Studying in Japan, at Kyoto University. Start
I would also like to write about my experience of studying in Japan, namely at Kyoto University. At once I will make a reservation that the training was not related to IT, it happened 8 years ago, but it is possible that my experience may be useful to someone. This will be an introductory article on the stage of preparing documents and passing the selection. I hope the one who traveled under this program recently, will be able to supplement with more recent information. Previously, there was already a post from about studying at Aizu from cherepaha , so that some of the information will overlap.
How it all began.
The earth has cooled, the dinosaurs died out and on one sunny spring evening, I decided to attend a presentation of training programs in various foreign countries. It was organized by representatives of various embassies and everything happened in St. Petersburg. So I found out about the Monbukagakusho scholarship and the intern-researcher program supported by the government of Japan ( Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology ). There was always a dream to go to a distant exotic country, I also wanted to just try to apply for study abroad. I decided to try.
There are two variants of this program. The first is a student and a second intern researcher. If the first is intended for training in a bachelor degree or specialty, then the second in a magistracy or graduate school. I was finishing my magistracy at that time, so I was going to go to graduate school.
"
')
The first stage consisted in visiting the embassy and receiving the necessary documents and information. Now they can be downloaded on the website of the Consulate General and embassies. It was necessary to prepare such a set of documents: a questionnaire with information about yourself, a medical certificate about health (in English), a translation of a bachelor’s degree and an extract of assessments from courses in the magistracy, a scientific project (in English).
According to the old Russian tradition, I reached the last one and began to collect documents a week before the last date. And very soon regretted it. The fun began with a medical certificate. I came to the university clinic and asked to write that I was healthy, and also in English. They said that you can, just have to go through all the tests. And then I discovered for myself that the TB dispensary is on the other side of the city, that the cardiologist takes it once a week, that blood tests are done by yourself wherever you want. I had to run a lot and spend money on paid tests in order to be on time. Then it was necessary to bring all the information to the therapist and fill out the questionnaire in English and explain what is written there. Only after that she signed the certificate and put a stamp in the clinic. I also had to suffer with a diploma, so an officially certified translation was required. It was possible to find an office at the university that did it. The last two evenings sat and composed my grand research plan, which I was going to implement in Japan.
As a result, on the very last day of receiving the documents, I brought my pack. As it turned out at the embassy, ​​I was not so alone. At the first qualifying stage, there is a competition of documents, when the embassy selects candidates for an interview. A couple of days later they called and told me to come back again, so I didn’t fill in the important box where I’m going to study. I leafed through a thick catalog of universities and wrote Kyoto, Tokyo University and the Institute in Okazaki. In theory, a student should himself find a professor from whom he will study, establish contact with him and receive confirmation that he does not mind. This will be a big plus when considering documents. But if there are no contacts, they can try to find a place for you. Then how lucky.
(The path of the philosopher. Kyoto)
A month and a half later they called and told the good news that I had passed a competitive selection of documents and invited me for an interview. The next year after I filed the documents, the system became more complicated. Introduced another verification phase. These are exams in English, Japanese and specialties.
The interview was to be held in Russian and English or Japanese. I had to do my homework, because there was no experience in communicating in English. He invented answers to possible questions, wrote texts and learned them.
Judging by the only leaflet in the guard’s hands and the 30 minutes allocated for the interview, I realized that the number of participants had drastically decreased. Interviews were conducted by a man and a woman. The first question was whether I understand Japanese. After I said no, they began to vigorously discuss something in Japanese. Then they asked a few questions in Russian, where I had to tell about myself. Then they asked me to switch to English. They asked to tell where I study and what I specialize in, what I am going to do in Japan, why I am going to do it in Japan. There was a moment when, I was thoroughly stuck, because they started asking me something outside of my homework. Stirlitz more than ever was close to failure. But they wrote off the fact that I was nervous (how else) they switched to Russian again and let go in peace. They said they would call back. I thought to myself that most likely in the next life.
And now, a few weeks later, when I was sitting in a bar and noted another failure to pass an examination in philosophy, the bell rang. They congratulated me on the successful completion of the interview and said that the chances of getting to study are very high, but not 100%. My documents were sent to the main office in Tokyo, where they were supposed to check and find a place where I would study. That evening I did not remember.
(Temple of Pure Water. Kyoto)
Began tedious waiting. Almost half a year passed when in the late fall I received a letter from the Japanese laboratory where I was told that I would study from them, asked to tell about my plans and fill in the necessary documents for the hostel. Whether I am going only to train or still to study in postgraduate study. I sent them everything. The embassy remained silent. And just for the new year I made a wonderful gift. They called and said that I was going to study at Kyoto University, but all the details would be in March.
Began gradually preparing for the trip. Suitcase “Dream of the Occupant”, a set of textbooks for preparing for entrance exams and CDs with programs for all occasions. In March we were gathered again at the consulate. As a result, we were only 4 people, 2 guys and 2 girls. The two of us spoke fluent Japanese, and the two did not speak at all. We had a brief briefing on what to do upon arrival, told us where to pick up the tickets and wished us luck in school.
This training program has two check-in times. One in October and one in April. We flew in April. If on the Peter-Moscow flight there was still no feeling that I was going somewhere. But when I got on the flight Moscow-Tokyo, I fully realized what I fit.
To sum up what to do:
- You should not reach the last and rely on the case if the cardiologist took on Tuesdays and not Wednesdays, then my life would have been very different.
- It is worth more to engage in a foreign language. If anyone is going to enter the humanities or economics departments, then knowledge of Japanese is essential.
- It is advisable to find a laboratory in advance where you are going to study, and contact the professor.
That's all for now. Then I will write about the first impressions and the admission process already in place and the training itself.
Special thanks to the teachers of the Faculty of Philosophy, who did not let me get, twice, the passing score to our graduate school. But it could have turned out a completely different story.
How it all began.
The earth has cooled, the dinosaurs died out and on one sunny spring evening, I decided to attend a presentation of training programs in various foreign countries. It was organized by representatives of various embassies and everything happened in St. Petersburg. So I found out about the Monbukagakusho scholarship and the intern-researcher program supported by the government of Japan ( Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology ). There was always a dream to go to a distant exotic country, I also wanted to just try to apply for study abroad. I decided to try.
There are two variants of this program. The first is a student and a second intern researcher. If the first is intended for training in a bachelor degree or specialty, then the second in a magistracy or graduate school. I was finishing my magistracy at that time, so I was going to go to graduate school.
"')
The first stage consisted in visiting the embassy and receiving the necessary documents and information. Now they can be downloaded on the website of the Consulate General and embassies. It was necessary to prepare such a set of documents: a questionnaire with information about yourself, a medical certificate about health (in English), a translation of a bachelor’s degree and an extract of assessments from courses in the magistracy, a scientific project (in English).
According to the old Russian tradition, I reached the last one and began to collect documents a week before the last date. And very soon regretted it. The fun began with a medical certificate. I came to the university clinic and asked to write that I was healthy, and also in English. They said that you can, just have to go through all the tests. And then I discovered for myself that the TB dispensary is on the other side of the city, that the cardiologist takes it once a week, that blood tests are done by yourself wherever you want. I had to run a lot and spend money on paid tests in order to be on time. Then it was necessary to bring all the information to the therapist and fill out the questionnaire in English and explain what is written there. Only after that she signed the certificate and put a stamp in the clinic. I also had to suffer with a diploma, so an officially certified translation was required. It was possible to find an office at the university that did it. The last two evenings sat and composed my grand research plan, which I was going to implement in Japan.
As a result, on the very last day of receiving the documents, I brought my pack. As it turned out at the embassy, ​​I was not so alone. At the first qualifying stage, there is a competition of documents, when the embassy selects candidates for an interview. A couple of days later they called and told me to come back again, so I didn’t fill in the important box where I’m going to study. I leafed through a thick catalog of universities and wrote Kyoto, Tokyo University and the Institute in Okazaki. In theory, a student should himself find a professor from whom he will study, establish contact with him and receive confirmation that he does not mind. This will be a big plus when considering documents. But if there are no contacts, they can try to find a place for you. Then how lucky.
(The path of the philosopher. Kyoto)
A month and a half later they called and told the good news that I had passed a competitive selection of documents and invited me for an interview. The next year after I filed the documents, the system became more complicated. Introduced another verification phase. These are exams in English, Japanese and specialties.
The interview was to be held in Russian and English or Japanese. I had to do my homework, because there was no experience in communicating in English. He invented answers to possible questions, wrote texts and learned them.
Judging by the only leaflet in the guard’s hands and the 30 minutes allocated for the interview, I realized that the number of participants had drastically decreased. Interviews were conducted by a man and a woman. The first question was whether I understand Japanese. After I said no, they began to vigorously discuss something in Japanese. Then they asked a few questions in Russian, where I had to tell about myself. Then they asked me to switch to English. They asked to tell where I study and what I specialize in, what I am going to do in Japan, why I am going to do it in Japan. There was a moment when, I was thoroughly stuck, because they started asking me something outside of my homework. Stirlitz more than ever was close to failure. But they wrote off the fact that I was nervous (how else) they switched to Russian again and let go in peace. They said they would call back. I thought to myself that most likely in the next life.
And now, a few weeks later, when I was sitting in a bar and noted another failure to pass an examination in philosophy, the bell rang. They congratulated me on the successful completion of the interview and said that the chances of getting to study are very high, but not 100%. My documents were sent to the main office in Tokyo, where they were supposed to check and find a place where I would study. That evening I did not remember.
(Temple of Pure Water. Kyoto)
Began tedious waiting. Almost half a year passed when in the late fall I received a letter from the Japanese laboratory where I was told that I would study from them, asked to tell about my plans and fill in the necessary documents for the hostel. Whether I am going only to train or still to study in postgraduate study. I sent them everything. The embassy remained silent. And just for the new year I made a wonderful gift. They called and said that I was going to study at Kyoto University, but all the details would be in March.
Began gradually preparing for the trip. Suitcase “Dream of the Occupant”, a set of textbooks for preparing for entrance exams and CDs with programs for all occasions. In March we were gathered again at the consulate. As a result, we were only 4 people, 2 guys and 2 girls. The two of us spoke fluent Japanese, and the two did not speak at all. We had a brief briefing on what to do upon arrival, told us where to pick up the tickets and wished us luck in school.
This training program has two check-in times. One in October and one in April. We flew in April. If on the Peter-Moscow flight there was still no feeling that I was going somewhere. But when I got on the flight Moscow-Tokyo, I fully realized what I fit.
To sum up what to do:
- You should not reach the last and rely on the case if the cardiologist took on Tuesdays and not Wednesdays, then my life would have been very different.
- It is worth more to engage in a foreign language. If anyone is going to enter the humanities or economics departments, then knowledge of Japanese is essential.
- It is advisable to find a laboratory in advance where you are going to study, and contact the professor.
That's all for now. Then I will write about the first impressions and the admission process already in place and the training itself.
Special thanks to the teachers of the Faculty of Philosophy, who did not let me get, twice, the passing score to our graduate school. But it could have turned out a completely different story.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/178277/
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