tensazangetsu20:

Well if a Phd is his aim, it's going to be very tricky but it's still doable. Letter of recommendation from professors here would not even carry any weight because we don't do research in Nigeria. Well if I am him, I will try to study in a world-class university in Europe or Asia, try and do very well get that research experience and then apply to do a PhD in the USA that's only if that's his aim though.

I agree.

Let me chime in with my little experience..... Nobody for US send your first class degree with no research experience from NIGERIA. They don't even trust your degree!!!! And our reputation is getting worse!!! UK schools will send you small because they sorta love first class degrees. That said, if I were in his shoes, I will take my first class to a top European school, gain as much research experience and come back to the US for a PhD.

Bottomline, a first class degree from Nigeria can never compare with that from America, Europe or even China and India. Let's all wake up! You need to work extra to stand out.

@happyday, those schools u mentioned except for LSU and KSU are ranked among top 50 in the US and top 100 in the world. Please give them more credit! You would be amazed that they would still turn the guy down!

I just wanted to add...and not trying to be funny at all. Many of our first class graduates get to foreign schools and cannot even make a merit in MS. It's appalling and I can understand why US schools don't trust our nigerian degrees. In my MS class for example, we had 6 first class graduates from Nigeria. Not even one of them could make a distinction. One managed to make a merit and the remaining graduated with pass! The three people that made distinction all had 2.1 in their BS.

drhopeful:
Let me chime in with my little experience..... Nobody for US send your first class degree with no research experience from NIGERIA. They don't even trust your degree!!!! And our reputation is getting worse!!! UK schools will send you small because they sorta love first class degrees. That said, if I were in his shoes, I will take my first class to a top European school, gain as much research experience and come back to the US for a PhD.

Bottomline, a first class degree from Nigeria can never compare with that from America, Europe or even China and India. Let's all wake up! You need to work extra to stand out.

@happyday, those schools u mentioned except for LSU and KSU are ranked among top 50 in the US and top 100 in the world. Please give them more credit! You would be amazed that they would still turn the guy down!

Funny how things work. I wrote the bolded in my reply, and later removed it. Yes, they don't. The average American has a warped impression of an African, more so a Nigerian. Yes, many think Africa is a country, and it's all full of mud houses and stinking swamps. Esp the Gen X & Y's.

Those schools I mentioned are actually reach schools for any Nigerian first class applicant. Spot on!

drhopeful:
I just wanted to add...and not trying to be funny at all. Many of our first class graduates get to foreign schools and cannot even make a merit in MS. It's appalling and I can understand why US schools don't trust our nigerian degrees. In my MS class for example, we had 6 first class graduates from Nigeria. Not even one of them could make a distinction. One managed to make a merit and the remaining graduated with pass! The three people that made distinction all had 2.1 in their BS.

Oh, really! I can imagine how these guys would laugh at us, when we keep saying there are brains in Nigeria but the system is killing them. But it's true, only it isn't obvious. How were the classes though? Did you have more of classes, tests, and exams, or there were group discussions, class projects, term papers, and what not? That could def explain the cause.

drhopeful:
Let me chime in with my little experience..... Nobody for US send your first class degree with no research experience from NIGERIA. They don't even trust your degree!!!! And our reputation is getting worse!!! UK schools will send you small because they sorta love first class degrees. That said, if I were in his shoes, I will take my first class to a top European school, gain as much research experience and come back to the US for a PhD.

Bottomline, a first class degree from Nigeria can never compare with that from America, Europe or even China and India. Let's all wake up! You need to work extra to stand out.

@happyday, those schools u mentioned except for LSU and KSU are ranked among top 50 in the US and top 100 in the world. Please give them more credit! You would be amazed that they would still turn the guy down!

@bolded. Very true. I have a friend who graduated with 4.96 in Chem Eng from one of the top 5 schools in Naija. He applied to MIT, Princeton, Stanford. They all bounced him. So, no one sends your first class without research experience and our degrees don't even carry weight when placed beside degrees from foreign schools.

happyday:


I agree.

Yes o, no need wasting time in a low ranked program. It's not worth it anymore.

shayhune:


@bolded. Very true. I have a friend who graduated with 4.96 in Chem Eng from one of the top 5 schools in Naija. He applied to MIT, Princeton, Stanford. They all bounced him. So, no one sends your first class without research experience and our degrees don't even carry weight when placed beside degrees from foreign schools.

That your friend was way in over his head. How can he apply to MIT and Princeton without any research experience or outstanding achievements.

tensazangetsu20:

That your friend was way in over his head. How can he apply to MIT and Princeton without any research experience or outstanding achievements.

some people are actually lucky..so it is not impossible for MIT Yale or Princeton to give a Nigerian graduate admission.. It is just difficult.. ...don't let's us discourage people who want to have a shot at US top schools.....they should just make sure they have back-up plans(safe schools)

babyfaceafrica:
some people are actually lucky..so it is not impossible for MIT Yale or Princeton to give a Nigerian graduate admission.. It is just difficult.. ...don't let's us discourage people who want to have a shot at US top schools.....they should just make sure they have back-up plans(safe schools)

It's not impossible but you need to have something stellar on your application. A friend of mine went to MIT cause he won the anzisha price and had his own start up and another friend who rejected an offer from upenn did some volunteer work during his NYSC and started an NGO to help poor children. Just have something stellar. Admission to top schools is very holistic so you must distinguish yourself in every way possible.

drhopeful:


BTW, where are Scholastica16 and Time2smile? You two should not give high blood pressure oh! Any update?

Not a word from any but I am optimistic. Sorry, been off for a moment so I am just seeing this.

OGreene:
Scholastica16 have you heard back? Why not call the dept, tell them you are waiting for a feedback and still interested.

Bro, it is well. Would share my experience soon.

shayhune:


@bolded. Very true. I have a friend who graduated with 4.96 in Chem Eng from one of the top 5 schools in Naija. He applied to MIT, Princeton, Stanford. They all bounced him. So, no one sends your first class without research experience and our degrees don't even carry weight when placed beside degrees from foreign schools.

I am guessing this your friend is in UT Austin at the moment which is also a top 4 school engineering wise. The point is admission decisions could go either ways. Nobody truly has it figured out but a lot of the opinions here are spot on. The school of graduation can throw some weight.

tensazangetsu20:

That your friend was way in over his head. How can he apply to MIT and Princeton without any research experience or outstanding achievements.

He was not. Besides, he is on a direct PhD now in Austin which came with a hefty fellowship. Speaking about awards, he had a ton of them even before he got into the 'top 5' Nigerian school. I have learnt a lot about US admissions in this application cycle and in due time I would delineate my findings on this thread.

Scholastica16:


He was not. Besides, he is on a direct PhD now in Austin which came with a hefty fellowship. Speaking about awards, he had a ton of them even before he got into the 'top 5' Nigerian school. I have learnt a lot about US admissions in this application cycle and in due time I would delineate my findings on this thread.

UT austin too is a very good school so he ended up well.

babyfaceafrica:
some people are actually lucky..so it is not impossible for MIT Yale or Princeton to give a Nigerian graduate admission.. It is just difficult.. ...don't let's us discourage people who want to have a shot at US top schools.....they should just make sure they have back-up plans(safe schools)

There are a couple of people even on NL that are in these schools listed above. I personally know 2 people currently doing their PhD in MIT and neither hard cognate research experience.

By every ramifications 4.96/5 is stellar. In WES it would come out as a 4/4. He had a ton of awards within his University and was an Olympiad scholar even before getting in. I believe he had 8A1s and a B3 in his WASSCE which at the time was the best result at least in Lagos.

Like I said, if who Shayune is referring to is this person then he is doing a PhD fully funded at the University of Texas in Austin.

Hi guys... Keep up the good work. I just started following this page. Please I need your advice or someone to put me through. I graduated with a gp of 3.34 on a scale of 5. That is second class lower. However, I wish to go for my masters abroad. I contacted an agent and he requested for 350k. I can't afford this neither can my parents. I have managed to save some money from my teaching job but even if I continue saving for the next five years with the job, I still cannot afford the tuition. Please what will you advice I do to get the necessary funding considering my low gp. Which country should I consider? I don't av any idea regarding this travelling stuff. All ideas, arguments, advices and constructive criticism are welcome. Thanks and God bless.

happyday:


How strong is your research experience? If it's little or none, focus on your GRE, and score very high. In the meantime, select schools in the mid-100s on rankings. It seems you already know schools you want to apply to. So yeah, GRE is the focus now.

Thanks for the concern everyone, I believe this is an academic forum thus, engendered presenting my profile in that format. To be candid, I don't rely on the so called degree to get what I want, most times,if not all - I don't mention it in conversations I engage in.

