept us. What if the professor doesnt suit us? or the university? etc

Well, it really is a gamble in that sense but they don't just accept people like that.
From what I've heard, whether it's true or not I don't know, the professor whom MEXT assigns to you would have read through your proposal thoroughly and even discussed it with the faculty to see if you can actually be fitted in.
Also they take into account your prefered university of you did write it down in you application.
That explains the loooooong wait between your interview and the final results (perhaps as late as Feb/March next year)

:-)

mamoo

Jul 13, 2008, 22:59

If I didn't state any universities in the application form, am I still allowed to apply to my preferred universities or would they post me to any universities under the MEXT list?

luvearest

Jul 14, 2008, 09:40

Big Hi,
Clockworkorange-
I asked one of lecturer who studied in Japan, she said as a research student basically you haven't get to do your research work yet, just merely helping out.

I have a few question:

Do you guys paste your photoes?
As in glue it or just paper clip it?

second,
the photo must be precisely 3.5 X 4.5 cm?

And, I use mix upper and lower cas ein the form:
Look what I found:
block letters can be written in both upper and lower case

I will confirm with Ms Yin and see....(I am so worried)

menrui

Jul 14, 2008, 09:53

mamoo,
yes you can still try for your prefered university. I think, in the case you are not able to be accepted, they will choose one for you.

luvearest,
my form underlined paste so i did just that.
my form says 3.5x4.5cm passport sized photo... but in america, passport size is 2x2in. In any case, I really dont think ithe size matters too much.
why would you want to "mix" upper and lower case letters?

luvearest

Jul 14, 2008, 09:55

Vyen

Jul 14, 2008, 11:05

hey, I called Ms Yin, She said: Block letters can have mixture of Upper case and Lower case

And PASTE your photoes,

and she said if " I were you, I will cut the photoes according to the size ie 3.5 X 4.5 cm"

So it is up to you

GOOD LUCK interview to all

Thanks Menrui for your prompt reply :)

Luvearest,

I am filling the form now and thinking the same question about the photo.haha..thanks for asking Ms. Yin for that.

I thought our interview will be held in 2 or 3 days. Mine is on tuesday morning. Is anyone scheduled to have it on today or wednesday?

cravy

Jul 14, 2008, 18:41

Ya, anyone attended the interview today?
Any tips or experience to share here?

Mine is Tue afternoon.

menrui

Jul 14, 2008, 23:13

^ some one on another forum was nice enough to post some of the questions he/she was asked. The questions seem typical to me. He/she also applied for another scholarship, hence question #7. I'll also give a link to the rest of his post. Have a look:
"
1. Tell me something about yourself.
2. Why do you want to study in Japan?
3. You choose University of Tokyo as your first choice, why?
4. What is your plan after you finish your studies?
5. What is your ambition?
6. What you do know about Japanese lifestyle/culture?
7. I know that you also applied Panasonic scholarship. Which scholarship will you take up if you are granted both of them? Why?
"
http://recom.org/forum/showthread.php?t=5285

cravy

Jul 15, 2008, 00:55

Thx Thx.
Actually i oso duno how should i answer. sigh. Will try my best.

c0ok1e

Jul 15, 2008, 23:18

I had my interview this afterboon and it was so tough. I got nervous and stopped halfway when i answered the question. I am in the science field and I felt like they dont understand a single sentence when i explained my proposal. anyone faced the same situation? sucks. maybe i should not put in scientific terms and just explained it generally. some tips for those havent attend the interview.

menrui

Jul 16, 2008, 05:48

Vyen

Jul 16, 2008, 09:36

my interview is even worst than i thought..i screwed it...
i dun think i will pass the selection..haiz..:(

luvearest

Jul 16, 2008, 09:59

hi, maybe Vyen and cookie can share how was the interview like?

Appreciate that

Vyen

Jul 16, 2008, 10:38

they just ask the same thing.
1.introduce yourself.
2.why japan?
3.explain your proposal.
4.what is your plan after the study?

it took around 20 mins. that's all.

clockworkorange

Jul 16, 2008, 10:55

OMG! guys! All my patiently waiting and not calling has finally paid off! well, i called once but he didnt pick up so that doesnt count. I got email inviting me to a interview! yes email, so all that time i hugged my phone, kept it charge, and checked it was useless. Im so excited! I better get back to studying!

cookie,
Im in the science field too and I also put some thoughts into the same thing. Should I speak using scientific terminology and language to impress them? Or should I keep it simple so they would understand my proposal better? I wasnt really sure myself. Did they ever ask you to explain it more simply to them?

menrui, i'd keep it simple.

I had my interview yesterday morning and all the time i was explaining my research, they had really really BLANK looks on their faces. And when i asked them if my methodology was clear, one of them asked if the software i needed to use in my research was available and I said yes. Then the guy from the japanese embassy said.."well if the software is available...i dun think ur research is very original.."

At which point i gave up. Frankly, they just looked really bored. My fault, I guess, for not putting it in words that would capture their attention.

Another thing I would recommend is getting to know all the available associations, clubs, events that promote japan in ur country. I dunno if everyone got shot with this one but i most certainly did.

I was asked if i knew that and that society. some i did know, some i didn't. and one of the panel remarked that for someone who claims to be interested in japan, i sure didn't know a lot of things.

Anyway, good luck to u all!!!!

menrui

Jul 16, 2008, 11:36

^wow clockwork... you had it really hard... I honestly dislike that association/society question. I really dont think that is a fair way to judge your interest in japan. At my university, there was a association called the "japanese association." I went to go see what they were like... and i found out even though they do some events related to japan, they actually partied most of the time.

Thanks for the tip! I will keep it in mind. I have 3 weeks to prepare.

menrui

Jul 16, 2008, 12:11

c0ok1e

Jul 16, 2008, 13:29

yup, i was aked the same questions minus the question about japan and their culture or anything. Most of the time they are asking me about my research proposal and i think it is because i dont understand a single word im saying.. I would think the best way is explain your research in the scientific term and then asking if they understood what the hell you are talking about. Then if they request for a more simple explaination then give them a general statement where even a 5 year old kid could understand.

Another thing i noticed is except for the main interviewer and another professor, the other interviewer looked bored. There was one japanese guy everytime i talk, he would closed his eyes looking as if he was sleeping. but i think he was just trying to concentrate wat i was saying because his level of english is not that good.

Hope to meet u guys in Japan. Stay in touch.

Vyen

Jul 16, 2008, 13:49

the guy from Jagam even asked me that do i know him or not..he said he once tought japanese language in my secondary school in 1996..lol..I can't recall anything...

clockworkorange

Jul 16, 2008, 14:31

oh yes, and I thought that comment about your research not being original was a bit of an overstatement... From what I learned, research can be done as an extension of a previous research, filling in gaps, or combining the idea of multiple researches together. It doesnt have to be completely original. My research proposal too isnt completely original. I am just extending some previous researches.

Exactly.

But to be fair to the guy who said that, he was very nice about it. I mean he put it in a polite way. And since my research wasn't all that original to begin with..(i actually proposed to extend a previous work i did) i kinda accepted what he said. I thanked him for his input and told him i'd consider it.

frankly, i didn't really take to one member of the panel - the guy from jagam (japanese graduate association) - he asked me rite out if i really wanted to study in japan or if i applied becoz it so happen i had the form and "me and my frens just decided to have a go at it for fun".
I thot that was kinda insulting. considering all the work we put in our application and all the worry about whether we've filled it up correctly, all the anxiety.....how was THAT FUN?

