The MEXT Undergraduate Scholarship - the Written Exam Experience

As stated in my earlier post, this is the second step in applying for the MEXT Undergraduate Scholarship and the step where most candidates get eliminated. Last year, my exams were at early July and were held at Confucius Chinese Private School in Kuala Lumpur.

Because the exams were held from morning till late afternoon (with a lunch break in-between), and as someone living in Singapore then (about a 3.5-hour drive away from Kuala Lumpur), I can't possibly wake up 4 a.m. in the morning and ask my parents to drive me to the exam venues right? So me and my father went to Kuala Lumpur by bus the day before the exams and stayed at a hotel. Of course, that gave me plenty of time to visit the capital of my country, somewhere I never visited before...

Anyway, going to K.L. the day before also gave me enough time to rest, and be all genki before the exams! My category was Natural Science B, so as stated in the earlier post, I had to take English, Biology, Mathematics (B), Chemistry, Japanese. The first four papers are each an hour long and conducted entirely in English. The Japanese paper was 2 hours long.

So the following are how I feel for the papers for my year. Take note though, in these past year papers provided by the Study Japan website, the format of my year (2014) was similar to the 2007 and 2008 papers. Which means it could be the same for the next few years. And yes, having done the past year papers, I felt that these papers are the more challenging ones (reasons also listed below). 


1. English: The paper consisted of 50 multiple-choice questions and was a straightfoward paper that tested grammar, vocabulary and comprehension. The grammar part was rather easy, as long as you know your tenses well, it shouldn't be a problem. There was one part of the questions that asked you to identify the erratic part of a sentence which was a bit tougher though. 

For the vocabulary items, I would put it at around SPM (for Malaysia) or O-Level (for Singapore) standard. Which means that if you can usually read an article on BBC (like this one) without the need for a dictionary, you should be fine.

Comprehension was easier than grammar, in my opinion. Out of the 10 questions, 8-9 were literal questions and only the rest were inferential. 


2. Mathematics (B): I thought this was the most difficult paper out of all the ones I took. And yeah, the format was like the 2007-2009 papers, not the 2010 papers. Which means that the marks for each question was very high and furthermore, it was unguided. You need to only answer each question with a number and you can get like, 10-20 marks?

The first "big" question consisted of 5 smaller questions and each tested on easier algebraic concepts. This is the question where I think I scored and had the highest value out of all the 3 "big" questions. 

The next two "big" questions were really difficult. One focused on geometry and the other calculus. I had no idea what the geometry question was all about (I hate geometry!) and I could merely guess the answer (thankfully they didn't require me to show my working). The calculus question, though, was manageable, and I could answer it with my A-Level Mathematics knowledge.


3. Biology: Students in Singapore studying Biology at A-Levels, take note! The Biology paper bore little resemblance to A-Level Biology and you will definitely need to revise your O-Level Biology (which focuses on the macroscopic study of biology). The paper would be better to SPM/UEC students though, in my opinion. Anyway, I answered almost all the questions with rather confidence and guess a few questions on biodiversity as well as the names of biologists.


4. Chemistry: Chemistry was much, much more manageable than the other two maths/science papers and it tested on basic chemistry concepts, from stoichiometry to inorganic reactions as well as organic compounds. I would say the chemistry paper is about 75% of A-Level standard and slightly higher standard than SPM. 


5. Japanese: Students who did not know Japanese, like me at the point of taking the exams, wrote their personal particulars and left the exam venue (it was the final paper of the day). Now, recalling back, the Japanese paper consisted of three parts. Presently my Japanese is about JLPT N4-N5 standard and I would say I could do the first part with ease, maybe do a bit of the second part and leave the rest blank. 

Anyway, the Japanese results is merely for those good in Japanese to stand a better chance and would not count into the final score, so I didn't really care that much at that time. 


So... How could one prepare for the exams?

1. Do the past year papers linked above. If you can't finish all, at least complete the 2007-2008 papers as the same format might appear again this year.
2. If you want extra practice, you could do the sample papers on EJU's website. According to what I heard, the EJU syllabus is similar to that of this written exam.
3. Train your mental calculation. Take note, no calculator is allowed (for maths & science), so try doing all the papers above without using a calculator. Don't worry though, the answers would not involve complex calculations.
4. I'm not sure about the Japanese paper though because I didn't take it, but I heard cramming the grammar before the exams helps.

What to do the day before the exams?

1. For Malaysians living far away from K.L. (like Johor Bahru, Penang etc), I think it would be better if you arrive in K.L. the day before the exams and stay in a hotel or friend's/relative's house. For me, I stayed in a cheap-rate hotel because I didn't have any friends or relatives in K.L. Thankfully, it wasn't the peak season so the hotel rates were cheaper.
2. Have lots of good rest. This is paramount as all the papers will be held in a single day. Therefore ensure you have enough stamina to whiz through all the papers!
3. Ensure you have enough pencils, erasers, sharpeners and the stationery you need in your pencil box. I'm not sure whether pens are allowed, but if they are, I would still recommend pencil + eraser though because it's neater and you can avoid mass crossing-out. Remember, no calculators!
4. On the morning of the exams, have a light breakfast. Not too much because it makes you feel sleepy easily. 

So that's all about the written exams. Again, I apologize for not being able to cover all details, including the World History, Mathematics (A) and Physics papers because I didn't take them. And this post is written from the perspective of a Malaysian who was educated in Singapore for 4 years, which is why I could only compare the papers to the Malaysia and Singapore national examinations and not others. The exam papers will be the same worldwide though. 

Anyway, I hope for all the best for those taking the exams in the future, and may the odds be ever in your favor! 頑張って！

The Monbukagakusho (MEXT) Undergraduate Scholarship (Embassy Recommendation)

p.s.: This post is written from the perspective of a Malaysian who applied for the undergraduate scholarship. For readers of other countries or other levels (e.g. graduate, teacher training...) who are interested in applying for the scholarship, the process described here may be different, so please cross-check with your country's Embassy of Japan.

7 Things to (Probably) Introduce Myself

Hi, my name is Kai（海 in Japanese）, nickname in fact, and before starting on any other writing, I thought it would be best to first introduce myself. And I also thought it might be good to introduce myself by listing 7 items that best describe myself. So, without any delay, here are the 7 descriptions that best fit me:

1. ASL: 18-year-old (year 2014), Male, currently living in Malaysia and going to Tokyo soon. 

2. My current interests are reading books and watching films. My favorite authors are George Orwell (known for the political satires 1984 and Animal Farm) and H.P. Lovecraft. And yes, the latter does imply I'm a big Cthulu Mythos fan. And I also read Chinese novels, but not a lot (most are Chinese translations of Japanese novels in fact). 

Part of all the books that I own. Planning to bring some of my favorite novels to Japan!

Watching films is another of my interests. Favorite film of all time? Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. I don't really read the graphic novels of Batman, but that movie was just plain awesome even to a non-fan like me, in terms of plot, music, cinematography, the visuals... 

My DVD Collection.

And if you know me good enough, I'm quite the picky movie-goer. I do trust film critic sites like Metacritic and RottenTomatoes a lot, and I wouldn't watch a movie unless the reviews are good. Although that does lead to some awkward situations where I bring my friends to watch some arthouse, Oscar-bait film and they go dozing off halfway through the movie. 

3. I used to watch Japanese anime and read manga, but due to certain issues, I've stopped watching it since last year. However, I do have my favorite anime and manga, and they are Higurashi no Naku Koro ni（ひぐらしの鳴く頃に）and Kindaichi Case Files（金田一少年の事件簿）respectively.

Furthermore, I used to be an avid player of Yu-Gi-Oh, but stopped around the time Synchros died out and replaced with Xyz monsters. I still do have my Agent Angel deck though, and I would be bringing it to Tokyo, so anyone in Tokyo can invite me to a duel. 

4. My disease? Yeah, I do have... 

Hehe. Just joking. It's not a "disease" per say. I must admit that I have a mild case of chuunibyou （中二病）since secondary school, and it hits every time I see something spectacular or awesome. Like there was one time, I saw an actual-size Gundam model and I go forward to pose a photo, pretending myself as a Power Ranger!

5. Much unlike other teenage boys, I don't enjoy sports or video games at all. Probably because of my upbringing since childhood, but I wouldn't want to discuss it here. I do play computer games like Pokemon (yeah, you can laugh now^^), but only a few times every year. I get very nauseous whenever I play a first-person shooter or any game involving shaky camera, which is why I don't usually join other boys in playing such games.

6. Malaysia-born, but wasn't strictly Malaysia-educated. My primary school, as probably most Malaysian Chinese do, was a chinese school and my first two years of secondary education was also in a chinese private school. After Secondary Two (14 years old), I got an offer to study in Singapore and I accepted it. My Secondary Three and Four were in an all boys' school in Singapore and later, with my O-Level results, I entered a junior college and completed the last two years of my formal education there. 

I believe that it is the diversity of education that I received and the different cultures that I was exposed to during the past 12 years that made me want to explore the world more and make the decision to study at a Japanese university.

7. Very fond of cats, especially since they have such a loving, quiet demeanor. Yeah, I am that kind of person who, if saw a wild cat near a supermarket, would go into the supermarket and buy some cat food for it. And I'm absolutely looking forward to visiting one of the neko cafes in Tokyo! 

A wild cat that lives near my previous dormitory in Singapore. Isn't it adorable?

Busy eating a tin of cat food...

So, yeah, that would be all for my introduction, and I'll be leaving for Tokyo at the beginning of April, that's why from February to March this blog will be mainly dedicated to my experience applying for the MEXT undergraduate scholarship last year. If you do have any questions about me, do feel free to comment below!