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.