Important: I have posted an update to this article for the 2018 Embassy-Recommended MEXT Scholarship, including revised advice on how to contact universities and professors. Check it out here!
Passing the Primary Screening for the Embassy MEXT scholarship is the most important step, but now you need to find a university to accept you in order to ensure you receive the scholarship. And, of course, you want to find the best university for your studies.
Despite all the work you’ve done so far, you’re basically starting over on a whole new application, but I will walk you through the process in simple steps to help you avoid common problems and get your letter of acceptance fast.
What This Guide Covers:
- Guidelines for choosing your three universities and professors
- What the different student types are and how that affects your studies
- Mistakes that will guarantee rejection
- How to approach and communicate with universities
- Getting the Letter of Acceptance
Why I Can Help with your MEXT Scholarship Application
My primary job for three years at a large, private Japanese university was processing MEXT scholarship applications. I was the first point of contact for all applicants and personally examined every application that came through. On average, I handled about 40 Embassy MEXT scholarship applications per year and nearly 200 University MEXT applications. I want to use that experience to help you get your scholarship.
I learned two important things about the Embassy MEXT, in particular:
1. The University wants to accept MEXT scholars.
It makes sense for the university to accept Embassy MEXT scholars. MEXT pays for everything, so it’s guaranteed money for them, and more MEXT scholars means more clout for the university. So long as you clear all of the minimum requirements, they want you in. But most applicants did not get letters of acceptance at my university because:
2. Applicants get themselves rejected by making lazy, avoidable mistakes.
Let’s be clear. The university wants MEXT scholars and MEXT money. That doesn’t mean that they want you enough to put up with mistakes or laziness. Most applicants that I saw get rejected basically killed their own chances because they made it hard for the university to accept them, or they made themselves more trouble than they were worth. If you’re a pain during a month-long application process, the university really doesn’t want you on campus for 2-6 years causing problems.
How can you avoid doing that? That’s what I’m here to explain.
Choosing a University for your Embassy MEXT Scholarship
This article refers to the Embassy-recommended MEXT scholarship. I also have a series of guides for the University-recommended MEXT Scholarship, including an article on selecting a university.
When choosing where to apply for your MEXT scholarship studies, you need to evaluate three things: The university, the graduate school, and the specific professor. You only have three chances to get this right. If you don’t get into one of the three universities on your “Application for Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho:MEXT) Application (Attachment)” then you lose the scholarship. Here’s how to make each one count.
National, Public, or Private
It’s right there in the application guidelines:
“If a candidate wants to enter a public or private university other than a national university, the grantee’s preference specified in the Placement Preference Form may not be met due to budgetary reasons concerning the school fees, etc.”
This means you should target at least one, preferably two to three national universities in your list.
You can certainly still apply to public and private universities, but have at least one national in your list, and preferably one that is not “formerly xxxxxx Imperial University” on the page above and is not in Tokyo, for reasons that I will explain below.
Location: Competition and “Safety Schools”
As much as universities want MEXT scholars, each professor can only accept a certain number of graduate advisees at a time and they want to have space for Japanese applicants as well (who are less work to advise, anyway). This means that you’ll have a harder time getting that letter of acceptance at universities with high competition.I wrote above that you should have at least one non-“Imperial University” and at least one not-in-Tokyo university on your list. That’s because those have the highest level of competition. The former Imperial Universities are the heart of Japan’s university network. They are the largest and most well-known, which makes them the most popular. Tokyo, obviously, is the most well-known city and universities there attract more applications, especially from international students who might find living in smaller cities or rural areas to be intimidating. (It’s not. In fact, Japan’s small cities and rural areas are the best parts of the country!)
I’m not saying don’t apply to the University of Tokyo, if your heart is set on it. By all means, shoot for the best, but have a backup. It’s only prudent.
Pro Tip: Do not send multiple applications to the same university, even if it’s to separate professors or graduate schools. You’re not impressing them with your passion for the school, you’re proving that you’re unfocused and lazy.
Degree Program Language
You’re reading this page in English, so I’m going to make the assumption that you are not an N2- or N1-level Japanese speaker. That means you need a university that offers degree programs in English. Regardless of how well you did on that Japanese proficiency test during the Embassy interview, you are not going to get in to a Japanese-language program unless you have an N1 or N2 certificate from the JLPT. Even with an N2, you’re going to be a long shot for a lot of programs.
Stick to universities that offer graduate degrees in your field in English. At the very least, they’re going to be the places that are more open to international students and have better international services. You can find lists of programs below:
- Global 30: These 13 universities set up English-language graduate degree programs with MEXT sponsorship, so they are solid bets, but they’re not the only English-language programs. They’re also going to be among the best known and therefore most competitive.
- JASSO’s list of universities with English-language programs: Current as of March 2016 (thanks to commenter “Indojin” for the update!), this document lists non-Global 30 programs available in English. These are universities that established English-language programs on their own, not just to get a government grant, so you may find more openness to international students here.
- JPSS Information for Foreign Students: This site lists the graduate programs in English under each university name, helping you drill down further to find a program.
- Check University Homepages: The lists above are not comprehensive or up-to-date. If you’ve come across research by Japanese professors during your studies, check their university homepages directly to see if they offer degree programs in English. Having an English homepage is a huge hint!
But what about that language program mentioned in the MEXT scholarship guidelines?
That program is designed to teach you enough Japanese to navigate the local buses, hold a basic conversation with your classmates, and deal with your landlord or cell phone carrier. It is not designed to teach you academic Japanese. If you aren’t already at the JLPT N1 level, then no 6-month program will get you there.
If you want to take a Japanese-language degree program and you haven’t been studying intensely on your own for several years, you’re out of luck.
Once you’ve found a few potential universities (more than three for now), it’s time to drill down further:
Choosing a Graduate School
Identifying a university that offers degree programs in English is not the end. You need to make sure that your specific degree is offered in English. If you find a university that offers Computer Engineering in English, but you’re interested in Sports Science, that isn’t going to help you very much. The JASSO pdf linked above drills down to exactly which fields of study are offered in English.
Pro tip: Find the name of the specific graduate school and department at your first-choice university and write that for the “Field of Study in Japan” in your Application for Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho:MEXT) Application (Attachment).
The most Important Step: Identify a Specific Professor who can Supervise your Research.
Next, you’ll want to review that graduate school’s professors to find the one whose research is most similar to your own. This is the single-most important point of getting acceptance. The most common reason by far I saw for Embassy MEXT scholarship applicants to get rejected at my university was that there was no professor who could supervise that research topic.
Most universities will have a database or at least a list of their professors and their research topics online. Read this carefully and look for similarities. If you cannot find a researcher database on the university’s site, google the name of the the university and keywords from your “Field of Study and Research Program Plan” document and see if any names come up in scholarly articles. If you can find articles in English, that’s even better, because it indicates the professor might be able and willing to supervise you even if you speak no Japanese.
Pro Tip: Write your “Field of Study” on your application form to sound as similar to this professor as possible and write the name of the professor in the chart.
Do not worry about being rude or forward by listing a professor’s name in the chart without talking to them first. It is far more rude (and hurtful to your chances of acceptance) to leave the professor section blank. That shows that you haven’t done the research and just don’t care. You don’t need to contact the professor now or later, as we’ll get to later.
Student Categories and How They Affect Your Studies
The MEXT scholarship paperwork uses some confusing terms, because they were originally written in Japanese and inconsistently translated into English. For example, the term “Research Student” refers both to “graduate student” in the overall name of the scholarship program and to “non-degree-seeking student” when you’re filling out the Application (Attachment). Here’s what the terms mean on that form, and how they will affect your studies:
Research Student
Research Student means that you are not enrolled in the actual degree program, but you take courses in the graduate school and receive guidance. It is possible to move up from research student status into the degree program, so this status usually serves as “conditional admission,” if the graduate school thinks you need a little more work before you enroll, or as a holding pattern if you arrive in Japan at the wrong time of year. For instance, if the degree program only takes in new students in April, and you arrive in September, then you’ll be a Research Student for your first semester.
Some students will stay research students for their whole time in Japan. For example, if you’re enrolled in a degree-seeking graduate program in your home country and just want to come to Japan for, well, research.
You can stay a research student for up to three semesters. After that, you have to move into the degree program or go home.
Even if you select “Research Student” the university, at its discretion, may place you directly into the degree program if you indicate that you want to progress to the degree eventually.
Master’s Degree Course/Doctoral Course
Select this option for direct admission into the degree program. Once you’re in the degree program, you have 2 years to complete your master’s or 3 years to complete your doctoral program. If you bust that time limit, your scholarship goes away. Moreover, as soon as it becomes apparent that you will not complete your program on time, the university is obligated to revoke your scholarship immediately.
If you are concerned that you won’t be able to adjust to the degree program quickly enough, go for the Research Student status to start.
As with the research student status, this is a preference only. The university may place you in a research student status first. This is most common if you arrive in a semester when they don’t take in new students.
Professional Graduate Course
This refers to non-academic degrees, such as MBA, JD, medical degrees, etc.
About the Language Training Program
Typically, you have no control over whether or not you are assigned to the semester of Japanese language training. Assignments are at the discretion of the graduate school you apply to. Typically, if you haven’t studied Japanese, you’ll be sent to the program, even if your degree program is all in English. As I mentioned above, the purpose of this language training is day-to-day functional Japanese, so it’ll be helpful even if you don’t need it for class and research.
If you are assigned to the language program, you will be a “Research Student” for that semester, so it will not count against your degree time. You may even be at a different university for that semester.
OK, now that we’ve covered how to select a university and the student types, let’s review your application so far:
Review: Have You Committed an Instant-Rejection Mistake?
Once you’ve thoroughly researched three target universities for your MEXT scholarship, double-check the list below to make sure you’re not committing one of the common instant-rejection mistakes.
- Applying for a Japanese program when you don’t have the language ability
I cannot stress this enough: I never once saw an applicant accepted who did not meet the minimum language requirement. In most cases, the professors wouldn’t even bother reviewing the application, even if the applicant had “alternate” credentials. - There’s no professor with your research field
You might meet all the requirements, but if there’s nobody that can advise you, you’re not getting the letter of acceptance. This is especially true in the hard sciences. I got dozens of applications sent back from faculty review committees with the simple note: “No advisor.”
Of course finding an appropriate professor in the researcher’s database doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get in. The professor might not be able to take on more advisees that year or might even be retiring. That’s why you have three schools on your list. - Being Late: Hard Deadlines and De Facto Deadlines
Your application papers have to reach the university by August 31 — that’s the hard deadline established by MEXT. Universities are required to reject any applications that arrive after that. But the de facto deadline may be much earlier. I’ll cover deadlines more below, but try to get your complete application to your universities by the first week of August, at the latest. - Sending an Incomplete Application
If you do not send everything the university asks for (we’ll cover contacting the university below), they your application will be stuck in the administrative office until the rest of the materials arrive and may never make it to the professors for review. Even if the missing document is something relatively inconsequential, universities will insist on the minimum requirement for completeness. Get used to this.
Got all that? Good. Now we’re going to talk about how to approach the universities for the best chance of success.
How to Approach the University
Step 1: Don’t approach them yet. Do a little research, first to find out how to submit your application. You’re applying for graduate studies, after all, if you open up your communication with the university by contacting the wrong person (for example contacting professors directly), you’re immediately showing them that you’re too lazy or incompetent to do basic research.
To find the right office to send your application, go to the university’s website and search for “MEXT” or “Monbukagakusho.” Look for the result that shows application guidelines or the word “Embassy.” If the website doesn’t have English guidelines, you can search for:
国費外国人留学生 or 大使館推薦
Copy/paste either of those terms into the university’s search bar and then use google translate to look at the resulting page.
Note: Google translate is horrible for Japanese to English translation, but all you need is the email address for the office. Even Google can’t screw up the translation of an email address, I think.
If the university search doesn’t work, then go to big Google and search for the university’s name as well as the terms listed above.
Who to Contact
The Embassy is going to tell you that you need a Letter of Acceptance from a professor, but that’s not accurate. You need a Letter of Acceptance from the university that is signed by the professor. That means that you need to go through the administrative office that handles applications.
If you’ve done the search above, the chances are good that you’ve found the administrative office responsible for MEXT applications. If not, then you need to find the contact information for the university’s International Office or the Administrative Office of the graduate school where your professor teaches. Do not contact the professor directly at this point.
Let me say that again, because it can mean the difference between success and failure: Do NOT send your MEXT scholarship application directly to the professor.
Professors do not handle applications. Most don’t know what to do with them, so they bounce around in email for a while until, maybe, they find their way to the right office. Sadly, I saw a few cases where it took over a month for an application sent to a professor to reach my office, and by then the deadline had passed.
If the University has MEXT Scholarship Application Guidelines
Follow them to the letter. Remember what I said above about incomplete applications? Make sure you have everything together and send it the way the university wants. For bonus points, stack the documents in the right order in the envelope and use dividers labeled with the form name. (If you’re emailing the application, scan each file as a separate pdf and name if according to the university’s terms).
Some universities will accept emailed applications, but others will only accept them by post. Sometimes it will depend on whether or not your embassy stamped each page of your application (like they are supposed to) or just the top page. If it’s not clear, email the university to ask.
Send all of the items in the university’s guidelines and only the items listed in the guidelines. Extras will be disposed of. When I processed applications, we left out everything that was not in our list of mandatory documents.
How to Contact the University
Open with a short, professional message, formatted like an email ,not an SMS, and including proper greetings and your name at the end. Tell them what program you’d like to apply for and which professor, indicate that you’ve read the guidelines, and ask if they accept applications by email (if it was not specified online).
Even if you know that the university accepts applications by email, you do not want to attach your application to the first email. If the attachment is too large or if the destination mailbox is full (a high possibility with so many other students emailing in their applications at the same time), your message won’t get through and you won’t know it, so you’ll be sitting there waiting for a reply to an email that never reached the university! So, email them first to tell them that you will follow up with your attached application in the next message.
Never, never, send your university a one-line email with no signature that says “sent from my iphone.”
Pro Tip: Does your email address sound professional? If your address is borderline inappropriate, overly cute, or easily mistaken (e.g. uses the number 0 in place of letter O), consider getting a new one like firstname.lastname@gmail.com.
If the university accepts applications by email, scan each document into a single pdf file and send it. If you send each page as separate jpeg files (or worse, tif) or even as individual pdf files, you 1) Risk that the email will be so large that the university’s server will reject it and 2) show the university that you’re too lazy, incompetent, or self-centered to learn to use a scanner correctly.
If your scanner does not scan to pdf or does not scan multiple pages into a single file, use software to combine the individual scans and convert the final product to a pdf.
What to Expect from the University
I wrote above that universities want to accept Embassy MEXT scholars, but that doesn’t mean that they are going to roll out the red carpet for you. At this point in the application process, there’s a low possibility that you’re going to end up at the university you’re talking to, and they know it. For example, where I worked, out of the 40 or so annual Embassy MEXT scholarship applications I handled, only 4-5 ended up at my university each year. At this point, the university knows that 80-90% of the applicants won’t end up going there, so they are not that enthusiastic.
In many cases, Japanese universities will only contact you when something is wrong. They won’t go out of their way to acknowledge receipt if everything is complete or to send you status updates. If something is missing, though, you will hear from them. So, no news is typically good news, but it’s also a good idea to follow up with an email asking if everything was complete.
If you send your application by post, most universities will not email you to let you know it has arrived. They assume you will check the tracking information yourself.
Once your application reaches the university, here’s what happens:
- The administrative office responsible for your application will make sure everything is complete, log it in to their processing system, and forward the necessary parts on to the graduate school administrative office.
- The graduate school administrative office will include your application in the next regular faculty meeting.
- The faculty council will review your application and make a decision during the meeting. Your acceptance or rejection often depends on the result of about a 2-minute review.
- The professor that accepts you will complete the letter of acceptance and send it to the graduate school office.
- The graduate school office will pass the letter to the original administrative office, who will log the result and send it to you.
The important thing to note is that waiting for item 3, above, takes the most time. Your application will spend a lot of time “waiting for review,” especially if you send it in August, school vacation. Your application will sit and wait for the next faculty meeting for approval. That can be over a month if the timing is bad and during that time the university won’t have any status update for you, as frustrating as that will be.
Getting the Letter of Acceptance (Naidakusho)
Where I worked, we emailed a copy of the letter of acceptance to the applicants then send the original by regular airmail. Not express, not registered, just regular mail.
It happened several times that the Letter of Acceptance was late, thanks to the time it took to make the decision and the time for the airmail to arrive. In those cases, almost every applicant we talked to was able to take a printout of the emailed Letter of Acceptance to their embassy and use that to move forward with their application process while waiting for the original to arrive. If your Letter has not reached you and the deadline is approaching, check with your embassy/consulate to see if that’s an option.
And that’s it! Once you have the Letter of Acceptance turned in to the Embassy/Consulate, the rest of the scholarship process is in MEXT’s hands. You should have your final decision and placement by December/January, if the old timeline still holds up.
What are my chances of getting the MEXT Scholarship at this point?
Well, in the world of government budgets, nothing is certain, but from my understanding, your chances are good. The number of Embassy MEXT scholarship nominations should be equal to the number of total scholarships available. So, everyone that passes the primary screening and gets a Letter of Acceptance from one of their top three universities should get the scholarship.MEXT conducts a final screening of all applicants, but the purpose of this screening is not competitive, it is to make sure that you meet all of their eligibility requirements. Yes, the embassy and university should have checked these during your application, but MEXT won’t let a scholarship grant go through without double-checking.
Your final university placement, though? A lot of that is going to be related to internal budgeting and politics (e.g. preference for national universities, etc.) and balancing the number of applicants among universities as much as possible. There is no way to predict where you might end up.
But at the end of the day, you’re getting the MEXT scholarship, which can mean up to 6 years of paid graduate education, so it’s a great place to be, no matter what. Congratulations!
FAQ
I will update this with your questions from the comments below, so please send them in!
- My Embassy/Consulate says I need to submit my Letters of Acceptance by mid August, but the university says they can’t send them until September, at the earliest. What should I do?
This is often a misunderstanding, so double-check with the embassy/consulate to see exactly what they need. In most cases that I saw, students only needed to submit the list of universities and professors they were applying to by mid-August. You can do that without waiting for the university’s reply, so long as you’ve done your research above. If your embassy/consulate really needs the Letter of Acceptance that early, talk to the university and ask if there is any way to accelerate it. Also, check to see if the embassy will accept emailed letters of acceptance, since the post takes a while.
Questions?
Before asking any questions in the comments below, please read through the MEXT Scholarship Application FAQ top page and specific FAQ pages to see what I’ve answered already and to find tips about how to get your questions answered faster.
You can ask your questions in the comments here, on the FAQ page, or by email and I will answer them by updating the FAQ and letting you know when the answers are available.
I’d also recommend signing up for my mailing list to get notified whenever I have updates to any of the FAQs or new articles about the MEXT scholarship!
Good day!
Thank you very much for your guide. It is really helpful and clear. I would just like to ask, the university I’m applying to needs an entrance exam for me to get accepted. I plan to apply for the Embassy Recommendation. Does that mean if I get accepted on the Embassy Recommendation, there is still a chance that I will not get accepted on the university if I failed the entrance exam? I also do not understand how that will happen. Will the MEXT cover the plane trip expenses for time that I will take the entrance exam? Also, entrance exams are way before the beginning of the school year. I just do not understand how all of this will happen. By the way, I am applying as a graduate student (integrated doctoral program).
Thank you very much and have a nice day.
Hi Nel,
Typically, universities have a separate entrance procedure for MEXT applicants who have passed the Primary Screening, so you might want to follow up to ask them about that after you pass.
If they are not flexible, then you should consider applying as a “Non-degree student.” There is no entrance exam required for that status and it would allow you to start taking classes and working on research at the university while also preparing to to take the entrance exam and move up to degree-seeking student in a later semester.
The chances of a MEXT scholar failing the entrance exam (in most cases, it’s not an “exam” for graduate school, just a document review process) is practically non-existent, so I don’t think you have much to worry about!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis
I am a double major student in the best technical university in my country.(Mechanical engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering). However, I have some questions for you:
– The embassy in my country requires a recommendation from the head of the department or academic advisor. However, from what I’ve read in your articles, I should get a recommendation from the dean. Should I still try to get one from the dean?
– Would getting a letter from many sources(dean, department head and my academic advisors) help or should I include only one letter in my application?
– I think I can handle writing a good field of study research plan etc.(many thanks to you) But, I do not have a good GPA ( roughly 80/100 scale). The embassy in my country requires 70/100. Would this be a problem?
– How does my double major fit in this application procedure? I am planning to study robotics which includes both electronics and mechanics.
Thanks in advance!
Hi Yunus,
– My article about the letter of recommendation was for the University-recommended scholarship. The requirements are different for that one, but you don’t need to worry about it. Your advisor should be fine.
– Only one letter is required. Getting multiple letters isn’t going to help you significantly, but the higher ranked person you can get a letter from, the better it looks.
– GPA scales are not a direct conversion, so I can’t say for sure. You have to convert each course grade to the MEXT scale individually then take the overall GPA based on that. (You can find sample conversion charts and an explanation here). Some applicants find to their surprise that they have a much higher GPA on the converted scale than they think they did.
– You have to apply for a degree in the same field you studied in your previous degree, or something related. Having a double major gives you more “related fields” to choose from!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi my name is luis thxs for so much information,
about the process below i have a question. i really want to enter in certain university and i am confident that i can get a letter of acceptance because the professor is a old friend of my, but for safety reason i want to choose another 2 universits, if i get the letter from those 3 is there a chance that i cannot go to the university that i want for budget reasons ?
Hi Luis,
If you’re sure that you can get a Letter of Acceptance from that professor/university, then you don’t really need a safety backup.
There is always a chance that you could end up at any of the three universities on your list. But if your first choice school is a national university, then there shouldn’t be much risk.
When MEXT gets your list of three schools and your 3 LOAs, they will start contacting the schools one-by-one to ask them to accept you. They would only move on to a second school if the first decided not to accept you at that stage. (At my university, we never rejected a student to whom we’d given an LoA, but we had a more rigorous screening process for LoAs than some others might). I don’t know how MEXT decides what school to approach first if you have a mix of national, private, and/or public schools, though.
There are applicants who list only one school on their Placement Preference Form, but that carries its own risk, too.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello!
I want to thank you first for this very well written article. I have been using this as one of my “guidelines” when applying for MEXT Scholarship last year. It truly works and I have arrived at my chosen university on the first week of April.
However, I have some questions now, I am planning to take the entrance exam to become a regular master’s course student (I am a research student now) in the end of August 2017 and if I pass, I will enter on September 2017. Now, I understand that I need to apply for the scholarship extension when I upgrade my academic status to master student. Does it mean I have to apply for the scholarship extension before I take the entrance examination? When will the period of applying for the extension usually start?
Hi Safrul,
Congratulations! I’m very happy to hear that you found these guidelines helpful in your successful application, as well.
I would recommend that you check with the International Office at your university to find out their procedures. They will be used to handling this application process each year and should have a set way of doing things.
I tried to research it on MEXT’s website, but the document I found suggested that there was only one extension application per year and that it was in January, before you arrived in Japan. That doesn’t seem to make sense to me, but unfortunately, I can’t find anything else at the moment.
The way things worked at my university was that the “entrance exam” was just a formality for MEXT scholars moving from research student status to degree status. In many cases, it only consisted of filling in the application form (plus the MEXT extension application form, of course). I am fairly certain the MEXT extension application process started first, but again, you’ll want to check with your school for their way of doing things.
Please let me know how it goes. I’m confused about this one application per year thing…
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis!
Thank you for reply, it is true that the information regarding the scholarship extension is not that common.
I was actually on my way to check the scholarship extension at my department office last Friday and they suddenly sent me email regarding the scholarship extension. The email explained that if I want to enroll as master student in September, I have to pass the entrance examination this summer and I also have to submit several documents to MEXT and hope that MEXT will accept my scholarship extension application as master student. They sent me three type of forms, the first one is the application form for MEXT Scholarship extension, the second one is the Research Plan/Research Status Sheet (it says that the research plan should fit 2-3 pages of A4 size paper) and the last one is the Statement of Reason form should I decide to not extend my scholarship as a master student in September. What so surprising was the fact that I need to submit the application form or the statement of reason sheet on Thursday this week.
But having saw the documents I think it is fairly reasonable that they want me to submit the documents soon. The Application Form for Scholarship Extension is fairly simple compare to the MEXT Scholarship Application Form, the Research Plan Sheet is basically the same with Study and Research Plan Form, and the Statement of Reason form is only one page. So I think I could manage to submit the documents before the deadline.
It is just I am quite surprised that my university asked their MEXT students to apply for the scholarship extension in the same month when they arrive in Japan.
I only heard rumors, that in my university MEXT students will be given a not-so-special priority in entrance exams. Maybe it is true or maybe it is just a wishful thinking from some of my friends, then it is better for me to prepare myself for the written exam and interview. Better safe than sorry.
Hi Safrul,
It’s not the university that decides the timing of when you have to apply for the extension, it’s MEXT. Yes, it’s somewhat sudden to do it right after to arrive, but like you said, it’s just a few forms and shouldn’t be anything terribly new (unless you have some feedback on your Research Plan from your advisor that you want to incorporate).
I’ve never heard of a university making it hard on their MEXT research students to advance to a degree program, so I don’t think you should face much difficulty. If you’re concerned, I’d recommend asking your advisor about how to prepare. He or she should be able to tell you if it’s even something to be worried about or not.
Please let me know how it goes!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi I also received the same form and have a few days to submit it my question is for the 1st choice and 2nd choice Universities and recommendation must the student just keep it the same as the Mext form? I mean what happens if you were placed in your 3rd choice university?
Hi Jay,
You’re talking about the form to extend your scholarship, right?
You do not need to keep the universities in the same order as they were in the original application. You should fill in your first and second choice universities as of the time you complete the form (forget everything that came before).
In almost all cases, I would think that your current university should be your first choice. If you are extending from Research Student to Degree-Seeking Student, then in principle you would have to stay at the same university unless there are significant extenuating circumstances.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi, first, thank you very much for all this information.
I introduce myself, my name is Lizeth I am Colombian, I am currently studying computer engineering, I am one year to finish my career. I would like to ask when applying for a scholarship, either through the embassy or directly to the university, the following situation could be a problem:
I finished my secondary education in 2008, I entered a private university in my country in 2009, however in 2012 due to economic problems I had to leave my studies and could not continue, it was a totally different career from my current career.
Because I suppose when I attach my documents will see that from 2009 to 2012 there is no more information, because I did not finish that race because of my economic problem that I can put there?
In 2013 to enter my current career, this race has a duration of 5 years in my country.
Is this situation problematic?
Thanks for your attention.
Hi Lizeth,
I am assuming for now that by “career” you mean “degree program” or “major” and that “race” is your length of program. When you contact the Japanese universities, it would be helpful to use terminology that they are going to be familiar with.
