Once you’ve passed the MEXT Scholarship Primary Screening, your next step is to reach out to universities for a Letter of Acceptance.
Congratulations, Future MEXT Scholarship Recipient!
Congratulations on passing the Primary Screening for the Embassy-Recommended Monbukagakusho Scholarship! (MEXT Scholarship)
At this point, if you can secure at least one Letter of Acceptance from a Japanese university, you are all-but certain to receive the scholarship for your studies in Japan!
So, let’s get started on acquiring that Letter of Acceptance.
Still Waiting the Primary Screening Results?
Each embassy or consulate releases the MEXT scholarship primary screening results on its own schedule. I do not know the schedule for your country, so please contact them for details.
If you have not yet passed the primary screening and want to get in touch with professors, please see the guidelines I wrote in my article on How to Get Started with the Embassy-Recommended Monbukagakusho Scholarship Application and my MEXT Scholarship FAQ on Contacting Professors.
MEXT Scholarship Letter of Acceptance Step 1: Know Your Professor
By this point in the process, you really should know who your target professors are. I recommend deciding on this before you even start writing your Field of Study and Research Program Plan. In many countries, you’ll have had to submit your target professors’ names on the Placement Preference Form when you started the primary screening.
But even if you don’t, it isn’t time to panic yet. It is time to get to work, though.
I have several suggestions in other articles about how to select your university and target professor. You can find them in the articles below:
- Embassy MEXT Scholarships: Choosing a University in Japan
- Embassy-Recommended MEXT Scholarship 2018: How to Get Started
- University MEXT Scholarship: Choosing Your University
If you don’t have three target professors (or more), I recommend reading through those, now, then coming back.
Is it Possible to Change Your Choices if You Already Submitted the Placement Preference Form?
Here’s the ultimate Japanese answer: It depends.
Your embassy will decide whether or not it is OK for you to change your preference form later. In most cases that I have heard of, applicants were allowed to change the list of universities and professors on their placement preference form after receiving their Letters of Acceptance.
Ultimately, you should obtain a Letter of Acceptance from each university on that list. If a university rejects your application – or completely refuses to reply to you (more advice on that below) – you should be able to remove it later. If, through your research, you find another university and professor better suited to your studies, and obtain a Letter of Acceptance there, you should be able to add that university.
But again, this all comes down to your embassy’s decision.
Some embassies (the ones who do it right, in my opinion), do not even require you to submit this form until after you have your Letters of Acceptance. So, if you haven’t turned it in yet, don’t worry.
MEXT Scholarship Letter of Acceptance Step 2: Prepare for Contact
We’re not quite ready yet to reach out to professors, so bear with me for a minute. First, you need to make sure you are reaching out in the right way.
Embassies may tell you that you need a letter of acceptance from your professor and that you should contact professors directly, but that is not always true. Here’s how you can make sure you are going about it the right way to maximize your chances:
If You Are Already in Contact with Your Target Professor
If you have a dialogue going with your target professor already, by all means, let him or her know that you’ve passed the primary screening!
But I still recommend that you read through this step to make sure that you don’t accidentally blow your chances by not applying through the proper route.
Find Out How to Apply for an LOA
The first thing you want to do is find out how your target university expects you to apply for a Letter of Acceptance. You will have to go through their process to get the letter.
Caution: When I handled these applications, I saw situations where students contacted a professor at our university directly and the professor replied “sure, I’ll supervise you.” But the student never submitted an application for a Letter of Acceptance through the proper channels and we didn’t find out until after the deadline.
Don’t let that be you!
Here’s what you need to do:
Search google for your university name and the words “embassy mext” (don’t actually use quotation marks). For example “University of Tokyo Embassy MEXT.”
I tried this with 7 different universities and in every case, the top result was the page with the instructions on how to apply for a letter of acceptance.
I also tried to go to each university’s website and use the search functions there. That worked too, in all but one case (Keio). Google is still king of searches.
Four of the seven universities said to contact their international office, one said to contact the administrative office of the graduate school, and only two instructed applicants to contact professors directly.
Just for reference, the universities I tried and their results were as follows:
- University of Tokyo: Contact the administrative office of the graduate school where the professor works
- Tohoku University: Contact the professor directly
- Kyoto University: Contact the professor directly
- Osaka University: Contact the professor to get their approval, but apply to the international office
- Waseda University: Contact the international office
- Keio University: Contact the international office
- Ritsumeikan University: Contact the international office
What Materials to Send
Each of the pages above also tells you exactly what you should send to the universities to apply, and how.
In all cases, you’ll need to send a complete set of the documents you submitted to the embassy, plus a copy of the Passing Certificate of the Primary Screening.
Some universities will have additional information sheets or materials that they want you to submit. Some may accept applications by email, some may require that you send them by registered/express post. Check on your target universities for details!
Do I Have to Send the Universities my Placement Preference Form?
Yes, if the university asks for it, unfortunately.
Before you say it, I agree that this is unfair. But since the MEXT application instructions require you to send a copy of each of the documents that you submitted to the embassy, the universities ask for it to make sure they are complying with the rules.
Will it affect your chances if the university sees that they are not your first choice? Maybe. It’s not likely that they’d reject you just on that basis, though. Of course, if a university sees that you have listed more prestigious universities above them in order, then they are likely to understand.
However, if you’re going to list, for example, Yamanashi Gakuin University (ranked 151+ in the Times Higher Education ranking of Japanese universities) above a school like University of Tokyo (ranked 1), then Tokyo might take exception to that.
I’ve also heard a rumor that Keio will only give you a letter of acceptance if they are the only university on your placement preference form, but I have not been able to confirm that.
In general, though, the only way we used this form when I handled these applications was to see which professor you wanted to study with and what your general field of study was, so that we could send your application to the correct graduate school for review. That’s it!
If you haven’t submitted the Placement Preference Form to the Embassy yet: If the university is still asking for it, please explain that you aren’t required to turn it in until after you receive your LOAs. If they university still insists you submit something, then you can create it just for their purposes.
MEXT Scholarship Letter of Acceptance Step 3: Contact the Universities
You are required to contact the universities to apply no later than August 31.
Some universities require that the application documents reach them by this date, others will accept your application if you at least have started exchanging emails by the to ask about how to apply.
When to Apply for the LOA
As soon as possible after you have your Passing Certificate of the Primary Screening. Don’t even wait a day if you can help it. Here’s why:
August in Japan in summer vacation, which is going to make it harder to get in touch with professors and get anything done. The end of July is also final exam week, so professors are very busy around then, too. (I have no idea why MEXT decided that this was a good time to have you apply for a Letter of Acceptance. It seems like the worst possible schedule).
Most administrative offices work through the summer and, when they are out of the office (i.e. if the whole university closes for a week or so), they should have out-of-office messages up. Professors may be gone and most, in my experience, do not put up out-of-office messages, so your email might just end up in a black hole.
Sending Follow-up Emails
If you do not receive a confirmation that your email/application was received, it’s a good idea to follow up after 2-3 business days. This is especially true in the case of contacting professors at this time of year.
If you reach out to a professor twice and still don’t get a response, try contacting the administrative office of the professor’s graduate school to politely ask them to help connect you. Sometimes you just get a professor who is bad about responding to email, but the admin office can reach out by phone and get things moving.
MEXT Scholarship Letter of Acceptance Step 4: Waiting
How long it takes to get a reply to your Letter of Acceptance depends on the university. Sometimes it could be a few days, but I have also seen it take over a month in many cases.
If your embassy has given you a deadline to submit the Letter of Acceptance, be sure to let the university know that when you contact them to send your application.
Why Does it Take so Long?
At my former university, for example, all Letters of Acceptance had to be approved at a faculty meeting. One professor could not approve and write it alone.
But remember, August is summer vacation. So, there were no faculty meetings from the end of final exams in late July until the professors returned to campus for the fall semester in mid- to late-September. It happened several times that Student A contacted us on Tuesday, for example, and had a response within a week. But Student B who contacted us on Wednesday missed the meeting and had to wait a month and a half to receive any word.
That’s why I encourage you to reach out right away!
Sometimes universities can scramble to get you a reply faster, even with professors away from the university, so don’t give up hope.
A Late Reply is Not a Reflection on Your Chances
If a university is taking a long time to get back to you, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are likely to reject you. Most often, it means that they can’t approve or reject your application yet, in any case.
If anything, rejection notices take less time than writing a Letter of Acceptance.
MEXT Scholarship Letter of Acceptance Step 5: Receiving Your LOA and Submitting it to the Embassy
In most cases, universities should let you know by email if you receive an LOA and will even send you a scan of it.
Most embassies require the original letter, but I have known universities that will only send your Letter of Acceptance by airmail (not EMS, DHL, etc.). Although you are almost sure to be selected as a MEXT scholarship recipient once you have passed the Primary Screening and received at least one Letter of Acceptance, some universities still think there is a relatively low chance MEXT will place you at their school, so they are not willing to spend the money on the express mail.
Deadline to Submit the Letter of Acceptance to Your Embassy
This varies from Embassy to Embassy, so please check with them! I do not have that information.
Questions?
If you have any questions about this article or contacting professors in Japan, please read through the MEXT Scholarship FAQ on Contacting Professors and leave your questions there! I will update that page with more questions and answers as soon as I can!
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Dear Travis,
I have a query regarding this. I applied at Tohoku University under a laboratory and got a response in just 3 days that I am accepted in their laboratory and that they are preparing my LOA already. Suddenly the following day, I got a question again on my research topic and publications via email. My worry is that they will pull out the initial statement of accepting me since after I replied to their query, I did not anymore get a reply from them for 3 working days now. My question is thus this happen that the University suddenly backtrack on issuing you a LOA? It may sound unethical since they probably looked into my documents before sending me an email that they are accepting me and that my LOA is being crafted.
Hi Gabby,
It looks like you’re reading an older version of this article. You can find the updated one here. (There are some minor changes in the process and dates.)
According to Tohoku’s website you are required to submit a few additional documents/information besides the application you submitted to the website:
1. Research field and theme
2. Academic/research background
3. Graduation thesis or research paper
4. Research plan
The person might have thought your application was appealing at first, but then realized that it was not complete, so contacted you to ask for the rest of the information. Or they may simply have needed that information to fill out the Letter of Provisional Acceptance.
It is an easy thing for them to simply reply to say that you are accepted, but filling out the form takes a little time and thought, since the prospective advisor has to write an explanation about why they chose to accept you, based on your research topic and application materials. So, I would recommend that you give it a few more days of waiting. If a week or so passes, then it would be OK to send a polite follow-up email to make sure they received your last message and that everything is on track.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you for this, I made a follow-up today, I personally did not see what a LOA looks like so I am not aware that it should contain this data. Technically today is the 1st week since the email that they are accepting me. I already got one rejection although I still have almost a month I am a bit worried that I will not get a single LOA. That’s why I am a bit conscious on time that I must have backups in case they rejected me.