That guy seriously turned me off.

Neway, nothing to be done now. lets just wait for the results.

Vyen

Jul 16, 2008, 14:47

clockworkorange,

i think every interviewee will be asked that kind of question. they just afraid they choose the wrong candidate..
honestly, we all wanna get our master by doing the research seriously. at the time, why can't we have a liitle bit of fun while experience the culture in Japan?
all the best to the malaysian candidates..

kimberleylhj

Jul 16, 2008, 16:28

I had my interview yesterday too. I already lost hope on going to Japan the moment I step out of the interview room. Never thought I could be so speechless in my life.

Anyway, who is who in the interview room? Anybody knows who is the guy from the left side? The lady? The main interviewer? And the guy on the right? I had NO IDEA!!

Vyen

Jul 16, 2008, 16:38

haha...the middle guy is a japanese from embassy.on his left hand side is the japanese professor from UM. on his right hand side is a malay women from JPA and the guy is president of Jagam. both of them graduated from japan university. thats all i know...:souka:

c0ok1e

Jul 16, 2008, 16:51

cravy

Jul 16, 2008, 17:57

Basically the malay lady, jz dreaming around. The jp prof said to me if u ans 'this this this', i will give clap my hands.....meaning tat i din giv a good ans to y i choose jp instead of uk/us. Well, the center guy jz busy doing his thing, looks like not focusing on wat i talk at all.... the chinese lady ask quite a lot of question about my research... i jz bla bla bla.. she ask me whether is it possible to do my research.........i ans, anything in science is possible.

Anyway, who know when and how can we get the result?

BTW, anyone here is the guy from KL but working in Penang, who i met yesterday? ^_^

Vyen

Jul 16, 2008, 18:18

cravy,
i think you did better than me in the interview..at least you got a lot of questions..mine only 5 to 6 questions..looks like they are not interested in my proposal anyway..haha

miss Yin said it is gonna be around first week of august.i think they will inform the chosen one through phone..

mamoo

Jul 16, 2008, 19:09

wow, the interview sure looks tough. but good luck everyone!

btw, did all of you clear the written test before the interview?

luvearest

Jul 16, 2008, 19:36

i am worried :(
guess have to stand strong on my research!!!!!!!

WE CAN MAKE IT!!!!

thanks for all the sharing

MatsuyamaHime

Jul 16, 2008, 21:08

Wow. That did sound rough. >< Honestly, wish y'all the best.

menrui

Jul 16, 2008, 22:01

Maybe they were watching too much western tv shows where the judges flame and insult the competitors. I hope my embassy is much nicer about it. but in any case, i better prepare for the worst. Also, i should think of a way to present my proposal more interestingly...

c0ok1e

Jul 16, 2008, 22:54

Anyone here from tuesday's 1pm session?

kimberleylhj

Jul 17, 2008, 01:04

I weren't asked many questions too. Basically just the ones mentioned by Vyen. All I remembered was them saying that my research is not suitable to be carried out in Japan. So I can just forget about it.

menrui

Jul 17, 2008, 01:28

^ wow that really sucks. I really hate to say this, and im sure its going to make you cringe... but maybe you can try again next year.

Im actually afraid that they will question the relevance of conducting my research in japan. I've always believed that science is the same everywhere. Anyways, I better be prepared to give a better answer than that.

BTW cravy, I liked what you said, "in science, anything is possible". hehe it makes me giggle.

dumex

Jul 17, 2008, 02:19

Argh... The japanese guy in the middle had actually asked me to introduce myself in japanese. :(It's so unexpected, halfway in the middle and I was totally blank. Oh..
And this is what I observed: the round, cute japanese guy in front of me kept changing his answers on a multiple-choice paper; the white beard, japanese uncle looked uncomfortable. But all the interviewers did share one thing in common: busy,busy,busy. Non stop flipping of papers. :relief:

Chandani

Jul 17, 2008, 05:43

I have gotten to the point of sending my pledge... so I am awaiting something from the post. so far... nothing
This entire scholarship is .... waiting... and the nerves... but I am ok, I think
Just that I am waiting again
Does anyone know if there is a likelihood of anything negative at this point in time???
If anyone has any question... I will try my best to help.
However, I had no exams or test... just the interview by phone
But I was nervous anyways.. I even thought that I failed the interview since the signal was bad and there was times that I couldn't make out what the interviewer was asking.. but I think he understood..
don't forget to have a good proposal and be convincing about what you are saying..

cravy

Jul 17, 2008, 08:49

Actually they also ask what i m going to do after finish postgrad & wat i will do to foster the relationship between jp n m'sia. I said I will work as postdoc in the same field, gain more experience, then come back to Malaysia. I will try to form collaboration with jp expert / invite them to do research in malaysia. etc etc.

Seems like they r trying to ask harder question so that they can eliminate >half of the candidates.

Charles Barkley

Jul 17, 2008, 09:12

Menrui(?): Don't worry too much about overusing scientific terms or making your proposal sound interesting. The goal when explaining it, and I thought this would be obvious but apparently not, is just to be clear and concise. Show them that you know how to express yourself, refresh their minds about what is written on the paper on the table in front of them (what you will study, why you want to study it, and why you need to study it in Japan), and then allow them to move on.

The interviewers likely will not be experts in your field. They just want to see that you are confident and knowledgeable about your field of study and that it is something you genuinely believe is worth studying. Try to anticipate and be ready for questions about your research--I was asked one question testing my background knowledge of what I planned to study and I admit I stumbled a bit...but I only had one week to write the proposal and had very little background in the subject. If you are knowledgeable, this should be the easiest question the panel will give you.

Also, wow the malaysian embassy sounded particularly brutal. But you know, those are just questions/comments designed to see how you can respond to adversity and retain your composure. Maintain your cool, respectfully disagree with them, and say you are confident that your research will benefit you and Japan, and you come out ahead on those questions.

Vyen

Jul 17, 2008, 09:46

it looks like not just me that faced the same situation. they think that my research can be done in Malaysia and there is no need to go abroad. I think they got some point there..basically i alr give up and decide to change my proposal for next year application..:(

menrui

Jul 17, 2008, 10:02

Chandani,
join the club. i think most of us are waiting for results or waiting for our interview.

cravy,
wow, that is a hard question. I have no idea how to foster the relationship between JP and US. Maybe i could that i will continue to help people that are applying for the monbusho scholarship haha.

Charles,
Thanks for the advice. I spent about 4 weeks on my proposal. I "think" i know it pretty well but I'm going to keep studying it just in case.

Vyen,
yeah, I dont really have a good reason as for why my research needs to be done in japan.

kimberleylhj

Jul 17, 2008, 10:30

Vyen, Haha.. I thought I was the only one who was told that too.

Hmm.. next year? Sigh, going through ALL this again.. and certainly have to think of another research plan.

kimberleylhj

Jul 17, 2008, 11:07

Oh menrui, I think it's a standard question.. regarding how to foster the relationship between JP and your home country. I was asked that too, and so was my friend. And the interviewer was reading it from a paper. So another question to ponder on.

