Auscultating : MEXT Scholarship Application Part 2 : Interview and Second Application

Once you've passed the writing test, you will be notified that you have passed via standard mail and also email. I've gotten the news from email first, with standard mail following after a couple of days.

So what does it mean when you have gotten into the interviewing stage? There's a lot to go about! However, don't fret because there is a check list for you to remind yourself on all the forms required.

3) Interviewing Preparation

There are a lot of matters for you to prepare

a) Application form: 

Basically its similar to your first application form; with extra information on your language abilities including JLPT, IELTS or TOEFL. I took all three, so I managed to fill up most of the information required. 

b) Placement Preference Form

This is very important and crucial. There are certain strategies to go about passing the interview with the appropriate placement universities. You need to understand that the MEXT scholarship is under the Japanese Government, hence National Universities will definitely be a better choice when selection takes place. You may include up to 3 preferred universities in the list, but I personally only included one because I have contacted my supervisor in Hokkaido University way before MEXT application started. There a few set of rules saying that you aren't allowed to contact the universities' professors before you pass this interview, but some rules don't apply when you have gotten your contacts and networking paved before hand.

c) Field of Study and Study Program

This form will be relatively easy if you have had a title of post-graduate studies from your prospective supervisors; but extremely frustrating if you start from zero. Hence, I do strongly advocate contacting your potential supervisors to obtain the possible titles for your programs. Start contacting like months before the application so you have ample time to read up on articles and journals which help you in formulating this part. 

i) your current field of study

I'm sure most undergraduate programs require the submission of a Final Year Project thesis; so the abstract of your FYP would be going here

ii)Your research topic in Japan: Describe articulately the research you wish to carry out in Japan.

When you have received a title, you should know what your title is all about. Basically start of with an introduction on what your title is about, a little bit of background information, past research on the topic, why would your topic be valuable to the progress of your field. Include the reference in the bottom will deem your read up less plagiarizing.

iii) Study program in Japan: (Describe in detail and with specifics — particularly concerning the ultimate goal(s) of your research in Japan)

This part takes a lot of your elaboration skills. You will need to know what your research will be about, especially with a timeline to show how you would be planning your studies. I started out with the listing of my primary goals of the PhD program; where the goals will actually be your objectives. As you go with your objectives, describe on how you will be achieving those objectives, how and why your research will be attaining those objectives, and eventually how would your research be benefiting to the field. If you were to be interested in knowing how I've managed to formulate this part, please feel free to email me at rtyb91@gmail.com

d) and e) is basically your academic transcript each semester and the final graduation transcript from your university if you have them

f) Recommendation letter from dean/etc

While they asked for dean, I personally think your FYP supervisor will be the best person to gauge you. They have spent 1 semester working with you to know your attitude towards work, aptitude towards your field as well as your working abilities with your fellow team members etc. I was lucky enough to find my supervisor, who turned out to be a MEXT scholar as well, making my recommendation extra stronger in my opinion.

g) Medical certificate

There is a specific format you need to follow so just bring it to your GP so that they can check it up. University students should make full use of your Pusat Kesihatan Universiti so you pay less.

h) Abstract of thesis.


Once you have prepared all these, get ready for the interview! Try to be earlier because punctuality speaks out more than you think, especially to Japanese. There are few rounds of interviews with few different fields; which are 1) Natural Sciences; 2) Health Sciences; 3) Engineering and 4) Humanities and Social Sciences.

I don't think coat is necessary but its good to have them around.

When I stepped into the room, I was greeted by 5 interviewers;
1) Panel of health sciences who was an ex- MEXT scholar
2) Ambassador of Japan in Malaysia
3) Panel from JPA
4) Panel from Ministry of Education of Malaysia
5) Panel from Japan Information Service.

At least these are the people I thought they were. The questions were basic in the beginning like introduction of yourself, how would Malaysia benefit from your studies in Japan, why is your research important, how was your background in academics etc. I had quite a heated session with one of the panel because of our differences in looking at my title.

a) The panel commented on how ultrasound is not valuable in making diagnosis, where my FYP was on ultrasound. I argued on ultrasound may not be the gold standard, but it gives a good, non-invasive diagnosis on what is going on in the body where patients may benefit much better in a clinical setting. Gold standards are usually very invasive and costly

b) The panel said that the inflammatory mechanism progression into neoplasia have been described in human and also in lab rats, so it is the same with dogs. I refuted that while human and rats have been proven, it hasn't been done in dogs. Research is all about proving something that hasn't been proven, and to make a sweeping statement that human and lab rats' mechanism will be the same as dog is wrong, at least what my university years have taught me.

However, I had a great time with the ambassador; simply because he was impressed with my achievements. He was surprised I scored in my JLPT N2, which wasn't easy for a non-native Japanese speaker. He was also surprised my TOEFL and IELTS scores were very high, showing my aptitude for languages is as strong as to my veterinary studies. Little do I know, the ambassador turned out to be my lecturer's father!