Hi Gabby,
If you got one rejection, then you can apply to a third university. But if the second university already said they would accept you and issue the LoA, I don’t think you have anything to worry about.
I should have said to wait one week from the last email you sent them with the additional information that they requested.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello! Your article is very useful for me and I’m appreciated very much. I would like to know if an applicant doesn’t receive any letter of acceptance, he will automatically lose the scholarship?
Sincerely.
Vieira
Hi Vieira,
It is still possible to pass the Secondary Screening if an applicant does not have a Letter of Provisionals Acceptance, though it is less certain.
If your application passes the Secondary Screening, then MEXT will reach out to the universities on your Placement Preference Form (even though none of them have issued you Letters of Provisional Acceptance) to ask if they will accept you. As long as they do, then you can still succeed in the application.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Thank you so much for your information.
I have read some of the questions but I just want to be sure. I passed the first screening and I already have a pre-acceptance letter from Tokyo Metropolitan University. Two more universities did not accept me. I contacted my fourth choice, but I’m not entirely convinced by their program. Is it too risky to submit only one letter of acceptance instead of two? Thank you very much for your help.
Hi MFzd99,
As long as you have at least one Letter of Provisional Acceptance, it should not be a problem to pass the Secondary Screening.
As I write this, today is the deadline to apply for Letters of Provisional Acceptance, so if you don’t think that your fourth choice is a good fit for your research and you don’t have any other alternatives, then you could just stick with the one Letter. (If your fourth choice is a National university, be aware that MEXT might pass over your first choice and place you there, instead, if you have letters of acceptance from both.)
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hey Travis,
Thank you for your hard work! I have passed the first screening of the embassy recommendation by EOJ India. While sending the email to request a LOA from a university, in my case, I had to contact “The Graduate School Educational Affairs Section…” first, the instruction given by my docs from the Embassy is that I can contact two supervisors at the same time. So my doubt is, while I type my request for an LOA, do I have to mention both the professors or just one?
Hi Nayana T S,
You can contact two professors at the same time, but they should be from two different universities.
So, you should only mention one professor from each university that you contact.
I should also mention that I have written an updated version of this article for the current 2022/2023 application cycle, so you kind find the most recent version here.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
I have a question that only an expert like you can answer.
As you know, they changed the rule about how many universities you can contact at a time. As a result, I only got one letter (and it’s from a private university). Our embassy said we can write the names of other universities in the final placement form even if we haven’t gotten a loa from them (as long as they haven’t rejected us). Even people who haven’t gotten even one letter can fill all the slots. They said it’s possible that we don’t get into any of them if we don’t have a single loa. But I guess since they allowed it, there is a chance. I put two national universities as my first and second choices and then the private university I got a letter from in the last slot. Is it possible for me to get into one of the schools that I didn’t get a loa from (since they’re national and also of higher priority in my preferences)? Have you ever seen someone get past the second screening without a loa in this way? Or get into a school they didn’t get a loa from?
Thank you so much for all the work that you do
Hi Mina,
I am sorry to hear that you only had one Letter of Provisional Acceptance. However, since they reduced the number of universities that you can contact last year, that is not uncommon. (In fact, I often hear from applicants who were not able to get any). Since you have one letter, you should be able to get through the Secondary Screening (which comes before the university placement) with little problem.
Yes, you can write the names of other universities in the Placement Preference Form and there is a chance that you could be placed there. Once your application passes the Secondary Screening, MEXT will contact the universities on your list to ask them to officially accept you. For the universities you haven’t yet applied to, that will be the first time they see your application, but they will still have the chance to review it and decide then. I have heard of applicants who got accepted to a university even though they had never applied there for a Letter of Provisional Acceptance. (It happened once at my old university when I was working there).
Since you won’t have the chance to communicate with the replacement universities directly, I recommend that you research them thoroughly and make sure that they have English-taught programs that cover your field as well as professors who specialize in the same research field and can supervise your research. Those are the two biggest reasons for rejection, so if you can get those out of the way, that will help.
I have never heard from an applicant before who put replacement universities (with no LoPA) above a university where they actually had received a letter. I am not sure what MEXT would do in that case. In general, MEXT prefers national universities, so they could contact those universities first and save the private university as a back-up plan. Or they might place a higher priority on the university where you got the LoPA. I’m very interested to know how this ends up!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
When I posted that comment, I got an error message and I thought it didn’t go through but it looks like it did now that I’m checking this page again. Thank you for your response, that is reassuring. I, too, am very curious about where I’m going to end up but mostly I just want to be accepted and I hope that getting at least one letter means I will get in (I’m just a bit worried since it’s a private university and they might not have the budget for it or something).
I will update you when I get my placement results. Fingers crossed I get in somewhere good!
Hi Mina,
Thank you for your reply! I am sorry about the error message.
I still think you have the best possibility of being placed in the university where you got the LoA, but I would be very interested to hear about your results in the end!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
You called it! I got into the school from which I received an LoA. I was informed through the university getting in touch with me. The embassy hasn’t contacted us yet.
I’m quite happy with where I ended up. Now all that’s left is the gut-wrenching wait in the face of new travel bans and whatnot. Thank you so much for all your help. You were a great guide during this whole process from the beginning.
Hi Mina,
Congratulations! That’s very exciting news.
Yes, the border situation has us all on edge, but based on what I’ve seen so far, MEXT scholars are a higher priority to be allowed into the country than other students. In any case, for all students’ sake, I hope the border situation becomes clearer as soon as possible.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis, thank you so much for your article. It is really so useful. I’ve finally got an acceptance letter from Osaka University!
Now I’m not worried about the decision of my second university.
I have a question about the placement preference paper. The embassy allowed us to change names of universities. However, In old placement preference I have written that my filed is (English Comparative Literature), and in my acceptance letter, the university wrote that I’m accepted in the MAJOR of Cultural Management (graduate school of literature). My question is:
Is the (filed of study) in my placement preference must be the same as (Major) in my acceptance letter?
I would like to mention that my research is still the same 100% but I am worried if I will have a problem in the second screening for that difference.
Hi Stive,
Congratulations on getting the Letter of Provisional Acceptance from Osaka University!
It is fine if the “Field of Study” in your Placement Preference Form does not match the name of the major at your university as long as the field is the same. That is almost always going to be the case, since each university is going to have different names for their graduate schools, departments, majors, etc. It will not hurt you in the secondary screening.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis, nice info for all MEXT hunters,
I have something to ask about this LOA matter. In my case, I have sent my first screening notification and embassy stamped documents to the designated university’s international office email. Fortunately, they have replied me affirmatively within hours after I sent all of my documents. They said that they’re forwarding my documents to the designated graduate school and not long after that, the student affairs from the graduate school mailed me that they’ve received my documents, said that i passed the screening, and will discuss my admission with my professor. They said that they will issue the LoA around a month later after the summer break. Does it means that i’m officially accepted to the university or is there any chance that they will reject me? I’m so worried since the due date of every document submission is pretty narrow, including the LoA submission to the embassy which will be not long after a month later, but the limit of International Office contacting and LoA hunting season will be ended in this 27 August.
Hi Aqmal,
Based on what you have described, it sounds like the university has committed to issuing you an LoA.
However, it is never certain that they will finally accept you until much later in the application process. Once you submit the Letters of Acceptance to the Embassy, they will send them on to MEXT for the Secondary Screening. After that, MEXT will contact the university to ask them to formally accept you. It is rare, but I have heard of cases where universities declined at that time. (For example, if something happened and the professor that was supposed to supervise you left the university).
Again, it is very rare, so I do not think that you need to worry about it at all, but that would be the point of official acceptance.
In the meantime, for now, your only worry should be the LoA and it sounds very likely that you will be able to receive it.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Good day, Travis.
First of all, thank you very much for all the tips and advice that you made in your articles. It really helped me a lot in passing the Embassy’s primary screening.
I was notified last November 6, 2020 by our embassy here in the Philippines that I passed the Primary Screening. My first choice university is Tohoku University and in accordance to their rules as stated in http://www.tohoku.ac.jp/en/admissions/financial_aid.html, I sent an email last November 10, 2020 regarding my application for a letter of provisional acceptance. I also forwarded this email to their International Research Student office. However, as of today, I still have not gotten a reply from the professor. The international research student office have already acknowledged that I sent an email to the professor and they even forwarded it to the office of the Graduate School of Engineering.
Is it not uncommon for applicants to not receive any replies (whether it is a notification of acceptance or rejection)? I’m really worried about not receiving any replies. Also, is November also a busy month for Japanese Universities? I was told by a friend of mine that students and professors are undergoing midterms at this time of the year.
Thank you very much for your time!
Hi Oliver,
Congratulations on passing the Primary Screening!
In my experience, it is fairly common in Japan to not receive a letter of acknowledgement of receipt. In many cases, I see that universities or professors will only contact applicants after they have made a final decision or if they need more information. I know this can be frustrating for applicants.
You should receive a reply in the end, one way or another, it might just take time.
You have already contacted the student office and the grad school office through them, which is what I would have suggested doing. So, even though today is the deadline, you can be sure that the university is aware that you have submitted your application ahead of it.
Since it has been 10 days since you sent the email and today is the deadline to apply, I think it would be appropriate to send a reminder email to the professor asking if they have had time to consider your request. Particularly if that professor is handling midterms at the moment, he or she could be a bit overwhelmed and not have had time to get to your request yet.
It may still take several weeks for the professor to make a final decision and send you the results, but at least getting an acknowledgement now that it was under consideration should help with the worry!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hey Travis, I’m not sure if my reply is shown down below, so Ill write here in a new comment and thank you for your patience with me.
so basically, I’m thinking about following your advice of taking the risk, however I’m also thinking about sending one last email to the professor (the third email , using this time the tracking option to see if he’s reading my mails or not) especially that the previous one was since more than a week ago , I’m wondering whether it is okay to do so or would it seem as a bad move ?…..if it’s okay, do you have any suggestion what to write in that last email as it’s my last chance to figure out if the procedure is on the go?
thank you soo much for your patience and support
Hi Imen,
I’m sorry, I get more comments here most days than I can answer, so I don’t always get to all of them right away.