Vyen

Jul 17, 2008, 12:58

kimberleylhj,
maybe we can try to apply next year and keep on trying if fail...i think that will definitely show that we are VERY interested in studying in japan after several tries..haha..i still can try 8 times..:relief:

clockworkorange

Jul 17, 2008, 13:08

which 1 is naoto fukabori?? and the jpa malay girl looks like she wants to go home.. the japanese professor u said, if its the same person with the white hair and closing his eyes like he wants to sleep everytime i talk. then the other interviewer i had was a girl not a guy. not sure who she is.
Anyway, clockwork oreange, why were u asked such a question like if u really wanted to go or just apply for fun?? I was not asked this question and i think others were not asked as well... did u write something wrong or gave a reply like u were into it for the fun and not the research>??

i suppose i must have given the impression that i wasn't serious.

what happened was the guy from the embassy asked me if i knew anything about japanese culture. to which i replied that most of what i know is secondhand - from dramas, books, manga etc. then i added that although i didn't know much i would love to learn more because i'm interested in their culture. to which the japanese professor from um said .."well u dun need to go all the way to japan to experience the culture. there are associations here who organise events". to which i replied yes, true but i'm not going there solely for the culture else i'd have taken a holiday there. I'm also going because japan is scientifically and technologically advanced and has the facilities that would enable me to do my research.

at this point the man from jagam mentioned this japanese science and technology society which organises events in malaysia and asked if i'd heard of it. and i said no. then he mentioned a few other events and i said i'd never heard of them. and then he made the remark of whether i was in it for fun.

which kinda annoyed me. grin.

look, i understand that the panel is supposed to ask u difficult questions. thats how they select the candidates. but that remark, it seemed to me, belittled my effort. i did my best as i'm sure everyone else did as well. its an unfair statement to make. but then again i might be super,super sensitive. i dunno. i'm still annoyed with the man.

neway its over and done with. everyone seems to have had a tough time but i stil think everyone shud think positive. after all if we all messed up then we have an equal chance of being selected. plus i heard they're choosing 30 out of 70 rite? that means almost 1 candidate out of 2 gets selected.

cheer up, ppl and good luck to those going for the interview.

Vyen

Jul 17, 2008, 15:38

hopefully we are the lucky person among 70 ppl...god bless us..:cool:

c0ok1e

Jul 17, 2008, 16:33

Did all of u get a set of papers about the list of universities?

Vyen

Jul 17, 2008, 16:56

nope.where did you get it? :souka:

clockworkorange

Jul 17, 2008, 18:20

i got the list as well. i assume every candidate got it.

but maybe they just give to those who haven contacted any professors yet. coz i haven done that.

Vyen

Jul 17, 2008, 18:33

oh..is it? you all took it from the embassy guy or miss yin? maybe they only give it to those who qualified to get it..haha

clockworkorange

Jul 17, 2008, 18:57

No la...i dun think so.

The guy gave it to me after he ask me if i had contacted anyone and BEFORE my interview actually started.

luvearest

Jul 17, 2008, 19:08

to menrui, vyen,cravy,clockworkorange,cookie and kim and charles:

Hi all, i am the last person in this forum (i suppose, to go for interview), I did it 12 smthing today...

I got the paper of university list.

I want to share my experience here.I have listened to advises of you guys, I prepared for the worst and yet...here goes my story

The middle guy who signed our congratulation letter, is nasty...
He was saying that my proposal is short( before this, 5 of the candidates were asked to rewrite the proposal, he conveniently thought I am one of them, sigh..anyway then he apologized...)

The jap guy with white hair he is kind, we had eye contact..Eye contact yes! is so important if u talk to people, the middle guy did not look at me, i was trying my best to talk to him n look into his eyes thru his glasses, i did,once a while, phiew.....)

then i was saying about my research....the jap guy with white hair (mr white) was giving full attention, only two of us talk, we discuss over it, he seems interested in my research, smile...he said i done a good proposal

However at the middle of interview, the middle man gave a remark that make me speechless....

Yes, he was saying me contradicting myself, out of nowhere....( i think i know why, but let just be reserved here)....

However that make me feel very.....demotivated...

I carry on clarifying myself, make my point, I was saying like this:

"Yes sir, i did say that yadayadayada, BUT in this case in this research I want to yadayadayada..."...

the other nodded, showed agreement but he didnt....(why?)

after that, he continued to ask a few questions:

why japan, why not canada, uk etc...i went like blah blah blah, fair enough
why abroad?
ambition?future plan?

Mr white and all looked at me at times, busy making notes

how to be an ambassador of japan....blah blah blah, all busy making remark ( or giving marks i have no idea...)

thats all....

Oh ya, the lady at left most came out with a question...I was like duh...didnt u listen to me?...Anyway..........the other two were basically did the listening part and didnt ask any questions

I am still worried about the" contradicting part"..I mean how come? I m DEMOTIVATED.

Anyway mr white asked me to contact the first supervisor I chose for, he said go ahead. BUT what I concern is that: HOW IF I DO NOT GET the recommendation, how sure I know that? I put there Not Required becase I wanted to wait for the final say....

So contact the supervisor or not?
Cause I an not sure I get the recommendation

kimberleylhj

Jul 18, 2008, 00:37

Now that all of us are done with the interview, it's just waiting. But somehow I already know that I won't get it.. so I don't really feel anxious waiting.

I didn't get the list of universities. I would think they gave it to the successful candidates.. or else why would they bother.

Looks like I gotta continue being a good employee and impress my boss now to pay rise coz I'm not going to Japan. Haha..

c0ok1e

Jul 18, 2008, 00:39

Mr white actually looked and talked to you?? For me, mr white keep closing his eyes, like he's sleeeping.. feel like slapping him to wake him up.. and yeah, i also think the list of universities is given to those who havent contacted any universities because before he gave me, he asked me if i have contacted any and i said no. then he gave me and asked me to go look around..

so dont have to be so negative, kimberlylhj.. all of us feel like we did badly in the interview.. maybe u have already searched for your universities then they feel like u r independent enough and dont need that stupid set of papers

Chandani

Jul 18, 2008, 01:52

Does anyone know about the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University??? I need to talk to someone who plan on attending/visited or currently attending..........thanks

fulhamerica

Jul 18, 2008, 02:33

My story kinda goes like this, I applied for the 2008 Jet Alumni specific portion of the monbukagakusho through my consulate in the States which sends you to japan this year October 2008. I was chosen by the consulate and told that the final word would be announced end june/beginning of july. I proceeded with my Uni contacts and obtained a letter from my desired uni (naidakusho), actually was pleased that they wrote such nice things about me, plus the head of the dept. for my field of study wrote the letter. All this took place in a timely manner, and was turned in to my consulate in mid-June.
The end of June/early July timing has since passed, today is the 17th and I still have no word from my consulate. I have contacted them a number of times, but they continue to say that there is no word from Tokyo. But my school has already contacted me about housing and that they are preparing for my arrival. On top of this, for those of you following along, our friend Sir Charles Barkley applied to this same 2008 Jet Alumni specific portion of the monbukagakusho scholarship, and Sir Charles Barkley received official word from the consulate last week. Congrats again Sir charles

I don't really see a gray area here because I have already been in solid contact with them once or twice a week up until this point.
So, having said all this, I am asking for advice as to what is the best option. 1) nag my consulate until they call Japan or find something out, or 2) wait until they contact me?
What do you think everyone? (private messages also welcome!!)

