Alright, so after being unclear in my direction since high school (graduated roughly 2 years ago) I am finally trying to get back on the right track. I'll start going back to community college and finish by next year, and then move onto DePaul. But today I was thinking that I may as well still attempt the Monbukagakusho Scholarship. So this thread is going to be for me when I ask for help and basically just to get advice.

Well for starters is my first question. I did just email my local embassy in regards to this, so maybe he'll respond, but until then I will ask anyway.

(1)For the specific scholarship I wish to go for the "Professional Training College Students" category. However on the webpage of my local consulate the deadline is still last years, which is June 15th, 2009. Should I expect them to update this, as well as the forms for 2010? My assumption is that the deadline will be changed to around the same time, maybe June 15th, 2010.

(2)Is the "Professional Training College Students" scholarship even smart to go for? It is just a vocational school, but I will be learning what I want. Maybe I should honestly just focus on a school in my country instead and get a real degree in the same time it would take to finish the supplied language and vocational schooling?

(3)A line on the qualifications states...

"The Applicant will not be selected if he/she
-is a service member or civilian employee registered on the active military list;"

Does the 'active military list' refer to a draft? If so, I should be okay? I was required to sign up on the special services list to apply for FAFSA.

(4)I'm still unsure about this thread http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=5100 where everyone is still wondering how they deal with the language problem, and what if the classes aren't taught in English. Should I expect to go there for my year of language training just to fail getting into the school?

(5)Is JASSO something I should look into? What is it really? I skimmed the website and know that they offer loans and similar things, and I believe they offer a scholarship too. I definitely have to look more into this, but if you want to drop some knowledge on my for the time being it'd be appreciated.

Overall I'm trying to be focused on my future, but if an opportunity can arise to go and study in Japan for free, then I'm willing to take a chance while going down my current path. I had more questions than I expected, but I would like to thank anybody who takes the time to help me out. I eagerly want to study abroad for not just my education, but my own self-improvement and independence.

Thank you.

Start studying math today. That's it, for the Monbusho test. It is right where High School level theoretically is. Check the practice tests.
From what I've heard, the there are no many people trying in the US, but still you have to do very well in the tests.

You probably can't get JASSO scholarship if you get Monbukagakusho scholarship, so it isn't all that important if Monbukagakusho is what you're aiming for.

Note that the due date of the Monkasho scholarship is ridiculously early; the June 15 2010 deadline will be for the Fall 2011 academic year, not this year.

(I'm still annoyed that I missed the deadline for that award...)

yudantaiteki Wrote:Note that the due date of the Monkasho scholarship is ridiculously early; the June 15 2010 deadline will be for the Fall 2011 academic year, not this year.

Yeah. It seems to vary a bit from country to country, but the final date to apply for the research student scholarship in Sweden is tomorrow. The Japanese language scholarship was almost a month ago. I don't know about the graduate one since no one I know applied to it this year though.

It's extremely rare for a student from a developed country to get the professional training college scholarship. The Japanese government mainly uses that particular scholarship as a form of foreign aid to developing countries.

Are you sure it's that rare? Because it would be a lot of work to attempt this if I have little-to-no chance.

As for JASSO, it would be an alternative, or even a primary. I have to look into it more.

And the start date being for fall 2011 might actually be good. I'm attempting to get all my general education at my community college done around summer 2011, starting this summer.

Math... well I'm bad at Math, but I would study once the more important documents of this scholarship are filled out. I need to make sure it's possible.

Hey, TheVinster. I'm going to be going for the Monbukagakusho too. However, I'll be going after the "Research Student" category.

Be sure to post back here if you hear anything from your consulate about the deadline. I've got an e-mail out regarding that same issue to the New York consulate, but we'll see if they answer. I'm giving them until the middle of this week/end of this week and then I'll be calling up to ask more directly.

P.S. - Anyone here know if the process changed recently? I've got a friend trying to help me who did it from 2005-2007, but he says he thinks the process might have changed a bit since he did it. As in, he had a receiving professor (side note, what is this called in Japanese?) lined up before he even applied and it helped him a lot. Now, I also have one lined up, but will it help me like it did him?

He emailed me back. This is what I got...

"We haven’t received the new forms or timeline from Tokyo yet, but when we do we’ll update the website. But yes, I expect the deadline will be June 2010."

If you have to do an interview, than having an accepting professor MIGHT help. It certainly cannot do any harm, at the very least. It is important to see if the teacher is a respected figure of our chosen study field. I was lucky to have an enthusiastic professor who was interested in my study plan. I mentioned it in the interview in a casual way, without boasting of it, and I am very confident that it helped. Finding a teacher after the selection process is done at the embassy can be a big nightmare (doesn't mean that it is that easy before the process either, but having more time to weight in the available options is always good). I contacted teachers 5 months before the application even started, and I already had a simplistic, general draft of my study plan by then. I did the medical exams 2 months before the application procedure, and just tried to get everything done as soon as possible, because more often than not, there are always unexpected situations coming your way (like, this teacher was accepting, but no longer is, some documents or medical exams were not properly organized, and you need to submit again, etc.).

Another thing, when contacting potential professors, please write your messages with great care. Use simple, easy-to-read English, Explain exactly how you became acquainted with his/her work, what things interested you in their work, and also explain simply but carefully your research theme. Also, if you are planning to contact other teachers besides him/her, make it clear to him/her the names of the other teachers, and that you will only contact them in case that he/she is not available to accept further students.

Keep your game open, be transparent and polite, and do not write a huge message. Try to find a balance between explaining things in good detail, and succinctly.

The interview (in case there is one in the US, I do not know) is like a job interview. You have to make the interviewers feel comfortable in your presence, and have some pretty good answers for the questions they will throw at you: like giving a damn good reason why your study has to be done in Japan instead of somewhere else, what are your plans for the future after completing the studies, in what way the studies you did in Japan will benefit your future life, what business possibilities or practical applications can arise from your research, they might ask you to compare some cultural or historical aspect of Japan with your home country (of course, they would choose a topic related to your research, or your home town).

Whatever exam it is that you have to do, make sure you are at top shape. Even if you are only competing against 3 people, if they have better results, they will probably be the selected ones (unless they had a less successful interview).

keep your paperwork organized at all times, and keep a backup of all of it, and if you are lucky to get chosen (according to what I have heard for a few years now, the selection process is not always that rigorous, and even a bit suspicious), bring all of it to japan, since in the first month you will probably have to write all of that stuff again in the forms of the specific university.

Just be prepared for everything, ask the embassy people for any doubt that you may have, even if it seems absurd (you would not imagine the amount of silly mistakes and misinterpretations that arise from filling all the forms), and do everything way in advance of the possible dates. Basically, be as Japanese as possible about it.

When you say accepting professor, do you mean someone that will basically back-up my credibility for education or what not? I imagine if I had to choose, I would select my Japanese teacher that I had for two semesters. I'm not sure if I have to contact my principal (or whatever) as well? I've never even talked to the person, so how would that work...

Although as much as I would like to study abroad, I'm trying to weigh the possibilities. As much as I want to go to Japan to study, that same time could be put to use working on a bachelor's degree and possibly taking advantage of the school's study abroad program somewhere in-between.

I've already wasted 2 years, so really I'm trying to minimize anymore time wasted. My current plan is such:

-3 or 4 more semesters at community college.
-Transfer to college, hopefully with the ability to not only study abroad, but finish in 2 years.
-Start living in Japan around my 24th birthday. Get job. Get wife. Happiness! Lol.

OR

-2 or 3 semesters at community college.
-Monbusho scholarship goes into effect, spend 3 years in Japan at language then vocational school. Still won't have degree.
-Go to Japanese college to finish up and get a real degree.
-Continue living in Japan, but finally find a real job around the age of 26. Maybe already have a wife? Who knows! Happiness!

Either way you look at it, I suppose, happiness is derived! I feel I should go for the Monbusho scholarship because it seems like a great experience that I may never get another chance at. I'll keep checking back and when he updates the forms maybe I'll ask him a few more questions.

bebio is talking about a research scholarship, not a language scholarship. For someone who is applying for a scholarship to do research in Japan (rather than go to a language school), it's very important to have a professor in a Japanese university who has already agreed to work with you and who can specifically define what resources you will have and what help the professor will provide. Most research scholarships want to see this so that they know the person they give the award to will actually be able to make use of their time in Japan well.

Now, if you are only 2 years out of high school you're not going to be applying for a research scholarship so that's irrelevant to you.

Okay, haha. But I will still be applying for the training college scholarship, which still requires signatures from I think a principal? Or maybe a teacher instead? I'll have to find out.

The special training college isn't quite vocational school but not quite university either.
They do have a program where if you get exceptional grades in the special training college they will let you transfer to a university (usually into the 2nd or 3rd year) and extend the scholarship to cover that. I'm planning to do just that.

IIRC The deadline when I applied was mid june (that is in iceland) and the tests were on july 2nd, then the interview a few days later and got notified that I was being recommended later the same day. The final response arrived mid January and I'll be flying out in about 3 weeks.

The classes will all be taught in Japanese obviously. I assume we'll be given english textbooks though.
The other guy going from Iceland speaks zero japanese, but they recommended him anyway, so it has to be assumed that you can get through the program without prior knowledge

Jasso is only around 50.000 a month to help with living expenses, it won't cover tuition, airfare or anything.

Ryuujin27 Wrote:Hey, TheVinster. I'm going to be going for the Monbukagakusho too. However, I'll be going after the "Research Student" category.

Be sure to post back here if you hear anything from your consulate about the deadline. I've got an e-mail out regarding that same issue to the New York consulate, but we'll see if they answer. I'm giving them until the middle of this week/end of this week and then I'll be calling up to ask more directly.

P.S. - Anyone here know if the process changed recently? I've got a friend trying to help me who did it from 2005-2007, but he says he thinks the process might have changed a bit since he did it. As in, he had a receiving professor (side note, what is this called in Japanese?) lined up before he even applied and it helped him a lot. Now, I also have one lined up, but will it help me like it did him?

I've applied for it in Sweden this year, waiting for the reply which tells you if you get to go to the interview and tests.

And yeah, having an accepting professor is a big deal, you should definitely go for that. I do not have one, and I'm afraid that might cost me the spot. I'm aiming for a master program though, so I hope it might not be all that important for me.

Thanks for the information here, guys.

Now, I have a professor who is willing to do whatever for me, but he wouldn't really be considered in my "field of study" I guess. Is that important? Do they just kind of have to work with you, or do you need someone in the field? If you need someone in the field, I may have to change what I want to research because I'm afraid it will be almost impossible to find a professor who studies it. (For reference, I want to research an anthropological aspect of Japanese hip-hop and hip-hop culture)

Also, I heard back from the embassy and they say they will begin accepting applications for the research scholarship beginning the end of April, just for everyone's information.

(And good luck Tobberoth!)

This research scholarship is for people aiming for a PhD, right?
What'd happen if you don't finish your PhD in the time frame set by the scholarship? Last time I looked it up I found the research scholarship is good for 3 years, which seems quite optimistic for a PhD, especially in a foreign country.

I'm not currently in a position to apply for the research scholarship, but I might be in few years.

Christoph_D Wrote:This research scholarship is for people aiming for a PhD, right?
What'd happen if you don't finish your PhD in the time frame set by the scholarship? Last time I looked it up I found the research scholarship is good for 3 years, which seems quite optimistic for a PhD, especially in a foreign country.

I'm not currently in a position to apply for the research scholarship, but I might be in few years.

No, it's for anyone below 35 who has a degree and wants to study in one the areas they support (pretty much anything...). Thus, you can apply with a bachelor degree to become a 大学院. Of course, you can apply to get into a doctoral program as well.

Once they update their information for 2010 I am going to look over the forms for the special training college scholarship, and then I will compile some questions. Next I'm going to call them up and get some answers, and hopefully be successful from then on. I am really worried if I do have to take a Math test or something similar, as it's my worst subject. I would be incredibly devastated if all that work meant nothing in the end. But man, what a scholarship it will be if I can accomplish it.

Christoph_D Wrote:This research scholarship is for people aiming for a PhD, right?
What'd happen if you don't finish your PhD in the time frame set by the scholarship? Last time I looked it up I found the research scholarship is good for 3 years, which seems quite optimistic for a PhD, especially in a foreign country.

I'm not currently in a position to apply for the research scholarship, but I might be in few years.

Typically the research scholarships are to spend some time in the target country studying, I don't think most of them actually require you to finish your PhD during the period of the award.

I would like to ask a quick question. Today I thought to myself, "I really want this scholarship." So just now I printed out all the PDFs from the Chicago Japanese embassy website, and I'm planning on going for the specialized training college one. I need an estimate of how long you guys think it takes to get the documents together? The deadline is mid-June, like 16th or something. I am too old and I'm pretty sure this is my last year to attempt the scholarship (although it'll also be my first year to attempt it). I'm worried about the math testing, but otherwise I want to give it a shot.

I'm planning on sitting down with my dad and seeing if he can help me finish it quickly. Of course I think I need a doctor's appointment to fill out all these forms. So maybe 2 weeks is probably how long it may take?

You need a recommendation letter, so that takes some time depending on how long the recommender takes.
You need the medical form filled out, so that takes as long as it takes to visit the doctor and have him run all the annoying tests (you need urine, blood work, chest x-ray)
You need to write some essay-like questions, which can take some time.
The rest of it is just education history and stuff, you can do that in a few hours.

2 weeks is enough time provided you have a recommender that is willing to write a letter in that time frame.

IceCream Wrote:As far as the medical goes, im not sure, maybe it's different in the UK, but that's only done if you get past the first stage here.

I'm going to call the consulate next week, but the instructions make it seem like this is not the way it works in the US. I hope that can work, though, because my health insurance does not pay for physicals and I might end up having to pay hundreds of dollars just to apply for this scholarship.

I wasn't picked for interview. I didn't get a reason, but I'm assuming it is because I applied for a master program, they seem to prefer people who are just going for research.

Selective service is not active military