Your situation should not be a problem. You would not include your 2009-2012 studies in your educational background chart, since they did not lead to a degree. From the perspective of the evaluators at the university, at least, I do not think they will place much importance on what you did before getting your undergraduate degree. If they do ask what you did during those three years, you can explain that you were pursuing a different degree but had to change plans due to financial circumstances.
I don’t think anyone will fault you for that or hold it against you!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you very much for your answer, and excuse for my English, I will continue to improve it. 😀
Hi Lizeth,
Even for native English speakers, these terms differ from country to country (the Japanese English terms can be wierd, too), so please don’t take my comments as a knock on your English. I only meant to point out the terms that would be most easily understood when you contact Japanese universities.
Good Luck,
– Travis from TranSenz
The tuition fees for Public Universitys are the same price/or similar to a National one?
Hi Erick,
Public universities’ tuition is slightly higher (and there is some variation between the various publics), but the difference isn’t that significant.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis, I have completed my 12 years of regular schooling in 2013and i am from india. my age is 19 right now and i want to apply for undergraduate scholarship this year . so can I apply for it??
Hi Devendra,
This post is about the graduate scholarship, so the requirements here don’t apply to you.
It sounds to me like you’d be eligible, but if you want to be sure, you can find all of the eligibility requirements for the undergraduate scholarship in the official (English) guidelines (pdf) on MEXT’s website.
Keep in mind that those guidelines are for the 2017 entrance application, which is already over. The guidelines for 2018 aren’t out yet, but you can assume the references to the year of birth will change by one.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis,
Firstly, thank you so much for creating this blog and writing such detailed and comprehensive guides. I’m in the process of preparing my application for MEXT (Embassy-track for Master’s degree) and all of your posts have been incredibly helpful.
Forgive me if you’ve been asked something similar before, but I have a question about the Placement Preference document. My current degree is in a very niche STEM field, and it’s been a struggle to find universities and professors in the same field that are compatible with my research interests. I was prepared to make huge compromises and major in a related, but different area if necessary, but, to my honest surprise, I found a near-perfect match at Kyoto University. There are several professors in this department I am hoping to eventually reach out to, but my question is, would it be interpreted as lazy/inappropriate to list only Kyoto University in my Placement Preference section (potentially multiple times with different professors)?
Personally, I would prefer to be admitted to this specific program without the MEXT scholarship over getting the scholarship but having to do my degree in an only somewhat similar field at a different university. I can’t imagine that possibility itself will be high since my Field of Study and Study Program document will be heavily geared towards that specific program/department, but would you recommend I still list other universities regardless just to not appear as though I didn’t do the research?
Some other comments have mentioned being looked upon unfavorably when not giving the embassy enough options, so I am feeling apprehensive about my early decisions to focus on Kyodai.
Of course, this all hinges on getting through the Primary Screening in the first place, but I would grateful to hear any opinions you have!
Another question about applications in general. Do people applying to MEXT typically not apply for general admissions to Japanese universities at all? I ask because I know you cannot be admitted to a school already to qualify for the embassy-track MEXT scholarship, but the dates to apply normally for my program of choice overlap completely with the MEXT deadlines (deadline for MEXT screening and Kyodai screening both in May). Is it unheard of to do both applications simultaneously? Most university pages I’ve read on MEXT seem to imply that if you apply for MEXT you ONLY apply for MEXT and ignore regular admission processes, but I wanted to see if that sounds right to you.
Thank you again for all your hard work and following up on the comments. I can’t even imagine how many people must have gotten through the application process thanks to this blog.
Hi Louisa,
Thank you very much for your kind comments!
In your situation, I think it makes sense to select Kyodai only in the Placement Preference Form. Since you said you would rather pay to study there than receive the MEXT scholarship to go somewhere else, it sounds like an acceptable risk in your case. If the Embassy staff ask you why you only put one university, tell them what you wrote here. If you have researched a few other universities that had similar fields of study but weren’t quite close enough, you could explain your research, as well.
I would however recommend that you choose only one professor at Kyodai to put on your list. At the university level, we occasionally received Embassy MEXT applications where the applicant had listed multiple professors (or even multiple graduate schools!) at our university, but we viewed that as being evidence that the applicant wasn’t focused enough.
If you request one professor, but the professors determine that another is more suitable to supervise your field of study, they may recommend a change, too.
In order to increase your chances, I would recommend that you start trying to build a relationship with your target professor over common research interests in advance. If you have a relationship, even email communication, that will increase your chances of securing that LoA!
The instructions that you find saying only to apply for MEXT and not regular admissions are targeted at students who think they need to apply for both in order to get in and get the scholarship (but don’t want to/can’t enroll if they don’t get the scholarship).
I’ve never actually heard of a university admissions process and the MEXT screening being at the same time for the same entrance year the way Kyodai’s GSE are, so I can’t offer any advice based on direct experience. I would recommend that you contact the graduate school administrative office, explain that you’re applying for the Embassy MEXT but want to study there even if you are unable to receive the scholarship, and ask their advice for how you should proceed with the application. It might be that you start the application for fee-paying admissions, but stop partway through when you learn that you’ve passed the Primary Screening.
I’m sorry I wasn’t able to be more helpful.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Thank you for your reply and advice! I will definitely try to focus in on a single professor, and I am planning on sending out an email or two very soon to my target professors, just to see if our research interests align. Thankfully one of my previous supervisors has a few ties with this department. He’s unfortunately not able to give a direct referral, but hopefully that connection will be enough to get a correspondence with the professor I have in mind.
Thank you for your insight on my Placement Preference dilemma, I’ll continue my search for other schools with similar departments just in case, but if I turn up empty hopefully I will get a chance to explain my situation!
Don’t worry about not being able to answer my other question, it seems to be a somewhat unusual situation, especially because I am willing to go the fee paying-route if necessary. I will contact the administrative office and hopefully they’ll be able to shed some light on the issue.
Thank you again for your help!
Kind regards,
Louisa
Hi Louisa,
You’re very welcome.
That’s great to hear that you have a connection already. Even if it’s not a direct referral, it will open up communications quicker than a cold email would.
Good Luck with your continued efforts!
– Travis from TranSenz
“Placement Preference Form may not be met due to budgetary reasons concerning the school fees, etc.” I realy want apply for Medicine(Undergrad.), this is even possible? I can meet the language and academic requirements, but due the competitiveness and the tuition fees, I’am not sure if this is even possible…
For exemple, the tution at Keio Univ. in 6 years will be more than $200.000 Dollars, do MEXT will ever affort this amount? Choosing a public University can help? not sure since it can be even more competitive.
However, thank you for all information provided in this site.
Hi Otaviano,
This article is about the scholarship for graduate students. For undergraduate students, the Placement Preference form is only required for applicants for direct placement, which is just a small number of all applicants.
If you want to apply for the undergraduate degree in medicine, but don’t need to specify a single university in particular, you don’t need to submit that form. MEXT will find a university for you after you complete the initial language education.
The Undergraduate scholarship is not my area of specialty and most of the articles on this site are focused on the graduate scholarship so some of the forms and specific requirements may be different.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis!
I read all of your articles about MEXT scholarship and all of them are so helpful. I have a question. In this post, you wrote that MEXT pays for everything for Embassy MEXT scholars. What about University recommendation sholars? Will they have to use the money they receive every month to pay for tuition fee?
Best regards,
P/S: I check your page everyday to find new article. Hope you keep writing more interesting article about MEXT scholarship as well as Japan life!
Hi Tri,
No, in the case of University-recommended MEXT scholars, the university waives your tuition, so you don’t need to worry about that! Either the university or MEXT will pay for your round-trip flight to Japan, as well.
Thank you for your kind comments. I’m afraid I haven’t been updating this with new articles as much as I’d like lately. (As my family has grown, I have less time to write.) If you haven’t already, please join my mailing list – either the MEXT list that you can join at the bottom of this post – or the general list in the sidebar. Whenever I do have a new article, I let everyone on the mailing list know, so you don’t have to keep checking back 🙂
Good Luck with your application!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you so much for your reply, TranSenz. I will join the mailing list and wait for your helpful article.
Best regards,
Tri
Hello! Thank you for this site and all the information here is really helpful! I recced this site to my friends who are aiming to be MEXT scholars too!
I was wondering if you know anything about the monthly payment system of this scholarship. I have two questions in mind:
1- When do we get our first monthly stipend? Is it by the end of april?
2- Let’s say that I want to go on a vacation abroad during summer holiday, do they cut the days I spent abroad from my monthly stipend? When I was a Nikkensei back in 2014 I went to South Korea on summer holiday and no such thing has happened since I signed for that months stipend, but a friend of mine is telling me that this was the case on his university.
I’ll be really happy if you can give me any info on this too!
Best regards!
Hi Ceren,
Thank you for your kind comments! I’m glad you’ve found these articles helpful. If you have anything from your experience that you think should be added, or if you want to share something about your application process, I’m always trying to find more helpful information for new posts, so please let me know!
1. I would not count on it being that early. Almost all of the students I worked with were fall arrivals, so I don’t remember the April schedule very well. For fall, at least, typically students would get their first payment at the end of their second month in Japan, since it takes time to set up the bank accounts and get all the initial paperwork processed. We also had students arrive in September for orientation, even though the first scholarship month was October, so that may have been part of the reason.
We used to recommend that students bring enough cash to cover their first two months of expenses, including initial book purchase and the money they would need to start a rental contract. I think our recommendation was to bring 200,000 yen at the time as a minimum. I’d suggest following up with your university to see if they have a recommended amount.
2. No, as long as you sign for the month, you should be fine. I remember students who would sign on the first day of one month and the last day of the next so that they could spend nearly two months overseas during vacation for research, etc. Of course, double-check with your university before you go!
I am aware of Nikkensei or JASSO short-term students having their stipends reduced if they took off for vacation during a time when the university was offering optional classes that they could have participated in, since they were considered to be not enrolled during that time.
I hope that helps!
Good Luck,
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Trans,
Thank you for the guide its been extremely helpful and was the foundation of my application.
I have a masters degree.
I had selected the option to start as a 6months language student or researcher then follow into a new masters as….. my first option uni had a masters programme different to my field. Now i have been placed in my 3rd option but i feel the master level here my be to close to my current one.
Is it possible to switch to a phd programme from once you`ve been selected for a masters.
ps: university are now asking for ones priorty list. its unfortunate
Hi Jacob,
Thank you for your kind comments. I’m glad to hear that you found the guide helpful!
I’m sorry to hear about your situation with the degree programs. Unfortunately, MEXT does not allow you to switch your degree level once it has approved the scholarship. The only way you could move on to the PhD would be by completing the Masters and applying to extend the scholarship to the PhD, as well. Your other option would be to withdraw from the degree program and scholarship altogether, but that seems a little extreme.
Even if the Master’s program is similar to what you’ve completed already, you might be able to work with your advisor to take on more advanced research and coursework, once he/she knows your background. It won’t change the final credential you earn, but it would at least make those two years more valuable for you.
Some universities have always asked for the Placement Preference Form, even when it went by the old name. MEXT’s instructions on that form have never been clear, unfortunately, and both embassies and universities treat it illogically. It seems obvious to me that applicants should only complete it and submit it to the Embassies (never the university) after they get their Letters of Acceptance. But since that isn’t explicitly stated, many embassies and universities ask for it with the rest of the documents.
I hope you find a way to make the best use of your degree program!
Good Luck,
– Travis from TranSenz
thank you for your response. I think will be valuable experience and its up to me to get as many opportunities out of it. A researcher for a year prior to starting a Phd would have been ideal. I will definitely speak to my supervisor to do advanced work and I`ve read your previous post about applying for an extension for Ph.D/ Researcher.
ps: I had a chat to a Prof. they sometimes turn students down if their not the 1st option to avoid having to write a recommendation letter/admin for students who may not join their university. In addition, not all Profs. understand that one won`t always get into there 1st or 2nd option.
Hi, does all of this apply if i’m applying for an undergraduate MEXT for Japanese learners?
Hi Henry,
No! These instructions are all about the MEXT scholarships for graduate students. Sorry for not making that clear.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello TranSenz, First of all many congratulations on blog’s success and Thank you for such great blog. I had last year (2016) applied for MEXT, could pass the First Documentation round went up to Written and Interview Round but could not clear it. (Embassy didn’t mention the reason for declining the students who could not pass!! ) I wish I could find your blog a little earlier but no worries I am all set to rectify my errors this time.
Now that I am once again preparing to apply for this year. I am much earlier than when I started in 2016. I think I could not pass the Written Exam because I was pretty confident in Interview.
In 2016, I contacted Professors/Admin Offices lately around July so I could hardly get any information. This year also, whenever I am contacting any Professor for further communication regarding research plan I end up in getting no reply. I just asked them if it is ok to contact regarding my Research Plan but no reply from any of the faculties. (I always examined strictly if it is mentioned on each University’s website that we can contact advisors regarding our research plan. I don’t contact them directly without Admin office’s approval or such written on website – “An applicant hoping to contact a professor about the contents of his/her study plan or research should directly contact the professor “ )
Coming to my serious query-
So am I making some mistake here? Is it rude (as you say) to contact advisors regarding study proposal even prior to pass the screening?
I am from India and here the Embassy of Japan starts conducting the process around mid-May (I think its late compared to when other countries starts) and in the month of June they’ll call up for Primary rounds.
I end up getting so confused what to do till then (as August is the deadline for submitting the MEXT applications to Universities.) Even I found out that some universities even have deadlines for submission around July end.