Thanks

Nall-ohki

Jul 18, 2008, 03:34

I don't really see a gray area here because I have already been in solid contact with them once or twice a week up until this point.
So, having said all this, I am asking for advice as to what is the best option. 1) nag my consulate until they call Japan or find something out, or 2) wait until they contact me?
What do you think everyone? (private messages also welcome!!)

Thanks

The bureaucracy will drive you mad. It is not startling that you haven't heard anything while others have.

Make sure the consulate knows you're trying to get information, and then sit back and relax a while. You're not critical yet, and you will be gotten to... in time.

And try to relax, though I know it's hard. :)

kouki

Jul 18, 2008, 10:27

I went for the interview yesterday...

The lists were on the table, and it is free to be taken. Miss Yin even asked us to take even if we haven't done so. Maybe you can collect it later...

However, some famous universities are not in the list... Possibly they missed some of them there...

Don't worry. *pat pat*

Vyen

Jul 18, 2008, 10:54

I went for the interview yesterday...
The lists were on the table, and it is free to be taken. Miss Yin even asked us to take even if we haven't done so. Maybe you can collect it later...
However, some famous universities are not in the list... Possibly they missed some of them there...
Don't worry. *pat pat*

i see...:relief:
hopefully next week we will know the result and all the best to you all...

kimberleylhj

Jul 18, 2008, 11:21

eh, how come they didn't give it to me? :(
hmm.... anybody nice enough to scan a copy? :blush:

c0ok1e

Jul 18, 2008, 11:33

i think someone shud scan a copy for kimberly... hope 2 c u guys and exchange some information to get each other when we go for the gathering before leaving to japan

Vyen

Jul 18, 2008, 12:00

haha..i think i won be one of the successful candidates, but i would like to have a copy of the uni list for future reference. if someone scan it, please kindly send a copy to me..thanks..:-)

c0ok1e

Jul 18, 2008, 13:03

dont be so negative.. we all dont feel like e did well... someone please scan and send a copy to vyen.. dont be selfish..we're here to help each other

luvearest

Jul 18, 2008, 14:07

Vyen
i have a scanner at home will scan it n send to u...i think i have ur email

cookie,
the thing is the very first intention to sign in to this forum is to help each other up, evverybody in this forum is not selfish.....thats for sure....

we sell other things, not fish...(lame joke):)

cheer up buddies

kim,
sorry i didnt see the prevous page...i missed your enquiry, i email to u as well, send me your email address?

cravy

Jul 18, 2008, 14:35

mail me mail me too..... thx

cktey

Jul 18, 2008, 16:50

Hi guys,

After being a silent guest here, I decided to post and interacting with you guys. I really appreciate the sharings that you guys had posted earlier on and it's really a great help for everyone here to cope with the interview.

FYI, I'm the last candidated to be interviewed for this year (meaning the last 1 on thursday). I reached there at 2.15pm, half an hour earlier than stated, and the time i went in for interview, it's already 5.00pm, nearly 3 hours of preparing there o.o Expected some questions to be asked during the interview, thanks to you guys here, but when during the interview, i can concentrate on what i wanna answer about... panic perhaps... but overall ok.

About questions on why choose Japan, I told them having chance to Japan for me is like killing 2 birds with 1 stone, as it benefit my research study as well as my interest on cultures. As expected also, they don't want me to elaborate on the culture bla bla instead, so spontaneously I said I have gone through alot of reviewing technical journal papers related to my topic written by some japanese prof. and I'm really impressed with their findings and this would be a good reference for my reseach... they seemed to be satisfied with my answer (self-predicted :X) After that they don't ask much.. around 5-6 questions only and the interview ended in 10 mins... not sure is this a good sign or not, coz it was 5.10pm already (the candidate b4 me took 30 mins) and it's time to go home? :souka:

Overall only the middle jap guy and the white hair prof talking, the rest (2 woman and 1 guy) seems 'dead'. I observed that the chinese woman always looked show some sign to the middle guy everytime I finished my line >.< After that I went into the toilet and bumped with the white hair professor. Managed to talk few words with him and he is friendly :wave:

Just to share my experience though it's over (hope you guys don't feel pissed with my length post here :(). Hope to hear some good news from you guys~!

tomayto

Jul 18, 2008, 16:53

hi all you guys, i done my interview yesterday morning. i was asked by the guy from the embassy to re-write my study plan because it was to short. damn. now im feeling really de-motivated and dont think i could make it to japan. haha. before i come in to the waiting room i had chat with ms yin and she told me the study plan in the most important and if you couldnt write it accordingly its a straight out. and being ask to re-write it actually is a definite sign. damn :( however i think the interview well quite ok a part from the re-write thing. right now i can only hope for the best. good luck for others too :)

kimberleylhj

Jul 18, 2008, 17:27

I think you nailed it cktey when you answered that you had reviewed technical journal papers related to your topic written by some japanese prof. and that you are really impressed with their findings and this would be a good reference for your research. They would be impress with that answer.

When I was asked why Japan? I started talking too much about the culture part too. And then the embassy guy said, sorry to say.. I can only see your interest in the culture but not your study. Haha.. Probably I wasn't prepared enough.

As for tomayto, yeah.. I would be really disappointed to if I were ask to re-write. Hmm.. how long was yours? In a page? And I thought mine was short.

I guess a short interview would means either both extreme sides. Too good, they already want to shortlist you.. or too bad, they wanna kick you out ASAP. Haha.. A longer interview gives me a feeling that it's a border line thing. Maybe almost there, but not quite so they need to ask a few more questions. Just my opinion though.

Vyen

Jul 18, 2008, 17:35

cktey,
it seems like you got a great chance to be selected..:cool:

luvearest,
thanks for sending me the copy.:-)

tomayto,
my proposal also got some problems..the professor said why to do my reserach in such a specific field. he thinks i should go to work in that field in order to know more instead of doing research..i was totally speechless at that moment..haha

cktey

Jul 18, 2008, 17:59

Great to see some post from you guys ^^

Surprisingly they didn't seem trying to screw my research proposal (engineering). I wrote about 5 paragraphs, approx. 300 words, and they only asked me to explain it, as what you guys did too. After that they moved to another question...

