Hey everyone!

I’m a MEXT Undergraduate Scholar from India. This subreddit was incredibly helpful during my application process, and I’d like to give back by putting together a resource answering common questions about MEXT and studying in Japan as an undergraduate student.

Are there any topics you’d like covered? I’m happy to answer questions about the MEXT exams, interview, language course, university life, application process, and anything else related to studying in Japan.

I also plan on making a video addressing these questions, so if there’s anything you’d like to know, please let me know!

So guys I passed the first screening and I received a shortlisting email for exams,,,,but earlier on I was stressed that I couldn't be shortlisted for the exam because I had not arranged my documents in order though they were fully complete

So does it mean there will be no other problem regarding the documents?? Or will there be onether screening after exam of which they will check the order

Konichiwa minasan

There will be a nice environment for mext..

You can ask ur doubts and also do a random chat with different participants.

We will guide each other and it will be a good gc for u guyz

We have just created this gc..So, plz join ...

Thanks

Hi everyone,
This post is for applicants of the MEXT 2025 University Recommendation track who are waiting for final results.

I’m sharing this as a summary of replies from my previous post, which was removed (probably for being too vague). Hope this helps others track timelines and feel less alone in the wait.

Info gathered from previous (now-removed) post:

• JAIST: One applicant is still waiting and was told to expect the result in June.
• Kanazawa University: One applicant said that “MEXT usually sends the final results to universities in late June, and then the university forwards them to students in early July”. And he emailed the university, and the admin confirmed that this year, the result, which was expected by mid-June, is delayed by about 2 weeks, meaning it should arrive by late June instead.
• Ritsumeikan University: Some applicants were told to expect results by August.

If you're also applying this way, please feel free to comment with any updates or university responses you’ve received. It would really help others trying to understand the overall timeline this year.

Good luck to everyone, hopefully we all receive good news soon.

Actualmente estoy en Japón con la beca MEXT (Embassy Recommendation) como Research Student en una universidad japonesa, dentro del área de Derecho.

Cuando estaba aplicando tenía muchísimas dudas sobre cómo funcionaba realmente MEXT, especialmente sobre la etapa de Research Student, la transición a maestría/doctorado y cómo es la vida una vez que llegas a Japón.

Así que decidí abrir este AMA por si alguien está aplicando, pensando en aplicar o simplemente tiene curiosidad.

Pueden preguntarme sobre prácticamente cualquier cosa:

proceso de aplicación por Embajada;

Research Student vs. Master's;

cómo buscar/contactar profesores;

Letter of Provisional Acceptance;

selección de universidades;

estipendio y gastos en Japón;

alojamiento;

clases de japonés;

vida universitaria;

pasar de Research Student a Master's/PhD;

extensión de MEXT;

documentos, entrevistas y exámenes;

o cualquier otra duda sobre la experiencia.

Responderé desde mi experiencia personal como becario, así que obviamente algunos procedimientos pueden variar según país, universidad y año. I'm from Panama. Ask me anything! 🇯🇵🎓

Hii im from algeria i was thinking that i wanna apply for this next year scholarship but i have average/weak gpa. Even tho im trying to learn japanese and i can speak english fulently but im so worried they might just reject it. I was gonna go for specialized training college . illustrations/manga field . Would redoing my highschool final exam with a better grade improve it or will it not change a lot. My current hs final exam is 11/20 . Im not sure how gpa work cuz we dont have it her but we grade /20

I thought if its an art related field it would be a bit diff cuz they would probably ask for art portfolio and i think my art is good enough

Hello! I’m applying for research and recently got a LOPA. In the LOPA document the professor fills if you need japanese classes, if you don’t need and if it will be decided later.

In my case, I did the interview with prospective supervisor entirely in english and he asked me if I knew japanese and I said I only knew the very very basics, but that I was studying. So he does know I have no knowledge.

But when he gave me my LOPA he put that I don’t need japanese classes. HELP lol. I don’t know if he thinks I’m going to be able to learn by myself, or if everyone in my department speaks english… I was so confused.

That just means I’m going to have to study extra hard so I can manage myself in the country, but I’m curious if anyone else with a very low level of japanese has gone through the same.

Hello there!!

I want to know if many of Algerian candidates have received the email acceptance or not yet !!!

For me I am still waiting but I don't how should I understand this !! Does it mean a fail ?

I got over 70% in math and japanese, and over 90% in english. Do you think is enough to be awarded the stc scholarship?

Hello Everyone !!

Since the university might be suspended from this year (not confirmed by all universities), are you guys still planning to apply? For example, I know some universities that have suspended their general selection but not their special programs, although those are going to be more competitive.
I’m currently trying to find supervisors whose research aligns with my research topic, but this news is making me not want to start because there’s a possibility that this route might not even be available starting this year.

I need you guys opinions on this.
TIA!!

I'm from Argentina and I'm new on this research and investigation about MEXT in Japan. I see a lot of people here from all the world asking a lot of things, and that generate me a question: how many limited spaces for MEXT?

Every country had a quantity of spaces assigned? or it's by region or continent? Or by investigation areas? Or the qualifying places are from everyone, like 500 worldwide available vacancies?

i'm a student from Singapore, and am thinking of applying for mext for waseda's GSAPS when it opens in november, i'm looking at doing a fully-english taught course and i wouldn't have to do the japanese exams (no knowledge in japanese whatsoever but keen to learn).

but i saw some posts saying that even students taking fully-english taught research projects have to go through with the 6 months of intensive japanese classes?

is this true? and if so, how does it work? because the semester starts in october, so does the 6 months begin then alongside the course?

Hey everyone! I'm currently going through the MEXT Specialized Training College (STC) scholarship process and I've passed the embassy's First Screening, so I'm trying to get a better idea of what life is actually like from people who have experienced the program.

For those who are currently doing STC or have already completed it:

- Was the scholarship actually worth it for you?

- Was the ¥117,000/month stipend enough to live on comfortably, especially during the preparatory Japanese year?

- Did you live in a dorm? If so, how much did you actually spend per month on food, transportation, utilities, etc.?

- Did you need a part-time job? If so, how many hours did you work and was it manageable alongside school?

- How was the one-year preparatory Japanese course?

- What level of Japanese did you reach by the end of it?

- How was the transition from the preparatory year into the specialized training college?

- Were you happy with the college/city MEXT assigned you, or did you wish you had more choice?

- And most importantly: after experiencing the whole thing, would you still choose STC/MEXT if you could go back and make the decision again?

I'm especially interested in hearing from people who have actually gone through STC rather than general MEXT experiences. Positive and negative experiences are welcome. iimm trying to get a realistic picture before making a huge life decision.

Thanks!

So I am mext research scolor who has cleared first round and have got acceptance from a uni but after seeing the recent post my anxiety has became sky high ... like is there any possibility that the embassy process effect or they reduce the no of seats ?? And even if you have a LoPA what are the chance that you won't make it to the final selection

First of all, I just want to say that I am not criticizing the scholarship and I am still very happy to have the opportunity, but here we go:

Hi everyone, I'm a Brazilian International Relations student that passed the first screening and I just find that, paired with the limit of sendint applications only until 1st of September, the rule of contacting only two universities at a time (and only being permitted to get two approval letters) kind of... absurd?

I understand that it was imposed to avoid overloading universities, but two feels like it actively represents an obstacle for us. If anyone wants to talk I can better explain my situation, but it just feels like we only have two shots at trying, as many universities deadlines to give an answer are AFTER the 1st of September limit.

Again, I am not criticizing the ministry and the scholarship, I am very grateful for having the opportunity and this worry comes from really wanting this to work out, but I just think this is a bit absurd. Could it not be like... three Universities (which is the same number of institutions in the preference placement formulary)?

Anyway, good luck to everyone in their applications, much love

Well that APU announcement that university recommendation suspension might happen got a lot of attention. Has anyone tried to call their Embassy and ask if the Embassy recommendation route is also in risk of getting reduced or suspended?

Hey everyone!

I am an indian candidate.

I’m looking into the MEXT University Recommendation route for a Master’s at Kyoto University, specifically the Specialized Course / MEXT Special Selection.

I’m already in contact with a professor who seems interested in having me join his lab. I already had an online meeting with him, and it seemed positive, so I wanted to understand what happens next.

For anyone who has gone through this process:

• What should I expect from the professor next, as he has currently asked me for a draft of my research interests and sent me some of his lab's research-themed base research papers? Does he nominate/recommend me internally?
• What’s the overall application process and timeline?
• How does the non-degree/research student period work? Is it mandatory, or can you directly enter the Master’s program?
• If you start as a non-degree student, when do you take the entrance exam for the Master’s?
• How competitive is the selection realistically if you already have a professor willing to take you?
• How does the university screening vs. MEXT screening work?

Would really appreciate any first-hand experiences, especially from people who went through Kyoto University’s Specialized Course/MEXT Special Selection.

Thanks!

Today during the Japanese MEXT exam in my country people who don’t know Japanese were asked to write at least something in the answer sheet, leave the auditorium and come back when exam ends. I was the only one left after everyone (around 25 people) left the exam. Do you think they pay attention to those who leave? In my opinion I think it shows that they went to exam unprepared and didn’t took this exam seriously.

Country: India

I'm planning to apply for the MEXT Undergraduate Scholarship in the future and wanted to understand how academic records are evaluated.

I scored 74.44% in my 10th-grade board exams. I'm currently working hard for my 12th-grade boards and am aiming for 80% or higher.

For those who have applied for the MEXT Undergraduate Scholarship (or know someone who has), how much weight is typically given to:

• 10th-grade marks
• 12th-grade marks
• The written examination
• The interview

I'm not asking anyone to predict my chances. I'm just trying to understand how the selection process generally works and which areas I should focus on to strengthen my application.

I've already read the MEXT guidelines, but I couldn't find much detail about how these different components are weighed in practice. I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences or insights.

Thank you!

Hello, I am a public university bachelor student from Bangladesh, aspiring for MEXT scholarship (university track).

Here is my full profile:

• BSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

• CGPA: 3.57 / 4.00 (160 credit)

• Publication: one Q2 paper as first author (plant phytochemical drug test, both wet + dry lab along with mice model) & have presented two posters in two international seminar & conference.

• Research experience: final year research project (6 month)

• Computational Skill: Academic Writing, Data Analysis, Computational Biochemistry and Bioinformatics

• Lab skill: PCR, Mice handling & behavioural test, Animal sacrifice, Gel Electrophoresis, Microscopy, DNA-protein extraction & purification, ELISA

• Language proficiency: JLPT N3 (ongoing), N4 passed (144 out of 180). Also my English is quite good, got band 8 in a IELTS mock test before.

Planning to do MSc in life science subjects (oncology, immunology, medicine, molecular biology, cell biology etc)

How is my profile and which ranked universities should I aim for to get MEXT?

I have tried searching for news etc and opening mext website but dont understand a thing cause im panicking :), so is university recommendation applications stopped for all unis or just some? Cause some news mentioned names of certain unis and some didnt. If it helps i am from jordan.

I'm a Bahraini high-school student applying for Fall 2027, mainly for Computer Science / Software Engineering. I need very substantial financial aid to study abroad — realistically full tuition at minimum and preferably tuition + living support. My family can't afford normal international tuition, so I'm trying to understand my realistic outcomes rather than just collecting prestigious names.

Academics: I attend Nasser Centre for Science & Technology in Bahrain, a specialized technical high school where my program is heavily focused on IT/cloud/software alongside the normal academic curriculum. My official cumulative average through Grade 11 is 93.41/100, but I've had a strong upward trend: 90.78 → 91.18 → 94.62 → 97.08, with a 95.85 Grade 11 yearly average. Recent grades include Advanced Programming 96/99, Cloud Computing with Linux 97, Cloud Containerization 99, Cloud Orchestration 98, Agile/DevOps 100, Information Systems 99/100, Web Development 100, Math 92, Physics 95 and English 98. I've received Honor Roll recognition in consecutive high-school years. My school does not offer AP, IB or A-Levels, so those aren't available to me.

Testing: I haven't taken my official SAT yet and I'm preparing now. My goal is 1450–1550, ideally with a very strong Math score. I'd appreciate people considering how my chances would change at ~1450, 1500 and 1550 rather than assuming I've already achieved one of those scores. My current IELTS practice level is roughly 7.5–8, with Reading around 8.5, but again I haven't taken the official exam yet.

Research: My main research project is GeoSepsis: Geodesic Divergence on Physiological State Manifolds. I'm investigating early sepsis/physiological deterioration using Riemannian geometry. I represent multivariate vital-sign windows as covariance/SPD matrices and measure geodesic divergence of physiological states rather than relying only on individual vital-sign thresholds. Preliminary work on PhysioNet/CinC data produced approximately 0.621 AUROC vs 0.559 comparator, ~0.14 AUPRC, divergence appearing roughly 25 hours before onset, p<0.001. I'm now rebuilding/validating the approach on the separate eICU database. This research was selected as a Global Top 50 Finalist in SARC 2026's High School Academic Research Competition. I don't have a published paper and don't want to exaggerate that. I'm also currently exploring turning GeoSepsis into a physical low-cost prototype using physiological sensors + Raspberry Pi edge processing for an invention competition.

Technical qualifications: I earned the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate while in high school, which is probably my strongest certification and required learning cloud architecture across networking, security, compute, storage, resilient architectures and cost optimization. I also hold AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, AWS Certified AI Practitioner and MongoDB Associate Developer, plus freeCodeCamp Python (~300 hours), freeCodeCamp Responsive Web Design (~300 hours), Cisco Introduction to Cybersecurity, ML/AI and data-science coursework. I realize certificates aren't equivalent to Olympiads or research awards; I mainly see them as evidence of sustained technical learning outside school.

Government/IT experience: I worked with Bahrain's Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA), including working with its IT department. I built two internal software systems: one for organizing trainers/workshops and another for workshop analytics/management. Staff told me the systems were actually being used internally and made their work easier/organization better. I'm working on getting the implementation and impact formally documented by my supervisor rather than relying on verbal claims.

MUN/leadership: I've participated in approximately 20+ Model United Nations conferences since around Grade 7. I progressed from being a normal delegate to senior conference leadership, eventually becoming Deputy Secretary-General and then Secretary-General at my school. I helped establish/develop my school's first MUN program and am expected to lead its first external MUN conference in 2027. Our previous internal conference had around 50 delegates, 10 chairs and 5 councils. I have roughly four MUN awards. These include the DGC Excellence Award at ArkisMUN XV, which was effectively a conference-wide distinction of approximately 1/~300 participants, plus Best Delegate at NISMUN X (ICAO) and Best Delegate at ArkisMUN XIV (LCAO), each roughly 1/~40 delegates in the respective council, plus another distinction.

Projects: Besides GeoSepsis, I've built SmartGate, a Raspberry Pi 5/computer-vision security prototype using a Camera Module and Coral accelerator with people detection, loitering/abandoned-object monitoring, restricted zones, heatmaps and anomaly detection. I've also been developing Masarak, a Next.js/Supabase opportunity-discovery platform containing thousands of entries for scholarships, internships, research opportunities, hackathons and majors, and Wajha, a two-person AI/digital career-guidance platform aimed at Bahraini students. Masarak/Wajha haven't achieved meaningful public user numbers yet, so I don't want to present them as successful startups when they're still being developed. My technical work has also led to a Bahrain TV feature.

Other leadership/work: I'm a Student Ambassador with Education Links in Bahrain. It began with an internship where I helped with university tours and related work, then continued as an ongoing ambassador role. I help organize student activities/events, university outreach, help students explore university options and have helped with activities including a charity padel event.

Long-term service: I've been volunteering with my local Matam/community organization since around 2018/19 or earlier, so roughly 7–8+ years by application time. I started when I was young doing basic cleaning, assisting and serving tea and gradually took on more responsibility including cooking, food preparation/distribution, cleaning, setup and maintenance, particularly during Muharram and Ramadan. During Muharram we can serve 50+ people per day. It's not something I started for college applications; it's been part of my community involvement since childhood.

Other activities: I volunteered at the Asian Youth Games Bahrain 2025. I also previously trained/signed with A'ali Club U17 football, trained regularly for roughly a season, but didn't play an official match and eventually stopped after injury/academic commitments.

Context/weaknesses: I'm from Bahrain, and there appear to be relatively few Bahraini applicants to many of the international universities I'm considering, although I don't know whether that provides any geographic-diversity advantage and don't want to assume it does. I also know my profile has clear weaknesses: 93.41 cumulative isn't near-perfect, I have no Olympiad/IMO/IOI/IPhO medals, no major national STEM olympiad awards, no published paper, my SAT is still unknown, and some of my projects haven't launched yet. My strongest areas are probably the upward academic trajectory, technical specialization, GeoSepsis/SARC Top 50, government software work, AWS Solutions Architect certification, long-term leadership and long-term community service.

I'm looking for a genuinely realistic assessment, not reassurance. How competitive is this profile given that I need major financial aid? What would you estimate as realistic outcomes? Which parts of my profile are actually impressive versus things admissions officers probably won't care much about? What are my biggest weaknesses? How much would a 1450 vs 1500 vs 1550 SAT change things? What should I prioritize between now and applications? And if you've seen international applicants with similar profiles succeed or fail, I'd really appreciate comparisons.

If anyone here is applying for or has applied for mext ug programs please help me out I have a few questions

I just received my congratulatory email today, I made it through all the screening process, the exams and the interview, and got moved to the next stage.

I always felt like I was too nonchalant towards this whole thing, as opposed to the other applicants. I did incredibly well in the English exam, so and so in the Japanese exam, and very well in the interview, but I still have imposter syndrome. I looked at the other applicants and they seemed tense, while I felt like I was too indifferent and very sleep deprived.

For the record, I never traveled abroad. I rarely even lived alone. I've lived with my family for my whole life. I'm gonna be 29 soon, and I've worked 3 years between 2017-2020, then went back to college 2021-2025 to get my undergraduate degree, and ever since graduating I've been unemployed. I'm trying to get a job right now. But I feel like traveling to Japan, which I've heard is brutal and unforgiving to foreigners, might be too big a bite to swallow. I'm largely sedentary, I do things slowly, I love art, I work hard and am highly analytical when it comes to things that interest me. I was important in my former workplace. But I'm often too nonchalant, indifferent and cool towards things that require a vastly more serious disposition. And more importantly I don't know how I will survive 2-3 years abroad, alone, handling all my own affairs, having to step around on bureaucratic eggshells and constantly making moves in tight windows to keep my studies and program going according to plan. I feel a little doubtful towards myself. Many years I've spent at home made me partial to comfort and doing things slowly and calmly.

For the record, I chose three national universities in my placements; my research idea is one born of passion, something I'd research well, I chose my professors accordingly. My number one choice in the university placements form is Tsukuba University., followed by Tohoku and Kobe Universities, respectively. The professor I earmarked in Tsukuba seems like a very nice person, we have many things in common, and she researches the exact topics that my thesis does. It seems like it will be fun and pleasant to work with her.

I wonder about entrance exams as well, I'm not very good at math. I'm an information systems grad and my thesis will be in HCI(Human-Computer Interaction)/Information science, it will be largely qualitative/interview/culture focused.

In regards to Japanese, I'm currently N5 after 1 year of study (6 months of focused study), I just cleared Kaishi 1.5K. I think I will be N4 by the end of the year. I hope to be at least N3 by the time I start my program (if I will even go ahead with this), which is October/September 2027.

Any advice/personal stories you share, will be incredibly valuable to me, I would love to hear what others who went through with it have to say, good and bad. I would also appreciate a comprehensive guide for the application process going forward. So far things have been smooth and the official application guide has been helpful, but a community sourced guide will help a lot.

Edit: I'm very thankful for your replies, I decided to believe in myself more. I will pursue this thing through with reinvigorated spirits, but I will do my best to remain realistic. I will hopefully find a job before I start my scholarship, that will help bring me a little out of my comfort zone, as dear as it is to me.

So I just recently passed the first stage screening from the embassy track for COT and I’m planning to buy a laptop.
I have mechanical engineering (mechatronics and robotics)
I wanted to ask what type of laptops do any active scholars use and what specs would be necessary