Since you’ve already sent two emails and they haven’t worked, you might consider trying a phone call. There should be some relatively cheap options for making international phone calls using something like Skype Out. Of course, you’ll have to make sure you check the time of day in Japan, but a call might be more likely to get you a response.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
I have been facing some problems while applying to universities. First, one of the professors in my first option university completely ignored my emails. I even approached his assistant with no luck. Second, the professor in my second university option is retiring so i had to look for other options. Now, after calling and spamming the professor of the first university option on my placement form, he finally answered but he apparently doesn’t know anything about the process of mext applicants recommended by the embassy. We were not on the same page as he was telling me to apply online, and i was telling him that i already sent him three emails with my documents. I finally understood that he is not aware of my situation. So I explained that I am a MEXT recommended by the embassy and that I am not required to apply online. Now, he wants to interview me just to understand what I’m trying to say cause he’s confused. He pushed the date of the interview later next week. I accepted the interview date but I am worried it might be too late for me to apply anywhere else if he rejected me. I have an unofficial acceptance from another professor in another university. Should i ask for an official letter of acceptance from the second university now? My question is: are two acceptance letters necessary for the second screening? I don’t want to be rejected in the second screening and I am worried that one letter of acceptance from a university that was not on my placement before will be a reason for a rejection in the second screening. Could you also please advise me on what to do regarding the first professor? Thank you in advance.
Hi Zola,
I’m sorry that this reply is coming so late (too late?).
In general, if you are having trouble with professors not understanding the guidelines for the MEXT procedures, I would recommend following up with the administrative office of their graduate schools. The admin staff should be able to explain the situation to the professor better than you can and let them know what is expected of them. If you are still having trouble with that professor and the procedures, that could be an option.
I do not think that having only one letter of acceptance is going to particularly hurt your chances in the Secondary Screening. I have never heard of the number of LoAs being a factor there before. Of course, you want to be sure to have at least one, so if you haven’t yet gotten that official LoA from the second university, I would certainly recommend following up.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis,
I’m sorry for writing my questions all over again but I’m in an urgent need of your guidance concerning these points:
1-I’ve been in contact with a professor at tokyo tech institute , he read my docs and interviewed me…at first he was not sure about the process of issuing a LOA, so I gathered info from the international division and shared them with him then he replied that he will prepare for the next step with the admission office ( that was on 19 October) and I haven’t heard back from him since then
my question is, should I contact him again to ask him if everything is going well with the letter and if he’s already processing ? because I’m not so sure if he’s processing it from the first place.
2-another question; issuing a LOA is done through contacting professors at Titech, but I’m wondering are there any chances that the admission office reject me even if I settled the things with the professor ?
3-I’ve also contacted a prof from Keio University, he gave me his informal acceptance and next I’ll be sending my docs to the university. My question is; should I keep him updated of every single move I take ? or not contact him again till the day I get a LOA from this university?
4- do I have the right to contact a third university now , in case I got rejected by one of the previous Universities I’ve applied to ?
Thank you in advance ^^
Hi Imen,
1. Since a week has passed, I think it is fine to follow-up with the professor and ask how the process is going. I would recommend that you phrase the email as if you are asking if there is anything that you can do to help. (Likely, there isn’t, but that’s a kinder approach and more likely to be better received than something that comes across as an impatient demand).
2. MEXT’s instructions to universities is that if they have issued a Letter of Acceptance, then they should be prepared to accept that student. For example, even if the professor were to retire after giving the Letter of Acceptance, etc., the university should find you an alternative advisor. So, no, I do not think it likely that the admissions office would decline you, at least as a Research Student. You will have to pass the admissions process/entrance exam later, probably after arriving in Japan, to get into the official degree program.
3. It depends on your relationship with him, but I would at least recommend that you update him when you have submitted the application and after the LOA has been issued. It is likely that the admin office will be in touch with him during the process, so he’ll know all of that anyway, but it is polite for him to hear it from you and shows that you are conscientious.
4. No. You can only be in touch with two universities this year, including ongoing applications and issued letters.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
hey Travis,
concerning the first inquiry, just like you recommended I did contact the professor asking him if there’s anything I could help with in this stage of the procedure. However I still got no response from him, it’s been three days…I’ve started to panic already. Any suggestions please ?
Hi Imen,
I would recommend contacting the administrative office again, let them know what your situation is, and ask them if there is any paperwork you need to complete with them to facilitate your application. That might help get things rolling again!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hey Travis,
Again I did as you recommended, contacted the international division office, they said I should be patient and that it takes sometime for him to do the procedure, yet they told me nothing new about Wether he started the procedure or not, I still don’t know if he’s working on it or not.
I’ve contacted him twice, he stills not answering….I don’t know what to do ! Take the risk and wait or move to another option even though it’s not that easy…..any advice please ??
Thank you 🙂
Hi Imen,
My recommendation is to take the risk. If you stop this application and start again somewhere else, you would probably be facing the same uncertainty.
Since you can only have two applications going at a time, if you do decide to stop this application, then you would have to contact the professor at TiTech and tell him that you are withdrawing your application before you start applying somewhere else.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
I have been in contact with a professor from Keio University. after I’ve sent him all documents he asked for, he replied saying that my research is practical while his is more about theory (he may not support practical studies) and that his conversational English is not that good, thus if our research subjects are not the same, we would have a hard time with each other…he recommended me to look for other profs but at the same time he said he could reconsider my request if I’m still interested in his research objects…. The thing is I’ve replied to him saying I understand his reasons and I will look for another professor just like he advised me.
Unfortunately, it’s not going so well with the other professors, the due date is getting closer and I can say that I regret having not asking him for reconsideration especially that I liked his fast replies and interest in my profile.
My question is, Is it possible for me to recontract him saying I thought about it and found out that I could change some points of my research and adapt it according to his objects? and that I still would like to work under his supervision and maybe in the future we can change or adapt some points of my research together ?
Could you please give me your opinion about that ?
Hi Imen,
Given the context that you have explained, it seems reasonable to go back and tell him that while you have considered other potential advisors, you were not able to find any that you thought would be able to supervise your research better and that you would really prefer to work with him. It is fine to say that you are willing to consider changing your research topic at his advice – after all, that’s what an academic advisor is there for.
You still have a month until the deadline to apply for Letters of Acceptance, (I have a newer version of this article updated for this year), but if you are sure about this professor, then it is fine to move forward now, I think.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
hey Travis, thanks for the reply.
I read the updated article and also according to the guidelines, it is stated that we send documents to universities by email. is this applicable for all universities this year ?!…..In case the University asked for hard copies; should I bring back my documents from the embassy (because I only have a digital copy of the stamped documents sent by the embassy via email) , the fact is I don’t actually understand this point…isn’t the embassy supposed to keep the documents ? then how come I get them back ?!
Hi Imen,
The embassy should return your application documents after the primary screening when they provide you with the Passing Certificate of the Primary Screening.
This year, MEXT’s instructions say that all documents should be sent to the universities in Japan by email, so you should not need hard copies. As long as you have the digital copies you should be fine. (In the past, you had to email the physical documents to Japan, but that ended a few years ago).
By the way, this is an older article about applying for the Letter of Acceptance. I have updated it each year with new information and you can find the most recent version for this year – published yesterday! – at this link.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
I understand now , thank you sooo much for all your kind replies
Dear travis,
I’ve passed an interview with a professor, but he seemed not sure of the process of next scholarship, he asked me about which IGP program I’m applying for , is it an A, B or C …I’m not sure what that suppose to mean …do you have any ideas about that knowing that I’m applying for Tokyo Institute of Technology, or do you recommend me to contact the international affairs department.
I’ve actually been told by the embassy to first get in touch with a contact they gave me before contacting the professor, but when I consulted the website of titech, it is said that the procedure to get a LOA is to contact the professor directly.
Any advice ?
Hi Imen,
The A, B, and C type IGP programs are specific to Titech. I suggest you read about them on their website.
It sounds like the professor might not be aware that you are applying for Letter of Acceptance for the Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship. I would recommend that you review the website above (incidentally, it looks like Type A is for applicants that want to be considered for the MEXT Scholarship) and then make sure the professor is aware that you are applying for an LoA for the Embassy Scholarship.
If that doesn’t work, then I would recommend reaching out to the contact that the embassy gave you, telling them that you have contacted the professor but they are unsure of the process, and ask for advice on how to proceed.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hey Travis,
I finally got my first screening passing certificate and one university that I’m applying for, requires contacting the professors directly…. there’s a professor that I’m interested in his research, I’ve already sent him two mails, the last one (attached with my cv and research proposal) was about a week ago and I knew that he read it three times because I used the tracking option (I know it’s not professional but I had to do it to make sure if he’s noticing my emails), however he didn’t reply me…do you think I should mail him again and this time attach the passing certificate so that he makes sure that I’ve passed the first screening ?…especially that I still have hope of him being interested in my research since he read my last mail more than one time.
and do you recommend attaching all the documents including the ones I’ve sent to the embassy or only the passing certificate ?!
Hi Imen,
I’m glad to hear that you have the certificate!
Yes, I would recommend that you contact the professor again now. You can refer to the previous email that you sent but add that now you have the Passing Certificate so that you would like to formally apply for a Letter of Acceptance.
The university’s webpage should tell you what documents you are to send to the professor, but in case they don’t, then the general rule is that you need to send the university the Passing Certificate of the Primary Screening as well as all of the documents that you submitted to the embassy except for the Placement Preference Form and the Medical Certificate. Do not send those!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis
I am kinda confused and would love to hear your input on my situation.
I am about to request a LOA and the university’s website says that I need to send my MEXT documents directly to my prospective professor while my graduate program site says that I need to send it to the admission office.
Ideally, I would like to talk with my potential professor first so that I can expand more on my academic background and give him the chance to know me better but I am not sure what to do really.
Should I send my MEXT documents to the admission office and at the same time contact the professor to let him know more about me, or should I just send one email to the admission office and hopefully they will then forward it to my prospective professor?
Thank you for your help and time
Sincerely,
Khalid
Hi Khalid,
I would recommend sending the documents to the grad school administrative office. You can also mention in that email that you saw another page on the university that asked you to send them directly to the professor (include the link), and ask if you should do that, as well. In almost every situation, you are more certain to get a response from an admin office than from a professor and the admin office is going to be key to getting your application officially processed.
If the admin office says that you do not need to send your documentation to the professor for the process, if you can find the professor’s email, you could still reach out to send a short, polite note saying that you are in the process of applying for the Embassy MEXT Scholarship under their supervision and look forward to the possibility of working with them, as well as why – focused on the professor and their research, of course. I would not expect to be able to do much relationship building at this time in the application process, but if the professor does reply to that email, it could be an opening for further direct communication.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you, Travis, I think I’ll do what you just suggested.
When I contact the office and submit the documents, should I explain to them why I chose their program and why I chose this specific professor or should I leave all of that to the email that I’ll send to my professor?
Hi Khalid,
It certainly can’t hurt to include that information in the email. The worst they can do is to ignore it and just focus on the documents.
But I would not count on them passing the contents of your email to the professor, either, so if you do plan to contact the professor, it is worth stating again in that message.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you, Sir. I truly appreciate your valuable feedback.
Sincerely,
Khalid
Hey Travis,
I’ve done my interview (26th Aug) and waiting for results:
Q1: how long does it take usually for the results to be announced ?
Q2: I have already contacted some professors to ask them for supervision , got rejected by some and others that are more aligned with my research (from Keio Univ and Tokyo Tech) still didnt answer me. My qst is : should I re-contact those profs again in case I passed the primary screening to ask them direclty for LAO’s, or is it better to contact other new Profs instead ?
Q3: and should I attach my research plan (that I’ve joined to my MEXT application) to the emails I send?
Q4: how many days should I wait for a Prof’s feedback before sending another email to another Ptof ??
Thank you for your help :))
Hi Imen,
I hope your results come back positive!
1) There is no “usual” time. Every embassy is different. If they haven’t given you a time frame for the announcement of the final candidates, I’m afraid I cannot guess.
2) Some universities have a policy of not responding to any Embassy MEXT related emails until after the applicant has passed the primary screening. Once you have passed the Primary Screening, I recommend trying again, but make sure that you are submitting your application and contacting professors in the way specified by the university.
3) This all depends on the university’s policy for how you should apply for an LoA. Be sure to follow the instructions from the university. (Some will ask you to send your research plan to the professors, but at other universities, reaching out to the professor directly is not part of the application at all and won’t help you).
4) I would wait a week then send a polite reminder. A few days after that, try reaching out through the academic office that is responsible for MEXT Scholarship applications. If even they can’t get a response form the professor, I would say that it is time to move on. Again, this only applies after you have passed the Primary Screening and only if the university has specifically instructed you to contact professors directly.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis,
I am thinking of applying to Tokyo Polytechnic University – Graduate School of Game Design. As stated in the MEXT FAQ, research student can apply to any university. However, I did not found any information regarding MEXT Scholarship or research student in Tokyo Polytechnic University website. Can I still apply for MEXT research student program?
Hi Yafet,
TPU only offers degrees taught in Japanese and requires a minimum N2 level of JLPT to apply, so that is why there is no admissions information on their English website.
If you have the required Japanese language ability, then I would recommend contacting them directly to see if they accept MEXT scholarship applicants (every university is eligible to accept MEXT applicants, but not every university actually gets enough interest to go through the trouble of setting up an application process, particular universities that don’t have programs in English) and what the process will be. You can do that now, or after you pass the Primary Screening.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis
Thank you for this helpful post it really opened up my eyes
I got a question, so in Waseda ‘s case , they stated to contact their office LOA after passing the preliminary screening , and that there is no need to contact any professor .Can I contact my desired professor now before all of that ?I just want to increase my chances of getting a yes
thanks again
Hi Mimi,
Thank you for your kind words.
Yes, you can always contact a professor in advance to start building a relationship. I recommend it, if possible. Building a relationship with the professor means that he or she is more likely to be willing to accept you when your application for an LoA lands on his/her desk. It should also help you to customize your Field of Study and Research Program Plan to that professor’s interest.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi, Travis! This is Ken from the Philippines. You and your blog posts are key to my passing of the Primary Screening. I am currently awaiting results of my application for Letters of Acceptance from the universities I emailed. I initially sent three applications for LoA and got approved in one. The original LoA has been shipped to me.
Though they have confirmed receipt of my application, I have not heard from the other two universities (from the day of filing application — going a month and a half now in one uni, and exactly a month in the other).
I have this 4th uni in mind (as an alternative), whose deadline of LoA application was last Friday (September 13). In panic of not hearing from the 2nd and 3rd options, I submitted an application in that 4th uni on that very same day of its deadline.
My current worry is — if I get four LoAs, will I be ‘penalized’ for this? Should I inform the embassy about getting more than three in the end?
I’d also like to seek your wisdom on the chances of being placed in my first university of choice given the following orders of preference (read: I really want to be placed in that private uni A):
a. (1) Private Uni A – (2) Private Uni B – (3) National Uni
b. (1) Private Uni A – (2) Public Uni – (3) National Uni
Thank you so much! You are a blessing!
Hi Ken,
Thank you for your kind words and feedback!
Congratulations on passing the Primary Screening and receiving at least one Letter of Acceptance so far! At this point, your scholarship should be essentially guaranteed.
I would not worry too much about the time that it has taken for the number 2 and 3 universities to get back to you. August and the beginning of September are summer vacation months at most Japanese universities, and faculty are often away from campus. That means that they might not have the right people around to review your application. It is not a reflection on you one way or another, they simply haven’t been able to get the people together to start looking at it. (Since a month or more has passed at both universities, it would not be inappropriate to send a polite question about when they anticipate being able to respond one way or another so that you can report your results to the embassy.)
Regarding the fourth university, if you do end up getting all four letters, then my suggestion would be that you tell the embassy that you had not heard back from one of the universities and thought that meant a rejection, so you contacted a fourth.
For your order choices, assuming that you have 2 LoAs from private universities, one from a public, and one from a national, I think that you would have the best chance of being placed in your first choice of Private university A if your order was Private A – Private B – Public. But rather than trying to game the system that way, I would recommend that you seriously consider how you would feel if you were placed in the second or third choice university and rank them according to your actual preferences. That way, even if you do not get your first choice, you would still be happy with the results.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis! I appreciate your articles a lot, thank you. I would ask your advice regarding an interesting situation I just faced.
I am waiting for my LOAs but I encountered some difficulties. I got premission from a national and from a private university. The letter from the national one is on the way -as far as I know-, and the other one from the private one I got scanned. The prof. from the private uni and a very kind lady from the uni’s office just warned me that they have only PhD program and since I have BSc degree they can receive me as non degree research student for 2 years (and after that we will see). Since i completed my application form checking the study in Japan box ”up to getting a PhD degree” the lady from the office told that they will chage my status from degree-seeking to non-degree seeking and if my local embassy agrees to make this change then ok,they will send me the original letter too. So I called the embassy aaaand: they told me to wait for my first choice uni’s (the national one)letter to arrive and to not bother getting the second one. well. why they told me that? i tought it’s better to turn in 2 LOAs then only one. and the other issue is, I don’t want to reject the private uni’s letter since the professor was so kind and did literally everything to get a place for me there. So pretty please, tell me what would you do in my place? to be rude to the private university or do the opposite what the embassy advised me?
Thank you very much Travis for helping me, I have no idea what should I do…
Hi Aruzhan Y.0814,
MEXT always prefers to place applicants in national universities over private ones, so the embassy is probably thinking that if you get the Letter of Acceptance from the National University, there is no way that you would end up in the private one, anyway, so it is not worth spending the time worrying about (for them, I mean). If you have one LoA from a national university as your first choice, it is not going to make much difference to have a second LoA from a private one.
It sounds to me like your situation with the private university is somewhat risky, anyway, as you wouldn’t have a clear path forward after the two years of the non-degree program. However, I certainly understand your not wanting to be rude. Especially since you could end up working with that university later after you arrive in Japan, even if you don’t enroll there.
My advice would be to tell her frankly that the embassy said that processing would depend on what your other LoAs say, so they cannot give a final answer at this point. Assert to her that you are still interested in studying there, but you don’t want them to waste their time and money posting the original LoA to you unless you can be sure that the Embassy will accept it, so you will stick with the digital copy for now and let her know later if the original becomes necessary.
How does that sound?
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
I don’t even now how to say thank you for this diplomatic and polite answer. I just wrote the letter to them, so I’m hoping for the best and waiting for the next phase. Thank you again for your promt reply and for your advice.
I wish you all the best!
Hi Aruzhan Y.0814,
I’m glad I could help! I hope the process goes well for you and you and up at your first choice.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Thank you for all your very helpful articles!
I wanted to ask if the research theme that we proposed to MEXT is allowed to be changed?
This is because, one of my potential supervisors is having ideas on changing the area of study to somewhere else outside of Japan but the core concept is still relative to the research that I am trying to pursue.
I am worried that this might affect my chances very late in this application process… as I would like this University to be my top most placement.
Sincerely,
Mohd
Hi Mohd,
Yes, there is some tolerance for changing your Field of Study and Research Program Plan. In fact, your plan almost certainly should change once you start working with your advisor. He or she is going to have input that you would not have thought about. (Otherwise, that person is not offering very much value as your advisor).
You cannot change majors or even programs within the major, but if you are staying withing the same core research and working with the same advisor, you can change things like your methodology or research sample, etc.
I would not anticipate any problems in your case.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
thank you for your blog, you helped me incredibly much in my application process! I dont know how to thank you! Two days ago I got informed that I passed the Primary Screening. Today I contacted my first choice professor for the first time and I he replied in two(!) hours! He said that he agrees to be my supervisor, and sent me a lot of information about his lab and institute, what is more, he said that he is very intrested in my research too! I would like to ask you, if a single letter of acceptance it would be enough, since my first choice university (University of Kyushu) is a national university. I have not contacted the other professors yet, but I have enough time to ask them too. Do you think that this would be necessary? I am wondering what are my chances to get the scholarship at this point. I am dedicated to brain research and I want to play safe.
What do you suggest that I do? Thank you for your precious time, I will be very grateful to you for your kindness.
Update: the prof. just got the permission of my acceptance and he said that we have to wait 5 days since the university office is on summer vacation, but after that they will write and send the letter to me.
Is it safe to turn only one LOA to the embassy and write that one university in the final placement form? (All of my three choices were nationals, but I really want to be placed at Kyushu.)
Thank you again for everything Travis, without your help I am sure that I wouldn’t managed to get this far. I am so grateful!
Have a nice day/weekend!
Hi Pavel,
Congratulations on securing that Letter of Provisional Acceptance, and thank you for your kind feedback!
Since you know now that you will have that letter, I think it is safe to turn in only the one. Since Kyushu is national, the chances would be very high that you would be placed there anyway, even if you had other choices, but there’s no particular point in chancing it.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Pavel P.,
Congratulations on passing the primary screening and on your quick connection with the professor!
If you have at least one Letter of Acceptance, that should be enough. I have never heard of an applicant being rejected as long as they had one LoA. So, you should be fine to submit your Placement Preference Form with only the one university and one LoA.
But if you are uncomfortable doing that, then one way you can stay “safe” and fill in the rest of the spaces would be by getting your remaining LoAs from private universities. Of course, make sure that they are programs that you would be willing to attend if you were sent there, but I have never heard of MEXT skipping over a National University to place an applicant in a Private one.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Please, does the minimum GPA requirements for admission into my chosen university determine if the letter of provisional acceptance will be granted?
Hi Christian,
For the Embassy-Recommended MEXT scholarship, the universities would not be looking at your GPA as an eligibility factor – the embassies would have already reviewed that during the primary screening and you would not pass that screening if your GPA did not meet requirements.
The universities may look at your grades as part of their decision, though.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Do I need to have the GRE test score in hand when I apply for LoA? (GraSPP at U of Tokyo & GPEM at Tohoku U)
Thank you
Hi PJ,
That requirement would be determined by individual universities, so I would recommend that you check with them directly.
I do not maintain a list of requirements for all 700+ universities in Japan individually.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis! I love your blog, thanks for all your effort! I have a question about this step though, I am applying through embassy recommendation, and have received 5 LOA, 4 of them are from private universities and 1 from a national university. My plan was to put 3 private universities in my Placement Preference Form, but I asked the embassy if that would reduce my chances and they sent me the guidelines which say this:
“should the applicant wish to enter either a public or a private university and not a national university, the applicant’s preference order specified in the Placement Preference Form may not be met due to restrictions on the Japanese government’s budget preventing the covering of higher tuition and other costs at such universities. Any objection by the applicant to the decision on the university placement will not be accepted.”
Does that mean that, if I input 3 private universities my chances of obtaining the scholarship are none? Are they reduced? Will I even get the scholarship if I follow my plan of choosing 3 private universities? The reason I don’t want to pick the national one is because it’s the one that aligns the least with my career, but I still got it just in case because I have read online that having a national university in your options is almost like an automatic approval towards that university. I could put it in the ppf in third place, but I have read that no matter the order, if it’s the only national even if it’s in third place, they’ll place me there. I need help! Because the private universities I chose are really good, and considerably better for my career, and I wouldn’t want to fail the process at this very last step. The embassy is already asking me for my order to be submitted this week, help! T_T
Hi Ines,
The section of the guidelines they sent you means that if you put the National University anywhere on your placement preference form, there is a higher chance that you will end up there, even if it is your third choice. That section is about the chances of being placed in one university or the other; it has nothing to do with your chances of earning the scholarship overall. Strictly speaking, you would be approved for the scholarship in the secondary screening, which happens before placement anyway.
There is nothing wrong with putting the three private universities on your placement preference form. It should not impact your chances for the scholarship.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello again Travis! And OMG thank you so much for your quick reply, reading your words really put me at ease. Thing is, all of the other applicants from my country have at least one national university in their placement preference form so it really worried me. I remember asking the embassy before the LOA process started if it was OK to get all the letters from private unis, and they said it wasn’t a problem as long as they all were in a list they had sent me (and they are), so I was very worried when they said the thing about the guidelines, it seemed kinda conflicting. I guess they could’ve said that in the interest of the Japanese government, because it’s preferable to get a cheaper university if I did manage to get a LOA from a national university in the end, hehe. Thank you so much once again, I’ll follow through with my plan of inputting the 3 private unis and hope for the best, thank you!
Hi Ines,
I’m glad I could help!
I hope you end up in your first-choice university!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Thanks a lot for all the helpfull information in here.
I had passed the primary screening, contacted the professors and gotten two LOAs, -all these professors sent me a scanned copy of the letters and also sent the originals via EMS, the problem is, the deadline is coming up and I haven’t received the originals yet(I even have tracking numbers but I think there’s some delays on deliveries for my country)
I therefore have the following questions:
1. Can I print and submit the Scans? or I must only submit the originals.
2. And will this affect my chances in the second screening?
PS. the scanned copies both have official university seals.
Hi Sting,
1. You’d have to check with the Japanese Embassy or Consulate where you are supposed to turn in the letters. It is up to their discretion.
They should accept the printed versions provisionally and let you submit the originals when they arrive later. I would recommend that when you ask them, tell them that you have the EMS tracking information for the letters. In my experience, most Embassies will work with you.
2. Submitting digital copies first and the originals later should not affect your eligibility or chances in any way.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Thanks for the reply.
I have received the letters, so I hope everything will be well.
Last question,
I have 2 LoAs , what’s my chances now for actually getting the scholarship?
Any advice on what should influence my university preference?? and what’s the chances I get placed in my first choice?
Thanks in advance.
Hi Sting,
At this point, I would say that you are all-but guaranteed to receive the scholarship. I have never heard of an applicant making it as far as you have in the application process and not receiving the scholarship in the end.
As far as your placement goes, if your first choice university is a national, then there is a very good chance that you get placed there (especially if your second choice is private or public). If your first choice is a private university and your second is a national, then there is a chance that MEXT would contact your second choice university, first.
After that, it is up to the universities themselves to confirm that they will accept you.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Thank you for providing all the information on this blog. I wanted to ask about the entrance examination before the start of the Master’s course.
1. Is it a Japanese language examination or related to my research subject? I think it is the Japanese language examination but I am not sure.
2. Are all the research students ‘non regular’ students in the beginning or those who know Japanese language start their Master’s program right away?
Hi Arpan,
The entrance exam is going to be different for each university and each individual graduate school within the university. There is no common test like for undergraduate.
1. This depends on the university you choose and whether the program is taught in Japanese or English.
2. If you enroll in a program taught in English, not Japanese language ability is required. It is possible to start your degree program directly if you meet all the requirements and pass the entrance exam, but that is up to your university.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Transenz, thanks a lot for all the helpfull information in here.
I had passed the primary screening, contacted the professors and gotten two LOA,
all these professors sent me a scanned copy of the letter and also sent the originals via EMS, the problem is, the deadline is coming up and I haven’t received the originals yet(I even have tracking numbers but I think there’s some delay on deliveries)
Therefore, Can I print and submit the Scans? And will this affect my chances in the second screening?
Hi Sting,
You’d have to check with the Japanese Embassy or Consulate where you are supposed to turn in the letters. It is up to their discretion.
They should accept the printed versions provisionally and let you submit the originals when they arrive later. I would recommend that when you ask them, tell them that you have the EMS tracking information for the letters. In my experience, most Embassies will work with you.
Submitting digital copies first and the originals later should not affect your eligibility or chances in any way.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Thank you for all the information. Its been a real help in getting things moving.
I had a couple of queries though regarding the time it takes for the LoAs to get delivered. I understand its different for different universities, but will it make a difference if I mail them say a little into August? (I got the notification of having cleared the primary screening last month, and applied immediately to two unis)
A lot of the places I’m applying to require me to contact the professor directly, but haven’t provided any contact details, so I have to go through the international students dept or equivalent for each uni and get their details. This is what is taking the maximum amount of time, and I’m wondering if applying beyond a certain time (not the deadline, that’s 24th August) will jeopardize my chances at getting an LoA from these unis.
Incidentally, the deadline for submitting the LoA(s) to the embassy here in India is September 7th. That makes this all the more stressful.
Any points you may have to help me with this?
Thanks so much.
Vivek
PS – Contacting the unis on weekends is a no-go right? Lot of places in India work Saturdays too, so I may be missing something here haha!
Hi Vivek Krishnan,
Applying late, so long as you are not past the deadline, will not jeopardize your chances of getting an LOA. The deadline is all that matters for that. However, it will robably delay your LOA. Universities in Japan will be on summer vacation by now, and most won’t be back in session until late September, so it’s going to be harder to get a hold of professors. (Admin offices will still be at work, but professors will be gone, for the most part). They will not be checking email as often.
MEXT’s rules are that as long as you have contacted the university before August 24th, you are fine, even if it takes them a while to respond. In fact, even if they don’t get you the LoA by the deadline, as long as they have not rejected your request, you can list them on your Placement Preference Form.
The only thing I can suggest is that you keep trying to reach them and if the professors don’t respond after an email and a reminder, that you contact the admin office, explain the situation, and ask them if they can help.
If you are contacting the professors by email, it really doesn’t matter what day of the week it is. No, they probably will not be at work on the weekends, but most professors will also probably not be at work throughout all of August.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear TransenzJapan,
I haven’t had any positive replies since contacting the University of Tokyo’s graduate faculty’s about gaining a letter of acceptance. The University says I need to apply like all other regular students in next years round but the scholarship requires you to submit the acceptance letter by late August.
Do you know on earth people on the Mext Scholarship gain entry into Tokyo University as a grad/research student?
Hi Tissy,
It sounds like the university might not be aware that you passed the Primary Screening for the MEXT scholarship. They do have a specific process to apply for the Letter of Acceptance (I linked to it in the article!), so if you are following those directions and make it clear that you are applying for a Letter of Acceptance for the Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship and that you have passed the Primary Screening, then you should get a different response.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi, TranSenz,
Thank you so much for all the information, time and effort you put on running this blog!
I have passed the first screening and now waiting for the professors to reply. Do I normally have wait for their positive response before sending the docs, or just notifying professor + sending the research plan is enough?
2) Will the international office tell me in advance that professor is not available, so that I could have enough time to contact the other professor before August 24?
3)How much time typically do research students spend at the chosen university study before enter a Master Course? What is the best way to prepare for the Master Course exam in advance?
Thank you!
Kami
Hi Kami,
Congratulations on passing the primary screening!
1. The end of July is final exams week at most universities in Japan, so professors may be slower to respond in the short-term.
If you are contacting a university that requires you to apply to the professors, I would suggest following up with them until you get a response. But if you are applying to a university that recommends that you get the professor’s approval before applying, I would say it is OK to go ahead and send your application documents to the international office (or whichever office the university says to send them to). Mention in your email that you have reached out to the professor but did not get a reply and are concerned that he or she may be very busy now.
2. You have to contact the university by August 24, not necessarily the professor. If the university tells you after August 24 that you have to select a different professor at their university, that would not interfere with your ability to apply there. So you don’t need to worry about that deadline after sending in your documents.
3. In my experience, MEXT scholars usually spend only one semester as a research student. The entrance exam process can vary wildly by university. In some cases, it’s nothing more than a formality and filling in an official application form. In others, there might actually be an exam involved. Your best approach would be to follow up with your advisor and other students in your lab after arrival for their advice. There really should not be much risk at all of a MEXT scholar not passing the entrance exam! You’d have to really alienate your advisor for that to be a risk.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
First of all i really want to thank you for all the valuable informations you provide us.
I have been notified by the embassy that i have passed the Primary Screening it’s all thanks to your blog.
I have to contact the professors and universities for now but i’m a bit struggling.
Hope you can help me on this :
1- Regarding the University of Tokyo and Keio University ;while contacting the administrative office of the graduate school do I have to mention in my mail the name of the professor i want ?
2- Tohoku and kyoto University: do i need to get the approval from the professor before asking him for a LoA ?
3- for Osaka University: can i apply to the international office aven before getting the approval from the professor ?
Thank you in advance for your response
Sincerly
Hi Tessa,
Congratulations on passing the primary screening! I’m happy I was able to help in some small way.
I have not done particularly deep research on the individual universities you listed, I have only read through the websites I linked in this article. I would recommend you refer to those for more details.
