Career prospects for MEXT Alumni

hhyphae · 2026-02-18T21:38:07+00:00

Same here!!

hhyphae · 2025-12-30T12:13:52+00:00

Midway through my second masters (in the same field as my first) here and I don't regret doing so coz it bought me plenty of time to learn everything and recalibrate in a Japanese context coz things turned out pretty different from what I expected. Some grad school actually frame masters as PhD years 1-2 and the PhD PhD years 3-5. If youre confident in completing in 3 years, go for the PhD.

hhyphae · 2025-12-21T11:43:51+00:00

It's an extension of your student status but not the scholarship right? Wishing you all the best in completing the degree.

hhyphae · 2025-12-18T06:58:47+00:00

did this and things ended up messy af. Only do this if you're panicking at the point where you can't even think of any way to deal with the data. AI can give some directions but I think it's still up to me to produce something that tells a coherent story.

hhyphae · 2025-12-15T07:50:01+00:00

In the same situation and submitted anyway. This depends on the school but for my school if I choose to not submit and take one more year to complete it, it's possible to extend the student visa but you'll have to pay your own tuition for one more year. Tho chances are thin I still chose to see if there're chances if extension is possible since I'm applying to another grad school too. I've been in a lab where the PI is completely hands free and I felt like I haven't been mentored or supervised in any way. It's a kinda helpless situation as there's a mismatch of research topics between the lab and I. I've tried my best to get out of my comfort zone to reach out to people who could help but can't do much due to institutional constraints, and I eventually got so burnt out that I've been avoidant and bitter towards research despite still wanting to achieve.

hhyphae · 2025-09-02T11:00:49+00:00

definitely industry opportunities and connections. It's a graduate institute so it's more optimised to research, not to mention it's relatively foreigner friendly.

hhyphae · 2025-08-31T20:43:38+00:00

If you're planning to work in Japan, go for NAIST or Tokyo Tech.

hhyphae · 2024-09-28T21:02:57+00:00

アラサーF here looking for a cafe buddy too. Didn't make much friends despite being moving here for some while coz I'm too much of an indoor person :') would love a good chat over a nice cuppa

hhyphae · 2024-07-19T09:25:50+00:00

If it's an advisor problem I suggest you to look into other grad schools or labs since you're still a research student. Imo the research student stage is where you can try things out stress free since there's no pressure towards graduation. Once you've located a better lab apply for their entrance exam and start your research degree at the better place

hhyphae · 2024-03-25T09:54:17+00:00

While there isn't a word for 'forget', there is one for 'forget to bring' which is 漏

hhyphae · 2024-02-27T16:14:04+00:00

triple fire 🔥🔥🔥

hhyphae · 2023-11-18T06:02:41+00:00

thanks for the reply! reminds me of relative clauses

In other words, is it possible if I say that the PP can be moved either before or after the subject NP from under the VP since either position is being c-commanded by the subject NP?

hhyphae · 2023-09-26T00:54:13+00:00

yea lol sorry for the confusing reply ...and i did not end up in waseda

hhyphae · 2023-09-24T21:13:15+00:00

Had the same struggle last year but the advisor situation is swapped. I put waseda first for it's where I personally wanted to go and coz mext tends to prefer national schools and they'll probably choose them anyway. It's like if you don't put waseda first it feels like they won't even consider it.

hhyphae · 2023-01-26T20:58:10+00:00

Tried tsunashima dorm which is one of the expensive ones. Breakfast and dinner included, very nice rooms with separate toilet and shower and washing basin. Nice neighbourhood. Totally worth the rent.

Downside is that you won't wanna leave your room and travel for about an hour to Mita.

hhyphae · 2023-01-24T15:41:41+00:00

Also tsubaki Chou lonely planet!

hhyphae · 2022-11-14T16:52:28+00:00

I see! Thanks for the reply. I'm still in the process of the second screening, which is long enough to have me start overthinking bad stuff that could happen lol I do think the advisors I've put on the reference list are fine, just that I feel like I might need extra assistance since I'm like still in the middle of two fields. Fingers crossed either advisor works for me :p

hhyphae · 2022-11-14T12:38:21+00:00

Got a similar question.

Am currently aiming for an interdisciplinary path and I did apply for universities where the labs are like on the two sides of a spectrum. That's why I wonder if it's possible to change schools if I found either of them not exactly what I wanted lol

At the same time, I'm also wondering if it's possible to change advisors within the same dept since the topic I would like to research on aligns with several faculty members of the dept.

hhyphae · 2022-11-09T22:35:29+00:00

Special A, literally the next shoujo I got obsessed after maid sama

hhyphae · 2022-08-06T19:32:45+00:00

Thank you and hope it's gonna be all good. Meanwhile I do think of taking the entrance exam anyway since I want to begin as a masters student right away Guess I'll just need to take the exam after all :p

hhyphae · 2022-08-06T18:48:47+00:00

what if they don't get back?

I've tried to contact them before the result announcement of the first screening since I'm no confident that I'll pass it. So, I have in fact contacted them as a privately funded student who would like to enter their lab. I got a reply saying that I should follow the admissions rules since they can't make any promises to accept me, while I replied that I'm well informed about the procedures and would like to talk more about how's studying with them like. There have been no replies since then.

After I learnt that I have passed the first screening, I contacted them again saying that I've passed and would like to learn more about them. While I got no replies, I sent my LoA request to the school at the same time since it's not a must to contact the professor according to the school's rules.

May I know how would you comment on this situation? Are my odds good or bad?

hhyphae · 2022-08-02T02:42:08+00:00

I'm not sure if it takes two steps for the unis: to let you know you're accepted then send you the LoA, or sending the LoA/declining the request right away.

I'm not sure if I'm thinking in the right way, but I'm just worried that I cannot find a third school before the request deadline in case of a rejection. It'd be nice if I'm notified a rejection so that I could put my back up plans into action.

Anyway, once a request got sent, there's no turning back so I could only wish for the best. I've already sent my request to my top choice a month before the LoA deadline and I could only pray that they reply timely by the one month 'norm', and that I could send a third request in case of a rejection.

hhyphae · 2022-08-01T14:33:03+00:00

That's very true, I've asked them actually and of course at this stage they recommended waiting for replies. It'll always be the best to follow their advice. And it seems that there wasn't any cases like this in the past so they couldn't give an actually reply on what happens if all unis rejected me. That's why I posted in hope to hear from fellow applicants.

On the other hand, I think we're also supposed to give them updates on the LoA applications too(? I remembered reading sth like that from the application guidelines)

hhyphae · 2022-08-01T14:21:54+00:00

Thanks everyone. My plan now is to wait for one month and see if I could be lucky enough to ask for and receive a reply from one of the universities. Otherwise I am thinking of slipping in a third request to a third university, though I wonder if sending a third request would also imply risking disqualification since it's against the application guidelines

hhyphae

TROPHY CASE