I have written an updated version at a new link!
Please click here for the updated version of this article: How to Apply for the 2021/2022 University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship.
I have left the old article in place, as you may find useful information in the comments below, but please refer to the newest version.
Old Article
In order to have the best chance at winning the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship, it is best to start your application as early as possible. But that’s where many applicants run into a brick wall.
Japanese universities do not make the application guidelines available far enough in advance. Sometimes, that means you do not have enough time to obtain the documents you need, like letters of recommendation from universities in other countries or official English language proficiency scores.
There is, however, some good news: the required documents do not change significantly from year to year.
What You Can Do to Prepare Now
Prepare the documents that were due last year, now! This article will list and describe all of the documents required by MEXT in the 2018 application cycle. If you have these documents on hand, you will almost certainly be ready for this year’s application.
There is one caveat to the list below: These are only the documents required by MEXT. When you apply for the University Recommended MEXT scholarship, each university can determine its own, additional requirements. In most cases, these additional requirements are only addition forms to be filled out, not anything that requires advance preparation. However, there is always a possibility that there may be some other requirements, as well. Since these would be determined on a university-by-university basis, there is no way I can list all of them here. The only way to find out about them is to go digging on the specific university’s website for past announcements, as I covered in my previous article about How to Apply for the 2019 University Recommended MEXT Scholarship.
(If you haven’t read through that article yet, I highly recommend you go through it now. It talks about how to find the specific application information for your university and other details about the application process).
MEXT Scholarship Application Documents
Here are the documents you need to prepare. For each one, I will describe what it is, where to get it, and what requirements it must meet. At the end, I’ll also talk about some general requirements for all application documents.
Application Form
You’ll need to get the application form from the university you’re applying to. The form changes slightly each year and, unfortunately, it usually is not released in advance. Fortunately, the questions never change significantly, so you can easily prepare the information you’ll need and complete the form once it arrives.
I have a sample version of the form that I send to everyone who joins my mailing list, so you can at least see what kinds of questions you’ll have to answer and prepare to complete the form quickly as soon as it is available. I also have an article about how to fill in the form, based on the most recent version, that should answer any questions you have.
Field of Study and Research Program Plan
This is by far the most important document in your entire application and one that you should start working on several months before you submit it! It is far too complex and important to cover in a few sentences, but fortunately, I have a much more detailed explanation available as well!
The most important thing is to develop a compelling research topic. Then, you need to present it in the format required by MEXT. I have a free article about how best to present your research topic in MEXT’s format and cover both the topic selection and formatting in my upcoming book, How to Write a Scholarship-Winning Field of Study and Research Program Plan.
Photo
You will need to attach a photo to the application form, and I recommend including a second one, just in case something happens to the first. It is possible to import the photo into the form digitally, but do not print a photo on regular printer paper and attempt to attach that.
If attaching a physical photo, never never never use a stapler! A photo with staple holes in it is useless. Use a glue stick.
The photo should be 4.5 cm high by 3.5 cm wide – don’t worry if it is larger than the physical space for it on the form, just make sure it matches the dimensions – and should be high resolution (no visible pixelation or color distortion), showing you facing directly forward from the chest up, with no hats or unnecessary glasses. (Note: Hair coverings worn for religious reasons are acceptable). If attaching a physical photo, write your name and nationality on the back, in case it falls off and they need to check which application to reattach it to.
If you are sending a backup spare photo (recommended!), wrap it in a folded piece of paper so that it does not get damaged by things like paperclips or edges of other documents.
Passport Copy or Government-Issued Identification Record
The purpose of this documentation is to confirm both your citizenship and your personal identifying information, such as your legal name and birthdate.
Submit a copy of your passport, if you have one. The copy of your passport should include the outside cover as well as the page with your photo and identifying information. You do not need to include copies of all pages or copies of pages with visas, entry/departure stamps, etc.
Make sure your photocopy shows the whole page. Ideally, the edges of the passport should be visible in the copy. That will help prove that there is no other information or invalidation outside of the copied area.
If your passport has any incorrect information (e.g. Your name is spelled incorrectly), you should get that corrected officially before submitting the copy, or wait until after your MEXT scholarship to get it corrected.
If you do not have a passport yet, then alternative documents can include a Family Register or Birth Certificate.
Transcript from Most Recent University Attended
The following would not count as your “current university”:
- A University you attended to earn a certificate
- A university where you enrolled in a few classes, but did not earn a degree
- A language program attended at a university, outside of a degree program
- A university where you studied abroad short-term
- A university where you are currently studying but plan to drop out, rather than graduate, before starting your MEXT-funded studies
A “Transcript” may be known by other names in other countries, so it is fine if your document is not called a “transcript”, as long as it shows your academic performance in each class you have taken over the course of your degree, with an indication of each course’s credit value (if applicable) and grade, score, or marks. It must cover every year of your current degree program, even though only the most recent two years will be counted toward your GPA calculation for scholarship eligibility.
The transcript must be an original document, or a copy certified as being accurate by the issuing university and it must be in English or Japanese. If your document is in another language, you would need to include the original document as well as a certified translation.
As I will discuss under “Proof of Outstanding Academic Achievement” below, your transcript must also include or be accompanied by an explanation of the grading system.
Transcript: Special Cases – Transfer Students
Transfer students must include their transcript from their current university as well as the transcript from any previous universities attended where they earned credits toward the same degree. All of the originality and language rules above would apply to all transcripts.
Transcript: Special Cases – Fewer than Two Years of Grades
MEXT requires at least two full years of grades on your transcript. However, current Master’s Degree students applying for a MEXT scholarship for their PhD, will most often not have two full years of grades from their Master’s program. In that case, they would also need to include their undergraduate transcript. All of the originality and language rules above would apply to both transcripts.
Transcripts: Special Cases – No Grades at All
There are some degree programs (research-based degrees) with no coursework where students earn no grades at all during the course of the program. If you are in one of those programs as of the time of your application, there is an alternative: Your letter of recommendation (more on that below) must state that you are in the top 30% of your graduating class either within your faculty or your university.
Note that being in the top 30% will not help you if you do have grades, but they are below the minimum requirement.
Certificate of Graduation
A “Certificate of Graduation” is not the same thing as a diploma. (Never send your only original diploma as part of the application!)
A Certificate of Graduation is a document issued by your university that certifies that you have graduated. This could be a certified copy of your diploma, but it does not have to be. A letter from your registrar that certifies that you have graduated and shows the date of graduation (or of completing all of the requirements) would be equally valid.
In some cases, your transcript may show the degree you were awarded and the date of graduation. In that case, your transcript could also be considered a “Certificate of Graduation.”
Special Case: Certificate of Expected Graduation
What if you haven’t graduated yet? In that case, MEXT asks that you provide a “Certificate of Expected Graduation” that shows the date you are expected to graduate and the degree you are expected to earn.
This requirement frequently results in confusion: Universities will often refuse to “certify” that a student will graduate by a specific date. After all, you haven’t completed all of your requirements and they do not want to be liable if you fail to do so. But here’s the solution:
The Certificate of Expected Graduation can be conditional! It is not a problem for your university to write that your graduation is conditional on completing your remaining classes, passing your thesis, etc. Essentially, the Certificate of Expected Graduation is asking the university to certify that “it is not impossible for you to graduate” by the expected date.
If your university protests that they cannot certify your graduation, the explanation above has worked in every case that I am aware of!
Proof of Outstanding Academic Achievement
In almost all cases, this requirement is met by submitting your transcript along with an explanation of your grading system. For more on what an explanation of grading system is, please refer to the article linked in the previous sentence.
If you do not have any grades, then the Letter of Recommendation described above would also suffice to meet this requirement.
While the two options above will meet the requirement for well over 99% of applicants, if you have further proof of your outstanding academic performance, you can submit those, as well. Examples would be statements of order of merit, awards for top graduate in your department, etc., awards earned at conferences or competitions, or publications in peer-reviewed journals.
Letter of Recommendation: University Recommended MEXT Scholarship (*Academic)
Yes, this whole article is about the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship, but the Letter of Recommendation requirements are the most significant difference between the University and Embassy application processes, so I wanted to make that clear again here to minimize the inevitable confusion. If you are applying for the Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship, skip this section!
There are several important requirements for your Letter of Recommendation, which I will cover below.
What University Should it Come From?
First of all, your Letter of Recommendation needs to come from your most recent university attended, as I defined in the transcript section, above. There are no exceptions permitted. It doesn’t matter if your most recent university was in another country, or if you are closer to a professor from a past university, or if you have been working as a researcher at a university. It has to be the most recent university where you earned a degree.
Who Should Write It?
You will most often see the requirement that it has to be signed by a Dean or someone higher. Depending on the relationship between your universities, you might actually need a letter from your university president, or you might be able to get away with one from a professor. (I covered the differences in this article about the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship application from last year.
Here’s the thing, though: While those different levels may be necessary for the university to submit your nomination to MEXT, in order to keep things fair to all applicants, most universities will ask for a letter from a Dean or higher, regardless of the relationship. If you are preparing your documents in advance, this is what you should be aiming for. A Vice Dean, Deputy Dean, Assistant Dean, etc. will not meet the requirements, nor will a Department Head.
If your university does not use the title “Dean”, then to find the equivalent person, you would need the administrative head of a “faculty”, “school”, or “college”. That person should report directly to the Provost, or head of all academic affairs for the university (unless the Dean is doing double duty as the provost).
How Do You Get the Dean to Sign It?
Let’s get this straight, first: Your letter of recommendation needs to be signed by the Dean. It does not have to (and in most cases should not) be written by the Dean. This is something that trips up applicants all of the time. They think that they need to walk into the Dean’s office – where the Dean does not know them personally – and convince the Dean to write them a letter.
That’s not the right way to go about it. Here’s why:
- You should never in your life ask someone to write you a letter of recommendation from scratch! Always give them a draft or, at the very least, a bullet list of your significant achievements that you want included.
- You probably should not be going directly to the Dean, either. Start with your adviser. Show your adviser the draft, ask their help in editing it, then ask if the adviser will approach the Dean on your behalf.
If you were one of the top students in your field, you should have a good relationship with your adviser, and your adviser should have no trouble talking the Dean into signing the letter.
What Does it Have to Include?
The letter needs to be addressed to the President of the university you are applying to – make sure to use the title! – be signed by the Dean (with his or her title, as well), and somewhere in the body include the words “I recommend [your name] for the Monbukagakusho Scholarship at [university you are applying to].”
Everything else is just window dressing. In most cases, your letter of recommendation will not have much of an impact on your application evaluation, it just needs to be there.
Thesis Abstract
If you have written or will be writing a graduation thesis, you need to include a half-page to full-page abstract (summary) of it with your application.
Do not send the entire thesis – nobody has time to read that.
Since you are only sending an abstract, you can write that, even if you haven’t finished the thesis itself or gotten it approved. This is also one of the few documents that you can translate yourself, if your thesis is in another language, since it’s your own words.
No Graduation Thesis?
If you have a graduation thesis, you have to submit an abstract of that paper, even if it is off topic from what you plan to apply to study in Japan. This still applies if you graduated years ago and have since written and published academic papers that you consider to be better.
