Preparing for entrance exam

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Most universities in Japan have an entrance exams for post-graduate students. Exemptions are given to some fortunate student for example those who got MEXT Scholarship or Monbukagusho to continue their studies here. For others, you have to go through an entrance exam.

Since both of us were given home country scholarships, so we had to sit for the exam. For Kyoto University entrance exam, it was held for 2 days. The first day was basically an interview session with Q&A sessions related to basic engineering questions and related to our previous background as well as the laboratory subjects related questions. I had about 10 questions including a little bit on engineering theory and mathematics.

The second day was my proposal presentation follow by a little bit of Q&A to give idea why I want to do my research. Both exams take about 30 minutes each.

For preparation, my husband and I got only 2 months prior examination date. During that 2 months, rigorous practice on probable question was done between me and my supervisor (this actually depends on the supervisor willingness to help) and a lot of discussion on the topic for research. Although I already have some idea before coming to Japan, of course supervisor will give his input and ideas to make the proposal significant for the research.

For Kyoto University post-graduate student, we also need to provide sufficient result for English proficiency test. The test might either be TOEFL, TOEIC or IELTS depending on the department requirement.

I think it is best to prepare early and to have a lot of discussion with our supervisor to understand the research better and to give some idea to our supervisor on our work.

Before I forgot, all examinations were conducted in English. So do not worry of not knowing any Japanese at all.

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