Every year, hundreds of applicants spends time and money applying for the MEXT Scholarship without ever realizing that they are not even eligible.
The problem is that there are two sets of eligibility criteria. The eligibility criteria that most universities list on their MEXT scholarship application guidelines are not the full set- they’re missing the criterion that knocks out more students than any other. Fortunately, I have it translated below, along with everything else you need to know to make sure your application is going to be valid.
Why Have 2 Sets of Eligibility Criteria?
It has to do with administrative processing of your application. If you’re ineligible then your application is not accepted and that means the university has to:- Explain why you’re ineligible
- Return your application documents to you (at your expense)
If you’re application is accepted but not successful, then the university doesn’t have to explain or return a thing. Which, given how many ineligible applicants there are each year, saves universities quite a bit of trouble.
Frankly, the eligibility criteria that catches most students – grades – is so difficult to explain universally that even if it was made public, there would be a ton of ineligible applicants anyway. I’m still going to try, so bear with me.
MEXT Scholarship Eligibility: Stage 1
These are the eligibility criteria that you will find on Monbukagakusho’s “application guidelines” web page as well as university websites. They’re not always clear, so I’ll explain the tricker ones below.
Target:
Excellent* applicants who newly arrive from overseas for the purpose of graduate-level studies.
Let’s break this into two pieces:
- Excellent*: The asterisk goes to a footnote explaining: *Applicants who have a 2.3 GPA over the past two years of studies and are assumed to be able to maintain the same performance throughout the scholarship.
The problem is that this is 2.3 out of 3.0 on MEXT’s converted scale, so we can’t take this at face value. Because this is the single most significant obstacle, I have included a whole section on it farther down the article, so keep reading!
- Newly arrive from overseas for the purpose of graduate study: This means that you must not be residing in Japan immediately prior to the scholarship period and you must arrive on a Student Visa. Again, there are a lot of ways to interpret this, and MEXT has hammered out most of the loopholes, so I will explain it in detail below.
Nationality:
Must have the nationality of a country that has relations with Japan. In principle, applicants with Japanese nationality are not eligible. However, a person who lives overseas and holds Japanese nationality as a dual national who then gives up his or her Japanese nationality prior to the start of the scholarship will be eligible.
I used to get a lot of applicants who were worried about whether their country had relations with Japan. In most cases, the answer is yes. The most notable country that does not meet this criteria is Taiwan. Otherwise, if you’re from a country that isn’t universally recognized as a country (e.g. Republic of Abkhazia, State of Palestine), you probably know it.
Age:
Must have been born no earlier than April 2, 1981 (for the 2016 scholarship). This condition does not apply to previous Young Leaders Program scholars who are applying for admission to a PhD program.
Basically, you must be younger than 35 as of April 1 in the year that you start your scholarship. Japan considers you an investment and wants applicants that have more years to contribute to the country.
Academic Background:
A person who has graduated from a Japanese university or who is judged to have an equal or higher level of education to a graduate of a Japanese university, as follows:
- A person who has completed 16 years of study (18 in the case of medical, dental, or pharmaceutical studies which have a 6-year undergraduate program and who wish to proceed to a doctoral degree). Applicants whose degree is in progress and will be completed prior to the start of the scholarship are eligible.
- A person aged 22 or older (24 in the case of medical, dental, and pharmaceutical applicants as listed above), who has passed an individual review of qualifications by the graduate school to which they applied and has been determined to have equal education to a Japanese university graduate. Applicants who are in the process of acquiring this status and who will acquire it prior to the start of the scholarship are eligible.
*Applicants who have completed a PhD program and are applying for an additional degree are unable to apply in principle.
A note about calculating your age: MEXT figures your age as of April 2 in the year you plan to start the scholarship (since that is when the Japanese school year begins), so if you’re trying to meet criteria 2 above and you turn 22 on April 3, then you’re not eligible this year.
OK, this one throws a lot of people, too. There used to be a long list of alternate qualifications that were considered equal to a Japanese university degree, but most of them were frankly irrelevant. In my time, I saw two common exceptions to the 16 years of education, and almost all were approved, as long as they contacted the university in advance.
- Students who came from a country with a 15-year program of education that included a 3-year bachelor’s degree. This used to be a specific exception, though I don’t see it listed in the 2015 guidelines, so it may have been lumped in with the next category.
- Students from countries with less than a 16-year program of education that included a 4-year bachelor’s degree, or less than 15 years.
In both cases above, we would have students submit their transcripts, proof of degree awarded, passport (to check their age), and an explanation of the academic systems of their home countries, preferably countersigned by an academic advisor.
Skipped a grade? The length of your education program is judged by the length prescribed by your national education ministry, not by how long you took to complete it. If you skipped grades, you’re still considered to have completed the full 16 years, or whatever it is. (There will be space to explain this on the application form later).
If you have any questions about whether you would be eligible because of your academic background, you should contact the university as soon as they release their application guidelines!
Field of Study
Must be the field you studied in university previously or a related field. Must be available for study at the university you are applying to.
I did see applicants every year who wanted to study a different field from what they had done previously. If this is you, then you must make it very clear in your “Field of Study and Study Plan” document how your graduate studies will be related to what you’ve done before.
Japanese Language Ability
Applicants in fields that require high levels of Japanese language ability (e.g. Japanese Linguistics, Japanese Literature, Japanese History, Japanese Law, etc.) will not be awarded the scholarship if their language ability is insufficient.
I did actually see the occasional student try to apply for Japanese linguistics with an N2 JLPT. Not going to happen. Any field that would conceivably require most research to be done in Japanese is going to require an N1.
Health
Must have no physical or mental health conditions that would interfere with graduate-level studies.
The biggest concern here, in my experience, was the tuberculosis chest x-ray. You need to have the date the x-ray was taken as well as the x-ray film reference number. In Japan, each x-ray has a reference label so that the doctor can look it up again. They expect other countries to work the same way. This confused a lot of applicants so I’m going to clarify: do not send the actual x-ray film. Just the reference (even if it’s just your last name and the date) will do.
Time of Arrival in Japan
In principle, students must be able to leave their home countries and arrive in Japan on the date specified by the university, up to two week before the semester starts. (Should be September or October, in general, excepting students who start in the April semester.)
The purpose of this criteria is to ensure that you have no legal restrictions preventing you from leaving your home country (e.g. you’re not in jail or hospitalized) and nothing preventing you from arriving in Japan (e.g. you have not been deported from Japan in the past).
Visa Acquisition
In principle, applicants must acquire a Student Visa before arriving in Japan and arrive in the country with a Student Residence Status. Students who change to any other residence status during their time in Japan will immediately lose their eligibility to continue receiving the scholarship.
MEXT is going to help you apply for the visa after you’re accepted, so don’t worry about that. The thing to note here is to arrive on a “Student” visa – not a “Tourist” or anything else – and to keep that status throughout your time in Japan.
In Japan, a “visa” is the document that you use to enter the country. Once you’re in Japan, you no longer have a “visa,” you have a “residence status,” which is what permits you to stay in the country.
Disqualification Criteria
Meeting any of the criteria below will disqualify you from the application process. Further, if it is discovered after the fact that you were ineligible, your scholarship will be withdrawn as if you voluntarily canceled the scholarship.
Military Affiliation
Anyone who is a member of the military or a military-status civilian at the time of arriving in Japan is ineligible.
Arrival Date
Anyone unable to arrive on the university-designated arrival date is ineligible
Previous MEXT Scholarship Receipt
Anyone who has received a Japanese government (Monbukagakusho / MEXT) Scholarship in the past is not eligible to receive the scholarship again until they have completed three years of education or research after the end of the previous scholarship award. This condition does not apply to previous short-term scholarship recipients under the following categories who graduated from their home institutions after scholarship receipt: Japanese Language and Culture Scholarship, Japan-Korea Joint Science and Engineering Scholarship, Young Leaders Program.
By “education or research,” this criteria essentially means that you must have completed a full three years of enrollment in a university after your last scholarship ended and before the next one begins. It might also be possible if you have been employed by a university as a researcher for that amount of time.
They are very strict about this, so 2 years and 11 months is not going to be enough!
Simultaneous Application to Multiple Universities
If you apply to multiple universities under the University-recommended MEXT scholarship and/or JASSO scholarship in the same year, or if you are currently receiving a MEXT or JASSO scholarship and will continue to receive it as of the month that your University-recommended MEXT scholarship is to begin.
Furthermore, if you apply to two universities and both recommend you for the scholarship, MEXT will not only cancel your scholarship, but may also rule all nominees from both universities ineligible! It is OK to apply to other universities as a fee-paying student, or under another scholarship scheme, just as the ADB or Joint Japan-World Bank Graduate Scholarship, but don’t try to mess with MEXT.
Failure to Acquire Required Prerequisite Degree
Anyone who fails to acquire an expected degree or qualification that was a prerequisite to scholarship selection will have their scholarship revoked.
As mentioned above, you can apply to MEXT before graduating from your previous degree, as long as your graduation is anticipated to occur before you start your MEXT scholarship. For example, you can apply for a Master’s scholarship beginning in Oct 2016 if you are currently enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree program and will graduate before your Master’s program starts. In this case, you will have to present proof of graduation after arriving in Japan.
Japanese Dual-Nationals Who Fail to Relinquish Japanese Citizenship
If you applied as a dual national (Japan plus something else), you are required to relinquish your Japanese citizenship before starting the scholarship. If you are a dual-national (or more) and none of your nationalities is Japanese, then don’t worry – this doesn’t apply to you.
Persons Who Intend to Study Outside Japan
As this is a scholarship for research at a Japanese university, anyone who desires to conduct fieldwork or an internship outside of Japan during the scholarship period will not be awarded the scholarship.
Do not apply for the MEXT scholarship if you don’t intend to study in Japan! In fact, being outside the country for an entire calendar month at any time during the scholarship will result in your losing the scholarship stipend for that month. Three consecutive months of missing your stipend will result in the scholarship being canceled. If you apply for the MEXT scholarship, be prepared to stay in Japan throughout the award period.
MEXT Scholarship Eligibility: Stage 2
There are two eligibility criteria above that are not explained in detail in the application guidelines: the non-residence criteria and the GPA calculation. Additionally, a third eligibility criteria that relates to your field of study appears nowhere in the call for applications.
Since each of these three criteria require that the university accept your application and begin reviewing it, they are not considered application eligibility criteria. They are recommendation eligibility requirements. This means that the university accepts your application (they don’t need to return it to you), but ultimately denies your application (they don’t need to explain why).
Neat, if you’re the university. Not so good if you’re one of the hundred applicants who never knew they didn’t have a chance. Well, now you’ll know exactly what the university is looking for:
Residence in Japan
The phrase used in the eligibility criteria is often translated as “newly arrive in Japan for the purpose of study.” This is more confusing than helpful. Here is what it really means:
- You must be living outside Japan prior to the start of your scholarship. Universities will prefer for you to be outside of Japan for at least the 6 months before beginning your scholarship/studies.
- You must apply for a student visa from your home country and use that visa to come to Japan. There is a special student visa application process for MEXT scholars. You cannot change residence status in Japan. This has to be an entirely new arrival.
That’s it. Don’t worry if you don’t know what I mean by “residence status.” If you don’t understand it, then you’re probably not residing in Japan, and none of this applies to you!
Frequently Asked Questions About “Newly Arrived”
You are eligible for the scholarship if:
- You visited Japan in the past as a tourist
- You studied in Japan before and have since gone home.
- You lived in Japan in the past on any other residence status and have since gone home.
- You are studying in Japan at the time of application but will finish your degree in March, go home, then return anew in September or October to start your scholarship.
- You are living in Japan at the time of application for any other reason, but you have already and irrevocably planned to return to your home country no later than 6 months before starting the scholarship.
If you are living in Japan and plan to leave the country if you receive the scholarship and only to meet the eligibility criteria of the scholarship, then you are not eligible. That is why universities will want to see an explanation or proof that you will return to your home country regardless of the application process outcome.
A Side Note: You Are Not a Special Case
If your situation is in the gray area in any way, expect Japanese universities to blow you off. If you want special treatment or an exception, it’s not worth their while to accommodate you, they will just shift their attention to a less troublesome applicant.
You may, in fact, be brilliant and promising, but if you cannot follow directions or rules, than universities – and especially the admin staff that handle applications – will want nothing to do with you.
Of course, if you’ve read this far down this article, chances are pretty good, that’s not a problem for you! Let’s move on.
Grades – The Silent Killer of Dreams
Probably half the applicants I saw were never eligible for the scholarship because their grades were too low. But they never knew it.
Applicants would contact me every year to ask if there was a minimum grade to apply, but I could never answer them. So here it is:
Yes, there is a minimum. No, I can’t tell you if you meet it. But you can figure it out yourself.
The minimum GPA is 2.3 on a scale of 3.0. What university uses a 3.0 scale? None that I know of, even in Japan. On the university side, we had to convert every single applicants grades or marks from their home country scale to MEXT’s 3.0 scale, manually, using the system below.
Rules for the GPA Calculation
The University is going to do the calculation for you, but if you are at all concerned about your grades, then you can do it on your own, first, to see if you have a chance. Note, however, that if your calculation does not match the university’s, they are going to stick with their numbers. They have a lot more practice doing this (hundred of times each year) and as I mentioned above, there is no special treatment.
- GPA should be determined based on the last 2 years of grades earned.
- Grades such as “pass” and “approved” are not considered toward the calculation. (However, “Fail” in a pass/fail situation would be considered, as universities consider that equal to a fail in a graded course).
- When calculating grades, consider only grades acquired in degree-seeking programs. Grades earned as a non-degree seeking student, at a Japanese language school, or in other non-degree programs do not count toward the calculation.
- Grades should be calculated per academic year and in-progress years should not be counted. However, if grades are awarded on a semester basis and grades for the first semester of a year are available, then that semester should be included and that semester counts toward the two full years.
- In the event that a student changed programs within the past two years (e.g. proceeded from a bachelor’s to master’s degree program) and the most recent program is graded in semesters, with an odd number of semesters’ grades available, and the preceding program was graded in full years, then 2.5 years of grades should be calculated to meet the minimum of 2 years.
- In the event that a student transferred to a new program at the same level (e.g. transfer admission, dual degree program), then only grades earned after the transfer will be considered. However, grades earned before the transfer must be calculated and entered in the notes section of the recommendation.
- In the event that a grade calculation is not possible, then the university must explain what objective evidence it used to determine that the applicant’s academic performance was equal to or greater than a 2.3/3.0 GPA. Concrete evidence is required. An explanation such as “the applicant conducted outstanding research” will not be accepted. (Editorializing: Forms of concrete evidence could include a statement of order of merit within the student’s class. Proof of peer-reviewed academic publications during the past two years, or significant academic/research based awards earned in the past two years.)
The Grade Conversion Chart
To get your GPA on a 3.0 scale, you have to convert each individual course according to the chart below. Even if your university considers only your overall average marks, or a similar system, that does not matter here. Japan does not care about your system.
To determine how many distinct grading levels, or “grading buckets” your system has, you will need an “explanation of the grading system” (or marking system) from your university. In many cases, this is printed right on the transcript. If not, you will need to get one – it’s going to be required for your application, anyway.
If you don’t know what I mean by an explanation of the grading system, search wikipedia for “[your country name] grading system.” Yeah, wikipedia. It does a pretty good and accurate job of explaining this, in general.
System | Grades | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4-Level System | Excellent | Good | Average | Fail | |
4-Level System | A | B | C | F | |
4-Level System | 100 – 80 | 79 – 70 | 69 – 60 | 59 – 0 | |
All other grading systems with 4 distinct grading buckets will use this system | |||||
5-Level System | S | A | B | C | F |
5-Level System | A | B | C | D | F |
5-Level System | 100 – 90 | 89 – 80 | 79 – 70 | 69 – 60 | 59 – 0 |
All other grading systems with 5 distinct grading buckets will use this system | |||||
MEXT System Grade | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Subgrades: Pluses and minuses do not matter. If you have a system that goes A, A/B, B, BC, etc., assume that the university is going to calculate an “A/B” as a “B” and do your math that way, just to be safe.
Average Marks System: Even if your university uses the system of determining your overall grade by adding your total earned marks and dividing by the total available marks, as is common for the “First Class,” “Upper Second Class,” etc. System, you still need to convert each individual course by its individual percentage. This can make a significant difference in your grade, so be careful with the math!
Also, in this system, a course with 200 available marks would be considered 2 credits for the next step, while a course with 100 available marks would be considered 1 credit.
OK, use the chart to convert each grade for each course for the past two years (four semesters). Now, if your university uses a credit system (e.g. some courses are worth 1 credit, some are worth 3, etc.), then multiply each converted grade by the number of credits. If your university does not use credits, then you can skip this step. Less math!
Add all of the totals together then divide by the total number of credits. Drop everything after the second decimal place. Do not round. A 2.299 is a 2.29 (ineligible), not a 2.30 (eligible).
As a final note, I should caution that while a 2.30 is eligible, it is hardly competitive. So, if you’re closer to 2.30 than you are to 3.00, it’s going to be very, very important to have an amazing Field of Study and Study Plan to balance that out and earn the scholarship.
Field of Study
Any applicant whose field of study could be related to military applications (i.e. dual-use technology), such as weapons production or military technology development cannot be recommended for the scholarship. This prohibition extends to applicants who are or have been affiliated with military technology development in the past, as well.
That’s It!
If you’ve followed along this far then, as we say in Japan, Otsukaresama desu! I sincerely hope that you still find yourself eligible for the scholarship.
Want to know more?
My new ebook, How to Apply for the MEXT Scholarship describes the scholarship in detail, including the the eligibility criteria, purpose and coverage, how to develop a successful applicant mindset, and how to craft your application strategy for the greatest chance of success!
Questions?
Before asking any questions in the comments below, please read through the MEXT Scholarship Application FAQ top page and specific FAQ pages to see what I’ve answered already and to find tips about how to get your questions answered faster.
You can ask your questions in the comments here, on the FAQ page, or by email and I will answer them by updating the FAQ and letting you know when the answers are available.
I’d also recommend signing up for my mailing list to get notified whenever I have updates to any of the FAQs or new articles about the MEXT scholarship!
Hello,
My cgpa in bachelors is 2.768 .I have read all the requirements of MEXT scholarship. And it says for masters programs (MEXT Scholarship)85% is required. So, according to this I’m not eligible for this. My question here is that if my recommendation letter and SOP are strong also i have 2 years of work experience with trainings, certifications and course related MOOCS , will MEXT embassy give exemption on my CGPA and count the above things i have. Also before bachelors , Ive had A+ grade in my previous degrees.
Kindly reply me.
Hi Nida,
I’m not sure what scales you’re using. For the MEXT Scholarship, they calculate your GPA on a unique 3.0 scale and 2.3 is the minimum qualification. So, if your 2.768 is out of 3.0, you are certainly qualified, but if it is a different scale, then that may not be the case. It sounds like the 85% is a local requirement, and again, I am not familiar with the scale there, so I can’t comment on that.
I can say that there are never any exceptions to the requirements, so I don’t think your other documents will make a difference unfortunately.
I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
– Travis from TranSenz
Hey Travis, thank you so much for the info. my university’s grading system is like this:
1.0 = 98 -100
1.25 = 95 – 97
1.50 = 92 – 94
1.75 = 89 – 91
2.00 = 86 – 88
2.25 = 83 – 85
2.50 = 80 – 82
2.75 = 77 – 79
3.0 = 75 – 76
5.0 = below 75
I have no idea how to calculate this. can you help me?
Hi Ana,
Are there any descriptions that go with the numbers? For example, what is considered an excellent grade, a good grade, and average grade, etc? Without a reference like that, I’d just be guessing. (Alternatively, if you could let me know what country your university is in, I might be able to look it up. It looks similar to a system I have seen at a university in the Philippines, but that one also had descriptions of the grades.)
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello, I’m a highschool student from Bangladesh and I’ll be graduating from highschool in around September this year. However, the application for the MEXT scholarship is accepted between April and May. So, can I apply for the scholarship before graduation? If so, is there any additional steps for the application that I’ll have to take?
Hi Rayed,
I saw that you asked the same question yesterday on another article and I have already answered it there.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
hi, i want some information regarding Mext scholarship( university recommendation) my background is from law and i want to pursue my master in public policy , that programme is offered by university of Tokyo can you please guide about writing research plan?
Hi Haider Nawaz Malk,
I have an article about what your Field of Study and Research Program Plan needs to cover and the format for the University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship. If you want more information about developing the plan from scratch, my book How to Write a Scholarship-Winning Field of Study and Research Program Plan goes into a lot more detail.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis,
Thank you so much for writing this article for all to see – As someone who is about to enter an Undergraduate course in my home country and hoping to enrol into a Japanese Uni for Master’s with MEXT Scholarship in the future, the info written here are really helpful!
I have a question to clarify however,
About the academic background required for Research/Master’s students, the Undergraduate course I am about to enter is a fast-track/accelerated degree, which is originally a 3-year Bachelor’s course that is completed within 2 years due to a trimester (3 semesters annually) curriculum as compared to the usual 2 semesters annually curriculum. Furthermore, due to my previous Associate Degree studies, I was given credit exemptions by the university as well, which allows me to complete my degree within 16-24 months depending on the number of subjects I take per semester.
I currently have 13 years of education, and if I do complete my Bachelor’s with the trimester curriculum, will it count as completing a program with the standard study period of 3-years under MEXT? I am worried that because I am completing the degree in 16-24 months, I would not be qualified to receive MEXT Scholarship for research students.
Thank you!
Hi Spider,
Thank you for your kind words!
As far as I know, you should be eligible for the MEXT Scholarship. The important thing is the standard length of study for your degree program, not how long it actually takes you to complete it. But you will need to make the situation clear for reviewers to understand.
In your case, when you list your university education in the application form, you should include both your associate degree studies and the accelerated bachelors, since some of the associate degree credits are being transferred to count toward your bachelor’s degree. (In that case, you will also need to provide the transcript and certificate of graduation from the associate degree in addition to the documents from your bachelor’s).
In the notes area under the education record, you can explain “My bachelor’s degree has a standard period of study of three years, but I completed the degree in XX months due to an accelerated course schedule and transferred credits from my associate’s degree.”
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Hope you are doing well! I relied on your information to apply for Mext University Recommended Scholarship 2022 which I eventually got. I have already received my student VISA and am supposed to leave for Japan at the end of Sept 2022. Unfortunately, due to some happenings at my university, the process of giving out our bachelor’s degree has been delayed and I won’t be able to furbish my Bachelor’s degree by the time I reach Japan. Instead, I have been provided with a Provisional degree valid for a few months until we receive our formal degree, Due to this my admission process at the university is halted and my academic advisor is emphasizing bringing my degree with me at the time of arrival. I tried explaining the situation to my professor but it all went in vain.
So, here was a short context of my situation right now, Travis I want to ask you if my scholarship is revoked at the very last moment because of this degree situation, am I allowed to apply for University Recommended Scholarship for the year 2023? If not, is there anything that can be done so that I can apply for it even after my scholarship is revoked even before reaching Japan?
Hi Rohit T.,
Congratulations on earning the University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship!
I am sorry to hear about the problems that you have experienced with your Certificate of Graduation, though.
For your situation, have you already completed all of the requirements for your bachelors degree and are just waiting for the certificate? If you have already finished everything, then the provisional degree that you have been given should be sufficient, as long as it says that you have completed all of the requirements and are considered to have graduated.
Your professor in Japan might be confused and thinking that it is a “Certificate of Expected Graduation”, which is different. A Certificate of Expected Graduation indicates that you still have some requirements to complete in order to earn your degree. That would not be acceptable, since you have to finish your degree before starting in Japan, but a provisional certificate of graduation that says that you have completed all requirements, should be perfectly acceptable.
However, if they do not accept that and you cannot start your scholarship this year, then yes, you would be allowed to apply for the University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship for 2023. I hope it does not come to that, though!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Thank you so much for the reply and also for the information that I would be able to apply for MEXT University Scholarship 2023 if things do not work out right now.
Further, as you said, I did send a document to my accepting Uni. which certifies that I have completed all the requirements for the award of bachelors degree in Engineering and the degree will be conferred in the next convocation. Yet, I am having a hard time trying to convince my academic advisor and the admission department at my university about my situation.
Hi Rohit T.,
The only thing I can suggest about getting them to accept the document you have now is to explain that it is a “Certificate of Graduation” it is just the diploma that will be delayed. MEXT does not require your diploma, anyway, just an official certification from the university that you have met all the requirements for the degree and are considered to have graduated.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you very much Travis for the information. I relied on your information to apply for mext 2020 which I eventually got and I’m rounding up my studies now in Japan. I tried to seek for extension by transferring to other universities for PhD but I wasn’t successful in getting a preferred supervisor. Now my question is, would I be eligible to apply for MEXT University recommended say one year after the end of my program? I know that for embassy recommended MEXT, it should take at least 3 years before reapplying for MEXT if the candidate is under 35. I look forward to your reply.
Hi Ibrahim,
Thank you for your feedback!
Unfortunately, if you want to apply for a new MEXT Scholarship, you would have to have three full years of studies between the end of your current scholarship and the start of payment in the next scholarship. That eligibility requirement applies to both the embassy and university recommended MEXT scholarships.
If you turn 35 during that time, then you would not be able to apply again at all. There is no exception to the age limit for past recipients applying for a new scholarship from scratch.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Thank you detailed information about MEXT.
I still need help with Grade conversion.
1) I am from India and my university gives final result on Degree certificate in First class, First class with distinction and so. My last two year’s/last 4 semester aggregate is 60.2% How should I convert this to GPA out of 3.0 . Using 4 -grading scale calculator I got 2.4 for 60.2%
2) And I can not calculate as you informed above because, Different subjects and labs had different total marks. (each Theory subject total marks= 125, each lab total marks=75,Project work total marks in last sem=200,Seminar marks in last sem=50)
3) Are Embassy recommended eligibility marks and University recommended MEXT eligibility marks are different? Because in MEXT 2023 update, minimum marks asked is 65% and University recommended is 2.3 GPA is minimum I am bit confused here.
4) If my marks are as shown below for one sem, How can I convert them to GPA
1.Subject 1 =62/125
2.Subject 2=69/125
3.Subject 3 =62/125
4.Subject 4 =75/125
5.Subject 5 =187/200
6.Subject 6 =47/50
Kindly help me with this.
Hi Kirti,
Unfortunately, without knowing the grading scale at your university, I can’t help with the calculation. To do the conversion, I would need to know what percentage of marks corresponds to first class, second class upper, etc., as well as how many categories there are. With that information, you should be able to determine what percentage corresponds to which grade on the MEXT scale.
You cannot convert aggregate grades, you have to convert each course grade one by one.
If different subjects have different total marks, then I recommend that you multiply the converted GPA for each course by the maximum marks for that class, then use the total maximum marks at the end to calculate the average. For example, if you had a 3.0 in a class with 50 marks and a 2.0 in a class with 125 marks, you would calculate ((3 X 50) + (2 x 125))/175.
The GPA requirements should be the same for both university and embassy recommended MEXT Scholarships, since that is also the standard used for other government scholarships, though I cannot be completely sure. Sometimes, local embassies also ask for a minimum grade in the local scale, as in your case. In that case, the decision is made on a country-by-country basis.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Thank you for your reply, Our university results are divided in three grades or class .These are as follows.
SECOND CLASS – UPTO 59.99%
FIRST CLASS – UPTO 69.99 %
FIRST CLASS WITH DISTONCTION – 70%and above.
Hi Kirti,
Normally, I would say that with only three grade categories, courses where you earned over 70% of marks would be a 3, 60.00-69.99 would be a 2, and anything less would be a 1. (Unless there is a minimum passing grade, in which case, grades under that threshold would be a 0).
Normally, in “Class” systems, I am used to seeing First Class, Upper Second, Lower Second, and sometimes a Third Class or simply Pass marks.
In this case, if you meet the embassy’s requirement for the percentage of marks, it is safe to assume they have set that requirement at a level that will meet MEXT’s requirements.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis hope you’re doing really well and really thank you so much for your research this has been really helpful for me .
I dropped out of school and got GED ( high school equivencly ) I saw in the eligibility guidelines it stated individuals who completed 12 yrs of education or equivalent are eligible . I wanted to know
If mext gave more preference to school graduated or ged scholars ??
I dropped school because it was not something I was satisfied with not at all it wasted my time
also If an individual qualified psat/pact SAT and ACT should they attach their scores in the application or not ?
will I even be accepted if I m good in studies but have a ged instead of full time High school qualification certificate?
Hi Sirenyxx,
While I think that the reviewers are going to have a subconscious preference for applicants who went through the usual schooling process, there is no official preference for one over the other.
One of the eligibility options for the undergraduate scholarship specifically states: “Applicants who have successfully passed an academic qualification examination that is equivalent to the completion of 12 years of schooling in countries other than Japan.” That would cover your situation!
In the academic record section, it says that if you have completed an equivalency exam, you should enter that in the “Remarks” section (of upper secondary education, in your case), so that is how you would record it.
You would also need to record any years of high school that you attended and submit your transcripts, as far as I know, but it would be best to call the embassy for further instructions, and also to check on who should write your Letter of Recommendation.
SAT/ACT scores are not required, but I don’t think it would hurt to submit them if you have them, particularly since you would not have a full set of high school academic records. The worst that could happen is that they ignore them.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you so much, this was so useful! But I still got a question: in case of sciences, I’ve read they ask you for published papers, but if I’ve never done a PhD, so I don’t have any published articles… Am I still eligible? My grades are quite good (2.84 GPA), but I’m worried I won’t be eligible because I have not worked in research yet… Should a do a master’s degree first?
Hi Blanca,
You are not required to have published papers when you apply. There is a place in the application form to fill in any papers you have written (including graduation theses), but you can leave it blank if you have nothing to fill there.
However, you are required to have a Master’s Degree before applying for a PhD!
By the way, this is a rather old article. I have written a new one each year and you can find the newest version here, including all the information you need to know about eligibility criteria and what academic background you need to apply for each degree.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi! Can i still apply for MEXT even if im already 1st year in Undergraduate studies??
Hi Kate,
I assume you mean the MEXT Scholarship for undergraduate students? Yes, you can still apply if you are in an undergraduate program. In that case, you’d have to drop out of your current program if selected, but the application guidelines include instructions for applicants who are currently in university, so there is no problem with applying.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis, thank you so much, your website has been extremely helpful!
I have one question – I am planning on applying for MEXT scholarship next year (ideally October 2022 admission) and in the eligibility criteria it says that “those who are previous grantees of Japanese Government (MEXT) scholarship programs” are not eligible to apply. Does this include the JASSO scholarship as well? I was planning on studing one year in Japan as an exchange student (as a part of my masters in my home country) and then graduating and leaving for Japan immediatly after. Does that mean that this would not be possible?
Thank you!
Hi Clara,
Thank you for your kind feedback!
This is a pretty old article about eligibility and I have updated it more recently, both for the Embassy-Recommended MEXT Scholarship and the University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship.
In those articles, I mention that the JASSO scholarship does not count. Neither does the MEXT Japanese Studies Scholarship, which is available to exchange students. So, if you receive either of those scholarships, you would be able to study in Japan under a MEXT scholarship immediately after graduation. You can find more details in the articles above!
By the way, the application for October 2022 admission is already over for the Embassy-Recommended MEXT Scholarship and for the University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship, it will be starting soon or may already be in progress (each university sets their own application timeline, so you would need to check the website of the university that you want to apply to for their deadlines.)
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Greetings sir
Thankyou so much for providing immense information on MEXT scholarship. I’m currently in my 2nd year b. tech program and want to pursue master’s in Japan through Mext. could you guide me that when should I apply for it , in my 3rd year (exactly one year before as you mentioned in your article) or in my last year (4th) year here in India we have 2 semesters in a year comprising 6 months each …..And about University recommendation if I search and apply in multiple universities will I be out of this . Because if I approach one at a time then will I be short of time because this doesn’t guarantee my chances of bagging a seat in that particular University. And if I go along with embassy recommendation than there we have to fill 3 Universities we give priority to and what if we didn’t meet the universitie’s standards we listed…. Do we get the chance to change it afterwards .And suppose if we get recommended by University we applied for then what procedure do we have to follow till we reach their..
Hi Shruti,
I recommend that you apply first for the Embassy-Recommended MEXT Scholarship, targeting a start in September/October of the year that you will graduate. So, if you are in your 2nd year in 2021 and you will finish your degree before the summer of 2023, then you should start your application with the ERMS in May 2022 (with the scholarship to start in fall 2023). Of course, you should start your preparation much earlier!
The Embassy-Recommended MEXT Scholarship offers the best chances, and it also comes first chronologically, so you should always start with that if you are planning ahead. In general, the Primary Screening at the Embassy is going to be much more competitive than applying to the universities for a Letter of Acceptance, so once you pass that Primary Screening, you should not have to worry too much about whether or not you can meet that universities’ standards. As long as you have researched them and you meet their language requirements and there is a professor that can supervise your research, you should be safe. But you can also change the universities on your Placement Preference Form later, too!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Supposing if a person already got MEXT scholarship for his bachelors and want to apply for it again for his masters. Will he be eligible for MEXT or not?
Hi Arjun,
If you have received a MEXT Scholarship in the past, you must have three full years of full-time study or full-time work experience between the end of your first scholarship and the start of the second in order to be eligible to apply.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi. Thank you for the comprehensive guidance. I hope you are still maintaining this page. With your knowledge, I really hope you could advise on the case of having a working period just before the scholarship application. I did my master by full research two years back with 3 publications. No numeral grading for a research degree. After that, I worked in a private medical lab for two years. I wonder if the scholarship committee will still consider the research and publication I did during my master degree.