I agree to your point of selecting National University that last time among the 3 universities which I listed was only one National universities with other 2 being Private. So I am going to rectify it this time. I have done my thorough analysis about each National University’s Programmes and Professors. Even 2 of the University Offices have given me a go ahead to find and contact Prospective Advisors regarding study plan (which I contacted them with No Reply yet)
So what should I do till the Embassy starts the process? Shall I first concentrate on getting the Preliminary screening and after I get successfully through I shall contact them again? Will it be late by then?
-Sukruti.
Hi Sukruti,
It’s not a problem to reach out to the professors at this time, but you need to do it strategically.
An email like “Hi, I want to apply for the MEXT scholarship this year, so can you review my Research Plan?”, even if it’s more politely formatted, is still forward, a bit rude, and not likely to get you a response. I know you’re not doing this, but I’ve seen a lot of applicants ask the professors to help them write their research plan, which is even worse.
I recommend you focus on building a relationship with the professor at this point. Stroke his/her ego a little bit by talking about how you’re interested in his/her research topic and mention that you would really like to study under him. You can mention your research field and how you think it relates to what the professor is interested in, but keep the first email very short and easy to reply to. A couple paragraphs is a good guideline at first.
Once you get that reply and start building a relationship, you can get into more detail about your research proposal. Then, around when you start the application at the Embassy, you can mention that you’re applying for the MEXT scholarship and, after you pass the primary screening, you’d be honored if the professor/university would write you a Letter of Acceptance so you could continue with the scholarship application.
It’s all about the approach – making it both easy and worthwhile for the professors to reply.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi!
I wish I had seen this post when I was submitting my application! I think I would have done things differently. Luckily for me I somehow managed to get accepted and placed and will be leaving for Japan in April!
My question is this: Is it possible for students to change universities between being a research student and starting the actual masters degree program? I realize this may be a longshot but I’m nervous about being in a small city and I’m curious about the possibility.
-J
Hi Jasmine,
If you got the scholarship, then far be it from me to suggest you should have done things differently! If it works, don’t change it 🙂
(By the way, what did you do? If you have any suggestions for improvements, I’d be all ears!)
Typically, no, you cannot change universities when moving from Research Student to Master’s Student unless there is some unavoidable reason, like your advisor retiring with no replacement who can supervise you, or your research going in a direction that the university can’t support.
(It is possible to change when moving from Master’s to PhD, for what it’s worth).
Personally, I think small cities in Japan are much better places to live than the big metropolises. I’ve lived in cities of several different sizes here, and I find that smaller places are more welcoming and accepting. The people are kind and you find more opportunities to get involved that you would in a bigger city where you’re just one more foreigner.
Give the small city a chance. You might just like it 🙂
(And, if not, with the transportation network here, bigger cities are never that far away.)
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
first of all thank you very much for this great article ,we really appreciate that for you
I want to ask you about contacting Japanese universities , should I contact them before or after sending documents to the embassy .
Hi Afnan,
It depends on your purpose:
You can start contacting universities and professors at any time for the purpose of building up a network and relationships. (That’s true whether or not you’re applying for the scholarship).
But you can’t start asking them for a Letter of Acceptance until after your pass the Primary Screening conducted by the Embassy and receive your Passing Certificate of the Primary Screening.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi TranSenZ
Thank you for all the information you provided in this post, it was truly educating. I am from Ethiopia want to apply for the MEXT undergraduate scholarship through embassy recommended and I would like to ask you
1. When choosing your three universities, do you write it in the application form or do you do it later on when you pass the second screening
2. Does the chances of getting accepted increases when you choose a social field like economics
3. Is it a must to have a TOEFL Certificate when English is not your first language
4. Is the chances of getting accepted to a Japanese language degree (degree tought in Japanese) university higher than an English language degree? also can’t i study a degree tought in Japanese because i currently don’t know Japanese however I am studying a whole year Japanese language right!
I hope I don’t bother you in anyway with my questions.
Hi Abdirahman,
I’m glad to hear that you’ve found the post helpful! The undergraduate scholarship is not my area of specialization, but I will try to answer as best I can.
1) This article was about the Embassy-recommended scholarship application for graduate students. University placement for the undergraduate scholarship is very different. In general, MEXT picks your university for you. There is also a way to apply directly for one university, but it’s a little risky. You can find more information in the guidlelines on MEXT’s site (pdf).
2) I’m not familiar with MEXT’s preferences/slot allotments/competition levels for specific fields at the undergraduate level, so I can’t say for sure.
3) TOEFL scores do not appear to be required for the undergraduate scholarship application. (Although it may be required later for admission to a university).
4) Again, I’m not sure how this works for the undergraduate scholarship, so I can’t say for sure. But if you don’t know any Japanese yet, I think it will be very difficult to get to the required language ability level in one year. Most undergraduate programs require you to pass level N1 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, which is the highest level. I’ve never heard of anyone going from zero ability to N1 level in a single year. I’m not saying it’s impossible, if you’re a serious, dedicated student with a talent for languages, but I think you’d have a much easier time targeting an English-taught program.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you TranSenz
I would like to know one more thing, in my area sending letters by post does not work for me, I can only send through emails, will the whole process of applying mext scholarship be hard for me ?
Again thank you
Hi Abdirahman,
You will need to figure out how to send hardcopy documents to apply. Copies and scans are not going to be accepted.
If the post doesn’t work, you’ll need to use a courier service instead.
I had one applicant from Africa who had to travel over 100 km to get to the nearest courier service depot every time he needed to send or receive a package, but he made it work. I had another applicant from the middle of a civil war ask for permission to send her documents by email, but we couldn’t accept them. It’s a pretty strict rule.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
If i give the hard copies to the embassy, are’nt they suppose to send by post to the university am applying to ??
Hi Abdirahman,
Just to double-check, you are applying for the graduate-level scholarship, right?
In that case, no, the embassy will not help you contact universities in any way – that’s all up to you.
If you’re applying for the undergraduate scholarship, that’s a whole different process, so I’d recommend checking with the embassy to be sure.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Transenzjapan,
First of all I would like to thank you for all the information and tips that you have provided for who want to apply for MEXT scholarship. I really appreciate that.
I have selected as a MEXT student last year and came to japan on 4th of April 2016.luckily I passed my entrance exam and i will start my master degree from next April, I want to ask that If I want to extend my scholarship to cover my PHD degree as well can i change my university and supervisor for my my PHD course or not?? it’s very important for me because i made mistake on my priority list for universities and i’m very sad about that… therefore i just want to know that is it possible to change my university for PHD after i finish my master degree at current university or not??
Thank you in for your help advance
Hi Rose,
Yes, if you’re on the Embassy-recommended scholarship, it is possible to change universities when you move up from your Master’s degree to your PhD. (For obvious reasons, it would not be possible if you were on the University-recommended scholarship).
I hope both of your degrees are successful experiences!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Transenzjapan,
First of all would like to thank you for all the info that you have provided , it really helped me a lot in my application process.
Glad to tell you I passed the secondary screening and have received 3 letter for provisional acceptance in national univ. Univ of Tsukuba is my first choice, This univ is member of Global 30, I applied in Graduate School of Systems and Information Engineering (Dept. of Engineering Mechanics and Energy). And now I find out that my proposed program is taught in japanese. I’m really worried since I havn’t any japanese skills and they request a N2 for getting into a master degree.
Hi Syllius,
Congratulations on passing the primary screening and receiving three letters of acceptance. At this point, it looks like the scholarship is all-but guaranteed and it’s just a matter of placement.
I’m happy to hear that you found this blog helpful during your application process!
The University of Tsukuba should have known about your Japanese language ability when they sent you the Letter of Acceptance, so I would certainly hope they have a plan to advise you and see you through your degree. There is one English language program in that graduate school, so maybe they plan to leverage that as a workaround.
Did you apply to them as a Research Student or a Master’s Degree Student? If I recall correctly, you can indicate on the form what level you want to start at, as well as your ultimate goal.
You should be receiving your placement notification soon, if you have not already. If you end up getting placed at Tsukuba, then get in touch with your advisor there as soon as possible to follow up.
In either case, congratulations! Please let me know how your placement goes!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer me! So I applied as a research student and I want to pass the entrance exam for a master degree. I’m still waiting for the placement result. I sent a email to my prospective advisor about this matter and he told me that all guidance are in japanese for his lab and most of class are taugh in japanese in this graduate school. My anxiety is expanding….
Hi Syllius,
At this point, I don’t know that there is much that you can do besides wait for the result. Worrying about one particular lab when you don’t know if you’ll be placed there is just going to cause you stress without really solving anything.
In the worst case scenario, you might have to change universities when you apply to join the Master’s Degree program. In general, scholarship recipients are not allowed to change universities when moving from research status to degree status, but I remember that there is an exception if the degree program at your university is not able to meet your needs. But again, it’s too early to worry about that.
You should be getting your placement result in the next few weeks. Please let me know how it goes!
Good Luck,
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Transenz
I would like to inform you that finnaly I get placed to The University of Tsukuba
Congratulations! I’m glad to hear that you ended up at your first choice :).
I hope you have no problems working with your faculty to arrange for an English-language program.
Hello dear
Hope you remember me. Now I ‘m student in Tsukuba university, I just passed the entrance exam for master +phd program. Last semester, I took intensive Japanese course and this semester too I’ll take japanese class to improve my level. And then will start the graduate program next April. My advisor think that with one year of intensive japanese ,I’ll be able to take class in japanese. Now I ‘m confident bcause in 6 months I got JLPT N3. 頑張りまります!
Thank you man for your support!!
Hi Syllius,
Congrats on your amazing progress so far! That’s great to hear.
Good luck with the rest of your studies.
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear TranSenz .
Firstly, thank you for the great article.
I should be going to college next year in September 2017, and I will be practically 19 then. I would like to do a Bachelors degree that lasts for 3 years, plus studies in Japan in my home country Jamaica, and I have a few questions.
1) I read that the age limit for “College of technology student” is 22 years at time of granting. What does this mean? I mean, when is the time of granting exactly, and will I be too old?
If I am too old, can I decide to not finish my bachelors in my country for the three years so I will not be too old?
2) Can students who have student loan debt be allowed for the scholarship, or it has to be cleared before being allowed?
3) When do you recommend starting to apply for the scholarship?
Thank you very much.
Hi Mackaina,
I’ve never been involved with or researched the Colleges of Technology scholarship, so I can’t answer any specific questions about that, but I can answer the general ones.
1) Time of granting means April 1 of the year that you start your studies. So, if you plan to start in September 2017, you would have to be 22 or younger as of April 1 2017. It sounds like that is not a problem for you!
The official guidelines do not say “22 years” they say that applicants must be born between [Date 1] and [Date 2]. For example, for 2017, the guidelines say “Applicants generally must have been born between April 2, 1995 and April 1, 2000.”
2) Yes, students with loan debt can apply. Your personal financial situation is not part of the application as far as I know, so student loan debt, etc., would not even be reported to MEXT. Since this application runs through your country’s embassy, however, they may have their own rules.
3) The application start date is different for each country. Please check with the Japanese embassy in Jamaica to find out when it starts for you. I think it is already too late to apply for studies starting in 2017. That said, you should start researching the scholarship and working on your study plan as soon as possible!
For reference, you can find the 2017 Colleges of Technology application guidelines at: http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/koutou/ryugaku/boshu/1369692.htm
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi!
I am really thankful for the effort and time you’ve put in compiling all these information. Honestly, this blog was my companion during the entire process!
I have passed the primary screening, received letters of acceptance from 3 universities, and have been nominated by my local embassy to MEXT. I am now waiting for the results.
My questions are:
1. My universities are: the University of Tokyo, Keio University, and Waseda University. What do you think about the combination of these and where do you think I’ll most likely be placed?
2. While waiting for the decision, I moved to Japan and received a working VISA. I am currently working in Japan and my contract ends in February. If I pass the MEXT screening, I will fly back home to my country in March and have my VISA changed from working to student. Does this have any effect on my chances of getting the scholarship?
Your valuable insight will greatly be appreciated. Thank you very much!
Hi Macky,
I’m very happy to hear that you got some value out of the blog.
It sounds like you’re in a good position to receive the scholarship, too! Once you have your letters of acceptance and the Embassy has submitted your nomination to MEXT, it’s all but a sure thing – just a matter of placement, now!
1) If that was the order of your preferences (and maybe even if not), MEXT is first going to try to place you at The University of Tokyo. MEXT has to pay your tuition to the university, so they prefer national universities, where the tuition is lower 🙂 As far as I know, you would only end up at one of the others if Todai became unable to accept you.
2) As long as you have a fixed time for ending your contract and returning to your home country, you should be OK by MEXT’s rules. There is a special visa application process for MEXT scholars, so you have to complete it in your home country, at the specific embassy/consulate nearest your home. There may be a designated timeline, too, but you’ll get more information about that from the Embassy when you get your screening results. I’m sure you have this worked out already, but make sure that you can receive messages from the Embassy quickly, even while you’re in Japan!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you very much! I hope that the announcement comes out sooner than later!
Hello Transenzjapan,
First of all would like to thank you for all the info that you have provided , it really helped me a lot in my application process.
Glad to tell you I passed the secondary screening and have received the letter for provisional acceptance.
But i have one question that is bothering me a lot-
I have received letter of acceptance from professor of my 1st preferred university only. And thats the only LOA I have presented to the embassy. As for the final selection in FEB 2017 what are my chances of getting the scholarship based on that?
I have no other LOA from any other university, its just only one from TOHOKU University.
Please help me out with this.
Hi Keshav Singh,
I’m glad to hear that you were able to use the information I shared to succeed in your application!