1. Yes, I recommend mentioning the professor’s name. It will make the admin office’s job easier, which could mean that your message will get faster attention.
2. I’m not entirely sure what you mean – I would think that asking the professor for approval and asking the professor for an LoA are the same thing. In any case, since you have already passed the Primary Screening, I recommend that you make it clear that you are seeking to study under the professor via the MEXT scholarship and want to obtain an LoA.
3. Technically, yes, but you are highly encouraged to contact the professor first .According to their website, you can contact the professor through the International Student Affairs Division, which is the office that handles applications. If you haven’t/weren’t able to contact the professor yet and can’t contact them directly, you could contact the ISAD and ask them for assistance in reaching out to the professor.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis, Thank you for your reply .
The issue is that the easiest for me to apply is through the international office. Because of my research field it’s either the universities don’t offer courses in english or the professor’s research fields aren’t related to mine or I can’t find the professors contacts :/
It’s quite desperating only 20 days are left but i only applied for 1 university and the hardest one , I’m still waiting for 2 others to provide me the professors contact informations but I didn’t receive any reply. I hope 20 days are enough, If I’m rejected from these universities It would be too late to look for another one.
Hi Tessa,
You only need to contact the universities by August 24, you don’t need to have their reply by then. I’m not sure if that helps.
You are allowed to apply to up to 4 universities at once, so you could try to find another now and start reaching out there, too.
If you can’t find a professor that matches your research field exactly, I would recommend trying to take a step back to a slightly broader description of your field and looking for professors there. If you are in the hard sciences and doing very specific research that requires advanced equipment, that may be challenging, but if you are in humanities and social sciences, you should have a little more flexibility with how closely your professor really has to be to your field.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Thank you for your reply.
Actually I want to pursue Pharmacology in a graduate school of pharmaceutical sciences but the choice is really limited.
I just received an email from 1 of my 3 choices saying that the professors I chose can’t accept me now and that i have to look for another university.
The only professor that was aiming to support me told me that I have to pass an entrance examination after 6 months to work in his laboratory.
I have contacted another university but after an email sent to the professor , a follow up email and un email to the graduate school office I didn’t get any reply.
I don’t know if there was a case like this in the past but what if I have only 1 letter of acceptance and not 3 and what if i don’t receive any letter of acceptance because of my field ? Does that mean that it’s over for me ?
Hi Tessa,
The one professor who said you could be accepted as a research student then start your degree after passing an entrance exam after 6 months sounds promising. That’s a very common path for Embassy Recommendation MEXT scholars. If you have at least one LoA, then you should have no problems with the rest of the scholarship application process, but zero could be a problem.
I do not know much about your particular degree field, but I know that in the eligibility requirements this year, it was stated that for some programs in pharmaceutical sciences, you needed to be pre-approved by universities. I think that applies primarily to professional doctorate programs (which would primarily be offered only in Japanese, as far as I know) rather than academic ones. What kind of program are you going for?
If you are going for an academic degree, you might want to consider applying in a different graduate school, such as life sciences, which often have more English-taught degree programs, if you are running out of options to secure an LoA.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi again Travis,
I am really sorry to bother with this but i had one last question .
I am in what i can call now a critical situation.
Only 5 days are left to submit my application , since a receive a negative response from a university i have to contact at leat 2 other universities in order to have 3 letter of acceptance.
But i can’t find any program in english for pharmaceutical sciences.
Since my field of study and research plan revolves around this , I am wondering if I can still apply for a degree in life science since it’s the only english program I found related to pharmacy ( My major )
Thank you in advance for your response
With kind regards
Tassadit
Hi Tassadit,
I didn’t see this comment before replying to your last one, but it looks like we had the same idea.
Yes, I would absolutely recommend applying in life sciences. You might be able to work with the pharmaceutical sciences professors on your research after arrival, but you would need to be in the English-language degree program.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi, I have successfully passed the primary screening of MEXT Scholarship for the year 2019. My query is do i have to send different research plan to different Professors for getting the LOA? as I am applying to three different universities and the professors carry out different researches (my field of study is Biotechnology). The research plan i submitted to the embassy was similar to the research that a Professor in University of Tokyo is conducting (as University of Tokyo is my first priority). I also want to apply to Osaka University and the professor there is conducting different kind of research so should i change my research plan also the documents we submit are stamped by the embassy so what should I do?
Hi Mars,
You have to send the exact same set of documents that you submitted to the embassy to each of the universities you are applying to. You are not allowed to change them for the different universities.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi, if i do not submit the placement form before the primary screening.
will it effect my selection process?
Hi Irfan Ul Haq,
If your embassy listed it as a required document and you did not submit it, that could have consequences for your selection, but if they did not make it mandatory, you should be fine!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello! I have already got the Embassy confirmation but my university haven’t contacted me yet.. and started having weird thoughts. I might sound crazy but can the university reject you even after embassy confirmation?
The second is can I still change my university to my second choice after embassy confirmation?
Hi TripleZ,
You don’t get to choose your university or change it – MEXT chooses for you, so you will not have that option.
During the secondary screening, first MEXT approves your application, then they start contacting the universities on your Placement Preference Form in order (or sometimes not in order, if your first choice is private) to ask them to accept you.
If the first university they contact declines to accept you (this can happen even if you received an LoA), then MEXT has to contact the next, so that can add to the time it takes.
However, each embassy releases the results differently. Some confirm acceptance for all applicants first, then wait until every applicant has been placed before announcing placements to everyone at once. Others release the results as they come in. So, it might be that someone else’s placement results are delaying their announcement to you.
But no, in the end, it should never be the case that you are confirmed for the scholarship but not placed at any university.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis.
Thank you for the blog. Your posts have been very helpfull. After submitting the LOAs to the Embassy, since the waiting time for the final results is long, do you suggest contacting the professors meanwhile to keep the contact going or is it unecessary at this point.
Hi Nouha,
Yes, it is quite a long wait!
I think it’s a good idea to maintain your relationship with the professors and discuss your research as you move forward, in general. Of course, you’ll only end up at one of the universities, but having a connection with multiple professors in your field when you arrive in Japan can only be a good thing for your future academic career!
Good Luck,
Travis from TranSenz
Thank you for the reply.
I was indeed wondering if it is appropriate to keep contact with multiple professors knowing one ends up at one university, hopefully.
So thank you for the insight and again for the work you do at this blog.
Hi Travis,
I’ve just submitted my letters of acceptance (Keio and Waseda) to my consulate and I am awaiting results of the secondary screening, but I have a dilemma.
If you remember from our previous discussions, my targeted masters program is offered at a graduate school of UTokyo, the Graduate School of Public Policy, (GraSPP) that does not have a research student program and issues no LoAs, but does accept MEXT scholars.
For the purposes of securing an LoA, I tried my best to target a graduate school that shared faculty with GraSPP, in this case the Graduate School of Law and Politics, but as I was advised to be upfront about my intent to transfer to GraSPP, they rejected my LoA request. It looks like I will now be assigned to either Keio or Waseda.
My question is if you have ever dealt with a MEXT scholar transferring into a different university’s masters program, and how the timing works.
GraSPP’s primary screening is in October-November, and entrance exam results are in March of next year, theoretically I could gain admission right as the secondary screening results come out from MEXT – sometime between December and March, from what I read. GraSPP’s school year starts in September, so it would align with the MEXT designated disbursement dates as well.
But, is this possible? I have heard of MEXT scholars transferring once they had already started their term in Japan, but not before they had even landed.
I would much prefer this because 1) I can start my masters course immediately and 2) I would avoid the awkward situation of having my academic adviser dedicate his time to me for nearly a year knowing I am transferring to another school.
In the worst case scenario, there is a comparable program and professor I am interested in at Keio university, but GraSPP has always been most in line with my research and career goals.
Looking forward to hearing your advise,
Hi Brandon,
This may be a terminology quibble, but there is no such thing as “transferring” under the MEXT scholarship. The only time you can change universities is when you apply to extend your scholarship, such as when you move up from research student to degree student or from Master’s to PhD.
The reason that’s an important distinction is that the extension application process goes through the school where you are currently enrolled and requires their approval, as well as one of their limited extension slots.
According to MEXT’s instructions, in general, students extending from research to degree-seeking status must stay within the same university unless there is a compelling reason why they cannot do so (e.g. advising professor retiring), so that would seem to make your case a difficult one.
Additionally, in the event of a transfer, your current advisor has to write why he/she is recommending you to transfer out or is at least in support of your decision. I suspect if would be difficult to get to know your professor well enough to secure that recommendation before you are even formally assigned to the university.
Again, that also requires your present university to apply one of its extension slots to you, as well.
The best possibility of being able to transfer to GraSPP would seem to be waiting for a year, during which you would work with your professor to get his/her buy-in into your goal to extend and move to another university. But even that is far from a guarantee.
I hope your placement works out well for you in either case!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you for the fast response Tranz,
Have you ever heard of a situation such as this? That is, where a graduate school doesn’t have a research MEXT student program but accepts MEXT students into the graduate program?
It seems a rather peculiar situation in terms of school policy, so I wonder if that might be taken into account when extending.
As for the extension spot, I am not sure I understand you. Is there a limited quota for MEXT graduate students? I assumed that if you passed the entrance exam at any university, that would be sufficient to extend the scholarship.
Hi Brandon,
I’ve heard of programs that only accept students as degree-seeking MEXT scholars directly, but in that case, they were never research students. So no, the GraSPP program seems unique.
Unfortunately, since that’s a university decision, rather than a MEXT one, I don’t know if it’s something MEXT will consider.
Simply passing the entrance exam is not enough to guarantee extension of your scholarship. The entrance exam is a university requirement, extending the MEXT scholarship is a completely separate procedure requiring a separate application. At least since two years ago, MEXT has started capping the number of extendees that each university can nominate each year. That total cap includes extending from research to degree status, extending from Master’s to PhD, and extending from Bachelor’s to Master’s.
The cap is based on the number of students who extended in the previous year, so theoretically there should be no problem. But it’s not a guarantee.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Travis, thanks for the info. I did not know the difference between transferring and extensions. Explaining it the way you did has really put it in context.
Can you tell me more about your experience with students that directly entered into a master’s program? I originally thought that everyone must start as a non-degree seeking student until they pass the entrance exam, but it seems that may not be the case for some universities? Maybe the the entrance exam is necessary only for schools which are popular choices like Todai/Keio/Waseda/etc?
Hi Brandon,
I don’t think it’s a matter of popularity. I think it’s more university policy. At my university, there was no serious “entrance exam” for MEXT scholars. We were a lot stricter about handing out LoAs, but once a student had an LoA, even if they were going to come as a research student, they were essentially pre-screened for degree admission. The Entrance Exam consisted of completing the application forms for the degree program, in most cases.
For our situation, the only reason a student would end up as a research student was if they were starting their studies in a semester where that particular graduate program didn’t take new degree students.
Of course, for Embassy-recommended scholars, almost all spent their first semester in the Language Program, so they were technically “research students” for that semester.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
I also wanted to add something that I just confirmed with my consulate regarding entrance exams. One of the provisions for receiving the scholarship is that you have not previously entered any university as a privately-financed student. That covers taking the entrance exam any time before you actually receive the first scholarship stipend (which is either April or October, depending on when you arrive)
It is definitely something to take into account for those of us who hope to extend as early as possible. I am currently seeing whether its possible to arrive in April as some schools offer an entrance exam in September.
Hi Brandon,
Thank you for that additional advice!
Just to make sure I’m understanding you, you’re only forbidden from taking the exam as a privately-financed student. I can’t imagine that it would include taking the entrance exam of the university you’re enrolling in under the MEXT scholarship, if that university asked you to do so to start the degree program.
Are you not scheduled for the language course in the first semester? If you are, you may have a chance to take the exam and extend during that time.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hey Travis,
Yes, you are correct, if you already receive official proof of passing the secondary screening, it should be no problem. It does preclude starting an application process any time before that, though (Which messes up the cycle for schools that open up applications in an odd cycle, like the GraSPP in November, for example). From what I have read, the earliest people get the results of the secondary screening are in December.
Hi Brandon,
I understand what you mean now – about taking an exam for another university to extend while changing schools.
I’ve heard of people getting unofficial results as early as November, but the official results are usually late December at the earliest, it seems, though there is some variance by country.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello TranSenz! Thank you so much for your wonderful articles which are really insightful while I’m preparing for this application. For now, I passed the primary screening and submitted my LOAs to the embassy. May I know, if you have any idea, for the upcoming screenings, MEXT will be sending confirmation to 2 or 3 universities listed in the placement preference form all at once or one-by-one? acquired 3 LOAs – 1st (national university), 2nd (national university), and 3rd (public university). Personally, I really wish to go to my 1st option (if everything goes well until the final confirmation). Thank you in advance for your replies! =)
Hi Felicia,
Based on my experience, MEXT will contact the univerities on your list one-by-one and will only contact the second university if the first one declines.
Since your first choice is a National, I see no reason why they wouldn’t contact that university first!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thanks for the replies, Travis! 🙂
Hi Travis,
Sorry for disturbing you again, but I need your helpful suggestions here. As I have mentioned previously, I already acquired 3 LOAs from 3 different universities and decided the preference according to the discussions that I had with the advisors.
While acquiring the LOAs, the universities didn’t require me to turn in placement preference form, so I didn’t submit the form. I received emails from the prospective advisors asking about my university choices/placement preferences. I know I need to be honest, but I’m worried of hurting the advisors to know that they are not my 1st choice? Also, I think the advisors might know each other due to somehow similar research topic. I’m really torn now, hmmm…
Hi Felicia,
Honesty is the best policy.
Since you already have the three LOAs, you won’t hurt your chances one way or another with those universities if you tell them the truth. Ultimately, it will be MEXT that decides where to place you, anyway.
If you have a good reason for your placement order – based on the relevance to your research topic, not something like “I want to live in this city” then the professors should absolutely understand. And they will probably know of one another even if they don’t know each other personally.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Transenz, just wondering what is the deadline (approximate) set by MEXT to Embassies to submit the Letters of Acceptance and Placement Preference Form to MEXT?
The deadline for students to submit to the Embassy their letters is approx at the end of September, but wondering when the deadline is for Embassies to submit the documents to MEXT?
I got some letters, but I still have some results/letters that have not yet been finalized (with a seal) yet, and results will be at the end of September-October. Is it still possible to wait for these letters? Thanks!
Hi Ginger,
Honestly, I don’t know. That communication would be directly between MEXT and the Embassies, so I haven’t been able to identify a source to confirm the information.
I have seen that each embassy sets very different dates to submit the LoAs. Some ask for them as early as mid-August and some wait until October. You’d be best off checking with your embassy for their policy.
Even if you don’t have the final Letter of Acceptance from a particular university, if you submit your forms with that university in your list and explain that they are still processing your letter application, you can move forward with the application. MEXT may even contact that school to ask them to accept you – I have heard of cases where this happened in the past.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
This website is really helpful. I have already receive all my LOAs and send them to the embassy. Since I have informed my company that I will further my study next year( (most probably, since nothing is confirmed as of now), how likely will I get to the next stage? I am quite nervous actually since the waiting is quite a while. The embassy said that the earliest the final result will come out will be around December if not January.
Other than not having the LOA, what are other issues that will hinder a candidate from receiving the scholarship, in your experience?
Thanks for reading my inquiries.
Hi Syafiq,
Congratulations! If you’ve passed the primary screening and turned in your LoAs, I would say that you have about a 99.9% chance of getting the scholarship!
I heard a rumor once of an applicant that did not pass the secondary screening, but never anything that I could confirm.
At this point, MEXT is just going to double-check the applications materials to make sure the Embassy did their job right and then consult universities about your placement.
The only things I know of that can ruin your chances at this point would be:
– If you lied on your application and MEXT discovered it
– If you are ineligible to obtain a visa for Japan (because you were deported in the past, an internationally wanted criminal, etc.)
I think the chances of either of those things being true are pretty remote, so you should have nothing to worry about.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Thank you very much for such a detailed information.
In my case, one of the professor in LOA mentioned as “Regular Student”, “Doctoral course”.
Month of arrival will be April 2018 while the entrance examination will be held in August 2018. Will the MEXT fund me till August 2018 i.e. till I pass the entrance examination?
Also I need to attend Japanese language course.
One more doubt is will I be able to extend the scholorship period i.e. till I finish my PhD in above mentioned situation?
Hi Vt,
It sounds like you would arrive in April as a MEXT scholar, take the Japanese language course and take the entrance exam in the meantime, then start with your PhD program in the fall semester.
You would be a MEXT scholar from the time you arrive, so don’t worry about that.
If you spend your first semester as a “Research Student” in the language program, you will apply for an extension to cover you when you transition to a PhD student. You will then have three years of scholarship from when you start your PhD.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you Travis.
So cant I extend beyond three years? Like isn’t there any provision?
Hi Vt,
No, once you start the PhD, you have three years to complete it. You can extend your studies, but not your scholarship, so if it takes you longer than three years, you would lose the scholarship (including the tuition waiver and ticket home) when you started your 7th semester in the PhD program.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you very much travis.
Hi Transenz, I got my first Letter of Provisional Acceptance (via email) and reached this stage of the application thanks to the tips I got from this website! For the LOA, I was wondering how to read/interpret it? What do they usually write on the “Reasons of Provisional Acceptance” at the second page?
Hi Ginger,
Congratulations and thank you very much for your kind words! I’m happy I was able to help.
This may sound crazy, but for all the letters I handled, I never really looked at the reasons in detail. All I checked was that the applicant’s name was correct and that it had the correct seal. My understanding was that the content of the reasons section wasn’t really that important for the application process, it was just a summary of why the professor thought it appropriate to accept your application. As long as you have the letter, that’s enough to move on to the next stage.
Sorry I wasn’t able to be more helpful in this case.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Thank you for your blog, your posts have been extremely helpful and informative. I just had a few questions myself and was wondering if you might be able to answer them. I have sent off a few LoA applications to a couple of universities, would you happen to know how long it usually takes for universities to contact me with the LoA if I do receive one? Also are all university deadlines 31st of August? I had a look at Tsukuba and it does not seem to state a deadline, it just has you must contact the professor and send them the application.
Your help is kindly appreciated.
Regards,
Ash
Hi Ash,
It really depends on the university. It can be anywhere from a few days to over a month and a half.
Many universities are on vacation during August, which means the admin staff is still there, but the professors who would need to sign off on a Letter of Acceptance are not. It really depends on how your universities process the letters as to whether or not they need to wait for all the faculty members to return.
The August 31 deadline is set by MEXT, so it is consistent for all universities. That’s just the date by which you have to send your applications to them. You don’t need a reply by then.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Thank you for your detailed reply. I really appreciate your response. I see, that makes it rather difficult then. I just had one more question, my LoA deadline from the embassy is the 28/9, which is 2 weeks from today. I still have not received a reply from two universities. One of them is my first preference. For my first preference unversity though, I have received an email from them confirming they have received my application, however that was a week and a bit ago and have yet to hear from them since. I was wondering should I contact the unversities enquiring about my application since my deadline is quite soon. Would that be considered rude and have an effect on my chances on receiving an LoA?
Best regards,
Ash
Hi Ash,
If you haven’t previously told your universities about the deadline to submit your letter of acceptance, then I think it is reasonable to contact them again to let them know.
If you write a polite email explaining your upcoming deadline and asking them if they think it would be possible to get the final answer by then, that should not hurt your chances in any way.
Depending on your university, there may be some bureaucratic procedures holding up the letter. No news is not necessarily bad news – they may just be waiting on a committee meeting to review your case.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Thank you for your information on this website, it is really helpful.
However, at a first glance (from others perspective), my preferred graduate school in Japan (Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences) seems to be non-linear with my major in undergraduate study (Department of Informatics). In the other hand, my research would be most suitable if conducted in that graduate school, because it has Bioinformatics division, which will be vital for my research.
Would it significantly lower my chance in the secondary screening? I already got the LoA from that graduate school in one of the former imperial university btw. Should I search for another LoA from a graduate school that exactly linear with my major in undergraduate?
Thank you.
Hi Kovv,
If you’ve made it through the primary screening and received an LoA, you should have no problem with the secondary screening.
The way you described your major even in this comment made it clear to me that there is a connection in the research, and I’m assuming that is even more evident in your Field of Study and Research Program Plan.
I would not anticipate any problems!
Good Luck,
– Travis from TranSenz
Yes, fortunately I clearly described the connection between them on my field of study. I hope I will pass the 2nd screening!
Thank you very much for your reply 🙂
Hi Transenz,
I submitted the required documents to the University to the admin office (as per instructions) to request for a LOA and they say that my desired professor is not available. I read from some of the comments that you say that universities would give a suitable professor in case the preferred professor is not available for supervision, but they did not recommend a professor . They say I should find another one myself , and i have only one chance to get it right. How am i supposed to approach this ? As i dont even know which professor will be accepting applicants ? And i am not even technically allowed to contact the professors as applications go through the admin office instead?
Hi Help,
Wow, that’s unfriendly of them. I would check their researcher’s database, etc., to see what professor has the closest research topic to the previous professor. (Start with other professors in the same department. If that doesn’t work, you could even try to find the syllabus for the courses in your degree and use that as your basis for selecting a professor.