As I heard this interview will cut the no. of candidates from 70+ to 30 only, well it gonna be tough period us to wait for the results... nevertheless, think positive! :bluush:

Vyen

Jul 18, 2008, 18:14

hmm..i always got the feeling that they gonna choose most of the candidates in engineering field, biology, chemistry, IT and linguistic field. from the statistic, they seldom pick business and management student...and i am one of them:(

cktey

Jul 18, 2008, 18:27

Vyen,

by previous year statistic, it's bit disadvantageous for you, but if you think you did it well in the interview, you stand the chance man ^^

JapanDream

Jul 18, 2008, 20:50

Hi All,
Well, with no surprise, my intw went pretty much like what you guys described. The worst part for me was when the white haired guy said my handwriting was hard to read. "I'm not able to read what you have written down here." That was for the first page of my proposal. I got demotivated right there and then coz the proposal is very important in the application and I messed it up. I should have printed out all of my proposal and attached it and now I regretted. Oh well, too late for anything. Besides that, since I put down I have not acquired admission in the university selection section, the specky guy in the middle told me I should have at least contacted the professor. Honestly, I think that this is the part of the application that doesn't follow logic -- what if you don't pass the interview round? The sequence of things is just a bit out. Good thing the intw is now over and I wish every one good luck. :cool:

luvearest

Jul 18, 2008, 21:40

to cktey
ya writting references of research journal done by jap will certainly impress them...

good luck to all of us..

tomayto

Jul 18, 2008, 22:04

i wrote about 2/3 page. with 3 paragraph. the middle guy said others are writing 4-5 pages.haha. it left me silence. -_-" i ask ms yin when should i contacted the university/ professor? she said some already starts contacting them. but then i said... shouldnt we wait for the interview result? then she said althought we are recommended to contact the professor after interview result is out by then its gonna be too late... so hmm. now im confuse... haha. btw i have a question:

if we were going to japan in april, we gonna have 6 month language course right? so we should start as a research student/ master student on october semester right? or would be it going on parrallely? as in we come to japan in april... starts the april semester and in the same time study language?

luvearest

Jul 19, 2008, 00:04

guys, give me till next Monday to send you guys the files, it is 37 pages document, i will be away on Saturday and Sunday..most probably i will upload the files after i scan and let u guys know the URL...on Monday hopefully

cheers

kimberleylhj

Jul 19, 2008, 00:26

take ur time luvearest. thanks a lot anyway.

eh, so are we to contact the professor now? gosh, but i really dunno how to do so when i haven't get nominated. hmm.. anyone here already start contacting?

Chandani

Jul 19, 2008, 02:13

this is all so confusing... interview/s, exams, then contacting a professor..
the process was alot different for me but I made it... now awaiting visa process...that's all... I sincere wish you guys the best of luck...

aja2ws

Jul 19, 2008, 22:40

coz it was 5.10pm already (the candidate b4 me took 30 mins) and it's time to go home? :souka:

really? it's been that long (30mins)? time sure flies, i don't even feel like being in that room for 1/2 hr. yeah, i'm the second last candidate. hello everyone! cktey! hi, nice meeting you again! :wave:

seems like all of us been asked similar questions and ended up quite similar state. my experience? it was the middle man and the white-haired prof who did the interviewing. (yeah, the 2 ladies and the guy and far right were pretty much 'dead', they looked like they're blending with the furniture!) the white-haired man was really nice, he did a lot of talking, i'm glad that he understood my research proposal, he even allows me to converse in Japanese once in a while, to prove my points. (oh yeah btw, i'm doing communicative English learning - opposing grammar translation method practised in Japanese schools. uh, teaching and learning English language stuff etc etc.) the rest of the interviewers asked only 1 question each, and those were just rephrasing what the middle guy and the prof had asked before. :okashii:
anyway, the Japanese interviewers hoped that i could be the 'bridge' between Malaysia and Japan. ookay, that's a little hope, but then the middle man just change the atmosphere and asked me again, why Japan? aiyoh! d'oh~
it's like the prof tries to heighten my spirit, then the middle man brings it down, trying to demotivate me or something, but i held my ground.
both of them asked me to get the university admission before it's too late albeit not even knowing if you're selected or not.
*sigh* i don't know if i'm lucky enough to be among the 30 candidates but i enjoyed all these experiences. it's been fun. i'll have to work harder next time, i guess. minna, ganbarimasho!! :-)

cktey, i hope you'll get your target university in Kyoto. or is it *the* prestigious Kyoto University? Kyoto is a beautiful place (like Terengganu! :blush:), very conducive for learning...

k. good luck everyone!

luvearest

Jul 20, 2008, 00:32

guys
follow this link to get the university list...:)

http://www.4shared.com/file/55802565/2d8378b2/Monbukagakusho_university_list.html

kimberleylhj

Jul 20, 2008, 00:57

thanks luvearest... but eh, need password ah?

i think aja2ws did well too in the interview. good luck ppl!!

aja2ws

Jul 20, 2008, 07:45

maybe in the interview, kimberley. but i don't think my points are strong enough to qualify myself as the candidates. but thanks. i hope all of us here can be among the 30 MEXT grantees. :-)
oh! minna-san, everyone, i've read that some of you didn't manage to get the list from Miss Yin. um, i don't have a scanner but i do have the online list of university:
www . jasso . go . jp / cgi-bin / user / univ_search . cgi#
copy and paste the url above (delete the spaces between them firts cuz i dun have enuff posts to add URLS yet ^^;), then from the site just click on "Japanese Colleges and Universities Links", and you'll get a pop-up window with the uni list.
hope that helps! it's similar to the hardcopy ones. oh and another info, check out JASSO site for additional information on study in Japan.
let's work hard, okay? i pray for our success.
toodles~~ :-)

menrui

Jul 20, 2008, 07:55

http://www.jasso.go.jp/cgi-bin/user/univ_search.cgi#

aja2ws

Jul 20, 2008, 08:16

thanks menrui! ^^
okay, just follow the link from menrui then from the site just click on "Japanese Colleges and Universities Links", and you'll get a pop-up window with the uni list.

wish you all the best! :wave:

cktey

Jul 20, 2008, 09:58

yo aja2ws,

nice to see u again ^^ glad that we had chance to chat before the interview there hehe...

if not mistaken, the white hair jap prof. is a visiting prof. in the linguistic faculty of UM, and your research for sure gained his interest :cool:

it's good that you have chance to speak some japanese too. They didn't asked me too, and it's too ackward for me to initiate myself too. Planned to greet and intro myself in japanese, but they didn't asked me to... can't do much within 10 mins hehe...

keep in touch ~!~

luvearest

Jul 20, 2008, 10:10

kim, password is monbukagakusho

c0ok1e

Jul 20, 2008, 13:15

How is the letter of acceptance like?? Does the lecturer just say i accept u then we print out the email and send to the embassy??

How do I approach japanese lecturers to get the letter of accpteance?? Do i email them saying i am a monbukagakusho scholar and I am interested in doing my research under you. Please me a letter of acceptance??

It sounds weird...

aja2ws

Jul 20, 2008, 16:13

cookie, i guess we have to email them, the universities in Japan. here's what they want in your mail before issuing the letter of acceptance. (i got this info from Hiroshima Uni]

[from HU: please provide us with the following information when making your inquiry:

1. Name
2. Nationality
3. Current university or company name
4. Field of study and study program
5. Desired academic supervisor
6. Desired course for enrollment (research student, master's course, doctoral course or professional graduate course)
7. Contact details (e-mail, fax or telephone number) ]

i dunno about other specific details, but these are the main thingies that u have to include in your mail. different universities might ask different particulars. try searching for "MEXT scholarship 2009] or related stuff concerning admission to the university in the respective uni website.
i am confused myself. if we found our supervisor+uni that'll accept us but we won't be selected after all in the end as Monbusho grantees, then we just have to cancel the letter of acceptance just like that? :(

heya cktey,
yeah, me too. i didn't get to introduce myself or anything too. when i entered the room, they asked me to take a seat and they've just attack, attack! bombard me with all those questions. and so i answered until they finally let me go. phew!

hey really? the white-haired guy's from linguistic faculty in UM? no wonder he knew all about those linguistic terms i 'yapped' on and on. i knew he was a prof but didnt know exactly in what field. it's a good thing you got the chance to talk to him afterwards. nice man, isnt he? ^^

i havent start mailing any universities yet. only drafting and getting more info on how to write a proper email requesting for admission. gah!!! T-T

menrui

Jul 21, 2008, 01:21

It seems like most universities only require you to get acceptance from your embassy and a supervising professor. Tokyo univerisity however, has a more formal application process for entering reseach students of the monbusho scholarship(applicatation, letter of rec, transcript, photo, and maybe a GRE test)

c0ok1e

Jul 21, 2008, 12:32

Some universiites require us to send our application, cv and other stuff over to them. Do we have to courrier over with fed ex just to let them consider our application? So expensive if u are trying for so many universities..

menrui

Jul 21, 2008, 13:04

^yeah now that I think of it... it can really be a bundle. My stuff have to travel around the world to get to japan. And it can really add up if you're sending multiple packages. A tip to any one living in the US: Send your applications using USPS, ship internationally using Priority mail(6-10day shipping), it will cost a flat rate of 11.95USD. Thats the cheapest I can find. I think UPS and FEDEX are more for big packages and business, its alot more expensive.

kouki

Jul 21, 2008, 21:39

>c0ok1e

Miss Yin did mention that we can try calling the professors first. I would suggest e-mail (I did that).

Anyway, you will have to mail the universities your results (yes, by snail mail)... but you should be able to get those there in 2 weeks' time.

Good luck!

c0ok1e

Jul 21, 2008, 23:45

mamoo

Jul 22, 2008, 02:36

cookie, you might want to contact the potential professors first. once they are willing to accept you as a student, then send the necessary documents to the university of your preferred professor. usually, if the professor accepts you, the university wouldn't reject your application.

menrui

Jul 22, 2008, 03:09

^is that really the case? Can anyone confirm this? It would really save us the trouble if it were like this.

I always thought you have to get accepted from professor, then from the university as well.

Nall-ohki

Jul 22, 2008, 08:51

If it is just 1 mail and I am guarateed to be accepted then I have no problems. Just that I am afraid i might have to send in and they dont accept me and I have to send a different universiti and I dont have that much money to send every university in Japan

Do not go sending it to every university in Japan.

At least, according to my consulate, you're only allowed to contact 3 universities in an attempt to get accepted (they don't want MEXT scholars going around spamming every university and making things hard for them - remember, the government is potentially GIVING YOU MONEY for this, be kind. :P )

c0ok1e

Jul 22, 2008, 10:50

Ok thanks for the guideline.. One more problem is that I have handed in all my applications to the embassy during the interview.. Now that I dont have the documents I used to apply for the scholarship how am i suppose to send it to them?? lol

Vyen

Jul 22, 2008, 10:59

cookie,
if your university needs the letter of recommendation from embassy, then you have to wait for the confirmation from embassy. No worries, everything will be fine if you are recommended.:-)

menrui

Jul 22, 2008, 11:04

^haha, it would of been a good idea to keep a copy of your application in the first place...

moving on, yeah i noticed some universities ask for the same application that you sent to your embassy. The only thing I dont have a copy of is my recommendation letter, so i asked if i could get a copy of that later on. They told me that our applications are kept on file for a certain period of time and if we need it again, they could make copies of it for me. But I dont know if they would re-seal the rec letter or not... Anycase, please ask your embassy for confirmation(though i know we all hate doing this)

kouki

Jul 22, 2008, 11:18

I think you will have to fill in the form again after you are told that you are got the embassy recommendation. So, if you are to submit more forms than required by the embassy, you will have to photocopy it.

My suggestion is:
1. E-mail your potential professors
2. Call them
3. Ask them to help you in the process of application
4. Send your application details

That would certainly reduce your chance of application not getting to whom it should be...

c0ok1e

Jul 22, 2008, 14:24

To make things easy for everyone of us here whom I think will get the scholarship, lets compile the things we need to do in an orderly manner..
Someone with the expertise on the next step of getting the letter of acceptance please compile step by step what we need 2 do. Use this format if you are not sure how to compile or if u have a better format please use it.

Objective:

Steps to be taken:
1)
2)
.
.
.

Comments/ SUggestions

Thanks

Rizaric

Jul 22, 2008, 14:38

Hmm... not to be harsh, but I think you need to think about how to do these kinds of things yourself a bit as the guidelines are laid out in the original forms, and many university websites have some sort of writing about MEXT candidates. The judges for the scholarship are looking for independent people who can be strong researchers and have good potential (i.e. they don't want to pay a lot of tax money for someone to have an extended holiday in their country).

First you need to make sure that you are recommended by the embassy. It is ok to contact potential supervisors first, but I would wait till you have the embassy's blessings. The embassy will give you good instructions on what to do at some point if you make it through the screening.

Anyways when you get to the point when you need to contact them, I suggest contacting them by e-mail first. Once you find (up to 3 supervisors) someone who will agree to your research and is willing to supervise you. It may seem like you don't have a lot of time, but in my experience it was enough time to get 3 acceptance letters. Depending on the university and department, you may have to provide several different documents. Always make an extra copy- this will always come in handy, no matter what application or form you are trying to send in. In the event that it gets lost in the mail you have another one.

You will receive the letters, which you have to send to your embassy by a certain date. Then it's pretty much a waiting game...

luvearest

Jul 22, 2008, 15:43

i must agree with rizaric...
I am in the stage of waiting for recommendation, everybody does...Right now I am emailing my potential supervisors, which the panels prompted me to do so in the interview. No harm contacting them they said. Well, that's what I am doing and I am glad to hear positive feedback from the professor i wanted to work with. I am glad...I just need the recommendation........waiting....

And...This forum is not meant to SpoonFeed anybody...By telling u to do Step by Step...That is what i think...seriously...

cheers

aja2ws

Jul 22, 2008, 18:53

i have emailed my potential supervisors.
awaiting their reply... :(
man, this would be easier if we know who'll get selected. i kept having second thoughts before sending the mails. T-T

kimberleylhj

Jul 22, 2008, 22:42

Gosh, I better start contacting my potential supervisors too then. The panel did advice me to get contact too. And I heard that we can always explain to them the current situation we are in (that is waiting for the embassy to give us a green light). Before this, I thought too that we should only make contact once we got nominated.

luvearest, it's good to hear that you got positive feedback. at least there's no worries in the supervisor side dy.

okay, gotta start making contact! gd luck to all!

luvearest

Jul 22, 2008, 23:31

To aja2ws and Kim

I even called Yin. She said all we have to do is wait for the call,get a call from her = +ve result....never got call, too bad...(that, is an intense tension...)

She reminded me: getting recommendation is not equivalent to be sured that we GET the scholarship, have to wait for 2nd screeing. I ask further for the 2nd screening, she said we will be briefed later on. I asked: how is the criteria like for the 2nd screening? she said PnC...I was *speechless*, she said whole processwill be "draggy", up to February next year.

She wish all of us good luck, and she said: (well she always say this:)

"If i were you, I will contact your supervisor, you will never know..."

Guys, contact now, don't hesitate, be bold...

CHEERS

Nall-ohki

Jul 23, 2008, 02:17

To aja2ws and Kim
She reminded me: getting recommendation is not equivalent to be sured that we GET the scholarship, have to wait for 2nd screeing. I ask further for the 2nd screening, she said we will be briefed later on. I asked: how is the criteria like for the 2nd screening? she said PnC...I was *speechless*, she said whole processwill be "draggy", up to February next year.

Do a search on my past posts for about as much information there is on this. I was selected as an alternate last year, and so did not get the scholarship, and am reapplying this year.

There is no guarantee, but from what I understand, your chances of getting the scholarship after a recommendation varies a lot based on what country you're from.

Vyen

Jul 23, 2008, 09:41

luvearest,
did Yin tell you when she will start calling the successful candidates? within this week or next week? :souka:

luvearest

Jul 23, 2008, 21:06

Vyen
august first week.

fulhamerica

Jul 24, 2008, 04:30

The bureaucracy will drive you mad. It is not startling that you haven't heard anything while others have.
Make sure the consulate knows you're trying to get information, and then sit back and relax a while. You're not critical yet, and you will be gotten to... in time.
And try to relax, though I know it's hard. :)

Thanks for this post. I have been driven mad, regained my composure, and been driven mad again by this process.
My consulate is not a beacon of hope in my quest for answers at this point, but I guess I am just looking for some reasonable timeframe/data as there are many loose ends to tie up before moving etc.etc.

You said that I am not to the panic stage yet, but if I am to leave for Japan in October, when does panic mode start? Is it reasonable to think this will drag into August?

Charles Barkley

Jul 24, 2008, 09:28

fulhamerica

Jul 24, 2008, 09:41

You still havent heard fulamerica? Damn...I wonder why your embassy is this much in the dark.
I dont expect to hear about which school I am getting sent to until Sept. Maybe it happens early but I have no hope for July and little hope for August.
Just gotta keep yourself sane and flexible.

Let's just say that I am beginning to think that my consulate/embassy keeps themselves in the dark on purpose. For christ sake, my school already contact me saying they were making preparations for me. I have worked out though that I am not the only one in an #$&*!@#-ed up predicament at my consulate. what do you do? I can't go complaining, it only hurts me in the end.

uranussama

Jul 24, 2008, 10:44

fulhamerica and I are both waiting for word from the same consulate to see if we've passed the final screening, and let's just say that the guy there is less than helpful... To make a long story short, he's very irresponsible and tells you one thing then turns around and says something totally different... and then he acts like you're completely irrational and/or paranoid when you're upset about the false information he told you in the first place! :auch: He also doesnt like to return messages and emails. Oh yes AND he forgot to tell me that I was recommended... I had to call him after waiting nearly a month longer than I was supposed to.

fulhamerica and I are both looking to leave at the end of September/early October, so they're cuttin it close here. After all, there's a lot of stuff to take care of that you cant really get in motion unless you know youre going for sure.

Charles Barkley

Jul 24, 2008, 10:50

That's a shame. I will let you guys know if I hear anything else from the Atlanta consulate, as the woman who works there is wonderful. When I have been frustrated, I have directed it, instead, at a vague 'Tokyo.'

abeeyo_q8

Jul 27, 2008, 03:52

Hi...i just found this forum...really some great info you guys
i'm taking my english/japanese exam tomorrow

i'm hoping to do my masters in molecular/cellular biology

has anyone done anything similar? i'd really like to hear about your experiences and anything that could help me out would be great...as many have said, they are really vague about most things

menrui

Jul 27, 2008, 04:13

^welcome to the club! There hasn't been many post lately because most of us are waiting for results or the interview.

Wow, so you are going straight for graduate school? I think most of us here are applying first as research students because of the difficulties of taking the entrance examination in Japan. But maybe some one here can help you. enjoy your stay!

abeeyo_q8

Jul 27, 2008, 04:18

well actually no...i think i'll be doing research until i can get enrolled in the university.
but some universities make special accomadations for monbukagakusho students, they have separate entrance exams and such. but i don't' think every univerisity is like that and if every major is same

the guy at the embassy that's been helping me has been really nice...even though i've been emailing him everyday...he must be so annoyed... :S

i have both my exam and my interview tomorrow...i'm guessing he's crunched for time

menrui

Jul 27, 2008, 05:01

ah i see. I never heard of such accommodations. Tokyo University allows you to take the GRE:subject test in place of entrance exams for some majors... but that's the most I've seen. I'm also trying to get into graduate school by doing research first, like many other people here. Did you want to hear from someone else in the biology field? I'm in the chemistry field, that is kind of close ha. Or did you want to hear from someone who has actually done research, and then graduate school?

abeeyo_q8

Jul 27, 2008, 05:09

well i suppose all the natural sciences are roughly gonna be the same in terms of how to get a research proposal done and finding a supervisor

i graduated from boston univeristy with a degree in biology, i'd really like to do research either at kyoto uni or osaka...

how far along are you?

menrui

Jul 27, 2008, 05:41

I have my interview/exams 2 weeks from now. So you haven't turned in a research proposal? At my embassy, I had to turn in applications and my proposal a month ago, before interview/exams. I can try to help you find a proposal... but i can only help get you started.

About finding a supervisor, you should go to the university website, go to the graduate school of science, and search in the biology department. You should be able to find information on professors, research group, or even other faculty members. Choose professor/faculty that is doing or has done research that is in the same field as your proposal. I think the bigger universities are easier to navigate.

So far, I've sent out about 3 emails to professor, and only one of them replied. He didn't really understand what i was trying to do XD . I emailed him back, but he's abroad, so it will take some time. kind of fustrating not getting replies, but i sent the email to profs from big school, so i guess its just that competitive. I did some more research on graduate school/profs yesterday and got like 6 more profs i would like to email haha...

abeeyo_q8

Jul 27, 2008, 06:27

yeah the proposal is the tricky part...i've looked at the kyoto uni and osaka uni and stuff...i've emailed one prof only so far...but i just got started

how exactly you do "find" a proposal?? i've been looking at what some professors are researching and jotting down what interests me...its that "what to research" part that's getting to me...it can't be exactly what the profs are doing...it's gotta be something novel right?

the guy at the embassy said he'd show me an example copy of what a good proposal looks like...so i guess that should give me some idea...

you've been very helpful...i'd really appreciate the help with the proposal :D

menrui

Jul 27, 2008, 06:54

So you're suppose to take the interview without having research proposal? awesome.

You dont exactly "find" a proposal(but i bet you could). You have to make one. In college, have you ever gone to like, science seminars or research lectures? I didnt(haha) but I heard its a good way to get idea. I had the same problem as you. I couldnt come up with a proposal off the top of my head, which is a common problem for anyone i think.

What i did, I went online, and by using my university account, I looked up some chemistry journal and read through them briefly(I mostly just read the abstract). i admit, about 90% of the researches I looked at, I didnt really understand. So I focus on the ones I did understand. The ones I found interesting and could understand, I read through them. So i read through about 8 different researches completely. Now, from this, you can think of a research proposal by: 1. extending a research that has been done; 2. if you thought there were some gap or holes in the research you read, you can use that; 3. you can try to combine 2 previous researches, this method is harder. I myself, chose to extend a research i read about.

(1. This forum requires that you wait 120 seconds between posts. Please try again in 21 seconds.)