If Monbukagakusho or the Embassy has contacted you to say that you passed the primary screening, then you should be good. As long as you have one Letter of Acceptance, I’ve never head of an applicant losing the scholarship at that point. Besides, Tohoku University is a national university, and MEXT prefers to place applicants at national universities.
I have every reason to be confident that you’ll get the scholarship and placement at your first choice university! Please tell me how it goes when you find out.
Good Luck,
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you Travis for the reply.
I really needed that positive reply to calm down my anxiety a bit.
Thanks man , I will keep you updated 😀
Hello! Thank you so much for your hard work! This blog is very useful and helps a lot.
I’m really confused about this research student thing. In the application form ‘‘the first course you plan to take in Japan’’ question confuses me. I should either choose ‘research student course’ or ‘master course’. I would prefer directly going for a master. But universities’ websites just confuses me.
For example in Nagoya Uni’s page it says this: You will typically enter Japan as a research student and advance into a higher degree program after conducting some initial research. So it means that I cant go as a master student directly, right? But because I will be listing three universities, which course should I choose? If I choose master course in the form and also put Nagoya uni in the preference form would it cause problem because they dont directly accept master students? Or if I mark research course, would I lose the chance to be a master student directly in other uni which accept master students directly?
Thank you so much!
Larisa
Hi Larisa,
In my experience, a University is not going to reject you because you say that the “first course you want to take in Japan” is the Master’s Degree and the university wants to place you as a research student first. They will simply issue you a Letter of Acceptance to come as a research student.
In many Japanese universities’ grad programs, the only accept new students to the degree program during one semester (typically spring for Japanese-taught programs and fall for English-taught ones). If a student wanted to start a degree program, but arrived in Japan in the wrong semester, the university wouldn’t just reject the student, they would accept them as a research student. So there is ample precedent for this!
I would recommend that you stick to the Master’s Degree as your first choice and still keep Meidai (Nagoya University) on your preference form.
Plus, if I’m not mistaken, you’ll often spend your first semester in Japan in a Japanese language course. At that time you will also have a “research student” status at your university and may even start your research at the same time.
Good Luck!
-Travis from TranSenz
thank you for the information
i have passed the primary screening and got 3 letter of acceptance from 3 different national university in japan and few days ago I received an email declare that I have passed the second screening conducted in Tokyo quote (Based on this result of the second screening, MEXT started working for your placement in a Japanese university.) so I still have to wait until I get the final placement in other words final screening
what are the chances of getting rejected at this stage ??? is there is any possibility to fail now ?
Hi Alaa,
The Second Screening is the final screening. I can’t see any possibility of you not receiving the scholarship at this point!
Now, it’s just a matter of MEXT negotiating with the universities to determine where to place you.
By the way, don’t worry if it takes a while before you get any more information. This can be a time consuming process, and it has nothing to do with whether you will be accepted or rejected. It’s just university bureaucracy and getting all the paperwork done (for you, and every other applicant at the same time!)
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Thank you very much for your help ! I began to read your website in July 2015 when I failed at the MEXT Scholarship Application via Embassy Recommendation.
This year, I passed the First Screening conducted by my local Embassy and now my documents are being reviewed by MEXT. Now, I would like to ask the following question:
– Does MEXT sends to each University the whole set of documents of candidates as prepared by the Embassies?
I suppose that MEXT only sends a list with the names of candidates to be placed but I wonder if the dossier of each candidate is also sent from MEXT to Universities.
I would like to know if the academic advisor could read the “Research Proposal” as sent to MEXT. In my case, I submitted one “Research Proposal” to request a Letter of Acceptance from a National University but another version of the “Research Proposal” was sent to MEXT by the Embassy.
It could be a problem if a Professor reads a different research proposal than the one approved by him….
I look forward to hearing from you,
Best regards,
Marco
PS. I am indebted for your kind help ! Your advice was instrumental for applying successfully for the MEXT Scholarship this year ….!
Hi Marco,
Thank you for your kind words. I’m happy to hear that you you’ve been able to make use of the information on here so far!
After you passed the Primary screening you should have sent a copy of the whole set of documents to each of the universities you are interested in to apply for a Letter of Acceptance.
MEXT will contact only the universities on your Placement Preference Form, which should be the universities you already received Letters of Acceptance from. MEXT will send only a list of names, but since you already sent your whole set of application documents, the university will still have those on record.
I’m a little confused how you could have two different research proposals. You were supposed to send to the universities a copy of the exact documents that you submitted to the Embassy. In any case, to the best of my memory, no, MEXT does not send your research proposal to the universities.
Good Luck! I hope you hear good news soon.
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi, this year I applied for MEXT scholarship and now I am at the last stage i.e I got the acceptance letter from UTokyo. Embassy called me after the selection of students from the personal interview and said that I am in the waiting list. Now I want to ask is it true that there is a waiting list? How much there are my changes for getting selected? I am done with all the process.
Hi Prashant Kandwal,
I have seen a waiting list before, but in that case, the student knew from the point of the Primary Screening that she was an alternate candidate.
Her Passing Certificate of the Primary Screening clearly said that she was a waiting list/alternate candidate (I forget the exact words). What does your Passing Certificate say?
If you are on the waiting list, you can generally only be bumped up to become a scholarship recipient if one of the primary candidates withdraws their application during the review process or fails to get a Letter of Acceptance. I don’t know how frequently that occurs with the Embassy-Recommended application.
I would recommend double-checking your Passing Certificate to see the exact wording, then contacting your embassy again to clarify and make sure you are taking all the right steps to retain your candidacy.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hey, thanks for all the information on the website! I found it quite useful, and refreshing, since I had to go through the whole selection process without knowing anything more than what the embassy told me (which wasn’t always much!).
I have a few questions I’d like to ask you, if you could spare the time. I’ve passed the primary screening and obtained a Letter of Acceptance, so at the moment all I’m doing is waiting for the results… I’ve been told that in previous years, if you had reached this point then you were sure to get the scholarship, but this year there have been some cuts, so it’s not so guaranteed anymore (not sure how much truth there is to this, as it seems to contradict a few things I’ve read on this website).
Anyway! That was just me talking… sorry, I’m quite verbose. My real question is this: what exactly does a “Research Student” scholarship entail? I applied for that because, at the same time, I was also applying for a PhD course in my home country, which I was admitted to, and I’ll be starting in a few weeks. So, I’m planning on staying a research student for my whole stay in Japan, with a project in Japanese literature, and I’m wondering how exactly that works. I’ll just number my questions, that should be easier:
1) As a research student, with no intention of progressing to a degree in Japan, what will I have to do? Will I have to write a final thesis or paper or something like that for the Japanese university I’ll be staying at? If that’s the case, will I have to write it in Japanese (I’m at N1 level, but writing a PhD-level paper in Japanese is kind of daunting)?
2) Technically, my home university only allows me to stay in Japan for a period of one and a half years, while the MEXT scholarship lasts for two years (that’s the duration I initially applied for, as, at the time, I didn’t know whether I would get into this PhD here or not, and it seemed silly to cut six months just because that “might happen”). Now, I don’t think this will really be a serious problem, as I’m confident I can work something out with my university, but just in case: is it possible to shorten my stay? I know it’s possible to prolong it, but I haven’t read anything about shortening it on the Application Guidelines (or anywhere else).
That’s it, basically. Sorry for writing such a long post, I have a bad case of logorrhea. Thanks again for the website, and have a nice day!
Hi Enrico,
Congratulations on getting through the Primary Screening and receiving the Letter of Acceptance.
I had not heard rumors of budget cuts potentially resulting in reduced scholarships at this point in the process. I would be very surprised if that was the case. But I will keep an eye and ear open to see if I can get any concrete information.
1) The way my university defined research student status is “students who intend to conduct research within the university’s facilities while receiving research guidance from its professors.” Some research students also took courses as determined necessary between them and their advisor.
If you were to take courses, you would have assignments related to those, but otherwise there is not necessarily a specific final paper or project that you would be expected to produce for the Japanese university. You and your advisor might decide that you do want some final output, but it’s all very “case by case,” as my Japanese colleagues love to say.
For language requirements, it depends on the language of your program and your professor, as well. Since there’s no formal requirement for a final paper or project, the language should be negotiable.
2) I’ve actually never heard of a Research Student shortening their scholarship duration before, either. All of the MEXT research students I worked with moved on to a degree-seeking program and extended their scholarships. I know that shortening a scholarship award period is possible – for example, I know of students who withdrew and cancelled their scholarship partway through. However, those students (degree-seeking students who failed to finish their degree) ended up losing their MEXT-funded plane ticket home.
Your case is different, of course, so I’d recommend talking to your university as soon as you arrive and start your paperwork. Let them know that you want to change the award period. With enough notice, it should be possible.
It seems you’re not the only long-winded one! 🙂
Good Luck,
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions! I’m quite relieved by not being formally required to write a thesis in Japanese, I have to say. My advisor, though I actually know him very little at the moment, seems quite laid-back and approachable, so I don’t think he’ll be sadistic to the point of making me write a couple hundred pages in Japanese. =)
Thanks also for the information about shortening the scholarship! If I somehow don’t manage to work something out with my home university, I’ll immediately notify the Japanese one and see where I can go from there.
Thanks again for your time and help! =)
Hello
Thanks for your informative blog it really helped me a lot during the processing of this year MEXT Scholarship but unfortunately I was not invited for the primary screening… Please is there any advice you can give that will help me in the coming MEXT Scholarship thanks in advance
Hi Mac May,
Can you tell me a little more about your experience? Did you participate in the written test but not the interview? Or did you participate in the interview as well, but not pass the primary screening? Without knowing how far you made it in the process, it’s hard to give any advice about what to focus on next time around.
I look forward to hearing back from you,
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello
Thanks for your swift response Sir.
I received a B.sc in Plant Biology in the year 2014 from a Nigerian University and i put in for Pharmacognosy. After I submitted my application at the Japanese embassy in my home country I was not invited at all be it interview, oral test nor primary screening.. Guess my application was not appealing enough.
I need your advice sir to know what went wrong ..is it that my study plan write up is too bogus because actually that was almost 8 pages write up.
Thanks always
Hi Mac May,
This is only a guess, but two things come to mind:
1) Your grades could be the problem. Your grades have to be above a certain threshold to even qualify for the scholarship. You can find the conversion chart in my article about MEXT scholarship eligibility. Even if you do meet the minimum requirements, if the other applicants had higher grades then you, they might have only chosen the highest. Unfortunately, if that’s the problem, there’s nothing you can do.
2) Your field of study could be the problem. You have to apply for the field of study that you majored in previously, or a related field. I don’t know enough about the fields you described, but you need to make it clear in your application that your graduate research proposal is directly related to your undergraduate studies.
And yes, 8 pages is probably too long. I have more advice on the MEXT field of study and research program plan in another article.
Good Luck!
-Travis from TranSenz
Firstly, I would like to thank you for this blog, its usefulness can’t be stated by words.
I can divide my concerns into two questions:
First: My home country requires me to check whether the graduate program is accredited or approved by MEXT (or the institution that is responsible for the higher education in Japan). How can I obtain such information? I will be specific, I am applying for Tokyo Institute of Technology, Graduate school of Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, I want to know whether MEXT accredits this program. It may be naive to ask such question due to the reputability of Tokyo tech, but I have to check.
I suppose all Tokyo Tech’s programs are all accredited but I want to check from you, and please provide me with a web page/ Link to obtain such info.
Second: As an international student, will I be required to write my thesis/dissertation in Japanese, or I can do it in English?
I hope to receive you reply as soon as possible
Thank you in advance sir.
Hi Adam,
I’m glad to hear that you’ve found the blog helpful!
1) Accreditation is a little different in Japan. There are accreditation organizations that review universities to make sure that they are meeting MEXTs standards every 7 years. An agency does the review, but the ultimate result is approval by MEXT. You can find TITECH on the list of approved National Universities at:
http://www.mext.go.jp/english/relatedsites/1303116.htm
By the way, accreditation here is a university-wide procedure, not school-by-school.
2) It depends on the language of the program you apply to. If you apply to an English-taught program, you’ll do your coursework and thesis in English.
Good Luck!
-Travis from TranSenz
Thank you very much for your efforts. I have the following questions which I would like to get answers as soon as possible
1. I have received two LOAs, but I want to be placed in one of them ( both of them are national universities), so I want to submit only one LOA to the embassy and only write it down as my choice in the placement preference form. Am I doing any risk or it is ok. I mean in the secondary screening, is there any possibility that the university will reject me because there is no place for me. This may lead to another question, are the LOAs issued by universities match the number of students allowed in that particular university?
2. When will the applicants be notified about the result of the secondary screening ( for the FY 2017) ?
3. What is the possibility of being rejected at the secondary screening if the applicant passed the primary screening and submitted one LOA to the embassy?
4. Is there any information about the number of scholarship grantees (quota) for each country?
These are lots of questions, but getting them answered may calm down my anxiety.
Hi H.J. Ahmad,
1. You take a risk by not submitting both. Even if the university has issued you a LoA, they may decide in the end that they can’t want to accept you. I have heard people on other forums/blogs talking about that issue happening in the past.
Each university handles their LoA process differently. Where I worked, we only issued an LoA if we were really prepared to accept a student. Unfortunately, I don’t have any personal examples of universities that changed their minds, so I can’t say why it happens or how often. Personally, I always recommend submitting multiple LoAs.
2. Typically it happens around early December, but MEXT has been late with several of their recent announcements.
3. Minimal. The only chance of rejection would be if the university changed its mind and did not accept you.
4. I wish I knew! However, in general it is assumed that everyone who passes the primary screening will get an LoA or more and will therefore get the scholarship. So, I think the quotas are applied at the Primary Screening, not later.
Good Luck!
-Travis from TranSenz
HI, Travis,
First, thanks for this helpful blog of yours. I’m a recently graduated Japanologist from Spain.
I need you to ease my mind because I’m dying from anxiety right now: I passed the Primary Screening and I have just obtained a LoA from my first choice university which is Sophia University (my other 2 choices are private universities as well). I only have this LoA. My whole research project is oriented to Sophia University, it is so specific that I may only be able to carry it there. Considering that I only have this one LoA from a private university (my second choice is Nanzan University, also private) what are my chances of being rejected in the Secondary Screening? Do you still think that my chances are good and I should not be afraid of beign rejected?
Hi Saul,
I’m glad you’ve found the blog helpful.
Every applicant I’ve ever heard of who passed the Embassy’s primary screening and got an LoA ended up receiving the scholarship. So, I think you have nothing to worry about!
Good Luck,
-Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis. Thanks for your wonderful guide. It really helped me a lot to think over on how I should proceed with my application.
First, want to point out that I have the N2 certificate, and I believe I could pass the N1 by now. I haven’t done so yet because I live in a place far away from the hosting cities, and December is a time of the year I can’t really afford taking trips that easily. Plus I didn’t know whether or not I would end up in a research field that would be interesting for studiying in Japan so I didn’t really bother until now.
I recently contated the people at the Embassy asking about the MEXT, and one of my doubts was whether having the N1 certificate was mandatory to enter certain programs, specifically the classes given in japanese. They said I shouldn’t worry about the JLPT; I should rather focus on the proficiency tests, and also writting my application form and research proposals in japanese because this would suffice as means of proving my japanese proficiency to the Ministry and the Universities. Yet you stated “Even with an N2, you’re going to be a long shot for a lot of programs.” You mean as a way of being able to understand the classes, or of being accepted by the MEXT/University? Even if I send my research proposal in japanese, would the University refuse it just because I don’t have the N1 certificate?
Best regards
Hi Bruno,
The JLPT certificate is not so important for the embassy stage of the application, but it could be relevant when you reach out to universities for your letter of acceptance.
The embassy does their own Japanese language proficiency exam for the MEXT application, so that’s what they were referring to). Like they said, the application form – and especially the research plan – are more important at that stage.
The “long-shot” comment was only for programs taught in Japanese. Since you didn’t mention your field of study, I don’t know if that even applies to you.
The only time you need a JLPT score is if the university requires it for the program you want to get into. You can check in advance to see if it’s required. Go to the university’s website and see what they require. If the program is taught in English, then you don’t need to worry about Japanese ability at all. In that case, you should also write your application and research plan in English, too!
If the program is only taught in Japanese, their website should show the requirement for admission. If they require N1 for admission, then they want to see N1. Just writing your research proposal in Japanese is not going to be sufficient proof of your language ability. (You could have easily had someone else proofread or even translate that for you, as far as they are concerned).
If you’re university requires N1 and you only have N2, but think you’re at N1 level, then the best approach I could suggest would be to get in contact with your preferred supervisor in advance. Start talking to him or her about your research interests, and you’re interest in his/her research, in Japanese, of course. If you have that relationship established and the professor has seen your Japanese ability through those communications, you might get some leniency on the requirements.
Not guaranteed by any means, but short of passing the test, it’s the best approach I can think of!
Good Luck,
-Travis from TranSenz
Thanks for the feedback!
First of all, this reply ended getting very long, so I apologize beforehand for taking you time. I really hope you can answer, and I’m awared you may not be able to answer everything…
Yes, indeed the São Paulo Embassy’s guideline states that “Universities in Japan might ask for advanced japanese understanding for courses related to Law and japanese Culture or History”. I remember specifically asking them about “the Univesities in Japan requiring N1”, but maybe it’s because I’ve already stated I was going to do a research on food science…
So, my research field would be inside of what the japanese Academia call Agriculture, specially related to either Funcional Food Chemistry(機能性食品科学) or Applied Bioresources(応用生命科学)from what I’ve searched so far. I really don’t mind taking japanese taught programs, specially if sticking to english would decrease my possibilities.
I could apply for next year’s N1, but I would only know if I was approved by january/february 18, when I would have to depart in april. Would this do any good? Like telling the University/professors I am going to take the ’17 exam and sending them my exam entry certificate?
Now that you mention it, the people in the embassy were very insistent about not contacting the Universities/professors before I get past the interview. But I think it’s only natural to do contact them, show legitimate interest in their research and asking them if my research would be useful to them or so… I’ve seen some people in the internet saying they did so. Do you think the people in the Embassy might be just panicking over me sending emails in english to professors who are not very skilled at english?
Also one more thing. I’ve done a lot of research this week but one thing I still didn’t catch one thing. I know I have to look for a professor that is around the same field is mine to be my adviser. This field would be the “研究テーマ” the Universities state generally on their “list of educators” (教員一覧 or so)? Or do I have to consider the researches listed on the respective faculties websites?
I’ll try to make a concrete example. My research would be something like “Using algae as a natural salt substitute” (it’s still very embrionary). I got interested in the Hokkaido Functional Food graduate school faculty. According to their works(研究内容) section, they state their research is about “search for funcional physiological properties and structures of food molecules” and “searching for possible ways to prevent metabolic syndrome such as obesity and diabetes”, so I suppose it could fit in this description, specially if I could talk to them how to fit better to the professor’s capabilities.
However the specific researches cited in this section there involve lipase, amilase, insuline, acceleration of muscle tissue for elderly… many very specific topics. My doubt is, I must stick to those very specific topics? Or are those just some researches being done in the present by their students and they could accept mine as a new one?
Alternatively, I found professors from the Ryuukyuu University who were doing research on the functional properties of algae. However, although the faculty had a similar introduction about their research (functional properties, prevention of lifestyle related diseases…), the researches cited there are on disaccharides and polysaccharides (types of sugar). Would my research be off-topic to them?
Best regards!
Hi Bruno,
Thank you for the detailed description of the process you’ve been going through, as well as your embassy’s instructions so far. That sort of thing really helps me better understand where you’re coming from so I can try to be more helpful!
I have no academic expertise in your field of study, but it sounds like you could also fit into many Japanese universities’ graduate schools of life sciences, which also house bio, chem, and bioengineering fields. I know a few have English-taught graduate degrees in that field. I don’t know if that’s something you’ve looked into yet or not, but I thought I would mention it.
In the sciences, as you said, you’ll generally see an N1 requirement for undergraduate work, but a less specific requirement for graduate programs. The science and engineering graduate schools where I worked believed that if you understood the math and the scientific principles, then you would be able to communicate well enough with the professor, so they weren’t so worried about the language skills. If there’s no specific language requirement stated, then you should be fine with the N2 and an explanation of your studies, even if your course is taught in Japanese.
Researchers in the sciences also tend to have to refer to international research more than their counterparts in humanities and social sciences, so in my experience, they have higher English communication ability in general.
About the list of researchers (教員一覧), usually, that’s the first resource you should look at. If you can find more specific information on the faculty website, or by looking up the faculty member’s recent publications, that will help you get to know them better and figure out a better way to approach them, which will always help. I don’t think you have to fit into their research precisely, as long as your research topic is close enough that it works well together and can support their interest and efforts. However, this is really going to be a personal decision by the professor and how willing they are to work with you. If the researcher is focused on chemicals, then you would probably have to relate your algae research to reducing or impacting those chemicals. Otherwise, a lab specializing in algae itself might also be a fit.
I’m way out of my depth in terms of your research interest, so I would suggest getting in touch in advance, despite your embassy’s caution, just to talk about research.
What the embassy is probably saying (and what I was saying in this article), is that you can’t go asking them for a Letter of Acceptance in advance. They won’t look at your application until you pass the Primary Screening. Every year, we would get several embassy applicants pestering professors for Letters of Acceptance before passing the Primary Screening. No mention of their research, no real conversation, just “I need a letter of acceptance” in the first email they sent. That’s not going to get you anywhere, but you already know that!
I think – and several other commenters here have agreed – that contacting your professor in advance to network about research interests is valuable. If you build a relationship based on mutual research interest, then tell them you want to apply for the MEXT scholarship once you’ve established a little bit of a relationship, that should ensure you get that LoA when you ask for it.
Good Luck,
-Travis from TranSenz
Thanks for your support! Your info really helped lifting a weight off my shoulders. I know my case is probably not the target audience for this guide since I wasn’t looking specifically for English programs, but I really had no one to turn to.
Really appreciated!
My pleasure! Best of luck to you.
Please let me know how your application goes!
Update: I’ve browsed through some “For International Students” sections of the sites and while they make explicit that N1 is needed for undergradute level, for prospective master’s/doctor’s there’s always some vague “You will need a good level of understanding of japanese for the programs but you must inquire about it with the institute/advisor” instruction about it. The Niigata I think just says “you need the minimum knowledge to be able to mantain conversations in japanese” or something. They’re always very vague about it…
It seems all very subjective, as it seems for most of this MEXT procedure. I guess I’ll just really have to ask the departments individually. Sorry for having bothered you and thanks!
Hi Bruno,
I rolled part of the response to this comment into my last reply, I think.
If the university doesn’t specifically ask for N1 for your program then you should be fine – that indicates that they’re willing to be flexible. It also means you’re probably not going to get a straight answer out of them.
You only need to worry if there’s a specific requirement and you don’t meet it, since flexibility in those cases is almost non-existent.
Good Luck!
-Travis from TranSenz
Hey Travis, just a heads up, The JASSO link doesnt work anymore, something about the site being upgraded in 2016, here is the new one ! http://www.jasso.go.jp/en/study_j/search/daigakukensaku.html#no2
Thanks for the guides! Very helpful.
Hi Indojin,
I’m glad you’ve found the guides helpful!
I’ve updated the article with credit to you for the new link. Thank you!
Good Luck,
-Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Thank you for the credits. But I’m afraid the link in your post still doesn’t seem to work.
I have a question regarding the entrance exam. I have recently passed the primary screening at the Embassy and I have applied to University of Tokyo and another school as a back up. I’m not sure that I will get a LoA from Utokyo, but I am still worried about the entrance exams.
I have read on another blog that the entrance exam is just a formality and a friend of mine who was studying at Kyoto University got into the graduate program without an entrance exam.
Is it true for all the schools? I am aware you worked at a private uni and not Utokyo, but I thought this would be the best place to ask about it !
Hi Indojin,
Thanks for the catch. Something odd happened with the link when I tried to plug it in. It should be working now.
The word “entrance exam” is a bad English translation (although one almost every university uses). For all graduate schools I know of, there is no written exam involved. It is usually document screening and in some cases, an interview.
For MEXT scholars moving from Research Student to Degree-Seeking student status, it is a formality. At my university, students had to fill out the official application paperwork (as well as the MEXT paperwork to extend their scholarship from “Research” to “Degree”) and that was it. Everything else was handled. Unless I’m mistaken, even the application paperwork was just filling out their name, address, and academic history. I don’t think there was any screening of research plans, GPA, etc.
I have never heard of a MEXT scholar failing an entrance exam when moving from Research to Degree status.
Good Luck,
-Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis,
I hope you are well.
I am happy to inform you that I have passed the secondary screening! I am waiting for the final confirmation.
I have received LOA’s from Todai and SOKENDAI.
Hope I get through this final step!
Thanks for all your help and advice 🙂
Congratulations, Indojin!
If you’ve passed the secondary screening, it should just be a matter of waiting for the placement, now 🙂
I wish you good luck in landing in your first choice,
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis! I hope you are well!
I received my final confirmation yesterday and I was placed at my first preference, SOKENDAI 🙂 I’l be leaving for Japan in October (my university hasn’t given me the details yet)
Thank you for your blog and your advice 🙂
Hi Indojin,
Congratulations!
It sounds like you had to sweat it out a little longer than some of the other candidates, but I’m very happy to hear that you are headed to your first choice program!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Sir,
I hope you are well and thank you for providing valuable info.
My son is 17 and he applied for the Monbosho scholarship 2017 and passed all steps. ( he applied for College of Technology )
2 weeks ago he had the interview in the embassy of Japan and they called him one week later to come and present his whole set of original documents to be sent to Japan for final approval and they said that by October/November 2016 he will have a final OK. So far they told him that the chances for him of being approved are between 50 and 60 % ?? and that he was recommended by the embassy , which doesn’t mean he is definitely approved , until final green light from Japan.
Now that he will enter military service age ( when he is 18 ) we need to prepare everything carefully in advance and we have to prepare various scenarios.
How much are really the chances that he might be rejected at this stage ? Please be so kind to give me your empiric view based on previous experiences.
Many thanks in advance
Hamid Fathalizadeh
Hi Hamid,
Unfortunately, I don’t have any experience with the Colleges of Technology scholarship. (I handled scholarship applications for a university, so we weren’t involved in CoT). I hope someone else can comment here to help you!
Good Luck to Your Son,
-Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
I just heard back from my embassy, seems I didn’t make the cut.I am considering what options to take from here – perhaps I will try the university-recommended route (though I think for my choice of school the competition would be much worse for this – my preferred school/programme is pretty popular as it is.) So I think at the least I will try applying again through my embassy next year.
My embassy had less than 10 candidates this year. There were at least 2 people who had not passed the interview screening last year, which was surprising to me. According to one applicant our embassy only accepted 2 applicants last year, also with about 10 candidates.
That being said, would you have any advice on second time applicants? Of course things will have to be different on the next application, but I am now worried about being looked unfavorably upon for having failed once. I have politely asked for feedback on where I might improve from my consulate, but I do not know if they will tell me anything.
