[ The MEXT Scholarship ]

Hey everyone, it's me, Loretta/KemushiChan!

One of the most popular videos I posted recently

is "How I Moved to Japan"

talking about the MEXT Scholarship

and how I was granted it and allowed to move to Japan

for grad school and live here

basically all expenses paid.

It has been a year!

and I'm still getting comments on that video asking about

questions about the process, tips, tricks & things you were confused about

so I thought I'd go over that in a video today.

To my viewers in Japan:

this video is basically all in English so

maybe this time it can be more like listening practice.

If you're into that type of thing

feel free to use the subtitles

to watch this video!

YEAHH!

To do this I'm going to BRIEFLY

go through your comments and messages

Also, just letting you know, I dont work for the Japanese government.

If you have legitimate questions about your eligibility

or if you want to check on a special case

there's a link to every consulate offering this scholarship

But for more general questions, 319 of them...

LET'S GO!

"I only see scholarships for doctors and whatnot?"

The scholarhips available to you are written on your consulate website.

CLICK THE LINK!

As far as I know, the standard Scholarship options are

The 4-year college in Japan scholarship

the one year study abroad while you're a college student

Research Student! Grad school, pHD or Doctors...

that's for higher education, post-graduate studies

Specialized Training College

That's for any non-typical, non-academic school

training, vocational school, etc.

In terms of being a doctors...

Check on your consulate website!

Next question:

"Do you have to pay the government back afterwards?"

NO.

It's a scholarship, not a school loan.

But that's why the application process is so rigorous!

"Do I need to be able to write Japanese?"

At least for the Research Student graduate-level scholarship

there is a part of the application process where

if you get so far, they ask you to take Japanese assessment test.

They do say it's just an assessment.

But they do use it to get an idea of how strong your Japanese is.

It's not a requirement that you be fluent in Japanese

I think it more depends on which school you apply to,

whether they're competitive or not,

It looks better if you can read/write Japanese

but that's not a required part of the application.

If you're worried, check with your local consulate.

"Do you still take the language assessment if you passed JLPT N1"

Yep! Congrats on N1!

"Do you know anyone who took their families as a grad student?"

No, I don't think I've personally met anyone

who brought their spouse or family over.

But it's not on heard of.

On almost every school's website they'll say

if you're coming and you're bring your family or your spouse

the best advice is to get set up, yourself, first

and then bring them over.

I very highly agree with that

it's a lot of adjusting.

You land and fall into a pile of paperwork

so you kind of want to get settled before bringing everyone else.

Asking about the research scholarship...

"Should you start reaching out to schools before starting your application."

In the application process there is the initial screening

then testing,

then there's the part where you reach out to schools

show them your nominated and ask them to accept you.

But in terms of when to reach out,

I would start reaching out if you can.

Certain schools have MEXT scholarship sections on their websites

so try reaching out to teachers through there.

Try to get as many schools and professors as you can

so that you have an idea of who to reach out to if you get to that point

because you will be short on time.

Another question from Maya!

What did I choose for my research plan?

You can propose a study of whatever you want

but I highly recommend you place it in the framework

of things that Japan's government understands.

For me, I like start ups,

but writing a proposal saying ' I want to research startups"

It sounds a little like, "...yeah, but what?"

Think of what excites them, so for me,

I basically said

there's a lot of news that the 2020 Olympics

will supposedly revamp Japan's economy

and my research is more about Tokyo startups

and global startups bring foreign talent to Japan.

Is that really a solution to Japan's economy problem?

How do you manage a business like that?

How do you grow a business like that in this environment?

That's what my research is about.

Take whatever your topic is

and frame it in those buzz words or whatever else Japan is currently interested in

make it obvious why they'd want to pay you to do research

that they want to see done.

"Does Illustration count under the Specialized Training Scholarships"

which is the non-University version

if you want to go to trade school or vocational school

there is a .pdf that lists the types of schools

I remember seeing culinary school, design, fashion...

so you should check that list.

"Did you have to take any other assessments (math, chemistry, etc.) besides Japanese?"

For me, no!

"For Research Student Scholarship: can medical students apply?"

I remember seem a blurb about the medical/ pre-med track

there was something...and it may not be possible

but it is written on the website so check for that.

"Do they have any majors/minors in Music over there?"

It depends on the school.

You're applying for a scholarship AND a school.

So while you're looking at the scholarship

start looking for schools that have your preferred program.

If you're doing the research scholarship

what ever major you pick is supposed to be close to

whatever you did in college.

So your major, foreign language and business,

supposedly, for the MEXT scholarship

either stick to something close to that

or convince the gov't why it makes sense to change your major.

"Do they check for high GPAs in the MEXT scholarship?"

Yep! They ask for your transcripts.

I don't know how closely they look at them

so just keep that in mind.

"Do I have to be in college to apply to the Research Student Scholarship?"

Nope, as long as you qualify for all their other qualifications

I was six years into the workforce when I applied

so I went back to school 6 years after graduating (college).

Should be fine.

"Would you really be able to live off the scholarship

without a part-time job?"

You can live off of it, but it's pretty tight.

If you intend to go out, socialize, etc.

then you'll probably want a part time job.

The scholarship is basic living expenses

so that you can exist and eat.

What is this?

Satisfaction bar??

Some kind of protein bar thing.

YOU CAN AFFORD MORE THAN THIS.

"Is it required that you can speak Japanese?"

No, like I said before

I've met MEXT students who do and don't speak Japanese

in general I think it's better that you at least try to learn

or show that you are trying to learn.

There's that language assessment test so

WATCH OUT FOR THATTTT

"What about the interview process & your research project creation?"

So this is for the Research Student Scholarship.

The interview was pretty rough!

They basically grilled you on your research project

there's a panel of judges. I had 3 in my case.

Two were Japanese, one was an American

who had gone through the MEXT scholarship in the past.

They want to ask about your Research at that point

It's a lot of money that they're offering you so

they want to ensure that you're worth

their time, effort and money to send you to Japan.

I used advice from a past professor

that I used for other scholarships I've done.

In each field there's always a hot topic

that people want to know more about

if you can bring your research proposal closer to that

it makes you look more relevant, on top of the field and cutting edge

that's kind of the stuff they're looking for

so mine was business in Japan

so I brought it into the realm of Tokyo business

in terms of the olympics, etc.

"Is accomodation provided?"

It depends on the school but

usually you're set up with some kind of dorm application process

and if you want to, you can move out from there.

This is not a dorm, as you can probably tell

because I moved out!

"Does the Research Student Scholarship also apply to you if you become a regular graduate student?"

If you test into a regular graduate program

you can apply to have your scholarship extended.

It's technically not automatically granted, you have to apply for it.

Someone ask about their case,

If they took a year off in High School in but graduated later,

can they still apply for the Undergraduate option.

Not sure, this sounds like a special case option

I would ask the consulate about your situation.

"Do you recommend applying to a school that will accept me easily?"

YES.

You definitely need a safe/fall-back school.

You're not just competing at your consulate

you're competing with everyone in your country

people around the world and those already in Japan

who all want scholarships for the same schools.

So if you''re trying to get into one of the most elite schools in Japan

you're fighting the entire world to do so.

GET A BACK-UP SCHOOL.

Do we really need to learn hiragana, katakana, & kanji for the exam?

I would say DEFINITELY learn hiragana, katakana, and a little kanji

You're going to be assessed on your language skills

and if you haven't taken to the effort to learn at least that much

why would they take the effort to pay for you??

"Why am I trying to extend my scholarhip into an actual grad degree program" ?

Honestly, all the work I did before in New York

I would sit down with people and they'd ask

what's my actual experience in Japan.

I'd be like: "Well, I went to school a little bit and learned a lot of Japanese?"

So for me, this is my FREE chance to go to Japan

and kind of lay down some roots

so that I can build a more sound career for myself.

"If you get a degree in Japan, does it count in the U.S.?"

The schools that offer the MEXT scholarship

are all public, accredited schools in Japan.

But if you are in a high demand field

for example, studying to be a lawyer or doctor, etc.

those fields are already very picky about what school you go to

so outside of medicine, law & other high-demand fields

I wouldn't worry about that.

It's getting dark guys! There's a lot of questions!

"Is your apartment provided by MEXT?"

Nope, I found this one through a friend of a friend

usually with MEXT you have option to move into

a dorm first and get settled

so you don't need to worry about aparments unless you want to.

"After the scholarship can you extend your visa into a permanent residency?"

Nahh, dude!

The way visas work in Japan,

a student visa doesn't count towards permanent residency.

So if you want to live in Japan as a permanent resident

a Work Visa is the best route to get that done quickly.

Can you apply to MEXT if you went to an online high school?