I am hopeful, my profile will give me an edge over other applicants and its still work in progress.My final project has a little bit of research work in it and I have a paper to my name with intention of writing one or two papers before the year runs out. In addition, my PPA is a research institute in my state of service. In terms of skill-set possessed in the IT industry and my field, its not that bad for a fresh graduate, I just can't start scribbling it out, as usual, its still work in progress. I am still researching on schools to opt for, I am considering K-state, Penn state univ, TSU,Michigan,Duke, Stanford or Caltech(I won try my luck o ).

My opinion about those first class guys that performed below expectation, the degree was earned as a result of the energy they put into their studies back in Nigeria. Moreover, if a student can survive in this country's "morale-enervating" education system, I believe he can survive in virtually,any academic environment in the world- reason might be ; they lost focus or were simply distracted by the luxury of obodo-oyinbo.

still repping team fall 2018.

Senorita123:
Hi guys... Keep up the good work. I just started following this page. Please I need your advice or someone to put me through. I graduated with a gp of 3.34 on a scale of 5. That is second class lower. However, I wish to go for my masters abroad. I contacted an agent and he requested for 350k. I can't afford this neither can my parents. I have managed to save some money from my teaching job but even if I continue saving for the next five years with the job, I still cannot afford the tuition. Please what will you advice I do to get the necessary funding considering my low gp. Which country should I consider? I don't av any idea regarding this travelling stuff. All ideas, arguments, advices and constructive criticism are welcome. Thanks and God bless.

Ma'am, you would need to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. No one would spoon feed you at this stage of your life. 3.34/5 is not bad for admission into the US. The first thing you can do is to evaluate that GPA using any of the recognized credential evaluation agencies including WES. Take an English Test(TOEFL/IELTS) and GRE. ALso work on your letter of recommendations andn Statement of Purpose. By the way, what course do yo intend to do your MS in?

Senorita123:
Hi guys... Keep up the good work. I just started following this page. Please I need your advice or someone to put me through. I graduated with a gp of 3.34 on a scale of 5. That is second class lower. However, I wish to go for my masters abroad. I contacted an agent and he requested for 350k. I can't afford this neither can my parents. I have managed to save some money from my teaching job but even if I continue saving for the next five years with the job, I still cannot afford the tuition. Please what will you advice I do to get the necessary funding considering my low gp. Which country should I consider? I don't av any idea regarding this travelling stuff. All ideas, arguments, advices and constructive criticism are welcome. Thanks and God bless.

You don't need an agent for anything please get this very clear. All you need at the moment are on this thread. What is your major? You will need to prepare very well for Standardised Test to boost your chance of admission into GOOD SCHOOLS as well as funding where applicable. Always come here to ask your questions, I am sure you will get one or two answers. On no account should you use an agent, it will not do you any good.

jeebz:


Ma'am, you would need to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. No one would spoon feed you at this stage of your life. 3.34/5 is not bad for admission into the US. The first thing you can do is to evaluate that GPA using any of the recognized credential evaluation agencies including WES. Take an English Test(TOEFL/IELTS) and GRE. ALso work on your letter of recommendations andn Statement of Purpose. By the way, what course do yo intend to do your MS in?

Thanks.... I intend to do a management course

pennstate:

You don't need an agent for anything please get this very clear. All you need at the moment are on this thread. What is your major? You will need to prepare very well for Standardised Test to boost your chance of admission into GOOD SCHOOLS as well as funding where applicable. Always come here to ask your questions, I am sure you will get one or two answers. On no account should you use an agent, it will not do you any good.

Thank you. I studied economics

Senorita123:
Hi guys... Keep up the good work. I just started following this page. Please I need your advice or someone to put me through. I graduated with a gp of 3.34 on a scale of 5. That is second class lower. However, I wish to go for my masters abroad. I contacted an agent and he requested for 350k. I can't afford this neither can my parents. I have managed to save some money from my teaching job but even if I continue saving for the next five years with the job, I still cannot afford the tuition. Please what will you advice I do to get the necessary funding considering my low gp. Which country should I consider? I don't av any idea regarding this travelling stuff. All ideas, arguments, advices and constructive criticism are welcome. Thanks and God bless.

Hey! You're welcome to the thread! Feel free to hang in here, ask questions (like you've done), and help others when you can! But first, you need to chill. It's a lot to juggle around, but trust me, if you can take it one step at a time, and ask for help when you're lost, you'll be fine.

First off, forget about the agent. If you have his number on your phone, delete it. He's not gonna help you.

Next, you need to be self aware. You need to know your profile, or "stats", it's a big part of the game. To get what you need, you need to know what you've got. Your GPA ain't bad, but you'd need to work a lot harder for admission, and also funding. Just like for any good thing in life.

What did you study in undergrad? Are you interested in research? What do you plan to study for grad school?

tizentos:


Thanks for the concern everyone, I believe this is an academic forum thus, engendered presenting my profile in that format. To be candid, I don't rely on the so called degree to get what I want, most times,if not all - I don't mention it in conversations I engage in.

I am hopeful, my profile will give me an edge over other applicants and its still work in progress.My final project has a little bit of research work in it and I have a paper to my name with intention of writing one or two papers before the year runs out. In addition, my PPA is a research institute in my state of service. In terms of skill-set possessed in the IT industry and my field, its not that bad for a fresh graduate, I just can't start scribbling it out, as usual, its still work in progress. I am still researching on schools to opt for, I am considering K-state, Penn state univ, TSU,Michigan,Duke, Stanford or Caltech(I won try my luck o ).

My opinion about those first class guys that performed below expectation, the degree was earned as a result of the energy they put into their studies back in Nigeria. Moreover, if a student can survive in this country's "morale-enervating" education system, I believe he can survive in virtually,any academic environment in the world- reason might be ; they lost focus or were simply distracted by the luxury of obodo-oyinbo.

still repping team fall 2018.

Don't judge people. You never know what kinda battle they are fighting.

happyday:


Hey! You're welcome to the thread! Feel free to hang in here, ask questions (like you've done), and help others when you can! But first, you need to chill. It's a lot to juggle around, but trust me, if you can take it one step at a time, and ask for help when you're lost, you'll be fine.

First off, forget about the agent. If you have his number on your phone, delete it. He's not gonna help you.

Next, you need to be self aware. You need to know your profile, or "stats", it's a big part of the game. To get what you need, you need to know what you've got. Your GPA ain't bad, but you'd need to work a lot harder for admission, and also funding. Just like for any good thing in life.

What did you study in undergrad? Are you interested in research? What do you plan to study for grad school?

Thank you. I studied economics as an undergraduate

Scholastica16:


I am guessing this your friend is in UT Austin at the moment which is also a top 4 school engineering wise. The point is admission decisions could go either ways. Nobody truly has it figured out but a lot of the opinions here are spot on. The school of graduation can throw some weight.

Scholastica16, I tried to code it but you figured it out . You don burst my bubbles. Yea. He's in UT Austin. In fact, he even got a good offer from Georgia Tech(full funding for Phd) but rejected it for UT Austin. What got me perturbed was why MIT, Princeton and co would bounce such strong profile even with a very good GRE score, SOP and LORs.

By the way, are you an Akokite

tensazangetsu20:

That your friend was way in over his head. How can he apply to MIT and Princeton without any research experience or outstanding achievements.

He had outstanding achievements oo, one of which was BGS of his school and I think he had research experience.

Senorita123:

Thank you. I studied economics as an undergraduate

Nice! So, which field are you thinking of focusing on for your MS/PhD?

shayhune:

Scholastica16, I tried to code it but you figured it out . You don burst my bubbles. Yea. He's in UT Austin. In fact, he even got a good offer from Georgia Tech(full funding for Phd) but rejected it for UT Austin. What got me perturbed was why MIT, Princeton and co would bounce such strong profile even with a very good GRE score, SOP and LORs.

By the way, are you an Akokite

Those schools don't get "very good" apps. They get perfect applicants.

tensazangetsu20:

UT austin too is a very good school so he ended up well.

Yea. He ended up well

Recommendation letters from Nigeria are not valued. Am a victim. So I intend to start my MSc at TUHH or TUM, Germany Winter 2017 then move to US for PhD on completion. Hope I have made the right decision? Any advice will be greatly valued and appreciated.

tensazangetsu20:

Well if a Phd is his aim, it's going to be very tricky but it's still doable. Letter of recommendation from professors here would not even carry any weight because we don't do research in Nigeria. Well if I am him, I will try to study in a world-class university in Europe or Asia, try and do very well get that research experience and then apply to do a PhD in the USA that's only if that's his aim though.

happyday:

Nice! So, which field are you thinking of focusing on for your MS/PhD?

For Msc, I am considering business administration or finance