Any advice or past experiences would definitely be appreciated. If possible could you contact me via e-mail?
Thank you
Hi Brandon,
I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t make the embassy cut this year. All I can tell you is that it’s a zero-sum game. There’s no “threshold” you have to pass to get in; you have to be better than every other applicant. If the Embassy had several excellent candidates, then they may have had to resort to something relatively minor to distinguish who would go on and who would not. One point on the test, one answer in the interview could make a difference.
Trying again in another year will put you up against different competition and you might see a different result. You’ll have had a year more to prepare for the test, interview, etc., than most of the rest of the applicants, as well.
My advice would be to take action while you’re waiting for the next application period so that you can show the Embassy growth and progress toward your goals in Japan. Try to improve your Japanese language ability. Do some independent research into your topic – perhaps in coordination with the professor you want to study under in Japan, if you can.
In Japan, it is not uncommon for students who fail an entrance exam to go back and study for a year then try again. There is no shame in doing so, so don’t worry about being looked down on – especially if you can show that you’ve made progress.
If you’re considering the University-recommendation route, it might be worth your while if you’ve had any contact with the professor in your program.
I see you’ve posted another comment before I had a chance to get to this one. As you can tell, it takes me several days to catch up. I will be in contact when I’ve had time to read that one, as well!
Good Luck
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi TranSenz
First of all thanks for the very informative blog. I just got one question on how to approach potential supervisor. Before passing my primary screening I’ve contacted a Prof that I’m interested and mention my interest in joining his group. He did reply promptly and ask me what is my plan. Now here’s the tricky part, I mentioned my plan roughly and offer to send him my detailed proposal as written in MEXT application. However, he did not come back to me after that. After a week I send another follow up email and this time explain in detailed my research plan. Still no answer. Now, I’ve already passed my primary screening do you think I should follow up with him again? Or perhaps I should just drop this particular professor because he’s just not interested. Will another follow up email from me mentioning that I’ve already passed primary screening change things? Too bad because I actually put his name as my 1st choice (placement preference need to be submitted before interview). Just asking your opinion because feeling a little bit depressed right now . Thanks!
Hi Rene,
I’m glad to hear that you found this post useful!
If you put his name as your first choice, I definitely recommend following up with him. Even if his answer is “no” in the end, you don’t lose anything by continuing to try.
Also, double-check the university’s website and make sure you are supposed to contact professors to apply for the MEXT scholarship. (If not, you can still keep trying to contact him, but also submit your application to the office in charge of MEXT applications).
I’d recommend contacting the administrative office of your professor’s graduate school, as well, to let them know you are trying to reach him and ask for their advice. July is the last month of the semester and August is summer vacation, so there’s a chance he has just been too busy to get back to you.
Never give up until they tell you “no” to your face!
Good Luck,
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi,
I would also recommend contacting the Admin department, I had a similar problem with contacting a supervisor during this late July – August period …..but the Admin department helped me a lot in this regard. Professors even if in the office are mental on holiday……so it also doesn`t mean they have rejected your application or have forgotten about you.
Hi Jacob,
Thank you for sharing your experience! (As a university admin staff in Japan) I agree that contacting the admin departments here is a lot more likely to get you a timely response!
Best,
-Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Thank you so much for this thorough post. It is very helpful.
I have a question:
I have passed the primary screening and am now on the verge of obtaining LoA(s).
I am in contact with a professor of a national university in which I would like to study. I was told, however, that obtaining only one LoA might be risky.
As I really want to study in that particular university I wonder wether or not I should try to obtain another letter.
Thank you in advance!
Hi Rini,
It is a little bit of a risk to go for only one LoA. The biggest risk is if you don’t get the LoA from that school for some reason – then you would lose out on the scholarship altogether. If you really want to study with that professor because he or she is the best for your research, then that might be worth the risk. But if your reasoning is something else – like the location or name value of the school, then you might want to look for other places that could be just as good, academically.
I don’t think it’s that great of a risk, if you’re already in contact with the professor and the response is positive. It’s really up to you whether to go with just that or have a backup, just in case.
Good Luck!
-Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
I’m not here to ask a question but rather to offer my view as an applicant and someone who has read an awful lot about this scholarship. I am just finishing my master’s degree now.
I don’t know how to phrase this politely, but I think some of your points are not good advice and lead to unnecessary stress for applicants if they follow them.
Firstly, I think it is an extremely bad idea to leave choosing the university until after the primary selection, even if the embassy doesn’t ask you to choose beforehand. Not only because the embassy may ask you in the interview where you plan to study and whether you can actually do your research in Japan, but because then you are not giving yourself enough time to research the universities properly and find somewhere that is actually suitable. There is a very short window of time to apply for LoAs.
“You don’t need to contact the professor now or later, as we’ll get to later.”
Would you really advise against contact with someone that’s going to be this student’s boss for the next 2+ years?? I know some people don’t talk to the prof before going to Japan but I am genuinely baffled by this. It’s a recipe for disaster – not only are you moving to a foreign country and under the stress of graduate school, but also working with an unknown person?
That is another reason I suggest contacting the professors before the primary screening, so you have time to exchange more than 1 email and can see if the two of you could actually work together.
“As much as universities want MEXT scholars, each professor can only accept a certain number of graduate advisees at a time and they want to have space for Japanese applicants as well (who are less work to advise, anyway). This means that you’ll have a harder time getting that letter of acceptance at universities with high competition.”
I also disagree with this point. If you are good enough to get the MEXT scholarship, you are good enough to get a LoA from Toudai or anywhere else. The fact is every university in the world prioritises students who come with their own funding – most Japanese students don’t. I agree that a backup is always a good idea, but what you say may put people off applying to more prestigious universities when there’s a perfectly good chance of them being accepted.
I hope this comment doesn’t come off as too critical; I appreciate the time you put into your MEXT posts. I just think that a lot of students are so intent on “getting to Japan by any means” they don’t think enough about what it will actually be like living there. I really believe the most surefire way to get a LoA, as well as to have a decent time in Japan, is to contact a professor as early as possible, and I hope you might update your article to reflect this.
Hi JustMe,
Thank you very much for your comments! I don’t get enough people disagreeing with me or adding additional information on here, so I really do appreciate it.
I do agree with your first point, as you expressed it. I think I explained myself badly in the post, so I’ll work on that in a future revision, as you suggested.
On your second point, though, I think we’re talking about two different things, so I just wanted to make sure that’s clear. My intent was never to put people off applying for their top universities (although I agree with having backups), and I’m sorry if it came off that way.
Most MEXT scholarship awardees certainly are good enough to get a Letter of Acceptance from a top university, though you would be surprised at some of the incompetent applicants I’ve seen in the past. However, there is a real limit on the number of advisees a single professor can accept. If your professor is “full” – or in their last year before retiring, etc. – then that professor cannot accept you, regardless of how good you are. That’s why I recommend having backups. I didn’t mean to say to remove that professor from the list, though!
Your comment was not at all too critical and I appreciate it very much. You have helped me identify places where I explained myself poorly and where I can improve. (Also, it looks like I really need to get that “How to Network with Your Future Professor” article written. I think that will help, too.)
Thank you again,
-Travis from TranSenz
Thank you for the valuable information.
I want to ask some questions:
-When should I contact the professor after sending to the administrative admission office?
-What to include in the email?
-Should I include my CV or my LinkedIn links?
-Should I include some videos of my previous work? Things like simulation and things related to engineering.
-Should I mention things about my background and the awards I received?
-Should I emphasize more on the research I have done before or the good grades I got?
Thank you.
Hi Raes,
The method of approaching your professor depends on the university’s instructions, so check their webpage first.
In most cases, contacting the professor and contacting the admin office are for two different purposes.
When you contact your professor, your initial goal is to build a relationship and interest in your research. You want the professor to agree to be your supervisor, regardless of whether or not you get the MEXT scholarship. (Of course, you probably won’t go if you don’t get the scholarship, but for the purpose of relationship building, think about it this way).
In your introductory email, your goal is just to make a connection and get a response. I would recommend a message that is going to take the professor no more than 1-2 minutes to read. If he or she opens your email to find pages of text with links and attachments, that’s probably going to turn most people away.
A brief introduction of you, your research, and why you think the professor would be interested, as well as a request to have the professor supervise you should be enough. Emphasize what you want to do in your research with that professor and mention your background only as necessary.
You can mention in that email that you can provide more information, like records of your previous work or videos later, if the professor is interested.
Again, please check your university’s website. They may have other instructions or may tell you to send all of the application documents to the professor (in that case, send only what is in their list). But that’s how I would approach it if it were me.
Good Luck!
-Travis from TranSenz
Hello
I passed the first screening by the embassy of Japan for MEXT 2017…
My question is regarding the research plan, i want to do a master degree in Geotechnical Engineering and for my research i need to do a fieldwork in my home country to collect some data, can i get withdraw from japan because of this?
Thanks
Hi Albano,
It depends on how long you need to go back to your home country.
As a MEXT scholarship awardee, you will have to sign for your scholarship payment once per month in person. If you miss a month, you don’t get your stipend. But, if you approach it right, you can spend nearly two months outside of Japan doing research without losing the scholarship (as long as you have your advisor’s approval, of course, and aren’t missing class).
You should be able to sign on the first day of one month (e.g. February) and the last day of the next (e.g. March). That’s the longest you could be away without losing a month of payment.
If you miss three months in a roll, then you’ll lose the scholarship.
Good Luck!
-Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis
Thanks for your reply
Last week i receive second screening result, and i passed.
Now i am waiting for the final decision. The embassy said that i will be at my first choice in principle SAITAMA UNIVERSITY.
Also i was accepted at saitama university to study GEOTECHNICAL EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING as a REGULAR MASTER STUDENT. I was wonder if i will have to do entrance exam after arrival in saitama ?
What are my chances at this point ?
I am very happy….
Thanks for your advise
Hi Albano,
Congratulations! I’m very happy to hear that you will soon be arriving in Japan as a MEXT Scholar.
If you have already been accepted as a Regular Master’s Student, then that should mean that you’ve passed the entrance exam.
In any case, the “entrance exam” for MEXT scholars is typically not an exam of any kind – it is just completing the application/registration forms that you need to actually be enrolled in the university.
For you, and other MEXT scholars, the university already reviewed your academic background before they sent your Letter of Acceptance, so you should not have to go through any other competitive evaluations.
Congratulations again.
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello and thank you so much for the expansive and generous advice. They have certainly helped me in my plan to apply for the MEXT scholarship when I graduate from my undergraduate course 🙂 I would just like to ask a few questions if you don’t mind?
1. If the masters programme I am looking at (interdisciplinary information studies) states that prior specialised knowledge is not a must and that they encourage applicants, would that mean that they will not prioritise the details of my research plan?
2. My GPA in my literature degree is only slightly above average (about a 4.3/5) in a national university. I also have held a leadership role in a club that is somewhat related to the field I am intending to research in (alhough only one :() I haven’t gone on any exchange programmes, but I intend to learn Japanese and take some Japanese studies modules related to the field in the time I have left. Would you mind telling me how my prospects look if I were to apply for a MEXT graduate scholarship?
Once again, thank you very much for your thoughtful elucidation of the process 🙂
Hi Ava,
1. I would think your research plan would be even more important. Since what you’ve done before is less important, they need to know what you will do in the future. (Check out my guide on writing your field of study and research program plan for more). Also, be aware the MEXT criteria still says that your research should be connected to what you’ve done before, so look for some way to connect them.
2. The “average” grade at your home university can be deceiving. Your grades will be converted to the MEXT 3.0 scale (see my conversion chart) and all that matters is how they look on there. Your grade might be average to you but perfect on that scale.
Previous exchange experience is not critical. Taking courses related to your field and Japan should be a boost, especially during the embassy interview stage, since it will help you explain why your next research must be done in Japan and what benefit it will have. The most important things are going to be your undergraduate GPA and your Field of Study and Research Program Plan – especially the latter. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about the embassy test and interview process for your country, but I hope someone else can comment about that.
At this point, you still have a lot of time to prepare. So, your prospects depend entirely on how well you use that time to work on your FSRPP and preparing for your embassy test and interview. It’s all in your hands!
Good Luck!
-Travis from TranSenz
Hi Transenz
Thanks for the great job being done on here
Please can you confirm if candidates from NIGERIA have been receiving notification for interview at the embassy for 2016/2017 Mext scholarship..
Thanks for your anticipated favor
Hi Yusuf,
I don’t have any country-specific information, but hopefully someone else can post on here and help you!
Good Luck
-Travis from TranSenz
Hello! Thank you so much for all the helpful information regarding MEXT! I have a question and would be grateful if you could answer me.
I just took my papers to the embassy and I’m very discouraged.
But let me tell you my story first. I learned Japanese in college and was awarded the Japanese Studies scholarship in 2011. I studied for an year in Tokyo and came back to my country in 2012, then finished college. I now made my research plan on kanji (I adore kanji!). I want to observe the kanji learning system in Japan and maybe come with something new in the foreign kanji learning. I’m not sure how interesting my project is but it’s the only thing I found related to my field of study that appealed to me.
Now, back to what happened yesterday. I took my papers to the embassy and the lady wouldn’t receive my application because I put only one university on the list. I couldn’t understand what is the problem with that. I read on the internet that there are many people who did this and there are no official rules regarding it. The thing is that I really want to be accepted into that university. I didn’t want to waste their time and add three of them, so they would contact two more universities that I’m not really interested in. I don’t want to go to Japan just for the sake of it.
The lady accepted my papers in the end, but she told me I will have to bring some VERY good reasons for this. I almost felt like a criminal or something. I got home and asked other people on the internet and they told me that the embassy prefers applicants with 3 university options.
I am really confused. What do they care how many universities I write on the list if, as you said in this article, you can end up in a completely different one?
Also, do you think this might lower my chances to get the scholarship? I really had high hopes before. I was awarded a MEXT scholarship in the past, I have traveled many times to Japan, my Japanese is close to N2 and I came up with a study plan that might help the relations between Japan and other countries. But now I feel like I screwed everything up before even beginning ><
Hi Christina,
Sorry to hear about your experience at the Embassy. From what I’ve seen, there is really no consistency at Japanese embassies. Embassies in different countries will give different instructions. I’ve even seen two people get different instructions from the same embassy on the same day, depending on who they talked to. So, there’s a good chance that you just ran into a grumpy woman.
Of course MEXT and the Embassy would want you to have 3 universities on your list, because it gives them more options. I recommend having more than one university, too, because there might be reasons beyond your control that would prevent the first university from accepting you. It never hurts to have a backup. The field of study you described would be available at any number of universities in teacher training programs. So, from the Embassy’s perspective, there’s really no reason to limit your choices to one university. From their perspective, the field of study is most important, not the university itself, and any university that can teach it should be beneficial for your studies.
It would be more acceptable to list only one university if you were studying a very narrow field or you had a specific research project that was designed to build on the research of one particular scholar at one particular university in Japan. In most cases, that would probably be in a STEM field.
I can’t say for sure if limiting your choices hurts your chances at passing the primary screening, because that would be reading the minds of the embassy staff. I can tell you that it does not automatically disqualify you, but that’s all I know. My honest opinion is if you want to study teaching Japanese and you haven’t even passed the N2, that would be more damaging to your application than the number of universities you list. Studies related to Japanese language and culture are expected to be conducted in Japanese, and I don’t know many programs that would admit a student to a Japanese-taught degree without N2 or N1.
By the way, I think I might have explained myself poorly in the article. MEXT will only place you in one of the three universities on your list. They will not contact any others.
In any case, I wish you good luck!
-Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
I am bit frustrated with my placement of preference form. I wrote my research proposal according one professor in university A, and I confidently putted his university and him as my 1st choice. Due to specifics of my topic and embassy deadlines, I couldn’t find other two relevant professors (for 2nd and 3rd choices) in a timely manner, so I had to just quickly put two universities where I wanted to study, though there were no relevant professors (or I could say very little relevance). Now, I am looking for a chance to ask my embassy to let me revise the placement of preference so that I put those 2nd and 3rd choice universities (I found some after some research).
Do you think it is posiible? Have ever came across such issue when applicant changed preferred universities before application to universities (to get LOA)?
For note: In my case, embassy requested to submit placement of preference form together with application form at initial stage of application process. I know that some embassies request it after notification of passing primary screening.
Appreciate your help!
Hi Dustin,
I don’t have any direct experience with this, but I remember that a previous commenter said they had been successful in changing the universities on their Placement Preference Form after passing the primary screening. I’d recommend that you contact the Embassy and explain that you found “more appropriate universities/professors” then ask them if you can change your form. (I would recommend you don’t mention that your first ones weren’t well researched.)
Good Luck!
-Travis from TranSenz
Thanks for this explanation, It is very helpful. My question goes thus:
I am applying through the Japanese embassy in my country but the section requesting for professors name is blank as I am yet to contact any professor in the school so my questions goes thus: 1) Should I contact a professor first before submitting the application form? 2) Must the professor agree to supervise me first before I can submit the completed application forms back to the embassy? 3) is it necessary I include the names of the professors in the form before submitting back to the embassy or can I contact the professors after my primary screening?
Hi Dammy,
I’m glad you’ve found the explanation helpful.
The answer to your questions depends on your embassy. There’s the “right way” to fill in this form and there’s the way most embassies do it. Some will want you to have the Placement Preference Form completely filled out, including the professor’s names, before you submit it, but that makes no sense to me.
1) You can always contact the professors in advance to discuss your research plan and express interest in studying under them in the future. However, you cannot get their formal acceptance until after you pass the Primary Screening at the Embassy.
2) No. If you are submitting the Placement Preference Form as part of your application documents, then you cannot have formal approval from the professor yet. However, you will only be able to apply to study at the universities on this list, so make sure you have researched your universities and professors well.
3) You’ll need to ask your Embassy about that to be sure. I know of cases in the past where students listed one professor at my university on their Placement Preference Form but the university assigned them to another professor instead (the original one retired, etc.). As far as I know, that was never a problem for those students. Again, please follow-up with your embassy for their specific instructions.
After you pass the Primary Screening, you will have to contact your target universities to get Letters of Acceptance from your professors. Your Embassy will give you a deadline to submit those letters and by that time, you must have the names of the universities and professors written in your Placement Preference Form.
Good Luck
-Travis from TranSenz
Dear TranSenz,
Thanks to you,I have nailed each step of the Embassy Recommended MEXT application so far. From filling the application form to writing my research proposal. I have been invited for an interview next week and I am confident. I have one question though : since I have already prepared my placement preference form (although it has not been asked by the Embassy yet), I know the schools and professors I am targeting,I want to know,can I start communicating with the schools now or do I have to wait till after the interview to do this?
Hi Willi,
I’m happy to hear that you’ve found the blog helpful! But, if you’re nailing all of the steps, that’s entirely your own doing. All I do is provide a little advice where the requirements, etc., aren’t quite clear 🙂
You can start communicating with professors as early as you want, BUT I would recommend that you don’t talk to them about the scholarship, yet. Simply try to get in touch with them about being interested in their research and wanting to study with them in the future. If you start off with the scholarship questions, they might just ignore you.
You cannot formally ask for a Letter of Acceptance until after you pass the Embassy’s primary screening, but you can start networking and building a relationship now.
Good Luck,
-Travis from TranSenz
Hello Willi
Sorry to cut in the middle of your question please what country did you submit your application cus I’m yet to eqr of any nvitaion for interview in my home country.. Thanks you swift response will be appreciated
Hi TranSenz,
Can I ask about embassy recommendation? In the embassy recommendation, it requires “Recommendation from the president/dean or the adviser of the last university attended”.
The recommendation from dean is too difficult for me(I am not in the school already), so I can only ask for my advisor recommendation, but the problem is I do not have advisor in my “LAST” university, my master degree just by coursework. I only had advisor in my previous university and had a paper published with him.
Is it possible to use the recommendation of the advisor not from the last university? Is it so strict that the MEXT will only accept those recommendations from Dean or advisor of last university?
Hi Kai,
In my experience, the Letter of Acceptance absolutely had to be from the most recent university.
I’m not sure what you mean by doing your master’s by coursework. If you were in residence, surely there was someone who helped you select courses and talked to you about your graduation plan? If you did your degree by correspondence then there must have been someone you submitted work to, right? I’d try contacting one of those people.
You might just have to reach out to the Dean, eventually, if there’s nobody else. Don’t give up and say “it’s too hard.” Try it anyway. What have you got to lose?
Good Luck,
-Travis from TranSenz
Thanks for your reply. So the advisor can be the professor who help me select courses and he/she need not to be the one who supervise my thesis write (though I do not have a master thesis)?
Btw, I actually asked for the graduate school Dean recommendation already, but it might be a weak recommendation, because the Dean does not really know me. I did the same way as you mentioned in the University recommendation, write a draft and ask him to signed and sent to me. Hopefully, it will work.
Hi Kai,
If you didn’t have a thesis advisor, than yes, it sounds like your advisor would be the professor that helped you select the courses you needed to graduate.
The “strength” of a recommendation in many cases in Japan is not the contents, but the position of who writes it. Almost all letters of recommendation are filled with positive comments so it’s hard to distinguish which is the “best.”
Instead, the assumption is that Deans or Presidents will only write letters of recommendation for the best students.
Either way, as far as I have seen, the Letter of Recommendation is little more than a “check the box” requirement. It is not as significant as your grades or your Research Plan for the final rating.
Good Luck!
-Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
thank you very much for this article, it was really very helpful. If you don’t mind, I would like to ask two more questions. By this September I plan to receive my Masters degree in Italian and Slovak languages (with specializations in foreign language teaching) at the Uni. of Zagreb. I am also enrolled in the undegraduate course of Japanese studies at my Uni. and have just returned from a one year student exchange at Musashino Uni. in Tokyo (Dep. of Global Communication). Although I passed only the JLPT N3 test, as classes at Musashino were only in Japanese, I believe my current Japanese language ability to be around N2.
My first question: in the MEXT research scholarship description is states that applicants should apply for reseaches in their field of study. However, since I believe I would not have good chances of getting the scholarship in Japan by writing a research proposal related to Italian or Slavic studies, I though to do my research in the fields of Japanese Studies and sociology of language. My idea was to analyze the attitudes towards foreign languages in Japan in order to understand whether foreign languages are considered a “cultural capital” in Japanese society. Starting from this data, I would draw conclusions about the nature of the internationalization process (国際化)in Japan, whether it is really putting the basis for a multicultural society or it just a facede behind which the goverment intends to mantain the status quo (Japan’s self-image of a homogeneous nation). I would like to know whether the fact that my research topic is not directly connected to my Masters degrees (Italian and Slovak) would represent an obstacle in receiving the scholarship?
My second question would be whether it would be advisable to contact the Japanese Universities BEFORE the interview and examination processes at the Embassy in order to get their approval to accept me as a MEXT student if am awarded the scholarship? Also, if searching for the potential advisors before the application at the Embassy, would it be advisable to contact the professors directly?
Thank you in advance for your help! And, of course, my apologies for
this long question!!!
Kind regards,
Theo S.
Hi Theo,
I do not have expertise in your particular field (though I would be interested in the outcome of your proposed research in Japan), so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
What I would say is that rather than focusing on the “Italian and Slavic” parts of your Master’s degree, focus on the foreign language leaching research and try to connect that to sociology of language. If your interest in sociology of language and language ability as cultural capital grew out of your language teaching research, then I think you should be able to make this connection. Try to play down the actual languages involved in the research, perhaps.
MEXT says that your studies have to be connected to your previous degree. It doesn’t necessarily say that it has to be identical.
For your second question, it is fine to contact the universities/professors before passing the Primary Screening, but I would not approach them as a MEXT applicant, yet. Simply go in with the approach of wanting to study there and genuine academic interest in the professor’s research. If they ask, you can say that you’re going through the MEXT application, but that shouldn’t be your first approach.
If you go in with “Hi I’m a MEXT applicant, can you accept me so I can get the scholarship” you come across as just wanting a free degree. If you approach the professor through academic interest, then say you’re planning to fund yourself through MEXT and want to study under them, that comes off as a more serious scholar and makes a better impression.
Good Luck!
-Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis!
Many thanks for your work, it really helps!
My question is kind of uncommon I guess, considering the questions I read in comments.
Here is the thing, I’m applying to mext scholarship this year and I am wondering if Japanese government wants mext scholars to stay in Japan so that they contribute to Japan in some way after graduation? Or the government wants them to return to their countries?
Personally, I wish to work in JICA in Japan because my topic at some point relates to some of their projects.
If that is so, should I put some words about that in field of study that “I want to stay and work in Japan”?
I know there are some scholarships programs which expect scholars to return to their countries after completion of study and contribute to their home country.
Appreciate you effort,
Thanks:)
Hi Dustin,
Throughout every Japanese government scholarship program I’ve been involved with, the common theme is that the Japanese government is looking for students who will become a bridge between their home country and Japan. That could be done in either Japan or their home countries. So, if you wanted to stay in Japan to work in a Japanese company that was seeking to expand in your home country, that would be a plus. If you wanted to stay in Japan to write manga on your own, maybe not so much.
Working for JICA – especially if you wanted to get involved in projects that collaborated with or assisted your home country – would certainly sound like something they’d be interested.
I would certainly recommend mentioning your future career goal, but do it in a way that emphasizes the benefit you would bring to Japanese companies or government relations. Less, “I want to work in Japan” and more “I want to work with JICA international development projects that bring together talent and resources from Japan and my home country.” (But more specific, if you can.)
Good Luck!
-Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis,
Your Blog is the richest and most detailed about the MEXT scholarship. Keep it up!
I applied for the University-recommended MEXT scholarship in January, 2016, with an expected start date of October 2016.
Since the day I applied, I have not received any correspondence from the School – makes me feel my application may not have been successful.
Now , the website of the Japanese embassy in my country – Nigeria have posted that applications are being received for the 2017 scholarships and are expected by June 30th.
I have searched schools and seen schools offering courses of interest to me. I have written to the professors but have not received any replies yet. my questions:
1. Do you suggest I fill in the application forms, enter the names of the professors in the schools whose research interests fascinates me and submit to the embassy?
2. Do I need to have gotten a “green light” from the professors before I could apply for the MEXT?
3. Should I simply fill the forms, and attempt the preliminary screenings first?
What do you suggest please?
Hi Miss Pepeye,
It sounds to me like the university never received your application. I have never heard of them completely ignoring an applicant before.
In that case, applying for the Embassy-recommended scholarship is probably your best bet.
1. Yes, if the embassy requires that you fill in the professors’ names before submitting your application form.
2. No, you don’t need a green light (though it helps). In many cases, the professors won’t even talk to you about your application until after you have passed the Embassy’s primary screening. If you are contacting them in advance, it should be to ask if they would supervise your research, not to ask about MEXT, yet.
3. Yes. As far as the application process goes, that is the formal way to do things. Contacting universities at this point is informal, only.
Good Luck!
-Travis from TranSenz