If you do not have a graduation thesis, then you should contact the university for further instructions (or look at their application guidelines from the previous year), but here are a few common alternatives:
- SUmmary of equivalent graduation project
- Summary of a published paper or paper presented at a conference
- Summary of a term paper (in the class that was closest to what you plan to study in Japan)
Proof of Language Ability
This is one of those requirements that can hurt you if you aren’t prepared well before the actual guidelines are released. It’s nearly impossible to get an official language proficiency test score on short notice, and it is impossible if that language is Japanese, since the JLPT is only offered twice per year.
If you are planning ahead to apply for the MEXT scholarship, especially the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship, make sure that you have your language proficiency test done and score report available before that application period begins. Score reports are good for two years in most cases, so you do not need to worry about preparing too early.
As of the 2018 application cycle, MEXT started telling universities that they should collect objective proof of language proficiency, such as official TOEFL or IELTS scores, if at all possible. To me, this suggests that in future years, MEXT is going to start requiring an official language proficiency test score.
Alternatives?
This article is about planning in advance. If you’re planning in advance, then plan to get one of the approved, internationally accepted tests. Don’t plan to ask for an exception or alternative. If you plan in advance to ask for an alternative, you’re deliberately putting yourself at a disadvantage. Count on your competition having official language proficiency test scores. Given how competitive this scholarship is, you cannot afford to put yourself a step behind.
Proof of Relevant Professional Ability
This requirement is somewhat ambiguous and in most cases does not apply. Proof of relevant ability would be a professional certification in your field or certification in a skill directly related to your research. Something like a certificate of proficiency in Microsoft Word is not going to count.
In processing over 500 applications over the course of three years, I never once saw a relevant professional certification. So, don’t worry if you don’t have one.
Summmary
Once the application period for the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship starts, you will not have much time to prepare and send your application, so you need to get started in advance.
The documents you need to prepare, once again are:
- Application Form – Prepare the contents, even though you do not have access to the form yet. You can get a sample version of last year’s form when you sign up for my mailing list, below.
- Field of Study and Research Program Plan – Write it out now so that you can copy it into the required format as soon as it is available.
- Photo
- Passport – Apply now if you do not have one.
- Transcript from Most Recent University Attended
- Certificate of Graduation or Expected Graduation
- Proof of Outstanding Academic Achievement
- Letter of Recommendation
- Thesis Abstract – Or Summary of alternative graduation project
- Language Proficiency Test Scores
- Relevant Professional Certifications – If applicable
Want to Maximize Your Chance to Win the MEXT Scholarship?
If you want to increase your chances of earning the MEXT scholarship, my book, How to Apply for the MEXT Scholarship, breaks down the scholarship details and application process and also includes chapters on developing a successful applicant mindset and an application strategy that will help you stand out from the crowd. You can purchase it in ebook or print format – or ask your university library to stock it, instead!Questions?
Let me know in the comments below!
Special Thanks
Special thanks to the TranSenz supporters on Patreon, especially Daimyo Supporter Kenzo who pledges $10 per month to show his support! You can show your support for TranSenz on Patreon for as little as $1 (0.08% of a MEXT monthly stipend) per month. Patreon supporters are instrumental in helping to cover the costs of maintaining this site and get priority responses to any questions as well as advance access to news and offers.
If you want to show your support but Patreon is out of reach, I’d appreciate it if you say hi on social media or in the comments below to let me know if you appreciate these posts. You can find me on facebook at @TranSenz or on Twitter at @tagsenzaki. I look forward to saying hi!
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Hello, I have one question for you, do the letters of recommendation need to be stamped by the dean’s office? or the dean signature only was enough?. Thank You
Hi Ezki,
The Dean’s signature should be sufficient (not every university/deal is going to have a seal, so it’s not something they can insist on), but if they are able to seal it, too, that wouldn’t hurt.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis,
I am extremely grateful for the blogs you’ve posted. They have been very helpful, given that a lot of information on the MEXT scholarship on other websites is unclear and vague.
I recently got admitted to the University of Tokyo to an undergraduate program taught in English and the university has proposed to nominate me for the MEXT scholarship.
I obviously accepted this very generous proposition and was wondering what my chances of being granted the scholarship are.
Further, are university recommended students required to fill any application forms or provide any additional documents apart from those already submitted to the university? (The IELTS scores, high school transcripts, letters of recommendation, essays etc. have already been submitted to the university).
Lastly, does the MEXT conduct an interview for university nominated students?
Thank you in advance for your response,
Hi Anonymous,
Congratulations on your admission to Todai and for the scholarship nomination!
I can’t be sure, but it sounds like they would be nominating you under the “Top Global University” scholarship category. That’s a little bit different from the scholarship applications I describe on this site because it can also be offered after students enroll and the universities have greater control over their nominees. For the TGU category, each university has a maximum number of scholarship recipients that they can have at one time, so as one graduates, they can replace them.
While the university has significant discretion and essentially gets to decide the nominees on their own, my understanding is that you will need to fill out another set of application forms, even if it is only a formality. I do not think that you will have to submit all of the other supporting documents again, but Todai should be able to give you more specific information.
Lastly, no, MEXT does not conduct interviews of nominees.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello,
Thanks for all those helpful information. It helped me a lot while preparing my documents.
I would like to ask some questions. I got accepted by a graduate school and they already recommended me to MEXT. What is my chance to get it? I heard most of the students who are recommended to MEXT get the scholarship but I wonder If It can get affected by coronavirus outbreak? I’d like to get your opinion about that.Thank you
Hi Denise,
Congratulations on being nominated for the scholarship!
My experience is that most applicants who are selected by their universities for nomination to MEXT do end up earning the scholarship. Universities know in advance how many students they are allowed to nominate.
However, last year, MEXT suddenly cut the budget and the number of slots, so several nominated students did not get the scholarship. Since the number of slots this year already reflects the cut from last year, I do not expect them to cut it again, so I think you should be safe.
For the Coronavirus situation, as far as I understand, the government funding for that is coming out of emergency funds, not the current budget, so it should not impact the MEXT Scholarship amounts. The more important concern is going to be what immigration restrictions are in effect when you are supposed to travel to Japan, but I can only hope that the virus situation will have improved by then!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello,
I received my certificate of admission and now I am not sure what to do next in order to get the MEXT funding. I have to send the fundings over by July 2020. The Embassy in London told me to contact my University, but the University have not specified I need to do anything further other than send the documents I need.
Many thanks,
Hi Kristy,
For the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship, each university sets its procedures differently, so my best recommendation to you is to do some digging on the university’s website or contact your advising professor there.
Typically, though, there is a specific application process for students who want to be admitted with recommendation to the MEXT Scholarship. If you were accepted via that application process, then the university would also inform you that you had been selected for recommendation to MEXT for the scholarship and they would take care of the rest of the process from there (you might have some additional forms to fill out, but they would let you know about that).
Right now, though, it’s rather early for that. To the best of my knowledge, MEXT has not released the guidelines for the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship for this year or the number of students each university can recommend, so there would be no way for the university to move forward with that process.
At this point, I would suggest that the best thing that you can do is to confirm with the university that you are still under consideration for the MEXT scholarship and ask them when the next step will be. Everything will go through the university.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
I trust you are doing well. And sorry for disturbing you many times.
I am keenly waiting for you kind reply. I am seeking information for the below concerns.
1. I want to send an email to my professor in order to attract his attention for my recommendation letter. In your viewpoint what critical information I should include in my email until I can convince him to help me signing the letter by dean.
2. The university is to send me application documents of URMS may few weeks later, should I seek to take dean’s signature now or I can try for having it after receiving documents from university,
3. Even though, university issued me certificate of medium of instruction, should I think it is enough for language evidence for URMS or I should start taking preparation for IELTS or TOEFL.
I am really thanking you for all efforts you are doing for us and admitting that without your kind support none us are able to win this scholarship.
With best regards
Hi Qasem,
It’s never a disturbance, so please do not worry.
1. You are talking about your current/most recent advisor, right? In that case, since it’s not a “cold email” from out of the blue, I would suggest that you use your existing relationship and usual communication to get his attention, then explain why you need his help and what exactly it is that you need. A phone call or face-to-face meeting, if possible, might work well, too.
2. The letter of recommendation is not one of the documents that they will send you, it is a free-form letter, so there is no reason why you cannot prepare it now. I would recommend starting soon, as it could take some time and if the Dean is gone for research, a conference, etc., that could be a problem.
3. In general, I recommend going for TOEFL or IELTS, but if you cannot get your score report in time to submit it for the application deadline, there would be no benefit. I would suggest that you clarify exactly what the university you are applying to wants. At least last year, MEXT would accept a certificate that your medium of instruction was in English, but the university might have it’s own, higher requirements.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis-san,
Hello, and sorry for disturbing you again, could you kindly provide me information about slot of SATREPS, is it different from ordinary slot? Which one do you kindly recommend me if there is 2 ordinary slots and one SATREPS slot. regards
Hi Qasem,
Unfortunately, I do not know much about the SATREPS program, so I can’t comment on that. I do not know where it comes from or who is eligible, I only know how it affects the MEXT application at the university level.
You would have to find more about the program and how to see if you are eligible. But if you are eligible to apply under SATREPS, then you would have a much greater chance at the university level since there is a much smaller pool of eligible applicants.
The only other thing I know about SATREPS is that you would need to be applying for a Doctoral Program as a degree-seeking student.
Sorry I cannot be of more assistance.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
I trust you are doing well.
In case of application for MEXT University Recommendation, I send an email in order to attract my last professor`s support. He answered me that he welcomes me for this application and asked me that I should send him information about application form. The university already replied me the I should work with the professor and I will find application forms in December. They have a slot in the university. Could you kindly instruct me for next steps I should take and what to reply for my professor. I appreciate your kind words in advance. Best regards
Hi Qasem,
I would recommend for now that you reply to tell the professor that you will send the application form it self as soon as it becomes available in December.
In the mean time, I would recommend that you extend the conversation to talk about your research interests. If you have already written your Field of Study and Research Program Plan, you could send him that document in the meantime to get his feedback on it.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Thank you so much for your kind reply and warm support.
I previously shared my professor my research plan for MEXT Scholarship Embassy recommendation he checked and confirm it. I would like to discuss with my professor and use it again, my concern is that the format and content of the both are the same or it is a bit different. If different, where can I find a sample for URMS.
Second, after receiving how I should submit it back to university. Should I send the documents by email or the hard copy by post. if you kindly share me some information about dealing with photo, I will be grateful of you.
Sincerely Yours
Qasem
Dear Travis,
I mean application documents needed to be sent by email electronically or hard copy by post.
Hi Qasem,
You will need to send all original documents by post and I would recommend using a courier service that allows for tracking.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Qasem,
Unfortunately, I am not completely sure about the format for the URMS FSRPP this year. They just changed it last year for the ERMS and usually any changes they make for the ERMS will also apply to the URMS, so I think they will use the same format for the URMS. The problem is that MEXT does not release the official guidelines and forms until much later, usually after the universities’ application deadlines. So, there’s a chance that the university will make you use the URMS format from last year for the initial application, but then you might need to change it to the ERMS format later.
However, even if the format changes, you can still use the exact same content, you just have to arrange it differently. If you are using the sections from my recommended formatting, it is pretty simple to move them from one format to another as needed.
In my experience, you are going to need to send all of the documents by post, not just email. But you can’t do that until the university releases its application guidelines with specific instructions.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis,
It’s been a while since I last posted here probably sometime before the 2020 embassy selection which I participated in but unfortunately came up short. Since I know you’re always asking for feedback on how we are doing I’ll give my short summary as well. I had passed the first document screening and had confidence in my preparation (research plan etc.) as I’ve been working on it for quite some time with the help of your articles and books. Then I had to take the English and Japanese language exams since I was applying for graduate degree program, I think I did relatively good on the English exam but the thing that made me came up short seems to be Japanese exam. I think I did good on the first part there as well, but the 2nd and 3rd parts were just too hard for me to do good yet. I was almost sure that the Japanese exam wasn’t that relavent especially if you are applying for a program conducted entirely in English (which I was doing) so I thought that it won’t matter as much and I’d still pass, therefore the outcome was a bit of a shocker especially when there was around only 10 people participating (I come from a small country though so probably the spots were also limited to a few if not only one). Anyway, after the exams I wasn’t as confident but I still thought I’d pass at least to the interview part where I again had quite some confidence having in mind my preparation for the research and other things which I tought was my stronger side. But I wasn’t because appearantly my Japanese scores weren’t enough and in the email from the embassy they said that they were expecting higher scores especially from those who had taken Japanese classes or had majored in Asian or Japanese studies (which I had) so appearantly the bar was set even higher for me as oppose to people from other subjects and probably they could have passed with only just English, I thought this was a bit unfair but at the same time I guess it makes sense. Although, as far as I know MEXT never had this kind of rule so probably the Japanese embassy in my country had set this additional requiremen of their own is what I’m guessing.
Anyhow, I didn’t want to wait and waste time and take a gap year so I enrolled into the graduate school of my university that I had just graduated earlier this year. But I still don’t want to completely give up on the MEXT dream even though I know I won’t try the embassy path again I remembered there is the university one which is why I want to write and ask you a couple things about. I only had been interested in the embassy one before and never actually thought that I could have much chances with the university selection, thus I don’t have much knowledge about this way even though I believe it is quite similar. I thought that If I could give it a try and actually be applicable then why not I’ve got nothing to lose anyway, so moving on to my questions…
1) This is the biggest and number one concern, as I’ve mentioned I didn’t wait and enrolled into the graduate (masters) program at my home university and am a first year student here now. So I wonder if I could even possibly apply for MEXT graduate studies without dropping out here first? Like I think that they only need the info about my bachelor degree such as diploma copy, grade of transcript and such so I’m guessing there shouldn’t be a problem to apply and then dropout if I get in and if not then I’d just stay here (that’s my initial plan) but I’m not sure if there isn’t any conflicting bureaucratic things on this end. (if I cannot do that then the other questions kind of loses relevancy because I don’t want to dropout from where I am now since MEXT is more of a gamble than anything)
2) My university has an official partnership (bilateral exchange agreement and such) with the university that I’m aiming for, so if I understood correctly a recommendation letter of a professor would be enough? Or do I still need dean or someone higher to sign it?
3) JLPT N2 or higher is not required in the embassy selection unless you’re applying for a Japanese-only program, but I’ve read somewhere that for the university selection you need JLPT N2 certificate, doest that apply to everyone or again only to those who wish to study entirely in Japanese? I do have scores of TOEFL though, back from the embassy selection.
That’s it for now, If I can actually apply then I’ll definitely do so and contact my target professor since It is the same university and professor that i had as a number one priority in the embassy selection, in fact my research plan and everything else also remains the same so I wouldn’t have to do much of the additional things. But if not then I’ll just stay here and go for a study exchange to Japan again that I did in my undergraduate studies.
Thanks to You as always Travis!
Hi Lawrence,
Thank you very much for your feedback and for sharing your experience.
I am very sorry to hear how things turned out for you, especially the shocking timing that you described. As you said, I was also under the impression that your Japanese language scores would not be a significant factor if you were applying to a program taught in English. Perhaps if your research or your degree field seemed to demand that you would have to conduct primary research using Japanese they would have been more strict, but that’s the only thing I can think of. Like you said, it seems unfair to hold you to a different standard just because you have taken Japanese language classes in the past.
Your story has certainly been instructional for me and will affect the advice I offer in the future.
Now, for the University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship questions:
1) Your plan to remain enrolled in the Master’s program in your home country for now and then drop out if you get the MEXT scholarship sounds perfectly reasonable to me. I saw several applicants who took the same approach in the past when I was processing applications directly. Their idea was that the quality of education available in Japan was better so it made sense to drop out and start over in Japan, but that in the meantime, they wanted to continue working on their academic proficiency in the field, so it made sense to stay enrolled in graduate school in the meantime. That logic seems perfectly understandable to me.
You would only need to submit your undergraduate documentation to qualify for the application.
2) My understanding is the same as yours – a letter of recommendation from your undergraduate advisor should be sufficient.
3) JLPT scores are not required for applying for degree programs taught in English under the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship, but TOEFL scores would be. As long as you are not applying in a field that requires that you study in Japanese (Japanese literature, Japanese history, etc.), then the English scores should be fine.
Please let me know if you have any other questions about the University application process as you move forward!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hey Travis!
It’s me again and I have decided to pursue the university MEXT which is quite soon from now. Just to make sure I have a few questions ready as I’m soon to start filling the documents.
1) The university which I wish to apply for will probably only issue this year guidelines at the end of December of at the beginning of January (based on last year) but it states that documents must reach them between January 28th and February 6th, but since I live far from Japan it will probably take quite some time just to get the mail there. So, does it mean I must fill the documents as quickly as possible or preferably have them already prepared according to last year’s and then just copy-paste it to new format and send them asap?
2) Is university (bachelor) diploma is enough or do I need to submit high school diplomas and such? And do I really need to send the original diploma (that’s what they are asking for, but it is still a bit of worrisome even though it seems they would return it to me if I sign some other document)
3) Are all of the documents such as evaluation form and recommendation letter should be sealed in individual envelopes and then put together with other documents in one more envelope or they should be sent separately?
4) Do I need to somehow number the documents same as in the embassy application or it is not necessary?
Thank you as always!
Hi Lawrence,
1. I would recommend having all of the documents ready to send as soon as the guidelines are out and to know how you will fill out the forms, based on last year’s forms. You can even fill in last year’s forms and then just copy-paste the answers to the new one when it comes out. In fact, that application guidelines and forms for the university-recommended PGP category scholarship have already been released and as far as I can tell, they are the same as last year’s forms in their content. (The embassy application form and Field of Study and Research Program Plan changed significantly this year, but the university forms are the same as in the past.). I am working on an announcement post about this now, but in the meantime, you can refer to my old articles about the 2019 Embassy Recommended application form (same as the University form) and the old University Recommended Field of Study and Research Program Plan.
I would recommend sending your completed forms and documents by a courier service that can get them there in less time. At the very least, I would suggest EMS, if not DHL, FedEx, etc.
2. Your bachelor’s degree should be enough. NEVER send the original documents. You will not get them back. Send a certified copy. The best way is to get it certified by an official at your school (e.g. make a photocopy and have the registrar’s office sign that it is a true and accurate copy).
3. I am not familiar with the evaluation form. For the letter of recommendation, it is up to each university to determine whether or not it needs to be sealed in an envelope. MEXT does not have specific requirements. So, please try to see if you can find the university’s guidelines from the previous year. In most cases, I do not think it is necessary to be in an envelope.
4. Whether or not to number each document is up to each university’s guidelines. I would recommend that you paperclip multipage documents together (never use staples unless specifically directed), make sure they are in the order specified by the university’s guidelines, and, if you really want to go the extra mile, include a coversheet for each document explaining what it is (that would be in place of numbering, if numbering is not required).
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
I would like to ask for the MEXT scholarship application.
I got mixed answer from embassy (via direct call) and from websites (via ineligibility pdf).
It is written there that a person is ineligible if he/she is applying to another program under MEXT system.
I called the embassy’s information, culture, and education office and asked if it is okay to apply embassy-recommended MEXT when my application of university-recommended MEXT is in process. They said “it is okay to apply for embassy-recommended MEXT and you have to withdraw the embassy-MEXT that still in process if you receive the university-MEXT scholarship vice versa”.
To be noted that in this comment, the university MEXT is opened in Jan 2020 for Oct 2020 enrollment while embassy MEXT is opened in Apr 2020 for Apr 2021 enrollment
I am still confused because of this mixed answer.
The reason I want to apply for both is to increase my chance of receiving scholarship.
Thank you.
Denilson
Hi Denilson,
The answer you got sounds pretty straightforward and clear to me, but it is the opposite of what I have heard in the past.
Since, as you pointed out, the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship and Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship would be for different years, they are saying that you can start your Embassy application while you are still waiting on the results of the University. However, if you find out that you have received the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship for 2020, you would have to immediately contact the embassy and inform them that you are withdrawing your application for the Embassy MEXT scholarship for 2021. You can’t get the award twice, overlapping, so once you have confirmed receipt, there is no point in continuing the second application process.
Realistically speaking, however, you should be almost certain of the results of your University Recommended MEXT Scholarship before the Embassy application even begins. Universities will finish their internal screening for candidates to recommend to MEXT typically around February, although it could be as late as April for some scholarship categories. At that point, the university would contact all of the applicants and inform them whether or not they have been selected for recommendation to MEXT. If you are not selected, then your University MEXT scholarship would no longer be “ongoing” and there would be no problem with you applying for the Embassy MEXT scholarship for 2021.
On the other hand, if the university contacts you and says that they have selected you as a candidate to recommend to MEXT then, in most cases, you can be almost sure that you will receive the scholarship for 2020. (I say most cases because this last year was the first time I heard of students who were recommended for the scholarship but didn’t get it. Apparently, MEXT cut the numbers suddenly. But that should not happen two years in a row!). The final result for the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship for 2020 would be released before the end of the Primary Screening process at the embassy.
I hope that makes it a little more clear.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis,
Hope my massage finds you well,
I am a graduate student who did my master’s in a priviate univeristy in Japan two years ago but still I kept strong relationship with my ex-professor.
I have few concerns related to MEXT university recommendation scholarship, if you kindly help me.
1. The university already accepted some MEXT scholars but through embassy recommendation (that I personally contacted them), how should I know whether they accept students through university recommendation since there is no information in this regard.
2. if for example they accept applicants through university recommendation, do still I have the time as of today to submit my application for 2020 and to whom .
3. And the last one, If the university does not have problem with application for this kind of scholarships but they do not know how to proceed my application to MEXT; can I submit an application directly to MEXT office after receiving my recommendation letter. If so could you provide me the link
with regards
Hi Sadiq,
1) The number of MEXT scholars that a university can accept each year via the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship is not related in any way to the number of scholars they accepted via the embassy. It is related to the number of international graduate students currently enrolled. I have written articles in the past with tables showing the number of scholarship places available based on the number of international students, but this last year, MEXT cut down the number of students after the fact, so I am not confident that previous years’ tables will still be relevant.
