Assembling the MEXT Scholarship Application requirements is like a scavenger hunt with secret rules.
The required documents are not simple. In fact, one of the most confusing parts of the MEXT scholarship application is the Letter of Recommendation. Most of the source of the confusion is really bad explanations by Monbukagakusho and the universities. I single-handedly processed over 500 MEXT scholarship applications and I think I’ve seen nearly every question there is. So after reading this article, you should know everything you need to get your application in order.
Required Documents for the University-recommended MEXT Scholarship
Note 1: These are the requirements as listed by Monbukagakusho. The university that you apply to may have additional requirements. If you’re confused about those, please ask in the comments!
Note 2: I am not including the Application Form or Field of Study and Research Program Plan here. Each of those is complicated enough to merit its own article.
- Letter of Recommendation
- Photograph(s)
- Government-issued ID (e.g. passport)
- Transcript/Grades Record/Record of Marks
- Certificate of Graduation or Expected Graduation
- Proof of Outstanding Academic Performance
- Outline of Graduation Thesis
- Objective proof of language ability and/or specialized academic ability
- Certificate of Health
Additional Requirements for All Documents
- All documents must be in Japanese or English or have an official Japanese translation attached.
- To the maximum extent possible, all documents should be typed (not handwritten) and should be printed on A4-sized paper.
*I know that Americans, Mexicans, and others do not typically have access to A4-sized paper. You will not fail the application for submitting on letter-sized.
*Indonesian transcripts and a few others tend to be printed on very long pieces of paper. Those are OK to submit. - Documents will not be returned to you under any circumstances.
- Late and/or incomplete submissions will not be accepted under any circumstances
One more note: “Your Current University”
“Your current university” or “your most recent university” are going to appear several times in these instructions and in the university’s application guidelines. Only universities that you attended for degree programs- specifically, bachelor’s, master’s, or PhD, count. Certificate programs, associates degrees, short-term study abroad, job-related training or anything else does not count.
If you are currently enrolled in a degree program, then “your current university” is obviously the one you are enrolled in- even if you are in your first semester. Even if you plan to quit that university to take the MEXT scholarship.
If you are not enrolled in a degree program, then “your current/most recent university” is the last one that you earned a degree from.
If you are in a dual, triple, etc., degree program, then it’s a little fuzzier, but for convenience, the university that you are attending as of the time of application makes the most sense. (Typically, that would also be the last university in the program).
Got all that? Good. Let’s get in to the documents.
The Monbukagakusho Letter of Recommendation – University Recommended MEXT Scholarship Application
Update: The description below only applies to the Unviersity-recommended MEXT scholarship application process. If you’re applying through the Embassy, you do not need to worry about this.
If you are applying to a university, I have a clarification about who needs to write your Letter of Recommendation, based on the relationship between your universities. You can find that clarification in my article about the 2018 University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship Application Process.
First, forget everything you know about letters of recommendation or letters of reference. MEXT does not care if the person writing it actually knows you or supervised you. All that matters is that it meet three basic requirements:
- Addressed “To The President of [Name of University]” – You MUST have the president’s title in there. I saw a few applicants try to get cute and write the president’s name. Good job on the research, but since they didn’t write the title, it was no good.
- Recommend you for the the scholarship – Somewhere in the letter, it must say that the person is recommending you for the Monbukagakusho Scholarship. This should be obvious, but I still see people leave it out.
- Signed by the Dean or Higher – Vice Deans, Department Heads, Advisors, etc. are all no good.
The Address
Really, as long as the greeting says “To the President of [University Name],” that’s all you need. No fancy templates or formal structures.
Do not write “To Whom it May Concern.” That will not be accepted.
Contents
Include the following sentence somewhere in the letter: “I wholeheartedly recommend [your name] for the Monbukagakusho Scholarship at [the university].” Since some people out there are going to take me too literally, replace the words in brackets with your information. The rest of the contents don’t really matter (but having concrete proof of your merit doesn’t hurt).
Yes, I have seen applicants leave the brackets in before. Don’t be that guy.
How to Get a Letter of Recommendation from the Dean
Point 1: The Dean doesn’t need to write the Letter, he/she just needs to sign it. Here’s how you get that done:
- You write a draft of the letter. Include all the required points (don’t leave room for the Dean to screw it up), and include a few highlights of your academic achievements. Make sure to include the Dean’s signature block (or ask your advisor to put that in).
- Take the letter to your academic advisor. Tell him/her that you need a Letter of Recommendation signed by the Dean of the faculty and show them the draft that you’ve written to make it easier on the Dean.
- Invite your advisor to edit it as he/she sees fit. Then ask her to take it to the Department Head for approval and submission to the Dean for signature
With the possible exception of writing the draft yourself (that’s something I added based on my personal experience), this is how Letters of Recommendation work in Japan. Deans don’t write them (they don’t know most students personally, after all), they just sign it based on their trust of the professor and department head that ask them to do so.
One word of warning: Get started early. I’ve found that Deans and Department Heads tend to be gone a lot to attend conferences or visit partners. MEXT is not going to accept a Vice-Dean’s signature because the Dean was out of the office. In that case, you’re going to need a university president, provost, etc.
Photographs
I’ve seen a shocking number of mistakes on this one in the past, for something that seems to simple. Just make sure you carefully read the instructions. Here’s your checklist:
- 3.5 cm wide by 4.5 cm high. (Portrait style, not landscape!) If you can’t get photos printed in that size, then use a ruler and scissors to trim them to the appropriate size yourself.
- Professionally printed on photo paper. Printing them on printer paper or blurry photos that you printed out yourself will not work
- Formal ID-style photo: It should show you from the armpits up, facing straight forward, with no glasses or hats (religious headwear is acceptable where culturally required).
- Photo must be no more than 6 months old. If it matches your old passport photo, you’re going to get caught!
- Plain, white background. No patterns, designs, crowds of people or anything else.
- Write your name and nationality on the back in ballpoint pen. Make sure it doesn’t show through to the front.
- Send three photos (even if the school only asks for one). You don’t want to have to express mail a replacement if something happens to your only photo.
- Attach one photo to the application form with glue or double-sided tape. Do not staple your photos.
Yes, it really should be straightforward, but I have seen applicants screw up every single one of those requirements in the past.
Government-Issued ID
Basically, this has to show your full legal name (in English letters) and birthdate.
If you have a passport (even if it’s expired and you’re renewing it), send a copy of that. If you don’t, then send a birth certificate, national ID, driver’s license, family register, or any other document that shows your full name and birthdate. Then go apply for a passport.
Certificate of Grades/Marks (Transcript)
All you need here is an original transcript in English. If you can get that issued by your school, then you’re set.
If your school does not issue transcripts in English, then you need both the original document issued by your school and a certified translation.
Certified TranslationsThe best way to get the translation is to have it certified as accurate by an official (e.g. registrar) or professor at your school. If you can’t get that, you’ll need it translated and certified accurate by a professional translator.
Make sure that the translator’s certification is in English! This was a particular problem with Vietnamese applicants in my experience. The accuracy certifications were only written in Vietnamese, so that does no good.
If your school does not issue extra original transcript or if your school only issues “pdf originals”: Take a copy to the registrar and have them sign to certify that it is identical to the original. You should do this even in the case of “pdf originals”, rather than sending them directly to the university that you’re applying to. Japan still doesn’t trust electronic signatures in most cases.
Additional Requirement for Transfer Students
If you transferred schools or participated in a Dual Degree program, you’ll need the transcript from all schools you attended for your last degree.
Less that 2 years of Grades on Transcript? Additional Requirement
The MEXT scholarship requires two years of grades, so you’re going to need the transcript from your previous degree program, too. You will also need the “explanation of the grading system” from your previous degree, which I will cover below.
This is usually a problem for Master’s students who only have 1 year of grades on their transcript at the time of application.
Certificate of Graduation or Expected Graduation
Do not send your only diploma to apply for the scholarship!
In Japan, it’s easy to get extra certificates of graduation (which are not diplomas) saying that you’ve graduated, so they think it will be easy for you too. (And they really don’t care if it isn’t).
If You’ve Graduated Already
Check your transcript. If your transcript shows your degree awarded and awarded date, then it can double as a certificate of graduation (it’s a formal certificate and it shows your graduation).
If your transcript doesn’t show it, then a copy of your diploma that is signed by the registrar as being an accurate copy will work. You could also get a letter from your registrar confirming your graduation date and degree earned.
If You Have Not Graduated
You need a “Certificate of Expected Graduation” that states your expected graduation date, to show that you will graduate before you start your MEXT scholarship.
The problem is that a lot of universities don’t want to certify that you will graduate, because it’s up to your performance, so it isn’t guaranteed. Here’s how to get around this problem:
Your university needs to certify that you will graduate by [date] provided that you complete all of your remaining requirements as expected. Essentially, the university is saying that they know of no reason why you would be unable to graduate by the expected date.
This certificate can (and should) be conditional on your performance.
Proof of Outstanding Academic Performance
In almost all cases, this takes the form of a “explanation of grading system.” Search wikipedia for “Academic grading in [your country name]” to see an example of what this is.
Without it, the Japanese university is not going to have any idea whether the grades on your transcript are any good or not. For example, if you earn a 70% in the US, that’s below average and would correspond to a “1” on the
Monbukagakusho grade conversion
But if you earn a 70% in some universities in India, that is “Outstanding” and would correspond to a “3” on the MEXT scale.
Huge difference.
The thing is, even if the staff at the university know that system, from past applicants, etc., they still need you to submit proof because they need the formal documentation to be able to submit your recommendation to Monbukagakusho.
In many cases, this explanation is printed on the front or back of transcript itself- especially if your country uses a letter grade system, the ECTS system, or a point scale. If that’s your situation, great, you can skip down to the next section.
If your grading system isn’t on your transcript, talk to your registrar and ask them if they have a table or other document that explains in. If they do, get a copy of it and have the registrar sign it.
Another place you can check is your study abroad office. If your university does any student exchange or study abroad, they need to be able to convert grades between your institution and universities overseas, so that office might know how to help you.
In the worst case scenario, I know of applicants who wrote up a chart themselves, based on the model on wikipedia, and got the university registrar or their academic department head to sign it.
Applicants from Marks System Countries
Japan is always going to refer to “grades” but when you hear this, think “marks.”
I know that in marks systems, you add up the total number of marks earned across all classes and then divide that by the total number possible to get your final graduation grade. But Japan is going to convert your grades class-by-class. Monbukagakusho requires that it be done that way.
So if you have a system that looks like:
| Class | % of Marks |
|---|---|
| First | 70+ |
| Upper Second | 60-69 |
| Lower Second | 50-59 |
| Third | 40-49 |
| Pass | 30-39 |
Then the Japanese university is going to go class-by-class through your transcript and convert your grades to the 3.0 GPA system.
Other “Proof of Outstanding Academic Performance”
In the event that you absolutely cannot get an explanation of your grading system, you’re going to face an uphill battle to get consideration from the university, but it is still possible, in theory.
Basically, if you are too “unique” of a situation, or require too much work, the university is going to favor applicants who make it easier on them. So you should do as much legwork as possible and make it easy for the professors and admin staff where you’re applying.
Remember, at this stage of the application, you’re just one of hundreds of people competing for a handful of slots. The university doesn’t know who you are or what you’ve done, so they have no reason to give you special attention. You need to earn their attention.
Other forms of proof of academic performance can include class order of merit, academic awards or other external recognition in significant or international venues. Papers published in known, peer-reviewed journals or presentations in (preferably international) conferences.
Anything that can be evaluated numerically is in your favor: “first place”, “number one”, “top student I have ever seen”, etc., are all good buzzwords.
Still not clear? Hit me up in the comments below!
Outline of Graduation Thesis
If you don’t have a graduation thesis because your degree didn’t require one, then use your most significant paper instead. The paper should be related to the topic you propose in your Field of Study, of course, and should be your best/most significant work.
Unlike this blog post, the outline should be short and to the point. One page is a good target, but I’ve seen 1/2 to 3/4 of a page work just fine. Don’t go any longer than 1 page unless the university specifically tells you to.
Don’t send the whole thesis, either. It’s going to cost you extra postage and nobody is going to bother reading it.
Objective Proof of Language Ability
You want formal international test scores, such as TOEFL or IELTS for English or the JLPT for Japanese.
Do not send institutional tests, such as the TOEFL ITP, a “TOEFL prediction test”, or a test created by a local testing center- nobody is going to trust those as being accurate. The institutional tests say right on the score report: “Not to be used for admissions purposes.”
Don’t even waste your time.
Yes, these tests are expensive, but don’t expect the universities to care. The Monbukagakusho scholarship is a merit-based scholarship, not need-based. If you start complaining to the university about cost at this point of the application, you’re going to poison your relationship and your chances.
The universities in Japan know that, in most cases, you can get an English language proficiency test score (TOEFL iBT) in about 3 weeks, if you’re really trying, and they will look up when tests are offered in your country if you try to claim there is no availability.
Just a heads up. I saw that excuse a lot- and usually wrote those applicants off as too lazy to consider for the scholarship.
What if my Education was in English?
If English is your first language, you can almost certainly get this waived. (There may be one or two stubborn universities that will insist on another form of proof like a GRE English score, but I haven’t confirmed this).
If English is not your first language but you graduated from university in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, the UK, or the US, most universities will consider that sufficient, although they may ask you to also submit a copy of the proof of language ability you submitted when you first enrolled in that university.
If you’re from India, Bangladesh, Ghana, or any other country where English is not the primary language of daily life, but you attended tertiary education in English, do not expect to get this requirement waived.
By this time, almost every university in Japan has admitted at least one international student who graduated from an English-taught program only to find out that the person has no English ability whatsoever. They graduated from the English program by getting extra tutoring outside of the class in their native language, or because the program wasn’t really all in English to begin with.
Heck, this has been known to happen in “English-taught” classes in Japan, too.
Similarly, submitting grades from English as a second language courses isn’t generally going to work, either. Just because you can pass a class doesn’t mean you have any ability (Japan’s own English language education – one of the worst in the world – proves this).
No Test Score?
If you don’t have a test score and you legitimately can’t get one by the application deadline because there is no test offered, then some schools may allow a workaround. Where I worked, we would allow exceptions as follows:
You need to go the the head of the English language department at your university and have that person administer (or sign off on) a personal examination of your English language ability. The result of that examination will have to be very specific- such as “The applicant has English language skills equivalent to an IELTS band of 6.5 in reading, listening and speaking, and 7.5 in writing.”
Just saying “the applicant’s language ability is sufficient to complete a degree in English” was not enough.
Objective Proof of Specialized Ability
For most applicants, this won’t apply. Don’t send in your Microsoft Word training course participation certificate (yes, I used to get those – and throw them out). Don’t send in your community service participation certificates- unless it was directly related to your field of study.
Relevant certificates are professional or government licenses related to your field of study. For example, if you’re applying for an architecture program and you have passed the LEED Exam, that’s relevant. If you’re applying for a public health program and you volunteered for Doctors Without Borders, that’s relevant.
I processed over 500 of these applications and never once saw a relevant certification. So, if you don’t have one, don’t worry about it.
Certificate of Health
This requirement will vary from university to university. Monbukagakusho only states that “universities are responsible for ensuring applicants are physically and mentally healthy.” It doesn’t require a specific form. However, a lot of universities will use the Embassy-Recommended Monbukagakusho Scholarship health form for the sake of simplicity.
If your university uses the Embassy form form, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Every field is mandatory – double check that everything is complete before leaving the doctor’s office.
- Related to that – the forms is really badly designed, so you might want to consider highlighting the fields for your doctor before going to the exam. It’s easy to miss some of them.
- Don’t forget your name, sex, and birthdate in the top row – I had to send dozens of medical forms back to applicants because their names were missing (how do we know you were the examinee?)
- The X-Ray fields are the ones that trip applicants up the most.
- You must have a chest x-ray, even if your doctor doesn’t think it’s necessary.
- You need to fill in the date that the x-ray was taken as well as the film reference number (the index the doctor would use to look it up again in the future). In some cases, the reference number might just be your name and the date- that’s fine. Leaving it blank is not.
- Do not send actual x-ray film through the mail.
- If you are attaching test results, make sure they’re in English and highlight everything that corresponds to one of the fields on the form.
You’re (Almost) Done!
You should now be ready to collect and submit all of the required documents for your Monbukagakusho Scholarship application. Hopefully, with this list you can breeze through the requirements and spend your time where it’s most needed- on the Field of Study and Research Program Plan.
The only mandatory form that I haven’t discussed yet is the Application Form. That one gets its own article next, and I’ll walk you through the badly-translated and poorly worded questions one-by-one.
In the mean time, if your university requires any other documents that I haven’t mentioned above, tell me about them in the comments below, and include a link to the university application page, if you can!
Questions?
Before asking any questions in the comments below, please read through the MEXT Scholarship Application FAQ top page and specific FAQ pages to see what I’ve answered already and to find tips about how to get your questions answered faster.
You can ask your questions in the comments here, on the FAQ page, or by email and I will answer them by updating the FAQ and letting you know when the answers are available.
I’d also recommend signing up for my mailing list to get notified whenever I have updates to any of the FAQs or new articles about the MEXT scholarship!
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Hello Travis,
with Covid is it still necessary for a two year masters program? My program is 18 months but it was in Malaysia. Also, to prove that English is my first language do I just say that I am an American citizen that lived in the US for a decade? Do I need something else?
Thanks,
Noor
Hi Noor,
For two years, do you mean the degree program in Japan, or your qualifying degree program?
COVID-19 has not changed the degree program length in Japan, so it would still be two years to earn a master’s here, in general. But it sounds like you’re referring to a degree you’ve already completed. Typically, if you are applying for a PhD in Japan under the MEXT Scholarship, the duration of your previous degree is not a factor. For the Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship, the requirement is just that you hold a Master’s degree. For the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship, MEXT leaves it up to each university – they just require that the university confirm that you are qualified to apply for the degree.
Regarding your English language proficiency, this also varies depending on whether you are applying for the Embassy or University scholarships. For the Embassy, there is no particular requirement that you have to meet in advance, since you will take a language proficiency test during the primary screening. However, if you are a native speaker/English is your first language, then I would recommend mentioning that in the application form.
If you are applying via the University, each university is going to set its own requirement. If English is your native language, then that should meet the requirements. But, if you are a US citizen whose first language is not English, that might not be enough on its own. It would also depend on when you lived in the US. If you graduated from a US university, though, that would probably be enough in most cases. You should check with the university that you want to apply to for their requirements.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello!
I am applying for a second masters and my first masters is not completed yet. They asked me to submit an expected graduation certificate but my university doesn’t issue such certificate mentioning the future dates. What can I do in this situation? Please help.
Hi Mimmi,
You do need to provide that Certificate of Expected Graduation for the MEXT Scholarship application, there’s no way around it.
However, it does not need to be a formal certificate. A letter from the registrar or other university official is enough. It also does not have to guarantee that you will graduate. It just needs to say that if you complete and pass all of your courses as expected, then you would be able to graduate by the date given in the letter.
I hope that helps.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Is it okay if my thesis supervisor (Professor) issue the letter? Because my university in Bangladesh doesn’t issue such letter mentioning future dates. It’s their policy.
Thank you
Mimmi
Hi Mimmi,
I do not know of any cases in the past where an applicant submitted a letter from their advisor as a Certificate of Expected Graduation, so I cannot say whether or not it would be accepted, based on my experience. I’m afraid that you would have to contact the embassy for their instructions during the application process.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
I am applying for university recommendation (Hokkaido University) and they asked me to issue it by my supervisor after listening to my situation. They informed me they have to submit some materials sothat MEXT confirms I will be graduating in April 2021. Moreover, I am applying for my second masters and the expected graduation letter is needed for my first masters. I have sent all the documents for my bachelors degree. Additionally, I sent the transcript of my first masters and now emailed the expected graduation letter from my professor. I was wondering if Professor falls into the category of university officials or not. As long as she works there, I think she should be a university official as well. What do you think?
I am so tensed right now.
Thank you
Mimmi
Hi Mimmi,
If the university said that it is OK for your supervisor to issue the letter, then you should be fine! The most important thing is that it meets their requirements. They will be the ones to vouch to MEXT that the document is sufficient.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Few more things!
1. As they asked for this document at this time, does it mean something positive for recommending me? There deadline for submission was 3 feb and asked for it the day before yesterday.
2. Approximately when can I know scholarship result?
Thank you very much for your reply!
Hi Mimmi,
Oh, I think I misunderstood your situation. I didn’t realize you were in the middle of the application process in your previous comment.
Should I assume that you are applying for the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship?
1. If the initial application deadline was Feb 3 and they are asking for the document now, I do not think that means anything positive – it likely means that your application was incomplete, so they need the document before they can review it.
2. If you are applying for the university recommended MEXT scholarship, they need to submit their nominations to MEXT by the end of March, so you should know by then if you have been selected by the university. If you have, then you are almost sure to receive the scholarship. However, the final official results are not expected until the end of June or possibly into July.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
I hope my comment finds you well,
Thank you very much for your useful information,
I’m Ahmed form Iraq, sorry to bother you with my questions,
1)You mentioned that the letter of recommendation have include the title when addressed ,
In my collage they addressed it in this manner(Md, Phd) they told me that this is our protocol.
is this will affect my application chances? am i will be disqualify for this?
our system is really bad and they make every thing hard.
2) My transcripts of record is attached with my head department recommendation with her signature and department’s stamp and the dean mentioned that i was rank(1)from (143) and my general grade, is this enough? as my register refuse to release my grades so i took this alternative.
3) Who take the final call for the university selection?
Thank you very much and sorry to bother you
Hi Ahmed,
1. I do think that the Letter of Recommendation needs to include the title “President of the University” or similar. (It can include the name and degrees, as well, but the title should still be present). The reason is that the university needs to submit this letter to MEXT eventually, and the MEXT officials are not necessarily going to know the name of the university president off the top of their heads, so having that title in there makes it easier for them to check.
I do not think your application will be rejected over this, but you may be asked to submit a replacement.
2. This is going to be up to the university’s judgement. If you can obtain documentation from your university saying that they are not able to release your individual grades, not even directly to the university in Japan, then that would be helpful, I think. In that case, the Japanese university should understand that it is a university rule and accept it.
3. Ultimately, MEXT. In general, MEXT will approve the applicants nominated by the universities, as long as the universities have made sure that their nominees meet all requirements, but the ministry has the ultimate authority and could reject applicants if, for example, they decided to reduce the number of spots available to a university, or if they discovered a problem with your application (i.e. if you applied to multiple universities in the same year).
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Thank you very much for your response your very helpful,
So if my university send an email direct to the university in japan include my grades do you think this will be acceptable?
And you advice me to include a letter from my collage that explain collage rolls?
Thank you very much
Ahmed
Hi Ahmed,
If your university is able to send your grades directly to the university in Japan, then I think that would be ideal. If that is the case, you should include a letter in your application package stating that, due to university policy, your university is not able to release your grades to you and will be sending them directly, instead.
You’ll want to check the instructions at the university in Japan to see if they will accept your grades by email or whether they will need to be sent by post and make sure that your university sends them accordingly.
If they cannot send your grades even directly to the university in Japan, then in that case, the letter from your university stating that they do not release grades should be enough for the Japanese university to accept the documents that you mentioned above.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Thank you very much for your response, you helped me alot thank you very much.
I am graduated and have applied for many scholarships. Bad luck still not selected in any scholarship. This time I am going for mext. 😉
Hi Jan Afridi,
Good luck! The MEXT scholarship requires a significant amount of work and preparation, but if you have a strong background and are willing to put the work in, then I think anyone has a chance.
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Hello! I have a few questions regarding the pathway of undergraduate MEXT scholars after being selected for the scholarship.
1. Do they have to take the entrance exam before enrolling into Japanese universities? If so, are scholars allowed to select their preferred universities?
3. Can MEXT scholars take multiple entrance examinations from different Japanese universities? If yes, would all of the fees for the entrance examinations be completely covered by MEXT, or is it for only one trial?
Thank you!
Hi Yui,
The undergraduate scholarship is not my area of expertise, but my understanding is that after your year of language studies, MEXT places you in a university of their choice.
I have not heard of MEXT scholarship students having to take an entrance exam as part of that process, but maybe someone else with direct experience can comment and add their insight.
I am fairly certain that you do not get a choice in the university you end up in, so you would not have the choice of taking multiple exams.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Noted. Thank you so much for the reply and the amazing content Travis!
Hello Travis, after being placed in a university by MEXT, when you will come to Japan do you need to bring all the documents you submited at the embassy? Because I submited my originals paper, the embassy people insist on it the didn’t accept copies.
Hi Jude,
No, I’ve never heard of applicants having to bring all of the originals to Japan before. However, now that they are accepting applications for Letters of Acceptance by email, they might ask you to bring the documents that you had previously sent by email in hard copy (these should be the documents that you got back from the embassy, not the originals that you submitted to them).
If you had not yet graduated at the time of your application, you may also need an original Certificate of Graduation and your most recent academic transcript, but those would be “new” original documents, not what you submitted to the embassy.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello travis,
does the Certificate of Graduation have to be verified from foreign affairs in my country?
the Certificate of Graduation that i have now from my collage can’t be verified because it has the vice dean signature because we don’t have a dean at the moment that last one resigned and appointing new one take a while. and in iraq the foreign affairs don’t accept to verify just the one with dean signature
so what can i do?
i can take a document from iraqi dental association(iam a dentist) that prove my graduation and i can verify it is this acceptable?if not what is your advice?
thank you very much
Hi Ahmed,
This sounds like an issue that is specific to your country, and I am not familiar with the system there, so I don’t know that I can offer any useful advice. As far as I know, MEXT does not require the Certificate of Graduation to be verified by your Foreign Affairs ministry. Unless that’s specifically mentioned as a requirement by the Japanese embassy there, it may not be necessary.
In general, for the MEXT Scholarship, you need a Certificate of Graduation verified by an official at your university, and the Dean or Vice-Dean should count.
Of course, don’t submit your only original copy of the certificate. A certified copy should be acceptable, and it should be acceptable if that copy is also certified by a university official.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
hello travis,
this is ahmed from iraq .iam apllay through university recommendation i have some questions pleas,
i have a bechlor degree in dentistry can i applay to doctoral course?
my collage dosenot accept to give my my graduation certificate with the grades just the graduation certificate with general grade and my acadmic rank is it ok?or i cannot applay without the grade?there is an option that i can mention it in the letter of recomendation from my supervisor
also we donnot have a dean at the momment is it ok if the letter of recommendation from the head department?
Hi Ahmed,
Was your bachelor’s in dentistry a 4-year program or 6-year program? If it was 6, you should be able to apply directly for a doctoral program, but this will be clearly specified in the eligibility requirements, as well.
By the way, I am not aware of any dentistry programs taught in English, so you would most likely need to have native-level fluency in Japanese.
You do need all of your grades for all of your classes to apply. Usually, this is a different document from the certificate of graduation.
If you do not have a Dean in your faculty, then you would need a letter of recommendation from someone in a higher position than the dean. You would not be able to substitute a letter from someone in a lower position, such as a department head.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
thank you for your response
my bachelor’s in dentistry is 5 years program
the sum of my all study is 17 years
is there alternative way if they don’t give my my grade ?if it’s just mentioned in my recommendation letter?with the head department signature and stamp?what is the best way?
we don’t have some one higher than a dean and the last one was resigned and i takes a while to appoint new one so i’m afraid i miss the deadline.
now we have a vice dean only ..so what should i do who should sign it?
thank you very much you are so kind
Hi Ahmed,
Are you saying that your university cannot give you any record of your individual performance in your classes? I have never heard of that situation before. I don’t know how they would expect you to be able to go on to higher level education without it.
However, in cases where universities do not issue grades at all, there is an exception where if your letter of recommendation certifies that you were in the top 30% of your graduating class (including the number of people in your graduating class and your specific rank among them), then that can be accepted.
If there is nobody higher than a Dean in your department, then you would need to go higher in the university structure, such as the university president, chancellor, vice-chancellor, etc. However, if your Vice Dean also has the title of “Acting Dean” that may be acceptable.
As for your years of study, with a 5-year bachelor’s in dentistry and 17 total years of schooling, you should qualify to apply for a doctor of dentistry in Japan.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis,
this Ahmed again, sorry to bother you
i want to thank you for your useful information in the articles and for your responses its really benefited me a lot and i read most of the comments , as to my issue our vice dean have the title of (care of dean) and he signed me the recommendation letter with this title and he mentioned in the letter that he is taking care of the dean duties now(which he is)because as i mentioned to you before we don’t have a dean or president, is this acceptable? or should i wait for the college to assigned the new dean which may be delay further more
thank you for every think i really appreciate your help
Hi Ahmed,
If your Vice Dean is also the Acting Dean (Care of Dean, in your university’s terms), then a recommendation from him should be fine.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
I have completed 11 years of education in my home country. May I know if the 1 year preparatory program offered by before enrolling into a Japanese university (for undergraduate courses) can be counted as my 12th year of education?
Thank you, Travis.
Hi Yui,
No, only education completed prior to starting your MEXT-sponsored studies counts. You would not count the year of MEXT preparator education in Japan.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you for your kind reply Travis! I appreciate it.
Dear Travis,
I am applying for the MEXT Undergraduate Scholarship for Japanese Language and Literature Studies. May I know if I should ask the principal of the Japanese language school I am attending to write the recommendation letter? Or is it more advisable to ask my current university academic advisor to write it?
Thank you.
Hi Yui,
For the undergraduate MEXT Scholarship, the letter of recommendation must be issued by the high school or university that you are currently attending (or the one that you graduated from most recently). Do not get a letter from the Japanese language school, since that is not a proper university and would not count.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you for your reply!
I have another query regarding the translation of documents.
Is it acceptable if I translate the documents by myself, and get it certified by a teacher in my school?
Thank you very much.
Hi Yui,
For documents where the originals were issued by your school, it should be fine if you have the translations certified as correct by an official at the school. But you may want to double-check first where you intend to apply to make sure that they do not have any specific rules about translations.
In the case of submitting a translation, you will still need to submit an original in the original language, as well.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you so much Travis for your kind advice.
I am sorry but I have another question.
I will be completing my foundation studies on 24th April 2021 but the guidelines for the undergraduate applicants has stated that applicants have to arrive between 1st April 2021 and 7th April 2021.
May I know if that leaves me with no choice but to apply for direct placement where some universities start their academic year during autumn? If I do not apply for direct placement and follow the original procedure to take 1 year of Japanese preparatory education (before enrolling into universities), am I still able to join the preparatory classes in time?
Hi Yui,
You do have to be finished with your qualifying studies and be able to arrive in Japan during the designated time. So, if your foundation studies program does not allow that, then as far as I know, your choices would be to apply for direct placement or to wait a year to apply for the regular process.
However, the undergraduate scholarship is not my particular area of expertise, so if you can find someone else with more experience, you might want to check with them, or even with the Japanese embassy.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello I have several doubts that I’d love you to help me find an answer
1. Do the letter of recommendation has to be signed exlcusively by the dean? does it give an advantage?
2. I’ve used a calculator for the GPA since I live in guatemala and we usually don’t do any range of grading. I found a GPA calculator online and after considering the article linked in that site me score ended up being 3.11 out of 4.00. Does that make me unelegible?
3. Nowhere in the application form does it say my graduation certificate has to be translated, does it? and if so, who has to signed it?
4. When submitting the explanation of the scores, could I use a percentile calculus of the grades instead or beside the academic transcript? Since my GPA seems rather small and that wouldn’t make me competitive against private school (who usually give greater scores to students) would it make sense to make that annotation? is is worth it to give a trnascript of both the plain certificate and the percentile certifiicate?
Thanks in advance
and best regards
Hi Andres,
This article is about the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship, so there are some differences with the Embassy Recommendation.
1. For the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship, yes, your letter must be signed by the Dean or someone higher. For the Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship, your academic advisor can sign it.
2. It isn’t possible to determine your eligibility based on GPA scores on a different scale. You need to calculate your GPA on the MEXT 3.00 scale for eligibility and conversions have to be done on a course-by-course basis. Any other method will not give you an accurate number. I have a separate article about how to complete that conversion that should help.
3. In the application guidelines, it says “These documents must be written in Japanese or English, or translation in either of these languages should be attached.” So, a translation is required. In most cases, for any translation of an official document, such as a transcript or certificate of graduation, you would need it signed as an accurate translation by a professional translator, but for translation of university-issued documents, a university official’s signature could also be acceptable if you have translated the document yourself. If you are applying for the Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship, they may also allow you to submit a certificate that you have translated yourself without a signature, since they have bilingual staff at the embassy who can verify it, but you should check with them first.
4. You can submit your percentile records, but you must still submit your complete academic transcript of grades, and that should be what is ultimately used for the eligibility verification.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz