MEXT MONBUKAGAKUSHO Part II: The Interview

MONBUKAGAKUSHO: MEXT a research scholarship for people who want to study in Japan. Although based in Taiwan, I've wanted to move to Japan for a long time, but also want to finish my PHD asap. SO, I applied. The downside was the timing - I live in Taiwan but had to fly home for the Interview in Portland, Oregon. No big deal, just had to shuffle my summer plans and quit my job. My application proposal was pretty good I thought, so it all comes down to the interview - which was more demanding than originally expected and came in three parts: A) English Test B) Japanese Test C) Interview. This post will talk about my experience of these steps for those who will go through the same process. Not that this experience is from an embassy in the USA and may be very different from other embassies.

A) Yes, although all applicants (there were 7 but two dropped out last minute -Yeah!) were native English speakers, we were still advised to take the 1 hour English exam. Technically it was 'optional'... but we were told it was a good idea so we all took it. Pretty simple, lots of grammar, fill in the blank, reading comprehension questions. Shouldn't be difficult for anyone.

B) Japanese Test. There are stories of people getting the scholarship without speaking ANY Japanese - which is why I applied. I knew this was a weak point, so in the days before my interview I studied as much as I could. I conquered 'hiragana' the basic phonetic alphabet so I could at least transpose the Japanese characters into their phonetic sounds. This didn't help me understand what the sounds meant, however. In 40 minutes I finished about 25% of the test and guessed at the answers. I could have transposed the whole test, or guessed at all the answers, but I figured it wouldn't matter much. If I don't know any of the answers, why guess? Obviously, I need to study more Japanese. The test was hard, is hard, and doing well on it is cool, but it isn't necessarily the most important part.

C) The Interview. This is what I was counting on the most. "When it comes down to it", I told a friend recently, "They're gonna choose the person they like the best, the person with the best personality... they're gonna go with their gut feeling. And there are ways to get people to like you..." (I'd been reading Dale Carnegie.)

Unfortunately, I talked with the other applicants beforehand and they were all smart, well groomed, interesting people. I can't say with certainty that I was any more appealing, interesting, or charismatic than any one of them. Shoot.

The questions I prepared beforehand, based on the MEXT Preparation guide Ebook were:
1) "Tell us about your research proposal", 
2) "How will it benefit your home country/Japan", 
3) "Why Japan", 
4) "What's your Japanese Level", 
5) "Why should we pick you?"

But I didn't get all of those. I was particularly proud of my 3-part answer to #5, which I never got asked and couldn't find a way to bring up. Mostly, the asked me to explain my research proposal and asked some indepth questions about it, and they asked why I had to study it in Japan. I did OK on that part. But a couple of questions threw me off, and I didn't answer very well.

The first was a vague "What interests you about the culture of Japan?".
I was not prepared for this. I didn't want to say something stupid like sushi, origami, sumo, or cherry blossoms (western stereotypes). I basically said I didn't know a lot but I was excited to learn. However, be prepared with this one! Yes, they want to hear how great Japanese culture is, and what you hope to learn on the side, and what activities you will participate in besides study! I missed the opportunity to say those things.

The second was "Tell us more about your paintings". I'm a painter and I guess I put that in my application but forgot. So they asked me about it and I wasn't ready. I should have said I would get involved in the japanese art scene, get inspiration from the temples, the culture, etc, influence my art and my work. Instead I kind of bowed out of it humbly, saying it was just a hobby, not a career, kind of not important. Missed that opportunity as well.

Basically, in the interview you need to say WHY you will go to Japan and WHAT you will do there - but this is not only about your research. Talk also about the culture, the extra-curriculars you will get involved in, sports, arts, trips, etc.

My MEXT Monbusho Study in Japan Scholarship Process Part I

I've been wanting to go to Japan since I was about 12. Since then, somehow, I keep getting sidetracked. I've been in Taiwan now for over 7 years and have still not been to Japan - worse still, I'm now 'too old' to start over teaching bratty kids, competing for jobs with fresh-faced, young and enthusiastic uni-graduates. I'm ready to finish my PHD studies, publish some articles, and get a nice, comfortable university job as a professor until I'm 80 years old.

I have been accepted to NTU, which is fantastic - it's Taiwan's #1 school and I'm lucky to get in. However, at the same time, I was turned down for the Taiwan Scholarship. Not that I blame them; as a white-faced English speaking foreigner, I automatically have the ability to make lots of money in Taiwan and take care of myself, so maybe they gave the $ to someone more deserving. Fine. Whatever.

I had made the choice to go to NTU because it made the most sense, but since I know knew I wasn't going to be on scholarship, which significantly changes the lifestyle I had planned out for myself, I'm ready to do something a little more risky. I got out the application package for the MEXT that I had prepared a few months ago.

The MEXT, or Monbukagakusho Scholarship Japanese Government Postgraduate Research Program, is a Japanese government grant that covers your tuition, cost of living, and transportation to Japan. You can get it if you're in Japan through a university, or you can get an embassy to recommend you. That's what I did... unfortunately, since not much information is easily available, I emailed my embassy contact a lot of dumb questions for about 6 months. Wasn't a smart move, but oh well. I had put together what I thought was a really strong package; I even got it translated into Japanese - but then I decided to go to NTU intead.

Now, sure that I really wanted to go to Japan if I have the opportunity, I bought a copy of the #1 Monbukagakusho Scholarship Study Guide, after reading it I found out I'd gone about my application all wrong. I was talking about why I wanted to go there rather than what I wanted to do there. The MEXT is a research scholarship, which means you need to make a research proposal: abstract, keywords, thesis statement, study plan and timeline, etc. That's the important part.

Also, although I know what I want to study, there was no clear connection with Japan other than I wanted to live there. After reading the ebook and updating my application, it's now reasonably strong; I tied in what I had plan to study with a specific and notable piece of Japanese culture - so now I'm able to list my research benefits which is super important.

Anyway, at the point I've turned in the application and am getting ready for the interview - I was told that I actually SHOULD try to find an advisor in Japan (I'd misunderstood this before) so in the next week I'll be frantically sending out emails to everybody in Japan. Yikes.