There’s no way to know in advance if a professor is going to be available or not. The only thing you can really check is whether or not the professor is affiliated with the graduate school you want to go to.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you, Transenz!!
Hi Transenz, it’s me again! Just wondering how often universities would give a suitable professor in case the preferred professor is not available for supervision? Because I’ve been in contact with quite a lot of university admin offices/international centers already (In the case of universities that process LOAs through admin offices and not through direct contact with profs), and almost all I’ve contacted have just informed me that the Prof I prefer is not available (retiring), and almost all of them tell me to choose another Professor. Never have I actually encountered a university that would suggest another suitable professor in case the one I prefer is not available. Just a heads up on my experience!
Hi Dianne,
Thank you for sharing your experience!
I’m sorry to hear about your struggles. I’ve never heard of so many professors retiring at once.
Unfortunately, my direct experience is limited to the one university where I worked. There, we would take your desired professor as a consideration and send your application to the graduate school where that professor worked for consideration. The graduate school committee would meet and determine whether or not to issue an LoA and who the advising professor would ultimately be. We never went back to a candidate to ask them to choose another professor themselves except in cases where they had selected a professor from a different graduate school altogether.
Apparently, that is not the way that most universities work though. Thank you again for sharing!
Good Luck,
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Not having been successful in the interview, I want to go for university(professor)-recommended MEXT scholarship. I read your article “University-recommended Mext scholarship: introduction”, but I need to know more please.
Not disappointed yet!
Hi Eli,
I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t pass the Primary Screening.
The article you mentioned is only the first in the series about the University-recommended MEXT scholarship. You’re already a few steps ahead of most applicants if you’ve prepared your Field of Study and Research Program Plan according to the suggestions in my article on that document, but you’ll need to revise it a little for the University version of the form.
I recommend reading University MEXT Scholarship: Choosing your University next, too!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello!
Thank you so much for all this information. I have been following your instructions and have to say that I wouldn’t get so far without them!
My results have come a little time before this post. So I had already sent my requests to the professors. But, I was advised by people (not MEXT related) to not send attached files to the professors in the first contact. But after contact 3 professors only got 1 response.
My questions are:
1. Did I make a mistake? Should I have sent all the files attached? Is that why they are not answering me?
2. I know that may be silly, but what should I put on the subject of my email. I was told that if I put “letter of acceptance” it would sound inappropriate for a first email. what do you think?
3. My Embassy instructs me to only look for other universities than the ones from my placement form in the last case. When is it time to move on? After how much time I should consider that the professor will not answer me? Can I try to contact the assistant professor of the laboratory if the main professor doesn’t answer to me?
Thank you in advance for your attention.
Hi Helena,
Thank you for your kind words!
I agree that you shouldn’t send the attached files in your first email, if you can avoid it. It’s a bit rude to send a 10MB+ email to someone that you’ve never talked to before.
(Unless the university’s website tells you to send everything in your first email. In that case, it’s OK).
1. You didn’t necessarily make a mistake, but what are the university’s instructions? If you’re following those, then you’re fine. They’re probably not answering because they’re busy with finals, leaving for summer vacation, or otherwise bad with email (especially email in a foreign language to them). I’d recommend that you double-check the university’s website to make sure you should be contacting professors directly and, if so, send a polite follow-up reminder.
2. I would recommend “Inquiry from MEXT Scholarship Candidate (Passed Primary Screening)” That would be more clear than Letter of Acceptance and also tell them right up front that you’re far enough in the process that you’re not just wasting their time.
3. If the professor doesn’t respond, I would recommend contacting the graduate school administrative office. In general, admin people are better at answering their emails and getting things done than professors are. If a reminder email to the professor and a follow-up email to the admin office doesn’t work, then following up by phone could be an option, too. I recommend you start following up soon, though, as some universities close for a week or two during August.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis,
Thank you so much for your help! I followed your instructions and sent follow up emails for the professors. Your post and reply helped me to keep focus and to not panic. I waited and now I have my 3 LoAs in my hand! My last one arrived today!
It was a little bit hard because the professors were on vacation and some didn’t know about the Scholarship. The fact that I didn’t send the documents didn’t help. In the end, none of them asked for my documents, but I think that it would have helped a lot to explain about the Scholarship! So if the instructions say to send the documents, people don’t be shy and send it!!!
Now I have to decide which one to put first. I had one professor asking me to enter the Ph.D. directly, it was not my first choice but he replies really fast and was the first to send me a LoA. The selection will happen before the MEXT results. Should I put this university first? If I pass to the Ph.D. will I have more chances of getting the Scholarship? If I fail will it be bad for my chances?
Once again thank you so much for all your help!
Hi Helena,
Thank you for sharing your experience!
It may sound silly to say, but I would recommend that you put your first choice university – the professor and university that best serves your research goals – first. While the other professor has been good at answering your emails quickly, remember this is a three-year (or more) project you’re getting into and you want the way forward that is going to help you meet your goals!
At this point, passing the PhD screening is not going to increase your chances of getting the scholarship – since you’ve passed the primary screening and have your Letters of Acceptance, you are practically guaranteed to get the scholarship in either case!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
HI Travis!
Thanks for all the information on this blog, It has been so helpful !
I have been wondering whether it is a good idea trying to reach professors (or grad schools) through phone calls in case of late reply.
Would that hurt anything?
Hi CCD,
I think that could be a very good idea, just keep the time difference in mind!
It’s more likely that you’ll find the administrative offices’ phone numbers listed publicly, so I’d recommend that as a good place to start.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
I would like to ask you some questions regarding how to get the Letter of Acceptance from the university.
I have submitted my documents to 4 universities and have received 3 LoA so far, but still waiting for the selection results from my first choice university. Although the deadline for universities to provide applicants an offer letter is only until this coming Friday, 25th December 2020 (which is two days left), but currently I still waiting reply from the university.
I didn’t send them any follow-up email because the university have mentioned in their website that “The selection result will be notified to the applicant by December 25, 2020 (Friday) (JST). Please note that we will not be able to respond to inquiries regarding acceptance or rejection before notification of the selection results.”
Therefore, I would like to ask if I should send them an follow-up email? Will the university send us an notification email even they decided to reject us?
I would really appreciate if you could provide me some advices on this matter. Thank you in advance!
Hi Soon,
If the university has given you a specific day that the results will be released, then I would of course recommend that you wait until that day has passed before you contact them for a follow-up! (As I write this message, the day is today, so I think you should hear from them within 12 hours or so). If the university says the results will be released “by” a date, it usually means “on” that date, and often late in the day.
The should contact all applicants, whether successful or not. But if you don’t have a message by this time tomorrow, then a follow-up email would be good. (Check your spam mail, first, though! Scholarship announcements can look like spam.)
By the way, you were only supposed to contact a maximum of two universities this year, unless your embassy told you differently. It’s too late to do anything about that for you, but I am including this for anyone else who reads this comment and is confused.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Thanks a lot for making the LOA process much clear.
However, I have following queries:
01. I read in guidelines for application as while mailing our documents, it should be stamped by the Japanese embassy. However, embassy has retained all the documents with itself and thus I am in a confusion. When I called embassy they said that I have misunderstood something and they said I will be getting preliminary selection certificate only from the embassy.
So should the documents which I mail to be stamped by embassy?
02. “Letter of Acceptance for submission to Embassy/Consulate”
and
Official “Letter of Acceptance” for submission to your university of choice
what is the difference between them? I read this in Osaka university website.
03.I have already sent mail to professor without knowing the approach mentioned on their website. I didn’t receive any reply. Should I mail them again as per the method mentioned on university website?
Thanks in advance:)
Hi Vikram,
1. Yes, the Embassy should have returned stamped copies of all of the documents to you. However, I know – and most universities should know – that not all embassies actually do that. So, in that case, you should let the universities know that your embassy only issues the passing certificate of the primary screening and no stamped documents and ask them for further instructions. The chances are good that they’ve dealt with other applicants form your country in the past and should know what to do.
2. I think this is just a bad translation on the university’s part. There is only one form Letter of Acceptance. You submit the blank form to the university, along with your application paperwork. They return the completed LOA and you submit it to the embassy.
3. Yes! If you don’t go through the process on their website, you probably won’t get a LOA.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you very much for your timely and valuable inputs.
My doubts got cleared:)
Hi Travis,
I have few more queries.
1. If I give 3 preferences in Placement preference form (after getting LOA) , how likely it is possible to get into our first preference?
2.If I apply through one subject and if the prof. under whom I would like to work is affiliated to department of different subject (I mean if my subject is chemistry and the prof. is affiliated to pharmaceutical sciences.) will it be problematic?
Hi Vikram,
1) It depends on whether your first choice is a national, public, or private. If it’s a national, there’s quite a good chance. The only reason you might not get placed there would be if a problem arises any your preferred professor can no longer supervise you. Then MEXT might seek placement in your second- or third-choice university.
If your first choice is a private university, there seems to be a higher chance of your ending up in your highest-ranked national university, instead. Of course, this is all just based on past commenters’ input. There is no particular rule.
2) As far as I know, you have to select a professor in the graduate school/faculty/degree that you want to earn your degree in. If chemistry and pharmaceutical sciences are in the same graduate school and they only have one degree path, then you should be able to do that. But if they are different graduate schools, you could only select that professor as your advisor if you wanted to earn a degree in pharmaceutical sciences. Of course, you can always consult with professors outside your graduate school on arrival, but your primary advisor would have to be in the same school. I hope that makes sense.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you travis for your valuable inputs.
The University has Chemistry as well as pharmaceutical sciences as separate departments.None of the faculty in Chemistry is working on my research area of interest.However Prof in pharmaceutical sciences graduate school is perfectly matching with my research interests.
University of Tokyo mention that it wil give Latter of Admission instead of letter of acceptance.If I obtain letter of admission wil i be compelled to join University of Tokyo? Although if I give it as a second preference?
Hi Vikram,
I’ve heard from past applicants that Todai uses its own “Letter of Admission” in place of MEXT’s standard Letter of Acceptance. Both are acceptable and there is no difference between the two as far as MEXT is concerned.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello! Your article is very useful for me and I’m appreciated very much.
I wonder if an advisor has unofficially accepted me to his lab already. Do I need to contact other universitys to obtain LOA or not? And is it fine to have only one list of university on the Placement preference form?
Thank you for your kind suggestion
Sincerely.
Praphawi
Hi Praphawi,
Have you gotten an official Letter of Acceptance from the professor? If you haven’t gotten that yet, the I certainly still recommend contacting other universities.
Even then, a Letter of Acceptance is not a final guarantee that the university will accept you, so I recommend having more options. I do not that some people submit only a single Letter of Acceptance and haven’t heard of anyone losing the scholarship because of it, but it seems like it could be a bit of a risk.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz