The initiator of this thread and anyone on this thread who advised against haphazard plans of coming to the US need to be thanked. How I wish most Nigerian youths would have access to this thread. In my own case, I was already in the US (last year) before I saw this thread and my blood went cold. Almost everything that were warned about happened to me. I came depending on some relations for my tuition but they duly left me in the lurch. I only came with my living expenses which did not in any way meet the school's living expenses estimate. I went through hell and am only just getting out of it.

I thought that because I got an admission into an Ivy league school here in New York that I would be cut some slack by the school authorities. I had another think coming! The school asked me to withdraw and initiated the process! I could not believe what was happening to me. I kept coming back to this thread to see if there was any vestige of survival strategy I could find on here but there was none-because the advise on this thread is the cold hard fact. Most Nigerian youths think abroad is an Eldorado. Well, I learnt at my own cost.

Gratefully, a member of my church congregation came to my aid and lent me the tuition! Unbelievable, yes! There is nothing God cannot do but do not put God to test, he may just let you stew in your juice. The member and his wife told me to pay them back in 2 years after my graduation. It was an unprecedented miracle.

There remained the little matter of living expenses. I dare say it has been nothing short of a miracle how I have survived here so far. My friends in Nigeria who i did not expect has been sending me their widow's mite, nothing big but enough for me to stint on it. I also secured a part time job in the school but those of you who know will know that these part time jobs are nothing in the general scheme of things. Many students are in the slots so you only get a piece of the pie. Notwithstanding that you may want to work the full 20hours due to you as an international student, you will get a limited time slot (in my case 5 hours a week) in order to accommodate other students. An hour is $10. You do the math plus the tax and you see that the money is only for your phone bills and sparse feeding.

I will be done in a month's time with my masters program and I can only say am grateful to God for saving me from the effect of my folly. I will not advise anybody without his full tuition and living expenses to set out on this journey. This is a cold place and you may not get help like I did.

Coming here has made me appreciate Nigeria and how much I miss it. I have an opportunity to stay back here but am going back home. I have already got some handsome job offers thanks to my prospective ivy league certificate. Now I know that Nigeria is really the place to be despite all the ills and troubles. In 10 years from now, by God's grace, I think I will be better of in Nigeria achievement wise than I would be if I stayed back here.

Needless to say, most friends and wellwishers do not understand. They have been advising me to marry an Oyibo and get the green card and take advantage of this "once in a lifetime opportunity" of being in America. They mean well even though it is based on ignorance. I am not knocking anybody that decides to stay back here or even marry a citizen here. I am only talking from my own experience. I worked in Nigeria before coming here and I have had an opportunity to make an informed evaluation and projection and it is in my best interest to return home.

Coming here has been an eye opener also in many positive ways. I have become more enlightened and acquired a lot of knowledge and ideas that will sustain me back home. Coming here has also shown me that our political class are very cruel folks. They send their kids to the best schools in order to maintain their hegemony over us.

I really am glad I made this journey because I survived (only just). My advice to any Nigerian coming here for studies is to have a CONCRETE plan. Please ensure you have your full tuition and living expenses. You can have as living expenses half of what the school estimate is and eke it out. You may survive if it is only your living expenses you are worried about but it is almost impossible if the tuition is thrown into the equation.

Another point, do not embark on schooling here just as an excuse to escape Nigeria. It is a huge financial gamble to make. Ensure that you have an idea of what you intend to do with the education be it masters, undergraduate etc.

I want to apologise to anyone who may take an offence to any part of my write-up. It is not meant to disparage, insult or even preach. I just felt that I owed it to prospective Nigerians students to the US to let them know the reality on ground from my point of view.

Thank you

NB: When you are stranded in the US, the last people you can expect help from are your Nigerian country men. This is a fact. Not just from my own experience but from the stories of other people I met here. Nationals of other African countries here have more feeling of camaraderie than us.

Already skating the thin ice of sounding like a know-it-all, I will stop here.

@ Beowulf

That was a great pieces of a write-up, unfortunately the system blocked it but it worth reading over and over again. I hope the Mod will help us sort it out.
Thanks for posting that.

_{reported to the site admin} hopefully, it should show up very soon

@Justwise: Thanks. It has shown up finally. I guess it was too lengthy

That was a good information. But permit me to add that it is not just the US alone,also in other parts of the world where Nigerians travel for studies.If you don't have your complete tuition fee and living expenses don't dare go,especially in Asia and some parts of Europe and even the Uk of recent.
I am currently passing through similar situation but i know my God will see me through.

In my own case,i traveled with my complete tuition but on getting here I discovered that the school has alot of ''hidden fees'' that nearly drained all my money,both tuition and living expenses,which is contrary to the information contained in their brochure and website.I was made to pay so many other little fees during registration,before you could say jack all my money was gone.I ended up paying only 1/3 of my tuition.Now I am stocked and I am waiting for miracles to to happen to enable me complete the remaining part of the fees.Since it is a masters degree,my time is ticking and the school authority seem not to be taking it lightly with me anymore.I am planning on writing a letter to the president explaining my predicament and asking if my fees could be paid in some time in the future,using my certificate as security.But if miracles happens(which believe will surely happen) then i will give God all the glory.

Why the rush if i may ask?Don't go if you cannot afford it.You are warned.

Good one Beowilf.

Let's hope some will learn from your experience.

My two cents:

It is tough coming to America if you do not have the funds, so you have to weigh the pros and cons. If you are selling pepper in Lagos and living in face-me-i-face-you, then maybe coming to America to struggle is a step-up for you. If on the other hand you are middle-class to upper-middle-class in Nigeria and you have other options to get a stable job in Nigeria, the struggle may not be worth it.

In may own case, my family is closer to the former. So when I look back now, the struggle in the first year is worth it. I now live pretty comfortably and even my American friends tell me that I am "balling" i.e. rich. I am just comfortable though. More importantly, I have gained the outside knowledge/practical skills (not just school/book knowledge) that will help secure my financial future so I cannot complain. This situation is infinitely better than staring ASUU strike and a 2.2 GPA in the face with no prospect for a job before I left Nigeria.

I must acknowledge that I have it a little bit easier since I have a full scholarship that covers tuition, room and board. So I only have to make money for other essentials. But I have seen Nigerians around me with no scholarship make it too.

One advice: Do well on you SAT and GRE and write killer statements of purpose. Also get very good recommendations as needed. There are many schools in America willing to give you a full scholarship to come to America. It depends on level though. The best get full scholarships to ivy-leagues and the rest like me can get full scholarships to lesser schools but take full advantage of the opportunities available in American society to move up.

While trying not to be negative, i would say that if you expected to get to America without your tuition and just expected things to "sort" themselves out, then you must be from the 13th century.
I mean come on. We have the internet now and there is so much information out there. If you call yourself a graduate, your reasoning should at least show that. If a school states that your tuition is over 20,000 a year and you expect someone will pay for you or you will somehow work for it then you have a problem. Dont cry or blame anyone. Your lack of preparation/research is what messed you up. There are tons of people who knew what to expect and prepared for it. Don't make the US out to look like some sufferhead situation.

@beowolf!!! i feel u bro!, i came to jersey 18months ago with my med degree from osu, the hustle na die!!! but thank God, d storm is over!!!
dunno where u are, maybe we could share experience,

KOKO.hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm eni to we oju ni eru n ba

Beowulf:

The initiator of this thread and anyone on this thread who advised against haphazard plans of coming to the US need to be thanked. How I wish most Nigerian youths would have access to this thread. In my own case, I was already in the US (last year) before I saw this thread and my blood went cold. Almost everything that were warned about happened to me. I came depending on some relations for my tuition but they duly left me in the lurch. I only came with my living expenses which did not in any way meet the school's living expenses estimate. I went through hell and am only just getting out of it.

I thought that because I got an admission into an Ivy league school here in New York that I would be cut some slack by the school authorities. I had another think coming! The school asked me to withdraw and initiated the process! I could not believe what was happening to me. I kept coming back to this thread to see if there was any vestige of survival strategy I could find on here but there was none-because the advise on this thread is the cold hard fact. Most Nigerian youths think abroad is an Eldorado. Well, I learnt at my own cost.

Gratefully, a member of my church congregation came to my aid and lent me the tuition! Unbelievable, yes! There is nothing God cannot do but do not put God to test, he may just let you stew in your juice. The member and his wife told me to pay them back in 2 years after my graduation. It was an unprecedented miracle.

There remained the little matter of living expenses. I dare say it has been nothing short of a miracle how I have survived here so far. My friends in Nigeria who i did not expect has been sending me their widow's mite, nothing big but enough for me to stint on it. I also secured a part time job in the school but those of you who know will know that these part time jobs are nothing in the general scheme of things. Many students are in the slots so you only get a piece of the pie. Notwithstanding that you may want to work the full 20hours due to you as an international student, you will get a limited time slot (in my case 5 hours a week) in order to accommodate other students. An hour is $10. You do the math plus the tax and you see that the money is only for your phone bills and sparse feeding.

I will be done in a month's time with my masters program and I can only say am grateful to God for saving me from the effect of my folly. I will not advise anybody without his full tuition and living expenses to set out on this journey. This is a cold place and you may not get help like I did.

Coming here has made me appreciate Nigeria and how much I miss it. I have an opportunity to stay back here but am going back home. I have already got some handsome job offers thanks to my prospective ivy league certificate. Now I know that Nigeria is really the place to be despite all the ills and troubles. In 10 years from now, by God's grace, I think I will be better of in Nigeria achievement wise than I would be if I stayed back here.

Needless to say, most friends and wellwishers do not understand. They have been advising me to marry an Oyibo and get the green card and take advantage of this "once in a lifetime opportunity" of being in America. They mean well even though it is based on ignorance. I am not knocking anybody that decides to stay back here or even marry a citizen here. I am only talking from my own experience. I worked in Nigeria before coming here and I have had an opportunity to make an informed evaluation and projection and it is in my best interest to return home.

Coming here has been an eye opener also in many positive ways. I have become more enlightened and acquired a lot of knowledge and ideas that will sustain me back home. Coming here has also shown me that our political class are very cruel folks. They send their kids to the best schools in order to maintain their hegemony over us.

I really am glad I made this journey because I survived (only just). My advice to any Nigerian coming here for studies is to have a CONCRETE plan. Please ensure you have your full tuition and living expenses. You can have as living expenses half of what the school estimate is and eke it out. You may survive if it is only your living expenses you are worried about but it is almost impossible if the tuition is thrown into the equation.

Another point, do not embark on schooling here just as an excuse to escape Nigeria. It is a huge financial gamble to make. Ensure that you have an idea of what you intend to do with the education be it masters, undergraduate etc.

I want to apologise to anyone who may take an offence to any part of my write-up. It is not meant to disparage, insult or even preach. I just felt that I owed it to prospective Nigerians students to the US to let them know the reality on ground from my point of view.

Thank you

NB: When you are stranded in the US, the last people you can expect help from are your Nigerian country men. This is a fact. Not just from my own experience but from the stories of other people I met here. Nationals of other African countries here have more feeling of camaraderie than us.

Already skating the thin ice of sounding like a know-it-all, I will stop here.

I agree with virtually all the points in your post. My only advice to you is that you need to remember that all you have learned now is theoretical knowledge. Things are quite differnt in the real work place. If you have been offered a good job here, I will advice you to take it and work for a year or two before you head to Nigeria. The little work place experience you will gain will help you a whole lot when you eventually relocate to Nigeria.

@Beowolf, glad to hear you're out of the heat and living it up! i love your story and i'm glad someone's finally telling it cos a lot of students, who are ignorant of the hardships, go abroad and then run home crying instead of fighting their problems away.
But, i also believe you should take some of the blame, because goin to a foreign land without your complete school fees plus livin and food allowance plus back-up money was just, excuse my language, plain dumb!
one thing i learned growing up is that you should always have a back up. and that includes in your finances. my parents hardly ever gave me money, but if i was traveling or even going to a birthday party at my neighbour's house, i always, and i repeat always got money. My mum used to call it emergency money.
So, yeah, word to the wise, take enough dough with you. especially when goin abroad, be prepared, oh, and pack light!!

@Beowolf: God bless you for telling it exactly as it is. This is sooooo true. My story is virtually the same as yours, except that mine was in the UK. Thank God it has become a story now. It's all good to want to study overseas, but please have a very concrete plan and if possible, plans A, B & C. Don't as in DO NOT come on faith!!!!!!!!!!!

i don`t know why we nigerians don`t ask ourselves

have you ever noticed that succesful Nigerian student in the US ( yes succesful whose parents are not thieves or politicians in Nigeria.) are Nigerians who were born in the US or visited US a lot growing up had family there and actually thought about how to survive in the US,

this annoying mentality that out students have going abroad pisses me off big time, you go abroad to study and never even come prepared then open up threads, what did you expect when you went to take the SATS

@VPersie; bro, I 've got 2 talk 2.
My mail is josyjoe98@yahoo.com

Beowulf:

@Justwise: Thanks. It has shown up finally. I guess it was too lengthy

Wow! My kid brother must read this!
Quite a piece Sir.

Dis Guy:

_{reported to the site admin} hopefully, it should show up very soon

Thanks Mod.

Beowulf:

@Justwise: Thanks. It has shown up finally. I guess it was too lengthy

I'm glad it showed up, i can relate to everything u wrote there, i found myself in a similar situation couple of yrs ago, not just for a yr but 3yrs, i listened to pple who told me that its easy to study and work in the UK and i left for the UK without due financial prepration, in my case, i was accommodated by a family friend for a month and 3wks b4 i was told to start jogging it.

That was when i was exposed to the hash reality of working and studying in the UK as a foreign student. There are good Nigerians and there are nasty ones who will use you as cash machine the moment they noticed that u are JJC, forget about some bible carrying, the fasting and praying type of Nigerians, trust nobody. After 3yrs of that ordeal all i can say is : God has time for everybody, he saw me through.

ok, its official!!
people ARE stupid!! surprise! surprise!! you guys leave your country with no money?!! no seriously!! stupidest mess i've ever heard!! this is ignorance at its worst though!! unbe-effing-liveable!! and if people took advantage of you, you've got ur own self to blame!! you showed them just how dumb u were in the first place!! anyhoos thank God the storms over and y'all are back on ur feet!!
next time, research wherever country you're going to!!

Tanx 4 dis man. Pls we gat 2 talk man @ VPERSE

Here's my email add. Psalmbigwig@yahoo.com @ VPERSIEE

you hardly get folks coming out to tell the truth as Beowulf just did! I hope others will see & learn! Nigeria is ours to live and build!

Good step buddie!

Here is a thought. There are many reputable universities outside Nigeria that offer on-line courses. If you are so desperate to obtain education from institutions outside Nigeria, this may be a better alternative than leaving Nigeria just to impress people and suffering in silence over there.

As for me, I have been educated in Nigeria and I do not think I have applied 30% of what I know. Yet, I am busy like crazy. Sometimes, it is not that we are not being educated in Nigeria, it is just that we refuse to learn. Most people like to learn the hard way in foreign lands.

maclatunji:

Here is a thought. There are many reputable universities outside Nigeria that offer on-line courses. If you are so desperate to obtain education from institutions outside Nigeria, this may be a better alternative than leaving Nigeria just to impress people and suffering in silence over there.

As for me, I have been educated in Nigeria and I do not think I have applied 30% of what I know. Yet, I am busy like crazy. Sometimes, it is not that we are not being educated in Nigeria, it is just that we refuse to learn. Most people like to learn the hard way in foreign lands.

There are courses that u can't do online only, u can't do some practicals online, even if u are given the instruction on how to do it, u still need to buy the equipments which maybe far out of ur reach.

This Beowolf is a sore loser! The only sensible thing I can see in his long post is his advise to prospective students to have full tuition and living expenses before setting out for another mans country. However this is just common sense and any student that doesnt realise this is not very smart.

In the rest of his long story, he was just moaning. He claims he had a job before he left Nigeria and in all his wisodom, he didnt think it was sensible to save up enough before embarking on his journey. What did he expect in America? A land where the streets are paved with gold? I came abroad as a student almost 8 and half years ago and It took me 6 years to get where I wanted to be but It was a sacrifice I was willing to make. Foreign lands are not for the faint hearted who expect everything to fall in place within a year or two. You must pay your dues! Expect to suffer a bit, it only makes your story sweeter!

I land at Avalon Airport at Melbourne 2004, a little carried away by the beauty around the country. It's indeed a beautiful country like they say. A concrete and hitech jungle. It's indeed the type of place someone with so much dream belong. "Wait until you get to Sidney", twitted my niece excitedly.
That night, I could still remember my excitement. A new world of adventure, where I could have access to unlimited educational grants.
Anyways sha, I didnt have to wait for too long to find out. I didnt spend 3 months in class before I was told that the scholarship grant is cancelled. All MUS grant and scholarship grants will be cancelled based on some new educational ruling starting from 2005. It affected some couple schools, mostly federal colleges who now have to source for fundings personally. Even the so-called Common Wealth Scholarship was affected, and those who applied were denied.

I find myself having problems with my uncle who wasnt happy he's now helping with fees. Grant applications were denied because my uncle earns above 50k yearly, this is a man with several families back in the country, who monthly disturb him for cash. Besides, his mortgage is in the red, and he's been slapped by a ugly divorce, and might even lose the house to the white woman he married over there. The indications was clear that I wont be getting any help unless I do something. I began with freelancing, and doing waittress jobs and collecting poor tips, and with time it was clear MUS wasnt the college for me. I had to drop out under pressure and start saving to re-enroll WTIA. I had no one to run to, and been female came with its serious tempations. Of course, Australian is a decent society, but what do you think most Nigerian females do down there.

My time at WTIA was marred by several sleepless nights. Waking up to do maths on how to spend my little paychecks. It wasnt a beautiful period of my life. I got a break in 2008 when I met an author down there who employed me as a part-time ghost writer for $20,000 per novel. It was the best thing that happened then. But I know several Nigerians who suffered more than I did from this calamity. Many people think its easy down there, but it isnt. No. The truth is that, even after finishing at WTIA, my first job, I was been over-monitored because of my nationality. And I didnt even start thinking about coming home until I ran into the owner of the company. He was shocked that I with my qualification and experience could be living in a "very poor country like austrlia, while he made several millions of dollars from my own country to come set up the company".

Though, im back in school here. Happily married, with a child, I am planning to go back but not to Australia, but to LBS, London Business School, which is one of the most expensive in the world. Why? Because I have a poultry milling business bringing in lots of income daily. Its expensive to start a business in Nigeria, but once you have, get good and god-fearing management, and you will be smiling to the bank from time to time.
Two years after installing and creating the mill, I believe this was the best decision I ever took, and I was depressed over going to australia to go and learn that true education is very expensive, and living in modern and civilized societies has its high price.

I hope everyone hear learns from this. Know where you are going before you sojourn.

van persie, can we talk, i think i need some advice from you on this issue, leeme have ur email addy, cheers

i want to post a topic. can someone guide me pls?

This is just fantastic! For once, Nigerians agreed on a burning issue! It's a crazy world out there and there are real bad people out there too.

How quickly we blame these students for their ill-fated ignorant unplanned journey? What about their parents? Well,  a lot of these parents deemed it necessary for their ward to travel in order to once and for all heal the poverty line that has for so long taunted them. Who would blame them?

When it comes to studying abroad, there are whole lots of myth you have to understand. For those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children or family members, let us continue to send a clear message that going abroad does not in any way guarantee success. But we should perhaps never forget how magical and wonderful it is to study abroad, especially in the United States. This is confusing, isn't it? Well, here we go again,

In today's world, irrespective of faith , we need that courage. We need a courage to say that it's wrong that three out of every five children born to a Nigerian family are born into poverty. Not taking side this time, I believe it's right to do whatever necessary to provide for those family members the care and education they need to live up to their God-given potential. It is wrong to live in poverty, who's fault you might ask? I guess no family or person would like to associate themselves (self) with that disease called poverty!

Now to the issue of studying abroad. Travelling abroad for many is seen as a getaway clause from frustrations and disappointments. Some see it as an avenue to acquire easy fortune, while others sees it as an opportunity to gain experience in the real world. Most Nigerians in the US are doing well for themselves but unwilling to give a helping hand.  

Reality check- As soon as you arrive in the states for your so-called degree, the Nigerians living there don't see you as a student. They see another poverty-stricken hungry mutherf**kher who would use the opportunity to get a green card! They see a desperate Nicca who would do anything to regularise his/her stay. They won't help you because they  also want you to go through what they've been through.

Finally, before leaving home, have a clear picture of what it would look like if you went to a strange country (this is for those who ignorantly rely on miracles abroad). Think about the humiliations of having to beg to survive, your strength (can you bear it?), being termed illegal aliens if you can't pay your fee and your visa runs out. Think about stereotype Nigerians who won't help you until you've suffered the worst, and finally, think about what that money (all the money you're taking abroad) can actually do in Nigeria in term of business and the rest.

i want to post a topic. can someone guide me pls?

wazobiann:

i want to post a topic. can someone guide me pls?

If u look at the top right handside of this section, u will see New topic, click on it and type ur thread and post