Hi Jayyez,
I am still maintaining the site, though I think this page is a little old. I write a new article about eligibility regularly when the requirements change. So the best place to find the most up-to-date articles is at https://www.transenzjapan.com/blog/mext/
It is not a problem to have been working since your last degree. However, when MEXT asks about your past research in the Field of Study and Research Program Plan, they will be focused on the research that you did during your Master’s Degree. You would also need letters of recommendation from both your university and your employer.
If you did your master’s degree by research with no letter or number grades, including a final, overall grade, then your letter of recommendation from your university clearly needs to state that you were in the top 30% of graduates in your graduate program that year.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis, I am planning to apply for MEXT for PhD later in the future. While browsing the opportunities, I just find out about the GPA system. The conversion is easy to follow. However I have some confusion here. Since I did my one year Master Degree in coursework, they are graded similar to my undergraduate study. So, to calculate the GPA, should I use my master degree grades or my undergraduate study grades? If I use my Master Degree scores, I am eligible for the scholarship however, I am not if my undergraduate degree score is used.
Regards,
Hi Hafiz,
In previous years, MEXT calculated the last two years of your grades, so if you had completed a 1-year master’s, they would have counted your Master’s grades as well as the final year of your bachelor’s degree. However, last year, the “last two years” notation disappeared from MEXT’s instructions.
My guess now is that they calculate all of the grades earned in your last degree, but I am not completely sure. To be safe, I recommend calculating your GPA both ways – including the last two years and including (only) your most recent degree. I cover this a little more in my article about how to calculate your GPA for the MEXT Scholarship.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank for the reply Travis. Appreciate your assistant.
Regards,
Hafiz
Hello,
Thank you for your informative words. I have a question. Am I eligible for MEXT scholarship for a second masters degree on Physics in Japan, given that I completed my first masters degree on Physics (same discipline both time) outside of Japan?
Thank you very much. Please stay safe.
Hi M. Sifatul Alam,
Yes, you would be allowed to apply for a second Master’s under the MEXT scholarship, but at some point in your application (probably the interview) you would probably have to make a compelling case as to why a second master’s is more valuable to your future goals to contribute to society than a PhD would be, particularly since both degrees are in the same field.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello travis!
I have been selected for non degree researach student at tsukuba university. I have to enroll in december there. I have applied for mext scholarship and have cleared preliminary round. My interview is on 9.
I want to ask two things:
1. Am i eligible for mext scholarship? Should i withdraw from non degree program
2. I will apply to masters program in tsukuba university april 2021 session. Will i start receiving scholarship in april or in october?
Is it possible that i enroll in non degree student, continue my research project for 4 months , come back to back to my country and then again go for masters in japan?
My course is in english so is japanese training necesary?
Hi Shradha,
According to the eligibility requirements for the MEXT Scholarship, students who meet the following criteria are disqualified from the scholarship:
“Those who are already enrolled in a Japanese university or other institution with a residence status of “Student,” or who are going to be enrolled, or plan to enroll, in a Japanese university or other institution as a privately-financed international student from the time of application to the MEXT scholarship program in the applicant’s country until the commencement of the period for payment of the MEXT scholarship. However, this stipulation does not apply to privately-financed international students who, even though they are enrolled, or are planning to enroll, in a Japanese university or other institution, verifiably complete their studies before the start of the scholarship payment period, return to their home country at the time of the scholarship application, and newly acquire the “Student” residence status and come to Japan; ”
1. This means that if you are scheduled to enroll in the non-degree program at Tsukuba (and there is no pre-determined end date to your studies that falls before the start of the MEXT scholarship), you are not eligible to apply for the MEXT Scholarship. You would have to withdraw from that program in order to proceed with the application, but I recommend that you consult with Tsukuba, first.
2. This year’s MEXT scholarship only applies to students arriving in Japan in the fall 2021 semester. If you are going to enroll in the Master’s program in April 2021 already, then you would be ineligible. You need to apply for admission in fall 2021 through the MEXT Scholarship application process.
3. The Japanese language training program is primarily for students who are studying in English. (If your Japanese ability was high enough to study in Japanese, you would not need the language program). Its purpose is to get you familiar with daily life Japanese so that you can take care of your personal life while you are studying in Japan. It is most likely that you would have to take it, but this is up to your university.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
What about expenses during langauge training?
How is that covered. We obviously dont get stipend during this period, but what about boarding and all.
Hi Shradha,
The Japanese language program is part of the scholarship, so you get your stipend, at the non-degree student rate, during that time. (You have to pay for your own boarding out of the stipend amount).
Your semester under the Japanese language program is considered to be part of your time as a research/non-degree student and does count against the maximum number of months that you can be in Japan as a non-degree student.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
i got only 62% in 12th may i am fill MEXT SCHOLARSHIP for UG
Hi Madhusudan,
My area of expertise is in the scholarship for graduate scholarship. I am not completely certain how high school grades are taken into consideration for the undergraduate application. I would recommend that you try to find someone with expertise in that area.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
I am very grateful your the information on your website about the MEXT scholarship.
I am planning to apply for the university recommended MEXT scholarship, however I’m not sure whether my case would affect my chances of obtaining the scholarship.
My case: The standard duration for my bachelor degree course is 3.5 years, but I took 4 years to finish my course (spent an extra semester because I missed taking a 3 credit subject during my 2nd year, and that subject was only offered during my last semester). I filled the MEXT form with 4 years (finished my last semester around June this year, but my degree award date was on the 22nd of August 2019).
I am wondering if graduating late would make me ineligible for the scholarship? Should I actually state on the MEXT scholarship form that I took an extra semester to graduate because of the reasons above, or I do not need to mention anything about this at all?
Thank you
Hi Joanne,
That should not disadvantage you in the application. I do not think that section plays much of a role in the competitive selection process. It’s function is essentially to prove that you meet the requirements for your education background.
If you want to explain it, you could simply write something like “Tertiary education is 3.5-year program. Completed in 4 years because of course scheduling.” And I think that would be completely understandable.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Appreciate you guide! I wanted to ask, related to my gpa calculation. My very last semester has only the master thesis which in this case, it has no credits, while i have two other courses which have no credits too. how should i calculate these three courses! I emphasize that i just got graduated from a 5 year program in Architecture. Thank you in advance!
Hi Arneda Gjeta,
Any course (or in this case, thesis) that awards zero credits would not be factored in to your GPA calculation, even if it awarded a grade.
Even though your final semester was only the Master’s thesis and there were no credits involved, in general, it should count as one of the four semesters calculated for your GPA, as long as you have completed the semester at the time of your application. Just to be safe you might want to calculate your GPA with bother that semester included and not included (e.g. calculate the last four semesters in which you earned credits), just to be safe and see what your GPA looks like in both situations.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you so much for the thorough explanation!
I am a bachelor’s degree holder and my GDP is 3.2 out of 4.0 scale in 5 years term. According to your calculations, I seem to be eligible with 100-80, mine is 86, being 3.0 in MEXT grade calculation. However, in the website of the Japan’s Embassy in my country writes that the minimum threshold is 3.5 out of 4.0 scale, which I fell short of 0.3!
Also, is it really true that MEXT will calculate only the grades of my last two years? Because if so I would be eligible with 3.5. Again, however, there were no such detail on the embassy’s website and my diploma transcript has only the GDP of all the years calculated.
Hi Haliuka,
The guidelines that I have described here are MEXT’s requirements. Your local Japanese embassy can impose additional requirements and in that case, you would need to meet both. So, there’s nothing I can really say about the local requirements or how you would meet those.
If you meet the MEXT requirements but the the requirements of your local embassy, you would still be eligible to apply for the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship.
I have a separate article about how to calculate your GPA for the MEXT scholarship that I suggest you read. But the important thing is that you cannot simply calculate your overall GPA. You must convert your grades on a course-by-course basis. That is going to give you a different result from simply calculating your overall GPA in almost all cases.
And yes, only the most recent two years count for MEXT’s calculation.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hey sir/mam,
i am currently in third year, and CGPA is quite low i ruined my last two years due to some serious resions, but there are two years left in graduation, and one year for MS as I am in BS-MS dual degree program, there are three years in front of me, as per as your article is there any chance for me getting a good PhD if i did well in those semesters? and will my masters year CGPA will be counted? please tell.
Hi Govind Prakash,
MEXT considers the last two years of grades that you have available (printed on your transcript) at the time you apply.
So, if your MS is only one year, and you apply during that year, it is likely that you will not have any MS grades on your transcript at that time, so MEXT would look at the most recent two years of grades from your BS program.
CGPA does not matter, only the grades earned during the relevant two years, so I see no reason why you would not have as good a chance as any if you can turn your performance around now.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
hey
i wonder about the age conditions for masters degree. can i earn the scholarship if got my bachelor degree but i’m 20 years old?
because of the academy background in the guidelines i’m a bit confused…i don’t really understand this part.
thanks for your blog and your articles
Hi Don Divin,
This is an old article and I have written new, updated articles on the eligibility criteria each year as the new application guidelines for both the University and Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship application processes have come out. The links above will take you to the most recent articles as of this time.
As you’ll see in those articles, the eligibility criteria regarding age has changed since this post- in fact, there is no “minimum age” requirement anymore, at least none established by MEXT, so you should not have any problem.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Can you help me to fit my school’s grading system with the MEXT’s grade point? Although there ABCDF equivalent, I noticed that the Percentage and the Description are not similar to the MEXT’s.
If I use the letter equivalent I only got 1.83. But if I follow the percentage I will get 2.48.
Can you please help me with this? thanks a lot!
97-100 = A Excellent
93-96 = A- Superior
89-92 = B+
85-88 = B Average
82-84 = B-
79-81 = C+
76-78 = C Passed
73-75 = C-
70-72 = D
<70 = F Failed
Hi Charis Patricia Valloso,
Without seeing your actual transcript, I cannot say for sure – sometimes there are additional instructions there.
In cases where there is a letter and a number grade, then you should convert based on the letter grade. The correspondence of percentage to performance varies from country to country, but in general, letter grades should indicate value of each percentage in that country’s system.
So, I would convert as follows:
A/A- (93-100) = 3
B+/B/B- (82-92) = 3
C+/C/C- (73-81) = 2
D (70-72) = 1
F = 0
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
DEAR SIR/MADAM
MY DAUGHTER COMP LIT 10 THIN 2020 N 12 STD, 2022, WE R STAY IN INDIA MUMBAI, SO WHEN WE CAN APPLY THIS SCHOLARSHIP MEXT,SHE INTEREST ART & DESIGN , SO PLS SUGGESTION ,
Hi Shantu,
I have dedicated years to writing the guides on this website, so I would recommend starting by reading those for more information about how to research programs to get started. If you still have questions, then I do offer a limited coaching service for one-on-one follow up.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hey Travis, thank you so much, your research has been so helpful but however, I am the age of 16 and im going to graduate next year in august. Is it ok I apply now or should I wait till next year around this time for the 2020 application. Please reply and Thank You!
Hi Lewis,
Should I assume that you are applying for the undergraduate scholarship?
You have to graduate before you arrive in Japan, so I recommend that you choose when to apply based on that schedule.
For the Undergraduate Scholarship, you are required to arrive in April, so you would have to graduate by then. So if you will graduate in August 2020, then you would not be able to apply until 2020 for the 2021 cycle.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz