How to Enter Tokyo Institute of Technology IGP A Program どうやって東工大に入りますしたか？

It’s been a long time since I posted something on this blog. I just got a superb news that… I am admitted to Tokyo Tech (yayy!) I would like to share about this experience, I hope in a humble way. As Tokyo Tech is one of the famous universities in Japan (in science & engineering).

My Background

You can just skip to the next section if you want (the main content of IGP-A procedure), this section is not important. 

When I was a kid, I admired people who attend prestigious “educational” institutions (the so-called elites). Given my family circumstances (not rich, countryside), I think I can only improve my life through (and only through) the excellent education. On top of that, I have to pave my own way, somehow, since my parents could not just send me off to whatever top-tier university abroad (leveraging the privilege of old money). I never got any noticeable rank neither in the class nor my class. During my final year of secondary school, I attempted for Singaporean high school (failed). I applied the same school again during my high school (failed, again). My parents were extremely disappointed with that result (they actually said that my life was already over). Again, I applied for Singaporean Uni for Bachelor degree (failed, again and again). Most probably I have no chemistry with Singapore lol. Fortunately, through sheer of blood (totally exaggerated), I was accepted in ITB (one of the best in Indonesia) for Bachelor degree.

If we want to be honest guys, (even now) ITB is not ranked highly in the world as many people may claim, but I know it is one of the best in Indonesia. For ITB students, please do not think too highly of yourself, I honestly think ITB is over-ranked (internationally). Nevertheless, life was not easy in ITB; the curriculum in my department (Computer Science) was from ACM Curricula, which I thought very good, but ITB lacked facilities compared to overseas universities; and lack of research fund and infrastructure. Therefore, I think it is reasonable if ITB does not get a relatively high rank internationally.

Still dreaming about studying abroad, I joined research program between ITB – Japanese Universities.
GNCT
TUAT

Even though I was not admitted to Singaporean uni, I am somewhat grateful coming to ITB. It somehow provided me with many good things (love, experiences and so on) which I may not be able to gain in other places. For both joyous and sorrowful experiences, thank you ITB.

Things learned: if you cannot take one leap to reach your target directly, then make some short leaps.
Now for graduate study, finally (and finally), I got accepted in a (real) distinguished university, which is the Tokyo Tech. What I want to say is, even when you are not the best, just keep trying.

Application Procedure (IGP A)

Now, for the sake of the title, I would like to share about the application. I applied to International Graduate Program (IGP A). You can see the details in Tokyo Tech’s website. Basically, the procedure has been explained here, it was kind of similar when I applied for research internship in Japan. Please see Tokyo Tech’s website for details.

Steps:

1. Finding prospective academic supervisor. You can browse for laboratories in Tokyo Tech from its website. It is best to find a professor who has the same interest as you. Please remember, you will spend most of your time in the lab as Tokyo Tech is a research focused university. Your happiness during your stay in Japan will be highly affected by your laboratory’s environment. Don’t be shy to ask the current students of the corresponding laboratory about their study-life balance (I hope you are lucky enough to get a reply), as this is the best way to investigate. Tips.
2. Contact the prospective academic supervisor. You should introduce yourself and make your intention crystal clear (e,g., which program do you intend to join–IGP A/B/C). Tell him/her who are you, what do you want to do in Tokyo Tech, how do you know the professor, and why he/she should accept you (CV, transcript, research proposal). Remember to keep in touch and maintain a good relationship with him/her. Don’t hesitate to ask anything and consult about your decisions. One more thing, if your email looks like a spam, you shouldn’t expect to get any reply. Read this article on how to write an email to a prospective supervisor.
3. Interview. Your prospective supervisor maybe be would like to arrange interview(s) before accepting you as his/her student after you get accepted to the university. As my lecturer in ITB whom experienced studying in Japan says, the hardest thing is getting prospective supervisor’s consent. I do not know the exact requirements to be accepted by the prospective supervisor. From my experience, prospective supervisor interviewed me before he declared accept/decline. In the interview, he asked me about research experience, my research proposal as well as about education in my previous university (GPA, etc). The thing you have to remember is, the prospective supervisor might reject you instantly if your research proposal does not align with his/her interest.
4. Getting the consent letter (if accepted). If you got accepted, continue to step 5. If not accepted, please try again (and Godspeed!)
5. Filling up application forms. You cannot apply before you get consent from your prospective supervisor.
6. Entrance examination (at least in the School of Computing). Some professors would give you examination before they declare you acceptance into the lab. But in my case, after the interview with the professor, I had only the entrance examination held by the department. It was via Skype. There was a panel of judges. They prepared some questions about basic computer science (the department you are applying to) knowledge and your research-field related knowledge. For example, I was asked (if I recall correctly) about object-oriented programming paradigm, operating system, algorithm & data structure, and natural language processing stuffs. Because my research proposal is related to coherence (I will say this falls into natural language understanding domain), they asked me about discourse structure, cohesion, etc. The best way to ace this test is to read related books and research papers + refresh your basic knowledge.
7. After this, you just have to wait for the informal acceptance/decline news.
8. Formal acceptance/decline from the university. Entering university is a competition as they have limited number of seats. In my opinion, nobody knows your chance of getting scholarship/admission, because it depends on the competition. Basically, if you perform as the top candidates, you’ll be accepted.
9. Formal scholarship grant/decline notification.
10. After all these processes. They will send you a package to your home country. A formal letter of your acceptance in Tokyo Tech, scholarship certificate, and documents for VISA.
11. Then somebody will contact you again, they will help you to book your flight ticket to Japan (in my case, sponsored by MEXT as I got a scholarship)
12. Prepare for coming to Japan. Hope you’ll enjoy your new life and able to adapt.

Last but not least, I hope you enjoy reading this post and success in your application

EDIT: Tokyo Tech Application Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

I wrote this FAQ section in November 2017, an update since 2016 (I wrote the original article in January 2016). November is the “season” of application for graduate school. I got emails asking me about Tokyo Tech. So, I would like to provide an FAQ section. I try to answer to the best of my knowledge.

1. Question: The professor told me ” we are happy to welcome you in our lab when you pass the exam…”. But I the institute’s website does not mention the test.
   Ans: I think some people asked me this for 2017 and 2018 intakes. I am not sure where did you hear that IGP does not have any entrance exam or how did you arrive at this conclusion. It may depend on the department, but since your prospective supervisor said so, you must take the entrance exam especially if you apply for MEXT scholarship. Remember, admission is a competition!
2. Question: My English score is XXX on YYY test. My GPA is XX on YY <country> scoring system. Do you think I have a high chance to be accepted?
   Ans: I do not know the examination criteria in detail (I am not the one who evaluate you). However, as the university chooses the best students, it means admission is a competition. Basically, if you are better than other competitors, you will get accepted.
3. Question: What were the questions about in the interview?
   Ans: Please see the previous section (application procedure #6) about the entrance examination. In my experience, judges asked me about basic computer science knowledge and research-related questions (both the research I did in my undergraduate and my research proposal). To ace the questions, especially about your research proposal, please read related books and papers. It will be good if you can find books explaining various tasks in the research field. For example, I recommend the following books (for natural language processing):
   • Foundations of statistical natural language processing by Christopher D. Manning and Hinrich Schütze
   • Speech and Language Processing by Jurafsy and Martin
   • Neural Network Methods for natural language processing by Yoav Goldberg)
4. Question: What if I am not recommended for MEXT scholarship (I can’t get MEXT scholarship)
   Ans: This is a terrible situation indeed as our life depends on scholarship (for many international students, especially those from developing countries). The most common alternative I know is JASSO scholarship (the stipend can only cover living cost by the time this article is written). There are many private companies offering scholarships for Tokyo Tech students. Some require you to be residing in Japan when applying, while some require you to be in your home country when filling the form. You can visit JASSO’s website for additional information. Please ask your prospective supervisor as well, I hope s/he will help you!
5. Question: My prospective supervisor hasn’t replied my email, what should I do?
   Ans: They are busy! You should wait for around 7 days. If you still receive no reply, you can send a gentle reminder/follow-up.
6. Question: Are classes conducted in English?
   Ans: Yes. However, some courses are offered in Japanese only. Some courses are also offered in English only. At the time this article is written, we use the odd/even system for courses available in English (odd semester–> English, even semester –> Japanese; or vice versa).
7. Question: Do you have chances to practice the theory you learn in the class, e.g. by doing projects or something?
   Ans: In my experience (graduate school of computing), most assignments are individual. I do not know the reason for this, but since we are in graduate school, I guess we should try to be independent. I mean, discovering things and solve problems by ourselves, but it depends on the courses you take. I have to say that Tokyo Tech is a research-based university; for graduate schools, they put more emphasise in research than classes (in my subjective experience, also some people around me). You can apply your knowledge to your research! I have an industrial/working experience myself (for a few months), and school courses helped me a lot! If you think that attending classes does not help you to solve real-life problems, I guess you should re-evaluate how to pay attention in the class. The might not be related directly, but helpful!
8. Question: There seems to be much information in the website, I am confused @_@
   Ans: Keep calm and read carefully!
9. Question: Hey, I have some questions, can I email you?
   Ans: Of course, you are welcomed! Please look it up at https://icemerly.wordpress.com/me/ or https://wiragotama.github.io/ (not in the comment section). Note that I will not reply if the email looks like a spam.
10. Question: Do you like living in Japan?
    Ans: This is a very personal question as it depends on a personal basis. For me, I enjoy living here. The society is very civilised. For some people, it may pose a though challenges as Japan has many unwritten rules. Please read other blogs/stories about living in Japan and decide for yourself whether you can adapt. I hope you will find this article helpful. One of the reasons why I love living here is the beautiful scenery of Japan! The legend says you do not need to be a good photographer, because any photo you take in Japan will look beautiful! Where to visit around Tokyo, summer in Tokyo, Akita & Aomori, Ookayama.

KEEP CALM AND APPLY TO TOKYO TECH!

*All materials written in this article are subject to my own experience. Please be mindful not to generalize and this post does not reflect the institution’s point of view. You should contact the institution and related parties directly for the most up to date information. Hopefully, my article can provide you an “image” of the procedure.