Hello, and welcome to my second blog post; a step by step guide to the MEXT scholarship application procedure! Second to the research plan, this a rather difficult task to complete, and I am sure that the secretary at the Japanese embassy was tired of getting emails from me desperately seeking help! Luckily, I successfully completed the application form, and so, I am here to help you complete it too! Just like my last blog post, my top tip is to ask your embassy for advice if you need it, as regulations can vary from country to country, however, I hope this blog post can help you out in some way, so let’s begin!
DISCLAIMER: I am writing from my point of view, about what worked for me and my own personal situation. While many of the steps of the application procedure can by followed be everyone, there are some steps which are different to each individual, therefore I advise always checking first with your own embassy before submitting your application.
MEXT provides guidelines to the application process; the 2019 application guidelines can be found here: http://www.studyjapan.go.jp/pdf/applications/2019/2019_Guidelines_Research_E.pdf . However, these guidelines can be quite overwhelming, so it’s a good idea to print it and read it slowly, highlighting key points. The first few pages discuss the criteria you must meet to apply for the scholarship. The guidelines to the application process itself begin on page 5.
Application Procedures:
- Application Form – The application form can be found on studyjapan.go.jp . My recommendation is that you type this out rather than fill in with pen as it is much easier to read and adds an element of professionalism. Another key thing to remember when filling in the application form is the passport photo. Do not forget to print out 3 copies, sign the back with your name and nationality and paste to the form. Apart from this, the form is quite easy to fill out and can be completed within a matter of minutes.
- Placement Preference Form – Here you must select 3 professors with whom you would like to work should you receive the scholarship. Do not overlook this step, as you cannot change your preferences once you submit the form. For extra advice on this, I spoke with a Japanese professor from my university who recommended me 3 professors whose research was compatible with my own. It is important to make sure that the professors that you select work in the same field as your research, and speak either English or Japanese (it is important that you can communicate with your professor after all!). Don’t worry yet about contacting the professors, you should not do this until after you have been advised by your embassy that you passed the interview. However, this is not to say that you can’t begin to contact some potential professors to ask them about their work and tell them that you are applying for the scholarship, in fact, during my interview I was asked what I have done to choose my professors, so it is a good idea to show that you have been proactive during your selection.
- Field of Study and Research Plan – It is crucial that you remember to attach your research plan. On this blog post I won’t expand further on this point as my previous post went into detail on how to write an impressive plan. You can find that post here: https://midoriwhite.wordpress.com/2018/06/30/the-journey-begins/ .
- Certified grade transcript for each academic year from the last university attended – You must provide an official academic transcript which shows your grades from each semester. Don’t worry about getting this posted from your university, I got mine online, making sure that they were signed by the President of my university, and had my university stamp and logo on each transcript. This is essential when submitting any sort of paper work for the scholarship, everything must be official and professional. A very important part of this step (which I forgot to include, but thankfully was reminded by the embassy to email forward) is the official grade scale applied by your university so the embassy knows what your grades mean. So, make sure to include an official grade marking scheme (to prove that the page is official it must have your university logo and address on it).
- Graduation certificate or degree certificate of the last university attended – In my case, and in the case of most, I had not yet officially graduated university by the time the applications closed for the scholarship. Therefore, as I have a pretty good academic record, and have proved to be a reliable and hardworking student, I could get a letter from the President of my university stating that I would graduate university that year. This is enough to provide for MEXT if you have not graduated yet. To get this letter, I simply went to the academic advisory in my university and requested one, and by later that day I had already received the certificate by email.
- Recommendation letter from the president/dean or the adviser of the current university or the last university attended or the university currently attending – MEXT provides a template for the recommendation letter, however they advise that the adviser can follow whichever template they like. I advise that you politely ask, in person, a professor in your university with whom you have worked in close proximity with before. Choose a professor who knows you well, and who knows your strengths, so it will be easy for them to write a very good recommendation letter for you. In my case, I asked a professor who had taught me since first year, and who had helped me and worked with me throughout my 4 years at university. Remember to ask your professor many months in advance, as you must write the address and name of the university on the envelope as well as getting your professor to sign the seal of the envelope. It is very important that you get your professor to sign the seal as in Japan this is standard in many work places, and it is a requirement from the university.
- Medical certificate – Oh, so so rigorous! When I showed the medical certificate to my doctor he was shocked at the amount of detail that we must provide. MEXT supplies this form on the website and it must be followed as is. It is very important to start this months before, as you will be asked for a report on your lungs, your blood type, and even your bowels! Bring the form to your doctor and they will take it from there, you just need to provide the facts and the samples.
In my case, these were all the documents that I had to provide, however there are a few more steps which you can include if they apply to you, such as a recommendation letter from an employer, or an abstract of your thesis. You can check this out on the first link that I included above. Overall, the application procedure is quite difficult to complete as it has many steps and much detail. Therefore, I advise beginning the procedure at least 2 months in advance, especially the medical form and the recommendation letter from a university advisor, and of course several more months for the research plan. Apart from this, you must remember to provide 3 versions of each document; 1 original and 2 documents. You’ll finish with a great big stack of pages, and you can be amazed at yourself that you have accomplished so much!
On a closing note, I hope this blog post has been informative and you have more of a clear idea of how to complete the application procedure! Please feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments below, it would be great to hear if you have any more ideas for a blog post, and I would love to hear your opinions!
Have a good day,
Cliona!
Kiki's Ideas 