Oh, and make sure your research has not already been done.

menrui

Jul 27, 2008, 07:06

oh and, no, your proposal doesnt have to be mind blowing... mine is actually very simple compared to the ones that are being conducted by professors. I dont really have the skills/experience to design a research as complex as them. you can also talk it over with your desired supervisor too, and maybe update it bit or completely redo it later.

abeeyo_q8

Jul 27, 2008, 07:49

thanks that was actually really helpful :)
well i have to get to sleep...need most of my brain cells to be functiong fully for the interview, i'm not to worried about the exams though

i'll probably get started on my proposal tomorrow, i wanna have all my papers in by the end of the week...although i won't have my official transcript and recommendation in as fast cause i have to get them mailed from the US to Kuwait...

tomayto

Jul 27, 2008, 13:34

hey guys,

i have a question. after arriving at japan we need to undergo an intensive japanese course right? does it run simultaneously with our graduate studies? because i dont know whether to apply on april or october intake. if we need to undergo language course 1st then the earliest intake possible is the october intake. am i right? how about the location? does it depends on our university or its gonna be centralize in one place?

thanks in advance :)

clauxz

Jul 28, 2008, 00:55

Hei guys im a newbie.. its been great to hear all the stories of interview and exam

im like you guys who took the monbusho exam and interview although here indonesia .. you take the exam and interview together ( no passing exam then interview type of rules )

Its not as bad as u think ... exam is quite easy here .. . and interview ( well its like a job interview ) u got to sell your skills and ur believe and your confidence. i dont think its that bad.

Anyhoo ..

last week i got a call from the embassy saying that my letter is ready and i should pick up the letter of recommendation from the embassy

i was wondering what is the next step ..

i already got a letter from one univ from tohoku to accept me as a phd student.. but they say its three choice..

At this moment i also have 2 professor take one of them is not my research field the other comes from private univ ... so im keen on tohoku univ one ..

anyway i want to hear any experience from here . how do i approach the univ ... should it be from prof .. or from the admission office ..

can i apply if the professor do not reply to me ( i have 2 professor whom im interesed but both didnt reply me after 3 times of mailing them .. i guess i pissed them off .. hahaha

well im hope to hear any advises which help my application in the next step ..

Keep the post coming .. happy to read them

Kayumi

Jul 28, 2008, 02:47

This is like a masters degree right? I will graduate in japanese/mandarin and maybe Korean and some other language (depends in which university I'll stay), will learn those languages for 3 years at least (japanese and mandarin), will I be able to do my MD through this scholarship?

The "licenciatura" (sorry, don't know the english word) lasts 3 years and the supposed master degree in china other 2, but I think I can choose between doing it in China as course's default or through the japanese embassy.

menrui

Jul 28, 2008, 03:40

tomayto,
The japanese language course is only necessary to those that need it according to MEXT. this depends on your study field. In case you do need it, i think i read that, whether you enter in either april(24month) or october(18month), your first 6 month will be dedicated to learning japanese. and, i think these 6 months are taken from within the 24/18month period. the earliest to enter is in April(24months). The language courses will not run simultaneously with your graduate/research studies. It might be in a seperate location. I dont really know where you will take the language courses... but i think i remember reading it would be in tokyo or osaka... but dont quote me on that.

clauxz,
I wouldnt called you a "newbie" ha. you're well ahead of most of us here. you should probably be answer our questions. For your question, I think you should first definitely email the department you are applying in and ask for the application process(unless it was already clearly stated, which its most likely not). I think you should always approach the prof first and let them know, then apply through the department. From my experiences, if the prof does not reply, that is a way of saying no, or im too busy. I think in most cases, you need the profs approval first. I know some univ ask you to send in all your monbusho applications and select a supervisor, then maybe they will do their own admissions process. im not really sure... again please ask the department

kayumi,
um, yes, it is possible to enter graduate school for a masters degree with this scholarship... i didnt understand what you wrote from there... sorry.

Kayumi

Jul 28, 2008, 03:57

[QUOTE=menrui;587907kayumi,
um, yes, it is possible to enter graduate school for a masters degree with this scholarship... i didnt understand what you wrote from there... sorry.[/QUOTE]

Ok, thank you :)
Licenciatura is before masters degree. 12th grade -> licenciatura -> Masters degree (at least here in Portugal)

clauxz

Jul 28, 2008, 04:05

Thanks Menrui for the answer ..
I havent go to the embassy yet .. ( because the embassy is administering the undergrad exam ) 600 will take the undergrad exam this year..

and definitely
I will try to contact the 2 previous professor that ignore me...

Maybe they will change of mind after the latest news.. ( not sure but my senpai said that, monbusho students bring extra funding to the lab )

Another question ..

I have a very influential professor who i associated from my previous univ.. he is sure to accept me because he wrote me a damn nice recommendation letter for my monbusho abt me

problem is his research is quite different from which i proposed to monbusho ..
is it possible to change research topic ? for just 1 sensei ?

I heard that no one reject this sensei before...

Whereas my research interest 2 other professor which is not too influential.. ( i think )

Hmmm. any advise?

Kayumi

Jul 28, 2008, 04:23

abeeyo_q8

Jul 28, 2008, 07:15

kayumi, i think being fluent in 2+ languages qualifies you for a bunch of jobs ranging from government positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to jobs in companies where they require translators and such

i just passed the preliminary interview and exams this morning, all my documents are pretty much in order, just need to finish up my proposal and get a letter of acceptance from a japanese professor <----- hardest part i think :S

mamoo

Jul 28, 2008, 15:03

just took the written exam. the japanese paper was a little difficult. hopefully i'll get called for the interview which is this wednesday.

Kayumi

Jul 28, 2008, 16:51

kayumi, i think being fluent in 2+ languages qualifies you for a bunch of jobs ranging from government positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to jobs in companies where they require translators and such
i just passed the preliminary interview and exams this morning, all my documents are pretty much in order, just need to finish up my proposal and get a letter of acceptance from a japanese professor <----- hardest part i think :S

:)
Thanks for cheering me up. Congratulations on your interview and good luck! Was it hard? What kind of questions did they ask you?

menrui

Jul 28, 2008, 17:32

Clauxz,
I think that is a question you should answer yourself. I'm not sure if you can just suddenly change your research proposal... Im probably wrong, but I dont think the embassy will check to see if you indeed are researching under the supervision of the appropiate professor. I think that its up to the university and professor. So, if you can get him and the univ to accept you, then the embassy to accept you for finding acceptance, maybe you could enter under that professor and do a completely different research than what you wrote. But this might lead to some implications later, so dont do it.

Kayumi,
you could be an Office Lady too...(dont take that seriously, im sure there are plenty of jobs for you)

Ok i have a question of my own. For a potential supervisor, do we have to choose a head professor? can it be an associate professor? The associate professor on this one lab that i am considering has published more research that relates to mine so i thought it would be a good idea to choose him instead.

Alma

Jul 28, 2008, 17:37

One more thing, what kind of job will I be able to get in Japan with a masters degree in japanese? By that time I'll be able to speak mandarin, japanese, english, spanish and portuguese.
I'm so afraid of not getting a job, damn! Well, before all that and next year I'm gonna aplly to an exchange studant program, where I'll be studing japanese in Japan for 5 weeks.

why do you want to have master degree in japanese if you are planing to live in Japan? just wondering...? and dont worry, if you are going to be fluent in so many languages, you will be able to find job. that is why I am asking why master japanese, maybe you can study something else, while anyway learning and speaking japanese?