Minimum GPA Requirement
To be eligible to apply for MEXT Scholarship a minimum GPA of 2.30 out of 3.00 of the most recent academic degree is required. On a scale of 3.0, the minimal GPA is 2.3. What if the university does not employ a 3.0 grading scale? There are none that I am aware of, even in Japan. We had to manually convert each applicant's grades or marks from their home country scale to MEXT's 3.0 scale using the system below.
Rules For The GPA Calculation
Please take your time to calculate GPA score carefully according to the MEXT evaluation scale, and check whether you are eligible to apply for MEXT Scholarship or not. The university will re-calculate your GPA after they receive your application documents. The University is going to do the calculation for you, but if you are concerned about your marks, you can calculate it yourself beforehand to determine whether you have a chance. However, if your calculations differ from those of the university, they will use their figures.
The last two years of grades should be used to calculate the GPA. The computation excludes grades such as "pass" and "approved." (However, in a pass/fail situation, "Fail" would be regarded because colleges consider that to be a graded course fail.)
Only grades earned in degree-seeking programs should be used for computing grades. Grades acquired as a non-degree pursuing student, at a Japanese language school, or in other non-degree programs are not considered.
Grades should be determined for each academic year, with in-progress years excluded. If grades are given on a semester basis and grades for the first semester of a year are available, that semester should be included and count toward the two years.
If a student changed programs within the last two years (e.g., from a bachelor's to a master's degree program) and the most recent program is graded in semesters, with an odd number of semesters' grades available, and the preceding program is graded in quarters, the preceding program's grades will be used, and the preceding program was graded in full years, then 2.5 years of grades should be calculated to meet the minimum of 2 years.
Only grades achieved after the transfer will be considered if a student transferred to a new program at the same level (e.g. transfer admission, dual degree program). Grades earned prior to the transfer, on the other hand, must be calculated and entered in the recommendation's remarks section.
If a grade calculation is not possible, the university must explain how it arrived at the conclusion that the applicant's academic achievement was equal to or better than a 2.3/3.0 GPA based on objective data. It is necessary to provide concrete evidence. "The candidate done great research," for example, will not be accepted as an explanation. (Editorializing: A statement of rank of merit within the student's class could be used as concrete evidence.) Proof of peer-reviewed academic publications during the past two years, or significant academic/research-based awards earned in the past two years.)
Grading System of Applicant Past University:
In order to calculate your grades, you will need an explanation of your grading system. An explanation of the grading system is generally a chart that shows all of the possible grades that can be earned and, ideally, the descriptive value of each one. To determine how many distinct grading levels, or “grading buckets” your system has, you will need an “explanation of the grading system” (or marking system) from your university. In many cases, this is printed right on the transcript or it may be available from your university’s website. If not, you will need to get one – it’s going to be required for your application, anyway. If it is not printed on your transcript, then talk to the international office at your university or a graduate school admissions office. You need your university grading system to be able to convert your grades. Without a grading system of the past university, your grades are impossible to interpret. Below you can find some templates of grading system of different universities
Grading System of University 01
Grading System of University 02
MEXT Grade Conversion Chart
Grading systems vary wildly from country to country, so the same grade could be a good score in one country and a terrible score in another. For example, a 71% in Japan is below average (2.00 on the MEX 3.00 scale), but in the UK it is at excellent grade (3.00 on the 3.00 scale). A “D” grade in the US is just one place removed from failure (1.00 on the 3.00 scale), but in Australia, D stands for Distinction (3.00 on the 3.00 scale).
To get your GPA on a 3.0 scale, you have to convert each individual course according to the chart below. Converting your overall average from one system to the other does not work. If you convert the overall average, the result will not be accurate. You need to convert each course grade one by one.
Even if your university uses the system of determining your overall grade by adding your total earned marks and dividing by the total available marks, as is common for the “First Class,” “Upper Second Class,” etc. system, you still need to convert each individual course by its individual percentage. This can make a significant difference in your grade, so be careful with the math! Also, in this system, a course with 200 available marks would be considered 2 credits for the next step, while a course with 100 available marks would be considered 1 credit.
OK, use the chart to convert each grade for each course for the past two years (four semesters). Now, if your university uses a credit system (e.g. some courses are worth 1 credit, some are worth 3, etc.), then multiply each converted grade by the number of credits. If your university does not use credits, then you can skip this step. Less math!
Add all of the totals together then divide by the total number of credits. Drop everything after the second decimal place. Do not round. A 2.299 is a 2.29 (ineligible), not a 2.30 (eligible).
As a final note, I should caution that while a 2.30 is eligible, it is hardly competitive. So, if you’re closer to 2.30 than you are to 3.00, it’s going to be very, very important to have an amazing Field of Study and Study Plan to balance that out and earn the scholarship.
MEXT’s Official Conversion Chart
