(Temporary) Transformation from 10406014 to 09R12110: The Journey

Confused about the title =P ? hehehe… Let me explain what it is. 10406014 is my student number in my home university (Bandung Institute of Technology / ITB) and 09R12110 is my student number in YSEP Tokyo Tech. So from September 2009 until August 2010 I become a temporary Tokyo Tech Research Student (R in the number refers to Research Student). Yeah, as I mentioned before at the previous post that as a “focused on research” YSEP student, research should be my first priority.

So how can I become a YSEP 2009 student? It was a little bit long journey though. Every January, Tokyo Tech offers YSEP program to ITB. ITB’s International Students Office (ISO) will give announcement about this offer. Do you want to see the example? Here it is.

You can see from the announcement that documents we should prepare are not much, only your current academic transcript (Indonesian is ok for the first time), curriculum vitae, TOEFL / IELTS certificate (fortunately you can use the institutional one ^^ ), and 4 pieces of your photograph (3 X 4 cm). It is very easy, isn’t it (for the beginning =9 )? hahaha…

ITB has a mechanism in selecting its students to apply YSEP. After I applied all of the requirements (mentioned above), ISO did a first selection based on the documents (secretly =P hahaha… Because I do not know what is the exact criteria for being a YSEP candidate). My tips for the first selection: I think that ITB has great standards for its candidates, probably GPA ≥ 3.25, TOEFL ≥ 550 (Paper-based Test / PBT), and impressive curriculum vitae will give you some advantages ^^

After one week of that, ISO informed candidates who had passed the selection and his/her interview schedule. Yeah, the next selection was interview in English =P hehehe… At the first time, I was very nervous about this one though (actually because of my English) =P hohoho… I was interviewed by Mrs. Ayi Rohayati and a man (I forget his name, sorry =) ). In the interview, I strongly emphasized that the main reason for me to go to Japan is for getting an independent life and being a strong person (yeah fortunately it worked =) ). Do not think that the interview was very scary though. We just laughed much at the interview in fact (especially when I told them my kimono got off when I was in Japanese restaurant =P hehehe…) ^^

My tips for the interview: relax & just be yourself! I think that my English was not that good compared to other students (that I knew), but the students whose English is better than me did not pass selection. So keep your positive energy in your mind ^^

About the next week after second selection, ISO gave exact ITB candidates to be submitted to Tokyo Tech. Luckily, in 2009 there were five persons who were chosen (and these five are also become official YSEP 2009 students now ^^). Being ITB candidates means more effort of course; we had to fill real YSEP application form. There were lot of documents we had to prepare, including academic transcript (it must be in English now), letter of recommendation from our dean, photocopy of passport, TOEFL / IELTS certificate (institutional one was ok), three pieces of your photograph, etc. You can look it in more detail at http://www.ryu.titech.ac.jp/~ysep/data/checklist.pdf. In ITB’s selection stage, you do not have to fill this application form (but of course after you are chosen to be ITB’s candidate, you have to fill all of these completely). The deadline of the application was February 28th 2009 (it was my 21th birthday, so in that time I hoped passing this further selection could be the best gift ^^ hehehe…).

My tips for filling the application form:

1. Please write in a very neat and clear handwriting (block letter).

2. You have only one week to fill all of the application form, so please prepare well some documents before. I think you can prepare some photographs, academic transcripts in English, and photocopy of passport and TOEFL / IELTS certificate before so you do not have to be so busy in filling the application form. It is crucial for you to prepare your passport and TOEFL / IELTS at least one month before you apply though (because you cannot get that in a very short time, can you ^^ ?).

3. You need your dean’s letter of recommendation. Please put this one as the first priority I guess. Yeah you know how busy is your dean, don’t you ^^ ? So move fast for this one. Remember, only one week.

4. About the study statement (why you choose Japan, YSEP, and what kind research you want to explore). Please make it brief, clear, and short. You do not have to be a novel author here =P hehehe… Just ensure that your statement will make person who read it impress (I think it is important enough to tell them about your short and long term plan after you complete your undergraduate study and strong desire to learn lot of things ^^). How about me? Mine was only one page (three paragraphs, each for the question) =9 hehehe…

5. Also about your professor choice. It is said that you have to fill it up to three professors (it means that one or two is ok). But I think you should fill all of the three. Why? Because based on my experience, I chose only one and I got a problem when my only choice cannot be my adviser, so I had to add two more (meant that I had to search all professor’s website again to get the suitable one). It was a little bit bothering me, wasn’t it? So do not hesitate to fill the second and third choice ^^

6. I know that it is quite confusing in filling all of the application forms. Fortunately you can see some previous YSEP student’s application forms at ISO office as examples to get some ideas ^^ Do not look at mine, especially the statement, because I am shy enough about that =P hahaha…

Next was time for me to wait (for a long time) @_@ hehehe… Tokyo Tech decided to take me or not by the end of April 2009. Here is the result (I removed some contact informations for safety):

—————————- Original Message —————————-
Subject: YSEP 2009-2010: Results of the selection
From: “YSEP-Tokyo Tech”
Date: Thu, April 30, 2009 4:46 pm
To: Dini Ariastuty
Cc: “Young Scientist Exchange Program”
————————————————————————–

Dear Dini Ariastuty,

This is Akiko OHGUSHI from Tokyo Institute of Technology.
I would like to announce application results for YSEP 2009-2010 program.

The following students are selected as YSEP student.

1．Ms. Laras Ayutirta Pramesti*
2．Ms. LIMURIA Risiana*
3．Mr. JINATA Chandra*　
4．Mr. Risvan Dirza*
5．Ms. ITMAINATI Fakhria ***

Applicants with * will be recommended for JASSO International Student
Scholarship. The final result of JASSO scholarship will be sent to you by
the end of June.

Applicant with *** will be recommended for Sato International Scholarship.
The final result of Sato International Scholarship will be sent to you by
the July.

As for successful applicants, could you please confirm their final decision
about the participation of YSEP program with the above condition by May 11?

We are arranging your students’ supervisor at our institute at the moment.
The formal acceptance letter will be mailed out to you after we decide their
supervisor.

Please contact us if there is something we can do for you.

Sincerely yours,
Akiko OHGUSHI

**********************************
Akiko Ohgushi (Ms.)
International Student Exchange Division
Tokyo Institute of Technology.
**********************************

But even Tokyo Tech said yes to me, it did not mean that I would join YSEP; I had to wait again until end of June to ensure that JASSO is willing to give me its money for my living in Japan for one year because when I filled the application form, I chose the “I will apply for the JASSO scholarship and will NOT participate in YSEP without this Scholarship” choice, so if JASSO is reluctant to give its money: it meant nothing for me (I will not be able to become YSEP student). I think my choice was reasonable because here I am only a research student, not a master or doctoral student, who will not get any official academic predicate from this program. For what I have to pay for that though =) ? Besides, yeah, living cost in Japan (especially in Tokyo) is quite expensive (probably it is true if people says that Tokyo is the most expensive city in the world ^^ ) hehehe… Here is my e-mail (I also removed some contact informations for safety) about final assurance to receive JASSO scholarship (meant that I successfully become YSEP 2009 students) ^^ :

—————————- Original Message —————————-
Subject: Selection Results of the JASSO Scholarship (BANDUNG INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY)
From: “YSEP-Tokyo Tech”
Date: Wed, June 24, 2009 12:35 pm
To: Dini Ariastuty
Cc: “Young Scientist Exchange Program”
————————————————————————–

Dear Dini Ariastuty,

This is Akiko OHGUSHI from Tokyo Institute of Technology.

I would like to announce that Ms. Laras Ayutirta Pramesti , Ms. LIMURIA
Risiana, Mr. JINATA Chandra and Mr. Risvan Dirza were selected as the
recipient of JASSO Scholarship. The amount of the scholarship is as follows:

Duration of scholarship: September 2009–August 2010
Monthly stipend: 80,000 Japanese Yen
Relocation allowance: 80,000 Japanese Yen (upon arrival only)

Formal letter of adoption will be mailed out to you with the formal
acceptance letter for YSEP program.

As for the SATO international scholarship regarding Ms. ITMAINATI Fakhria,
we will send the selection results soon.

Best regards,
Akiko OHGUSHI
**********************************
Akiko Ohgushi (Ms.)
International Student Exchange Division
Tokyo Institute of Technology.
**********************************

Thank God that I have passed all of those selections, so now here I can share my experience to you ^^ If you are interested to be the next YSEPers (we are usually called this, which means students who join YSEP), why do not you prepare for that from now ^^ ? For more detail information, you can find it in http://www.ryu.titech.ac.jp/~ysep/home.html. Good luck ^^

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