The session ended about 15 to 20 minutes, and I went home. The Interview was conducted in early July; and the result was out in late July. So until that happens, you will need to wait for the email from the embassy.

That's all for part 2, part 3 will be on the submission for Letter of Provisional Acceptance.

Auscultating : MEXT Scholarship 2018 Part 1- Application and Selection Examination

Dear MEXT candidates,

Search engines probably would have brought you here for this little experience that I had in applying for the MEXT scholarship for POSTGRADUATE studies in Japan. In my case, I applied through the Malaysia's Japanese Embassy, under Japan Information Services (JIS)

It was a long process, but the hardship and stumbles along the way worth every sweat and blood you shed throughout the timeline.

1) Application

I don't think I would need to elaborate much on this part. The application period is usually between March and April each fiscal year, in 2017 they were a little later than 2018 for an unknown reason. So look out and keep refreshing the website along those lines of period. I wanted to apply in 2016, but my Final Year Project supervisor, who turned out to be a MEXT scholar herself previous suggested to do it on 2017 because I had more time to spent with her for her to assess me as a student personally, at the same time allow her to have some space to talk to her supervisor in Japan. Hence, connection is extremely important too to pave your way into a successful MEXT application.

Application basically means following every single instruction stated in the application form, without missing any changes that the embassy would apply on every single year. They can be very subtle and insidious, so you might want to be extra careful.

There are usually 2 ways of filling up the form, I usually choose the typing and printing ones because it is much neater and easier as compared to filling up by hand. Plus, there is always a soft copy available online in their website. Make sure you get the forms ready way before the deadline hits because they can be extremely picky on punctuality. You have had ample time to get ready so don't screw it up. And always get a huge envelope and label your information correctly. Where the "MEXT POST GRADUAT 20XX" should be placed is also very important. You can always choose to leave your envelope on the guardhouse to the guards to be sent to the office because they are pretty efficient and trustworthy, at least in Malaysia.

So basically there were No. 1 to 8 on the application form, where only no. 6 and 7 were the ones I had troubles with. No. 1-5 and 8 were all about your details. However, no. 6 was about your past research, and no. 7 will be the research theme you are proposing to be done in Japan. The embassy stated specifically that no guides will be given in preparing these two parts of the application, which made it a huge problem for veterinary students like me as we had little to no research background apart from our FYP because our program geared us towards being a clinician as compared to Japanese vet schools where research remained as their base for the last 3 years in vet school.

For no. 6, it was basically a summary from my previous research. We had to write and abstract for all the thesis we prepared for the FYP, so I modified my abstract and used it for no.6.

As for No. 7, there were 3 parts; a) the current research, b) the theme for the research in Japan and c) the research proposal in Japan.

a) was basically my modified abstract again
b) would be the title of the research in Japan
c) would be the detailed proposal, from the introduction, why is there a need of the research, the objectives and the outcome; and don't forget your references.

Where did I get all my inspirations? To be honest, I've already managed to secure my prospective supervisor way before I applied for MEXT, thanks to my FYP supervisor who used to work under my new supervisor. Hence, you might want to start looking out for potential supervisors and contact them, propose to them your interest in continuing education in their lab or institution with the support of MEXT, then get a title from them to use it as your resources in applying for MEXT.

Once you've gotten all this done, send your application away.

2) Selection Examination

The letter is usually sent to you around May or June if you were successfully selected for the selection examination. For postgraduates, there are 2 main papers to be taken which are the English paper and the Japanese paper.

You might be thinking that Japanese's level of English may not be as hard as you think; this is when you need to think twice. The English can be easy, but tricky. You need to be as obnoxious, as OCD, as detailed and as grammar Nazi-mode as you can get during the whole examination. I would strongly suggest you to attempt the past year examinations to gauge your level. For a person like me who have gotten Band 5 in MUET, 108/120 in TOEFL and Band 8.0/9.0 in IELTS, it was still a little tough.

Japanese paper was divided into 3 levels, basic, intermediate and advanced; I tried all 3 but I would say it was still extremely hardcore for a non-native speaker, despite my JLPT at level N2. Don't worry if your Japanese is elementary or close to zero because the only gauge for post grad is actually the English test. If you feel like you don't wish to waste time or stress yourself attempting the Japanese paper on the exam day, you may leave after writing your name.

For the test, be punctual and make sure you have your stationery prepared. They are using 2B pencils still, so its pretty much the same as other tests you have been taking. Make sure you do not stop checking your English paper answers over and over again even after you have completed. Check and check all the grammars, all the possible permutations and read if the sentence actually made sense. These helped me pass the test.

So this is basically the first round. Part 2 will be on the interview and second application instead.