2) Each university sets their own timeline and process for applying for the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship, so my best recommendation to you would be to check their website to see what information you can find about the application process (if they are not currently accepting applications, you may need to find the information from last year for reference), including the deadlines and where to submit your application. There should still be time. But again, this all varies from university to university and there is no way that I can keep track of all of them, so you’re going to have to do some research.
3) You cannot apply directly to MEXT. The university has to do this. They are the only ones that can submit the paperwork. But MEXT sends out instructions to all universities in Japan, so there is no reason why they would not know how to complete the process.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
There is nothing in their website. They only shared some informtion about their past two MEXT scholars who I personally know they were there through Embassy recommended patway.
Hi Sadiq,
I’m sorry to hear that. The only other thing I could suggest would be to contact your old advisor and see if they know anything.
Every university sets it’s own procedure for the application (and there are probably some that don’t bother at all). Since I don’t know what university you’re referring to, there’s nothing else I can say or guess about their process.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Thank you so much for having your kind support,
I contacted university and found that they can recommend one student to MEXT every year. They said if I would like to apply for this program, I should contact my ex-professor to make the application forms in December.
what steps do you kindly recommend for to follow next, and how I should deal with my professor in my first email. with Best Regards
Sadiq
Hi Sodiq,
I’m glad to hear that you were able to find out the numbers as well as the process from them.
Even though they said to contact your professor in December, I think it wouldn’t hurt to start working on the relationship now. I don’t know how often you have been in contact so far, but you could reach out to the professor and let them know that you are hoping to return there for your graduate studies and would like to study under them. I would recommend that you keep the initial email short, but do mention what you want to research during your studies.
Normally, I do not recommend mentioning the MEXT scholarship in the first email, but since this is someone that you have a relationship with, it isn’t as necessary to avoid. If you do mention the scholarship, though, also share what the university told you that the process would begin in December, so the professor does not think that they have to do something about it now.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi
If the medium of instruction in my university (last attended)is English and all my transcripts are in english .
Do i still need to go for IELTS/TOEFEL?
English language as a mediym of instruction certificate would be enough or not???
Thank you!
Hi Tahir,
As of last year’s University Recommended MEXT Scholarship, MEXT accepted proof of English medium education, as I describe in my article about eligibility. But universities might not accept it. Each university is allowed to set it’s own requirements higher than MEXT’s if they want.
So, I would recommend that when you decide on your university, you check their requirements on their website directly to make sure that you meet them!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello tank you very match for the information. but can the SAT be valid as proof of language ability?
Hi Yassire,
It is not one of the tests that MEXT accepts as serving as proof of your language ability. The SAT is designed to evaluate native speakers’ ability level, not second-language speakers’ ability level, so it does not track to the same scoring system as tests like TOEFL.
That said, for the Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship, you do not need a score report. And for the University, universities may be willing to accept SAT scores if they do so as part of their normal admissions process, but that’s going to be on a case-by-case basis.
One other thought is that the SAT is most often used for admission in English-speaking countries, specifically the US. If you have completed a degree in English taught there, then you would meet the language ability requirements.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi! I would like to ask if this addressing is correct?
Thank you!
———————————————————————————————————
PROFESSOR MAKOTO GONOKAMI
President
The University of Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan
Re: Endorsement for (my name)
To President Makoto Gonokami of The University of Tokyo,
I am respectfully recommending the application of (my name), who is applying for Monbukagakusho Scholarship and English Program on Intelligent Information Processing at The University of Tokyo.
ETC ETC ETC.
Hi Timothy Joshua Dy Chua,
I’m assuming this is how you plan to have your Dean open the Letter of Recommendation. In that case, yes, this looks perfect. The Etc Etc portion should go on to explain your specific accomplishments, why you would be a good candidate, etc.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi! Apparently, the office of the dean changed the addressee portion into this
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
PROFESSOR MAKOTO GONOKAMI
President
The University of Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan
Re: Letter of Recommendation for Mr. Timothy Joshua Dy Chua
Dear Professor Gonokami,
yada yada yada….
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
I am not sure if this is correct, but it does have the president title in the header part. Please advise thanks!
Hi Timothy Joshua Chua,
That address looks perfect to me! It has the name of the university and the title, so it meets all of the requirements.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thanks a lot for such valuable information. would you please list down few business universities under MEXT scholarship.
Hi Irshad Akhtar,
I have another article about how to find universities and professors that teach your field of study in English in Japan that I think should help you find the answers to your question on your own.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello!
Firstly I want to thank you for writing such useful books! I bought the 2 of them and I am doing my best reading them at the moment.
Secondly I want to ask your opinion on something. My major in university was Japanese while my minor was English. I want to apply for a pgp and they offer you the chance to apply through either Japanese or English. For Japanese they ask for N1 (I have N2 and I don’t think I can pass N1 this year) ans for English they ask for your score on a test like IELTS or TOEIC etc. I have a way better gasp of English language then if Japanese. But my Japanese is not that bad either cause I studied abroad in Japan for a year before (all classes in Japanese but as an exchange student they are very permissive of you as the main point for me was to get better at Japanese as the scholarship was one for people majoring in Japanese). But I am not N1 so it probabaly means that I can’t apply through Japanese. I would actually prefer to apply through English and I plan to take IELTS or TOEIC etc. Want I want to ask you is: would it be a great disadvantage when they realize that I majored in Japanese but I choose to do my studies for Master in English (which is my minor). Would that make a bad impression?
Thank you for everything!
Waiting for your reply
Lorelei
Hi Lorelei,
Thank you very much for your kind words and especially for your feedback on the books. I am thrilled to hear that you found them useful!
For the program you want to apply to, the language of instruction you choose should primarily impact the language that you write your final thesis in. In the meantime, even if you are enrolled in the English-taught program, they may allow you to take some courses taught in Japanese while taking the majority in English. (As you get more confident in your academic Japanese, you might be able to tilt that balance further toward taking coursework in Japanese). In that case, I do not think it would make a bad impression, but rather a good one, showing that you are interested in improving.
My advice to you would be to get in touch with your target university, explain that you do not have the test scores to get into the Japanese program at the moment, but want to study as much as possible in Japanese, then ask if, while in the English-taught program, you would be allowed to take some courses taught in Japanese. That would indicate initiative and trying to comply with their requirements, both good things.
Incidentally, I have found in my limited experience with students in your case that it is easier to take courses in Japanese while in the English-taught program than the reverse, but if they offer you that opportunity, that could work as well.
I hope that helps.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you so so much for your quick answer! And thank you once again for the useful information from. Your books ans blog!
I will do as you suggested. I think it is a great idea. Actually, yes, they are only stressing the fact that we have to write our thesis in the language we choose as the language of instruction. I will reach out to them. Thank you!
I have another question regarding GPA.
In my country we use the 1 to 10 system. 10 is maximum and anything under 5 is considered to have failed. As I read your explanations on GPA I saw that there is the 100 to 60 system. And anything that is lower than 60 represents a failed class. If we compare it to the system in my country, there is a fair difference. Ib my country everything from 49 and under means to have failed while the system provided by mext anything under 59 means “fail”. I am curious if the scores would be rated the same for my country as well. As in 10-8 is a 3, 7 is a 2 and 6 is 1. In the case of my country since anything under 5 is “a fail” and 5 is still considered “a pass” would 5 be a 1 as well? In that case, the rest of the scores are going to be altered?
Sorry for my poor explanation! I just don’t know how to calculate my GPA for sure. In my last ywar I only have grades from 8 and above so if the grading stays the same it would be a 3 (?) but if not… I am just confused.
Sorry for the really long question! Thank you always!
Lorelei
Sorry for the spelling mistakes! I am kinda in a hurry these days 🙏
Don’t worry about it! I have spelling mistakes in here all the time, too 🙂
Hi Lorelei,
Thank you for your kind feedback!
I have seen similar 1-10 systems in the past, but they can vary from country to country in how they are applied, particularly with the numbers in the middle (the 5-7 range). It really depends on your country university. For example, you might find that your system converts on a 5-bucket scale so 10-8 = A = 3, 7 = B = 3, 6 = C = 2, 5 = D = 1. Or you might find that 6 and 5 are grouped, or 7 and 6. In Romania, for example, I have seen that 7 and 6 tend to be grouped (as in when they are converted to ECTS grades), so I think that system would be 10-8 = 3, 7-6 = 2, 5 = 1.
The important thing to look for is how the grades are grouped qualitatively, if there is any sort of description available, or comparison to another country’s system, that can help you sort it out.
If you don’t mind sharing what country you are from, I would be happy to take a more educated guess.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you so so much for taking your time to answer!
I am actually from Romania haha.
I was worried that 8 would be grouped with 7 (and be a 2) and 6 and 5 would be 1, but you said that 8 9 and 10 would be all a 3 and 7 and 6 a 2 so I am a little bit relieved. Btw, I searched online and the pgp I want to apply to had 6 slots for master and two for PhD for 2019. Do you think there would be any chance for an increasing in the number of spots in 2020? I guess it would be kinda difficult with the Olympics coming up… I just hope the slots won’t decrease.
And sorry for my poor explanation!
Thank you once again.
Lorelei
Hi Lorelei,
Lucky guess :). It was one of the first 10-point systems that came to mind.
For PGP programs, the slots will never increase. They are fixed for the three-year period of the program. However, each PGP is only able to accept applicants for three intake years, so I would recommend that you check when the program was approved as a PGP. If the first intake year was 2018 or later, then you should be fine!
Similarly, the number of slots should not go down, either. I am aware that there was a decrease of slots in come categories this year, but I have not been able to confirm yet which ones. My suspicion is Top Global University slots or general category slots, but I am still searching for confirmation.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you once again!
It seems that I can’t reply to your comment anymore. I don’t know why.
Regarding of what you said, I did check and it’s alright. Thank you!
Lorelei
Hi Lorelei,
Thank you very much for your feedback! I’m glad it worked for you 🙂
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello again!
I actully have one more question:
I took a year off after graduating high school before entering university. Would that be a problem for Mext?
Thank you!
Lorelei
Hi Lorelei,
No, I can’t imagine that being a problem. Gap years are pretty common around the world, and I’ve even seen them in Japan. They’re really not going to look at your educational history before university, anyway.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you very much for all your explanations!
Lorelei
Hello Travis!
Thank you once again for your help! As I said above, I bought your books and I used them when I applied for the PGP program this year. I actually passed the documents screening and the interview and the university recommended me to MEXT. The question is, for PGP do universities recommend only the number of students that was decided by MEXT? For this PGP it is written that 3-4 will get the scholarship. So the university only recommended 3-4 students? Or did they recommend more and MEXT will choose? I heard that last year there were some students who were rejected by MEXT so I am quite anxious. And regarding the current situation with corona virus .. Do you think the selected students will be able to go to Japan this fall?
Thank you once again!
Lorelei
Hi Lorelei,
Thank you very much for your feedback and congratulations on passing the screening and earning recommendation by the university!
For the PGP program, the number of scholarships available to each university each year is preset and the university would only recommend the number they are allowed. (They may also have the ability to nominate alternates, in case one of the primary candidates drops out, but in that case, they should let you know in advance).
You are right about students not earning the scholarship last year. That was a shock to all of us – including me, and the universities that had nominated students. I think it had to do with budget reduction at that time, but what I haven’t been able to confirm is whether the reduction applied to PGP programs or to the general category (It should have been the latter). However, for this year, I saw that MEXT already started out by reducing the number of general category places available from the beginning. They can also control the number of PGP places available, since all PGP programs are only valid for three years, so they can control the number of new programs.
Because of that, I do not anticipate a second year of sudden cuts in a row. It would be really surprising to see.
As for being able to go to Japan in the fall, I really can’t tell right now, but I hope so. I know some universities are already cancelling their student exchange programs, but degree-seeking students may be considered differently. Fortunately, the visa application process for MEXT scholars is special, so there may be more consideration for you, and you have more time to wait and see if the immigration situation improves before you have to start that process.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis!
Thank you very much for your answer!
I hope as well that people selected will be able to go to Japan this fall…
If it is okay for you, I will come back with an update when the final result will come out in late June or July.
Thank you once again!
Lorelei
Hi Lorelei,
Please do keep me up to date on what happens with your final result and your travel to Japan!
I will continue to look for announcements from MEXT here and will share anything new that I learn, as well.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello!
Update: I got the scholarship! Thank you very much for tour explanations!
I hope I will be able to go to Japan this fall. Do you have any news about this topic?
Hi Lorelei,
Congratulations! I am very happy to hear that your application was successful.
As for this fall, unfortunately, I don’t know yet what the situation will be. Recently, I have attended a few presentations by MEXT and even they don’t seem to know. The issue of visas and immigration is out of their control, as well, so it all depends on the cabinet and the Immigration Services Agency. I know there has been talk of starting to open back up to immigration over the summer, but I have not heard much about the progress.
I will certainly share anything I learn here!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis.
Following your guidelines and instructions, I had applied for the embassy recommended scholarship this year for MEXT from India. Unfortunately, I was denied in the first screening. I had one question regarding the embassy recommendation before I proceed with my questions for university recommendations.
My field of study was Geology and Geosciences. Until the interview round, only two geology candidates were selected including me. But eventually I came to learn from the embassy that no one was selected from Geology background this year from the embassy. I found it to be quite surprising as I believed earlier that each subject had their own scholarship quota. Isn’t that the actual scenario? Maybe I was a bit over-confident about passing it as it only came down to 2 candidates, I’m not sure.
Regarding university recommendations, I had a few questions.
1. I have heard from many previous university recommendation contenders that the chances of getting a university recommended MEXT scholarship is far lesser that that of the embassy recommended way. I’m not getting demotivated but how much is this true?
2. If my home university has collaborations with the university I’m choosing to pursue research in Japan, does it make my chances to get this slightly higher?
3. How long before the actual application of university recommendation starts, should I begin to contact with my potential supervisor? Because most of the universities start their applications in December of the said year, so would contacting the professors from 3-4 months earlier help me to get their response or attention? I actually tried to develop contacts with a few professors in April-May of this year with my research plan prepared but failed to get any response from any one of them. And should I try my luck by mailing some of the professors I mailed earlier once again now for the university recommendation?
4. Referring to question 3; furthermore, I have come to know from many other students and professors that Japanese professors do not tend to respond to mails whom they don’t personally know or hav’nt met before, except when he/she is asking for a letter of recommendation after passing the first screening of the embassy recommended procedure of MEXT. How do I, therefore, get an edge over getting a response from potential supervisors?
Thank you!
Hi Mainak Ghosh,
Thank you for your feedback.
It is not the case that each field of study has its own quota. I remember hearing that in India in past years they establishes separate quotas for STEM students and arts/humanities students, or at least that they grades them separately throughout the process, but I have never heard of a quota for anything as specific as a single major.
About the university recommendation:
1. It is almost impossible to comment on the “chances”. In some cases it is higher and in some cases it is lower. There are certainly fewer slots available for the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship, but that does not correlate directly to chances because there are other variables at play. For example, in the Embassy screening, the needs of your country are also a factor and bureaucrats, not just academics, are involved in the selection process. Ultimately, your chances are based on the strength of your application and the level of your preparation.
2. A collaboration relationship between your university and the university in Japan makes your application process slightly easier (especially in terms of the Letter of Recommendation) and may give you an advantage over someone who does not have a relationship with the university in Japan, but I do not think this is especially significant in terms of chances, unless you can leverage a direct, personal relationship between faculty members.
3. I recommend trying to network with professors as early as possible to build a relationship, but there is no need to mention the MEXT scholarship at this point. Your goal should just be to get to know one another, so you can evaluate if the professor is someone that you want to work with, and they can get interested in having you as an advisee.
4. This is really much to complex a question for a simple comment here. I was planning on that very topic taking a significant portion of one of my upcoming books. But in the meantime, it’s essentially networking. If you think about successful network building, and especially if you look for information about network building in Japan, that should help!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear,
I appreciate all the precious information you have given us about MEXT scholarship. Thank you a lot for that. I am applying for university recommended scholarship this year, so I would be so thankful if you can help me answer 3 following questions. First, my adviser is Head of External Relation Office in my school, so is it valid if my LOR is written and signed by her? Second, I got IETLS 7.5 certificate but it just got expired on July 2019, do I really have to re-take the certificate or I can just use the expired one? And last, for “Proof of outstanding academic achievement”, if I am graduating in top 5 of my study program, and I get the document signed by my Academic office to certify that, can it be a proof in my documentation?
Looking forward to your response,
Sincerely.
Hi Amy,
Thank you for your kind feedback.
If you are applying for the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship, then in general, your Letter of Recommendation needs to come from a Dean or someone higher. The Head of External Relations Office does not sound like a position equivalent or superior to a dean, so I do not think she would qualify.
I would recommend trying to obtain an up-to-date score if at all possible. As of the last recruiting cycle, MEXT did not specify that scores must be within a specific time frame, but they did say that they reserve the right to implement a validity period in the future, and individual universities may be more strict. An up-to-date score will help you avoid potential problems, though you could chance it with what you have now.
Proof of outstanding academic achievement generally refers to the grading system explanation that has to be included with your transcript. Your order of merit could be useful (though it would depend on how many students are in your program, of course, and that would have to be specified in the document), but the most important thing is that your grades convert to a high MEXT GPA.
I hope that helps!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
hello Travis, thank you so much for doing a hard work to give us so many informations! I am so grateful to you. well I have been rejected by the Embassy recommended MEXT scholarship, but I would like to apply for University recommended MEXT scholarship, so 1st question: I want to know if I can still apply for one of the three Universities (that I have already applied for through the Embassy) or I have to choose a different new one to apply for? 2nd question: should I contact the supervisor of the University that I want to apply for before submitting the documents?
Thank you!
Hi Kheira,
Thank you for your kind words, though I am sorry to hear that your application was not successful this time.
You are allowed to apply to one of the universities that you listed in the Embassy’s Placement Preference Form.
For the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship, the application process varies by university. So, once you have chosen your university, I would recommend that you do some research on their website to learn how they want you to proceed with the application. For example, some will require you to contact the advisor, some will require selection and nomination from your home university, etc.
In general, I recommend getting in touch with your potential advisor in advance, for the sake of relationship building and learning if that is really someone you want to work with for the next few years of your research and degree, so it certainly cannot hurt!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis, thank you for replying me. I think I will contact the university’s advisor to know more. I actually have another question which is: First, when you want to get the recommendation letter signed by the university dean, is it ok if the date in which the letter is signed is before the application date? Second, I got my Toefl score online days ago, and I’ve been informed that my certificate might reach me a month or more (starting from September, 4th) so if I couldn’t get my paper within the application period can I just send them the Pdf form?
Hi Kheira,
Yes, it should not be a problem that you got your letter of recommendation signed before the application date. The most important thing is that it is properly addressed to the university you are applying to. (If the letter was a year old, or something like that, that could be suspicious, but a few months just makes it look like you were preparing ahead).
You should be able to print the pdf and send it to the university in Japan, unless they demand the original score report, but I think most universities will accept a copy. Even if you had the paper score, you should be sending them a photocopy, anyway. Once the application guidelines are posted, you can check to see if there are any specific requirements for the score report and follow-up as necessary.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you so much Travis! that really helps me!
I will ask your help again if I had any questions or worries.
Hello,
Thank you for your great work I really appreciate all the information in your blog and in your book! So in 2018, I applied for the embassy recommendation scholarship and I was not accepted because I did not pass the interview( the results came out 2019) and straight after that I applied for the university recommendation because I have found a prof that was willing to support me (so everything happened 3-4 mounts apart ). I had all my documents done, everything was perfect I passed all the university process and my documents where send to MEXT. I did not get accepted having in mind that I had the university backing me up completely. Do you think that this can be because I applied 2 times in one calendar year or not?
Just some info that you might need:
I am Roumania 27
good bits
Have lived in Japan for 3 months bach in 2010.
Finesheshed my Master’s degree with honours.
bad bits
Did not have a TOEFL ( i used a bachelor’s degree from a UK university as proof)
I do not have any publications but i am applying for a researcher so i don’t know
I am going to apply again at the end of 2019 for university recommendation (2020) and I am worried not to fail gain because I have applied previously. Please tell me what is your advice regarding that situation. If you did not get something of what I said please tell me and I will try to explain it again.
Thanks in advance
Deku
Hi Deku,
I am sorry to hear about your struggles. But I do not think that applying twice within a year had anything to do with your results. Your first application attempt had clearly been not accepted before you started the second application, and there is no rule against that.
This year is the first year that I heard of MEXT rejecting applicants that were nominated by the university. As far as I know, it had never happened in the past unless there was a disqualifying problem with the application. According to some of the communications I have seen, it appears that the reason some applicants were not accepted was purely budgetary. One university commented that half of its applicants had been rejected, even though they knew the number of applicants that they should have been able to recommend and have guaranteed acceptance for.
MEXT does not conduct a competitive screening of applications, but when universities submit their nominations to MEXT for the scholarship, they are required to assign a rank order to applicants. If MEXT cuts the number of slots, they would end up eliminating the applicants who were lower on the list.
Previous applications do not hurt you. I have known applicants who made it in on their third try.
I do not know the reason behind the budget cuts this year for certain, though I suspect it might have something to do with making university and kindergarten free in Japan for certain income brackets or the Rugby World Cup coming up this year. If that is the case, I would expect the low number of slots to continue into next year, at least, while Japan hosts the Olympics. So, I think the competition is going to be significantly higher for the University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis,
Trust you are good?
Please I’d like to ask for general tips to ace university interviews for university recommendation?
Many thanks
Hi Emmanuel,
Unlike the interviews for the Embassy-Recommended MEXT Scholarship, Interviews at the university level are going to be focused primarily on your research, in most cases, and will be conducted by experts in your field.
So, the best possible thing you can do to prepare is to know your material for your Field of Study and Research Program Plan, as well as any supporting questions they might have!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis.
Had my interview (university-recommended) a couple of days ago. It was majorly focused on my research plan and related questions regarding my currriculum vitae.
For the benefits of those might be preparing for the interview in the subsequent application, I’d like to advise again that you should fully understand your research plans as experts in your field will be on the interview panel.
Also, have a back-up research plan in case you are asked of other research alternatives. This question can be asked to prove whether you are solution driven provided your research “is” not viable upon arrival in your university.
Be prepared to give clarifications on every facts described in your CV.
Also, be willing to demonstrate a positive attitude to collaborate with your supervisors and labmates.
Also kindly know your short term and long term goals after the completion of phd research.
Conclusively, trust God for the success of the interview, consult wider publications in your preferred field and try to rest before the interview (especially if the time difference between Japan and your country is significantly high).
Best regards Travis and many thanks for all you do again!
Emmanuel from Nigeria.
Hi Emmanuel,
I am surprised to hear that you had an interview for the university recommended MEXT scholarship at this time of year. I didn’t realize any of those applications were ongoing! What type of scholarship were you applying for?
Thank you for sharing your results and the focus on your research. That is what I expected for a university-level interview. Unlike the embassy, you will have subject matter experts. If you go through the process I describe in How to Write a Scholarship-Winning Field of Study and Research Program Plan, I think you should be prepared for the research questions!
I appreciate the information about having a back-up research plan, too!
Thank you again. Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis
On march i got email that i became candidate for mext scholarship from mie university. Do i will got the scholarship automatically or mext will conduct another selection procedure?
Hi Sofi Oktaviani,
In my experience, every candidate that a university nominates to MEXT for the scholarship receives it in the end. There are some exceptions, such as if MEXT determines that the student has violated the rules by applying to multiple universities, but I have never heard of that happening.
You should have nothing to worry about.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Admin,
Thanks a lot for your informative blog. it’s really helpful site. However, I have a query about MEXT University recommendation scholarship. If anyone passed the University screening and recommended by University, but the University is very low ranking University, how much is the possibility to get scholarship from MEXT?
TIA
Hi Antora Rahman,
Thank you very much for your kind words.
University ranking is not a factor in how many MEXT scholarship slots gets, and there is no competition between applicants from different universities to get the scholarship. MEXT awards a certain number of slots to each university, based primarily on the number of international graduate students enrolled there. As long as the university nominates that number or less, then there is no reason why all of them would not be accepted.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you very much for your kind information. I am really grateful to you.
Hello Travis!
You have no idea how helpful your articles have been to my MEXT application!
I have a burning question I’ll like to ask you. Hope you don’t mind?
My undergraduate university has not started issuing certificates to fresh graduates (Class of ’18), I’m hoping if I could use my statement of result in place of my certificate since it’s currently unavailable. Will it be acceptable?
Hi Toyin,
Thank you very much for your kind words.
I saw you had asked the same question on another article and answered it there first.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Admin
I just want to know if the final result of university recommendation will publish in June 2019 shall it recommend to arrive in Japan September 2019? If i want to come 2 to 3 months later will it be possible for me? Please update me.
Hi Iftakhar,
You have to arrive in Japan on the date specified by your university (which will generally be in Sept or Oct, depending on when the fall semester begins). Failure to do so would mean forfeiting the scholarship.
God Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
First, I would start by thanking you for your effort to answer all these questions. I have been reading them for last 1 hour.
I have applied for university recommended mext for next fall. I passed the final screening by the university. But, in one email the secretary of my laboratory said that I will receive the official appointment in late april by the IGP office which I didn’t get yet. I am little worried here. Is it because there is some holidays because of golden week going on? Should I be worried?
I can’t even write to her since the university will be closed till 7th of May.
Thank you
Hi Zannat,
Thank you very much for your kind words! Congratulations on being recommended for the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship!
It is very possible that the announcement just got delayed because of the Golden Week Holidays. I would not start worrying yet. In my experience, it is not uncommon for MEXT to miss its announcement deadlines. If the deadline was the end of April, I would expect it to take a little longer, since all government offices have been closed since April 27.
It would not hurt to email the university to check, though. They should be able to confirm the delay from MEXT.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello! First of all thank you for the efforts you have given to help us!
I have a lot of questions about the scholarship I just discover this thing. I’m currently a high school senior and I’m about to graduate! I’m going to take Arts as my Major! And I’m planning to consider applying for the scholarship for experience… But how can I contact my consulate? And how do we start applications? Also I’m not sure of what scholarship category should I take and if you could please give advice about everything. I’m kinda new and I have been researching as much as I could about this!
Looking forward for your reply!
Thank You So Much!
Hi Gelo,
You’re very welcome. I’m glad I could help!
Unfortunately, the scholarship for undergraduates is not something that I specialize in, so I do not have much information on the exact procedures.
The application guidelines should be posted on Embassy/Consulate webpages around mid April, so I would recommend that you start checking then for more information!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis, Thank you for your detail information about MEXT Scholarship.
I applied for MEXT University recommendation and I got a recommendation from the University. They plan to send my documents to MEXT but my English certificate is not enough, It is B1 on the CEFR scale, while MEXT wants at least B2 for English requirement.
My question are:
1. Do you think this condition will make me fail to get the scholarship?
2. Will MEXT forfeit the recommendation from the University if English certificate is not B2?
3. or MEXT will accept the candidate, but s/he should get at least B2 (Doing English Test again) before start his/her college?
Thank you for your answers.
Hi Richie,
MEXT’s requirement for language proficiency is that you have to meet the B2 mark as of the time that you enroll in the degree program, so if you are starting out as a research student, you have a little bit of time to get that ability level up, though not much. If you are starting as a degree student in the fall, you need to get to work quickly!
1) No, you will only lose the scholarship if you fail to meet the language proficiency standard as of the time that you start the degree program.
2) Again, this determination would be made at the time you start the degree. If the university reports to MEXT that you do not meet the language proficiency standard then, you would lose the scholarship.
3) You need to hit B2 before you start the degree.
The important thing to note is that it is the university, not MEXT, that is looking at your language proficiency level. MEXT relies on the reports from the university.
In either case, I would recommend you start studying for the next language proficiency test now!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Thank you for the articles. I have one problem that I sat for the TOEIC and sadly 5 marks deficient to meet the requirement of CEFR B2 which is 785 marks. So could you please advise me what should I do and please share your experience.
Thank you.
Hi AKM,
This probably isn’t what you want to here, but if you don’t meet the language requirements, then you would need to study again and take another test to try to meet them next time.
I would also suggest that you choose a test other than TOEIC. That is not an academic test and may not be accepted as sufficient at all universities. TOEFL or IELTS would be better options to be sure that you have more universities to choose from.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Richie,
I’m in the same condition as you. I sat for the TOEIC and sadly 5 marks deficient to meet the requirement of CEFR B2 which is 785 marks. So could you please advise me what should I do and please share your experience.
Thank you.
Currently, I have worked as a lecturer for more than 3 years after graduated from master degree in 2014.
From who do I get letter of recommendation? my previous master college or my employer now?
Hi Rany Adelina,
In general, your letter of recommendation should come from the university where you were a student, not where you worked as an instructors. However, you can follow up with the university you are applying to to see if they have any additional guidance.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
HELLO
I would like to know How to choose a research topic appropriate for my degree level. I have a bachelors degree in accounting and finance. I wish to apply by the coming April.
Hi UWAMARIYA PLACIDIE,
I’m actually in the final stages of a formatting the second book in my Mastering the MEXT Scholarship series, which will cover how to develop and test your research topic. Once the book is out, I may publish a few articles based on the contents as well.
In the meantime, I suggest you might want to look at my article about how to maximize your chances for the MEXT scholarship. That article covers how to focus your entire application around a goal that you want to achieve in life – and your research topic, of course, should follow that goal, as well.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis
Thank you for your information, I wanted to ask that is there any schedule for announcement of result? because I already submitted my documents to university but how long I should wait for the result? and how I will be informed by email or by my professor?
Hi Ahad,
There should have been a statement in the application guidelines saying when the results would be released, and I would think it it would be very soon, if it hasn’t happened already. In general, they should come by email from the office that you sent your application to (generally the International Office at the university, though that may differ in some cases). Make sure that you have added that university’s domain to your email whitelist so that their emails to not end up in your spam box!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Depends on the university. Some already selected candidates at the end of January, Ritsumeikan did it on February 15. Waseda is probably going to announce it by the end of MArc, although i suspect it will happen around March 8 same as their GSAPS program schedule.
Hi Domestic Applicant,
Thank you for chiming in! I didn’t realize from universities still hadn’t announced the results of their screening.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi, Travis!
I wanted to update you on the domestic selection documents. I think somewhere on your website I was asking you what are the required MEXT documents and you thought that normally a letter from the Dean is not needed from the previous university attended. So, I was nominated by the school for now, not by the university, and in my case I am a domestic applicant but who is yet to arrive in Japan in September 2019. For those domestic applicants who will arrive after being nominated a letter from the Dean is required just like for University nominated students. Hope you can write an article on domestic applicants soon!
Hi Domestic Applicant,
The domestic application process is left almost entirely up to each university to determine, which is why I have avoided writing about it for now.
The domestic application scheme I was familiar with has been suspended, anyway, to the best of my knowledge and the only domestic application slots now are the Super Global University scholarship slots, which have their own characteristics as well. Some universities select students prior to arrival (as in your case), and in that case appear to request the same application documents that they would for the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship. However, others only make it available to students after they arrive and enroll as fee-paying students (which is how things worked at my university), so that process is completely different.
Once I can get a more reliable picture of the process to be able to write something helpful, I will!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello!
So I just finished my interview with the professors from Todai. That is the last hurdle and I shall await the results for the MEXT application on February.
Say.. What do you think are the chances of me bagging the scholarship? I have been in contact with my prospective adviser since Day One of application last year. He told me he liked my research topic and coincidentally, he was part of the interview panel / accepting committee. And he reiterated during the interview that they found my topic interesting. I really cant say if they found my answers satisfactory though; you know, Japanese being reserved and not showing much reaction and all.
Again, you think I have good chances? Given your experience and familiarity with Todai (if you have). How crucial is the interview compared to the weight of my submitted documents (which passed their qualifications). And with the mentioned professor’s interest, you think I have great chances? Argh, the wait is killing me.
Thanks. Your guide has always been a great help. Thanks so much!
Hi Des,
Congratulations on getting over that hurdle!
I agree with you that it’s practically impossible to take any worthwhile feedback from a Japanese interview panel. Some participants think it’s their job on those panels to be even more reserved than usual – and others, frankly, think it’s their job to be negative and critical, even if they don’t feel that way.
Unfortunately, I do not have much direct experience with Todai’s processes. Most applicants who leave comments do not tell me where they applied, so I can’t tell what applies to which university. The only suggestion I can offer is based on my experience with the process at another university.
Typically, for the University-Recommended MEXT scholarship, unless you’re applying in a PGP scholarship category, then there is going to be a maximum of about 1 scholarship slot available per graduate school. What I used to see was that the graduate schools would narrow down their applicants to the top 3-5 through the document screening and interview those top candidates. In the ultimate decision, both the document screening results and the interview results would be factored in.
Where I worked, the ranking from the document screening was typically the more important factor, and interviews only made a difference if there was some spectacular difference in the quality of responses, but it sounds like Todai takes the process more seriously than what I was used to, so maybe the interviews play a larger role.
It sounds like you are in a really good place, having the connection with and support of your professor. In a vacuum, I would say that your chances should be excellent, but in a zero-sum game, where I don’t know anything about the other applicants, I really do not know what to say.
I can certainly understand that the wait is killing you, and I wish I could say something to make it easier, but I just don’t know enough to hazard a guess.
I hope you hear good news soon!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thanks for the reply.
I checked the website and I think the max number of slots for their Master’s program is 4. But it is kinda confusing becuase the previous years, they accepted an average of 8 students (most recent was 2016). So this adds to my anxious wait. That is also why I am holding my breath because I have come this far… I wanna get thru the last lap.
I am banking on the professor/ prospective advisor to… “fight for me” haha. I hope he settles the debate and tells the panel he wants to take me under his wing. I was able to talk to him in person actually when i went to Japan last year and I paid him a courtesy visit. I wanted to show my earnest side and sincerity, as well as establish a personal, real life rapport.
I hope I pass. Wish me luck! Thanks again.
Hi Desi,
It certainly sounds like you have done everything in your power to add strength to your application. I applaud your efforts to make that personal connection with your prospective adviser. I think that may be one of the strongest things you have going for you when the competition gets close, since it is a level of effort and dedication that it is hard for other applicants to match.
I hope to hear good news from you in the near future!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
So I got this email from Todai and I am confused as to what it means:
“…Congratulations! The University of Tokyo is glad to inform you that you have been selected as a candidate for the MEXT scholarship program.
The attached is a booklet showing the necessary steps to apply for a MEXT scholarship…”
Does it mean I have gotten the MEXT? Or i am still a CANDIDATE? Do I need to wait for another round of processing? I believe it is on MEXT’s end this time. Have I been recommended by Todai or not? •_•
Hi Desi,
Congratulations!
The letter you mentioned means that you have passed Todai’s screening and Todai will recommend you to MEXT for the scholarship. Earning the MEXT Scholarship through University Recommendation at Todai is probably one of the most challenging routes to getting it, so there is no overstating the significance of your scholarship.
Now, you have to wait for the results of MEXT’s final screening. While each university knows how many candidates it can recommend and, in general, all recommended candidates are ultimately awarded the scholarship, MEXt does need to double-check and formally approve everything. At this point, it is not a competitive screening anymore. They are simply double-checking to make sure everything is complete and that you have not violated any rules (such as by applying to two universities in the same year), etc. MEXT also has to wait for final, formal approval of its annual budget, as well.
Unfortunately, the MEXT screening takes a long time. The final results are due to be released in June, but they are often late and come out in early July. For what it’s worth, you should have nothing to worry about, although I understand the lack of certainty until that point can be a challenge. I am over 99% confident that you will receive the scholarship and arrive in Japan to start your studies this fall!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello again, Travis. So I sent Todai the documents needed by MEXT. Todai told me that the results will come out by June. I know I did not apply for other universities so again, I am getting the scholarship, am I not? Haha I still cannot celebrate yet until I get the final confirmation haha. Thanks for all your help.
Hi Desi Luna,
Congratulations!
If Todai has told you that they have nominated you to MEXT for the scholarship, then there is no reason to think you would not receive it in the end! Every university knows how many scholarship recipients it can nominate, so once you clear that hurdle, there should be nothing else in your way. It is just a waiting game at this point.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis, I am really grateful for your writing on MEXT scholarship. Very informative and helps a lot. Back in 2017, I still remember how I emailed you and asked you about rejection notification from ERMS application. And ya, I failed the application (without formal notifications). Which was quite upsetting. So currently, I am trying my luck with URMS application, and have successfully established a quite promising connection with sensei(s) from Kyudai, in which they agreed to accept me as an applicant for their IGP URMS. The sensei that I am currently exchanging email is my potential SV if I were to be accepted as a MEXT Scholar. He is one of the member of this big research team that I contacted. I am actually pretty nervous right now, to be exact for the past 5 days, I have sent the softcopy of the above mentioned required documents as well as my FSRPP for his confirmation, and the sensei have not yet reply my email and the hardcopy of the documents have to reach him by 29th this month. I don’t want to worry too much, but ya, you know better, every single thing is worrying for every MEXT applicants. Is it possible for the sensei to suddenly rejected me, perhaps because I might do small mistakes with the documents and FSRPP. And another thing is, the certification true copy of my documents, in my university, the person that certified the documents is the manager at my faculty, they are like the head administration at my faculty level. I tried to get my dean certified true copy signature but they told me that the manager is the most suitable person to do that. Do you think that would be a problem? Also..please pray for my success this time around. Thank you so much in advance. I am looking forward to hear from sensei and you.
Hi Hika91,
I’m sorry to hear that you haven’t heard back from the sensei yet. If you don’t hear anything by Tuesday, the I would recommend that you email the sensei again and say that you are planning to send the documents as they are, in order to make sure they arrive on time, and hope that they are acceptable. (This is a three-day weekend in Japan, so that’s why I recommend waiting until Tuesday).
It is possible for the Sensei to decline your application in the end, but since you said you have a good relationship, I hope that is not likely! As long as your FSRPP is well-written and meets expectations, you should be good. I can understand how it may be nerve-wracking in the meantime!
For the certified documents, I agree that the manager should be fine to certify them. Really, when I handled this application, we would accept certifications from any university official that seemed appropriate. The only thing that had to come from the Dean was the letter of recommendation.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Many thanks for your guidance. My part is finally done,at least for now. I have submitted all required documents, and they’ve reached my potential sensei safely. And we did the final online interview today, and sensei was really satisfied with everything. So, he’s going to submit our documents probably on Monday. The university results will come out early next month. Which is only days away. Fingers crossed. Thanks again for your valuable informations and advises . I really appreciate it. I will keep you updated about my application progress. I really hope I can make it this time. InsyaAllah. May the Force be with us, always.
Hi Hika91,
Thank you for your feedback! I hope to hear more good news about the university selection in the near future, too!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis.
Its almost June now. Again, I am pretty nervous with everything. And ya I forgot to tell you, my sensei said I have been nominated as a candidate for MEXT scholarship by Kyudai..which I’m truly grateful. But I did not receive any formal notification from their graduate school, in which I’m not sure if they really gives out notification for that. But sensei was very positive about me being nominated to MEXT..and ask me to keep in touch and It have been months of nerve-wracking waiting..all I can do is pray.
Hi Hika91,
Is your sensei at Kyudai or someone at your current university? If that professor has told you that Kyudai nominated you to MEXT, then you should have nothing to worry about. I would have thought that the university would give you formal notification of that nomination, but maybe they only do it through the professors at that university. Is your sensei the same person that you sent all of your application materials to? (Sorry for all the questions, it’s just a different system from what I am used to, so I am trying to understand better).
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Please don’t feel sorry for your questions. I am truly glad that you’re willing to entertain us ‘the MEXT applicants’. Without your guidance, I don’t think some of us can even start researching about MEXT. So my answers, the sensei whom I held my interview with and submitted all my documents is indeed a sensei from Kyudai. Our last email conversation was about not to lost contact to each other. And he asked me to wait final decision from MEXT.
Hi Hika,
Thank you for your follow-up message.
I am relieved to here it. Based on what you described, the message from your sensei should be completely accurate as the official notification from the university and you should have nothing to worry about when the results are released (theoretically) at the end of this month. They can often be a little late, though, so don’t start worrying if you don’t hear right away.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
I am still waiting for MEXT result. Some university recommendation applicants has already received pledge form etc. from which I have no idea, probably MEXT or their university. I wonder if I failed the application or if there is delayed notification from Kyudai. I’ve texted my sensei through Line yesterday, in which we agreed that any urgent matters we can use that medium. He hasn’t reply me yet, though. What would be the reason behind the delay or the failure. Through my observation, most applicants who get their results those applying for Master in International Relations. Or..should I give myself some more time to wait the official results.
Hi Hika91,
I have been hearing that some applicants have already received their final announcement and others have not, but you’re the first one to specifically mention the name of the university!
Once MEXT announces the results to the universities, each university might have different processes they need to go through internally before making the final announcement to applicants, so there can be a difference in the release date. But even if your application was not successful, they should let you know at the same time as everyone else!
One thing you might want to do is to check your spam mail box, too. Scholarship announcements can sound like scams and sometimes get automatically filtered.
Since you mentioned that most of the applicants that have received results are in the same program, I wonder if that might be a PGP program. It would be rare for multiple applicants to be nominated for the general category scholarship from the same program. If the Master’s in IR is a PGP program, that would mean that it had a pre-determined number of slots available and that program might have a separate results release date from the general scholarship.
Sorry I do not have a concrete answer for you, but those are the possibilities I can think of.
I hope you hear good news soon!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Praise to Allah. I got the scholarship. I got the result like a week a go..and have been busy submitting pledge form to my faculty Student Affairs Division. Filling in their students centre systems which is very helpful in selecting everything such as departure date, dormitory and documents for visa. And ya I’m currently waiting for my package from Kyudai to proceed with visa. I’m very nervous with everything and ya can’t wait to start my research in Kyudai.
Hi Hika91,
Congratulations!
I am very happy to hear the good news. It must be a huge relief for you and I wish you the best for your upcoming travel to Japan and studies here!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis, thanks for all the efforts that you put into the website, it really helps me a lot!
I am right now quite confused about the meaning of “university recommended”, which in this case means the university where the applicant graduates from. (so it is even not necessary to connect a supervisor, right? )
But when I begin to search for specific universities under “MEXT scholarship with University Recommendation”, it turns out to be the Japanese University that conducts the preliminary selection and recommends candidates to MEXT and you have to contact a professor as the supervisor and send all the materials to him or her. (link: https://www.ilo.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp/prospective_en/degree_seeking_en)
I understand that in the application materials you always need a recommendation letter from your own university, but the persons, to whom you should send all materials turn to be totally different…
The second question is about the entrance exam. Since I would like to apply for the research student thus I could prepare for the entrance exam in Japan for one year, and also have the chance to learn Japanese and eventually would be able to take courses in Japanese later as a master student. But if the university makes the decision that I should start as a degree-seeking student, does it mean that I need to take the entrance exam once I come to Japan in September?
I am really looking forward to your answers and thanks in advance!
Jingying
Hi Jingying,
“University Recommended” has nothing to do with the university you graduated from – a university in Japan has to recommend you. In the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship, you apply to a university in Japan for admission and recommendation for the MEXT scholarship at the same time.
For the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship, the entrance exam is included in the screening process, if they are going to recommend you as a degree-seeking student (which is more common for the university recommended MEXT scholarship). If the university decides to recommend you as a research student, then you would take their entrance exam after arrival, but “entrance exam” does not always mean an actual test. It could be as simple as a review of your documents. The process is up to the university that you apply to, so there is no general rule that applies everywhere.
If you are not already mostly fluent in Japanese, then I would not expect to be able to reach the point of fluency to be able to take graduate courses in Japanese in just a year. As a general rule, if you do not have the fluency level that you need now, before you apply, then you should apply only to programs taught in English.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis ! Thanks for kind attention. I just wrote about the possibility of change to a different department or to a different University as a PhD Student under the MEXT Scholarhip via Embassy Recommendation.
Now, I forgot to mention that this academic year 5 students already left the Laboratory because there is a difficult environment (disparaging remarks, etc).
If a Supervisor does not agrees with the change of laboratory, students might be at risk of loosing the Scholarship ?
I look forward to hearing from you,
PS. Previously I used an email account that was hacked. I would appreciate if I could know your reply on this website. I guess that some MEXT Scholarship students might be in a similar position as me and the information could be useful for everyone. Thanks again !
Hi Mathias,
This comment reinforces my belief from my last reply that you have the grounds to bring an Academic Harassment case against your current supervisor. In that case, it would be unreasonable for the university to penalize you in any way. You still would not be able to change to another university, but you should at least have no difficulty in being assigned to a different advisor. Plus, it sounds like it would be a beneficial thing for other students stuck under the same professor.
Your direct supervisor should have no say over your losing the scholarship. All that matters is that you are able to continue making progress toward the degree.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis , Thank you very much for kind support. I began to read your blog since the very beginning several years ago ! Thanks to your help I successfully applied via Embassy Recommendation. I am currently enrolled at a National University as a first-year PhD Student (4-years Program)
Now, I am seriously considering the possibility of moving to work with a different Professor. In your experience, is it possible for MEXT Scholarship students to change his/her supervisor after being accepted in the Graduate Program ?
My willingness to change my supervisor is derived from harassment, lack of adequate supervision and incompatibility of my research interest with my current laboratory.
In your experience, is it possible to change to another Department within the same university or even to another University ?
Thanks for your help in advance.
Best regards,
Hi Mathias,
Thank you for your kind words and feedback! I am glad I was able to help with your application’s success.
At the same time, I am very sorry to hear about the situation with your advisor.
Changing advisors within the same university should not pose a problem as far as MEXT is concerned, although if you lose progress on your research and become unable to finish on time, that would be a problem for the scholarship. Changing universities in the middle of your degree, however, would not be allowed.
It sounds like you might also have the grounds to bring a complaint of Academic Harassment against your supervisor. Your university should have resources to deal with that, so I would recommend following up with that through the appropriate office.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis.
Spiros here, once again. Thanks for the valuable help so far! How much do you charge for an application review?
I am from Greece, which is a truly horrible place when it comes to organization. I am currently in the process of graduation and I have trouble obtaining some documents in time to make the application deadline, which makes me rather uncertain in terms of my options.
Deadline is December 10 (the application papers need to reach the university by that date, by express mail. I heard the fastest mail service to Japan would take 4 working days, which means I have about a week in total to get everything ready). I only just received my last grade some days ago, and they told me they need about 15 days to prepare my graduation documents (grade transcript and certificate), and they can’t give me anything besides the typical ones at any time. That case you mention about a conditional graduation certificate that usually works? Nope, noone is willing to write anything like that, though I will give it one more shot, by asking the Provost. What’s even more frustrating, is that I can’t even apply for a grade transcript now (which is normally a very simple, one-day thing). I can only get the final one in 15 days. So, my only option is to use a six-month-old transcript that I already have available, which is missing grades on 2 courses, as well as the dissertation/thesis grade. I could ask my advisor to mention in the recommendation letter that I am technically a graduate, and the release of my graduation documents is still pending, but I’m guessing there will be no actual impact on the application. Also, I’m guessing the answer is no, but I have to ask, just in case: Would it be in any way possible to explain the situation to Ritsumeikan University in advance and discuss the idea of sending these documents some days later, or this falls under the “problematic applicant” category, meaning they won’t take the time to go through your application, as you have described in another article?
Hi Spiros,
I will contact you separately by email about the application review, but I wanted to try to address your other questions about the document arrival.
I think that if you approach your communications with Ritsumeikan University with the positive approach of explaining the documents that you have available now and the timeframe for the others to be available, you should not be a “problem applicant”. A problem applicant is one who says that they can’t get something and asks for it to be waived.
So, if you tell them that your final transcript is processing because you just completed your last semester, but that you can provide them with one from a semester earlier in the meantime, that should meet that requirement (I would also recommend asking them if they want the new one when it is available). For your certificate of expected graduation, they may accept a letter from your advisor, department head, etc. that says that the person writing the letter certifies that you have completed all of the requirements to graduate (with an “as of” date) and explains the timeline for issuing the final document.
I would recommend submitting that letter separately from the Letter of Recommendation, if possible. Your letter of recommendation should also be from the Dean or higher, not just an advisor.
I would recommend contacting Ritsumeikan in advance to let them know about the situation and make sure they would accept your application under those conditions. If the deadline is Dec 10, their office probably should not be too busy now, but as it gets closer to the application deadline, they will get swamped and may take several days to get back to you.
I would also recommend against cutting it too fine with the application submission. If your documents arrive a day late, they would almost certainly be rejected.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Taro,
Huge thanks for the effort you put into the detailed article.
Im in eleventh grade right now and would be applying for the undergraduate program.
What I am confused about is the whole university process.
Do I have to write to a japanese university for acceptance? Or will the mext scholarship determine that?
Id really appreciate if you could answer that.
Thank you again. This was helpful.
Hi Undergraduate_apoorva(:,
In general, the University Recommended MEXT Application Process only applies to applicants for the scholarship for graduate students.
If you are applying for the undergraduate scholarship, then you would apply at the Japanese embassy in your country.
My expertise is in the scholarship for graduate students and I do not have any details about the undergraduate application process. For that, I would recommend that you refer to the guideline on the embassy’s website when they come out, probably around early-to-mid April.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hey, Travis!
Thank you once again for your valuable articles. I’m preparing to apply for Ritsumeikan University, as a post-graduate research student in the field of computer science and artificial intelligence. I applied for the Embassy-recommended scholarship this year, but they rejected me right off the bat. They didn’t call me for an interview, which was a bit frustrating to me, since I did put a lot of effort and time in preparing the application, and there was no way I could estimate what went wrong. I did my best to follow your instructions. Do you think it would be possible that if I describe some details of my documents, or if you could check out my research plan, you could possibly determine some kind of red flag?
In September, I found a professor in Ritsumeikan University, who read my research proposal and accepted me as his student. Do you think that can give me any higher chances of getting the scholarship?
Thank you in advance for your reply.
Hi Spiros,
I am sorry to hear about your experience with the Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship. There are so many things that could have been a factor in their decision – from your grades, to your field of study in general (if they had a specific limitation in place), to anything incomplete or incorrect in the application screening (per their expectations). . . It’s hard to make a guess without a more complete view.
Unfortunately, I cannot do individual application reviews on a free basis because of the time commitment it takes, but I do offer conduct reviews as a paid service. I’m not sure if that would be useful to you in a post mortem, though.
It is encouraging that you got a professor on board with your Field of Study and Research Program Plan! That should be helpful, since you’ll need someone to argue for you at the graduate school level when they select the best candidates.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you! I will let you know regarding a possible review for the new application.
My adviser just informed me that the Dean does not sign recommendation letters. Is it okay for the letter to be signed by the Head of my department in this case?
Hi Spiros,
If the Dean does not sign recommendation letters, then you would need to go to someone higher than the Dean, like the Provost, or negotiate through your adviser to get the Dean to sign.
One alternative I have seen work in the past, when Deans do not want to sign, is that your include two signature blocks: Your professor signs the original letter and your Dean countersigns below your professor (with his name and title), as a sort of confirmation. You could try that approach.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Actually, the structure in my university is slightly different. I can get the Provost of the faculty to sign, but the dean’s role concerns the entire university, I think, in this case, the Dean is the equivalent of the university President. So, would a signature by the Provost be good enough then?
Hi Spiros,
I know of some universities where “Dean” is title held by the person who would be the “President” by Japanese understanding.
In Japan, a Provost is almost always higher than a Dean, so the Provost should be fine.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you Travis for updated information! Your article is very helpful in clarifying many important details. I am currently trying to apply through University track, but for my school there is only Domestic Selection track available. There are no guidelines or information on the required forms yet, and when I asked admissions office they said I have to first be accepted, then fill out a few forms for enrollment as a regular student and pay for the first semester. Only after that I may be considered as a candidate for MEXT for the domestic selection category (no designated MEXT forms are required yet). They do not disclose any further details until the applicant is selected as a candidate for MEXT. I am worried when and if that happens there would be very little time to collect required papers, such as letter of recommendation or transcripts (from overseas). I wonder if anybody has gone through the domestic selection before arrival to Japan and what the actual process is. I understand that it is different for each school, but still insight from some universities could be helpful. I guess at least according to your information I could start emailing the Dean of my previous university to ask for the recommendation.
Hi Domestic Applicant,
I really ought to write a full article on the Domestic Selection MEXT Scholarship, because it is a different animal altogether.
First, I should let you know that it is possibly the most competitive version of MEXT and you should not count on being able to receive it. In most cases, there are only 1-2 scholarship slots available for each university and all of the privately-funded international students would be competing for them.
Typically, you would go through an internal application process at the university, first, that will rank all of the international students, then they will choose the top eligible students to recommend to each scholarship. It will be a tight turnaround once you are nominated.
The application forms and required documents are different (you don’t need the letter of recommendation from your previous Dean), so it shouldn’t be too difficult to get them together, but you should bring an extra (original) copy of your transcript with you to Japan, in case you need it.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis, it is me again. Thank you very much for your previous response. The University I applied to is Waseda (business school) and it looks like there will be 1-2 new domestic slots for the business school alone from my understanding of the response from the admissions office (I hope). I already enrolled for the Fall 2019 and now waiting to hear for possible nomination for MEXT. I would estimate my credentials to be well above average, however I may not be the best candidate (there are approximately 30 new students from the first 2 rounds and 30-40 second year students competing, so the competition doesn’t seem to be too bad). I wonder how the scholarship is paid since the academic year starts in October, but the scholarship is paid from April. The nomination by the school will probably happen around December 2018-January 2019. The university understandably doesn’t want to provide any more information (perhaps to prevent tons of unnecessary incoming physical mail). Does it mean the person who receives it must plan to survive without the scholarship until April 2020? By the way, can’t wait for your article on domestic selection!
Hi Domestic Applicant,
The Domestic MEXT scholarship under the Super Global University project is a little different than how it used to work in the past, but from what I understand, the number of slots available is based on the number of awardees they had that completed their degrees that year. Each university has a maximum cap of scholarship recipients they can have at one time, for the SGU Domestic Selection.
Sometimes that means that the scholarship is available from October (although the selection process usually occurs after October, and then the past months are paid in a lump sum later in that case), and sometimes it means that scholarships are not available until April. In the latter case, yes, you would be expected to cover your own expenses until that point.
Typically, to be eligible for the Domestic Selection MEXT scholarship, you would have to already be enrolled at the university as a fee-paying student, so the university assumes at that point that you are fully prepared to cover all of your expenses and that the scholarship, if available, is less necessary and more “a really nice thing to have.”
I am waiting to see the next set of nomination guidelines from MEXT for the domestic selection/SGU scholarship and then will get to work on the article!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz