Monbungakusho/MEXT Scholarship

[pompoko]

Has anyone here done the Monbungakusho/MEXT Scholarship-Programy thing? One of my NYU professors is like... APPLY!!! So I am. I know it's pretty much a year of feeling inadequate and dumb but if anyone has specific experience they want to share with me... that would be pretty awesome.

[Charles]

You may be putting the cart before the horse. Have you already selected a school where you want to go as an exchange student? You should be relying on your school counselors as they will be well familiar with the usual procedures, they've done this before.
I haven't done the Monbusho scholarship thing myself but I know a few people who have, and I am sure they would all tell you the same thing: get started EARLY and follow the paperwork closely, as there is a hell of a lot of bureaucracy to get through.

[pompoko]

I was given the application about a little over a week ago by my professor and the deadline is the 28th of February... I have selected schools and the like, and the chances of me bing accepted are remarkably slim. I'm applying to four programs, MEXT included. I just want general opinons, because even though this professor recieved the MEXT scholarship himself, that was about ten years ago and doesn't know if the program is run in the same manner as it was during his undergraduate days.

As for school counselors... NYU is completely worthless. NYU holds the belief that if it's not Europe, North or South America or Australia nobody could possibly interested. I hate this school. Coming here was such a mistake... damn.

Thanks anyways, tho.

[Charles]

You might be surprised, it's a lot easier to get into a school than to get funding. Most of the people I know who did this, arranged their exchange program first, and were committed to going whether or not they got the Monbusho scholarships. The scholarship was just a bonus, beyond the reduced tuition costs (which were the same as they paid at their US school).
Anyway, good luck with the program, let us know how it's going, it's a long haul but if you can work the system all the way down the line and get a good spot at a nice Japanese college, it will be a highlight of your education. And it will get you out of NYU and into someplace really interesting for a year.

[Harvey]

So what came out of this one?

I have a question about MEXT as well.

My question is, in the Application Qualifications document for the scholarship, it states...

http://www.studyjapan.go.jp/en/toj/pdf/kenkyu_e.pdf
4) Major Field of Study: The field of study must be the field that the applicant studied at the previous university or any related field.
Each applicant must choose a university where he or she can study and research the study field of his/her choice.

In undergrad, I studied International Business with a focus on Computer Information Systems. I also have a BA in Japanese (East Asian Language and Cultures) from the same school. Would I then be eligible to go to Japan on Monbukagakusho to do International Development (Development Studies) or International Relations at the graduate level? My University did not offer a "Development Studies" undergraduate degree, and I believe most unversities do not, so I hope that I would be able to start this in graduate school in Japan on Monbukagakusho.

Let me know if there is an official stance on this topic.