subset:
My people, my visa came through this morning. I follow for those silent readers. I'm yet to recover from the ecstatic feeling.
I owe everything to this thread. I read every darn thing on this thread. I'm specially grateful to lamexx for reviewing my prepared responses and for the mock interview. This guy even called me with his airtime. So much love on Nairaland. Thanks to walspring for paying my sevis fee and to everyone that has contributed to this thread, you guys are awesome.

Abeg you guys should allow me to rant small. The idea for masters came to me immediately I passed out from service. This is the time I stumbled on this thread from a Google search, it brought a huge relieve knowing that most of the questions I have must have been answered here. I made it a duty to read at least 20pages of this thread everyday. It paid off !!

The stressed I went through for my transcript was just crazy. Shuttling almost every month from Lagos to Owerri to follow up on the transcript, even after paying one guy to help me expedite the process(Dude chop my money). The height of it all was when two of the transcript I requested was erroneously sent to one school. It took me almost 3 weeks to realize this error then I had to pay another 20k for another transcript which took one month again to process. Futo una well done!


To the transcript

The VO approved the three people in my front. One of them was an old woman going to visit her daughter, the other person was a lady on F2 going to visit her husband that's in school. She asked her how she met how husband and who will take care of her business when she is away. These people's approval bolstered my confidence.

I was very vocal as none of the questions were unexpected. I already have an answer for almost all the possible questions. Some people say you shouldn't rehearsed your responses but you should know what works best for you. I'm very good at memorizing things so I leveraged on that to practice most of my responses, this in turn strengthened my confidence. I practiced the questions every morning and every night even in my dreams . I just can't stand the thought of starting this process again. Some time ago I read on this thread about maintaining eye contact during the interview. It usually feels weird to me looking people in the eye for more than 3 seconds, so I knew I had to work on that and I did so by maintaining eye contact in all of my conversations with people for the past 2 months. It worked because I was able to maintain eye contact all through the interview. The VO was very conversational, her smile alone will mellow down your tension.

Below is my transcript

VO: Good morning (she is always the first to greet)
Me: Good morning
VO: please pass your passport and your other documents
Me: Gave her my passport, the i20 and sevis receipt. She returned the sevis receipt
VO: Looking at my I20, why are you applying to software engineering degree (with sharp eye contact)
Me: I've always been a tech savvy person. I discovered during my undergraduate studies that my strength and motivation lies in the field of computing. I developed a penchant for programming during this time.It has become something I'm very passionate about. This program will help me solidify my knowledge and give me the ability to design, implement and improve software solutions across multiple domains. It will afford me the qualifications to take up a job as a senior software engineer in a Nigerian tech firm when I am back. I will be able to apply machine learning algorithms efficiently
VO: typing...
VO: how many schools did you apply to?
Me: 3 schools
VO: why did you choose this school
Me: Aside from being one of the schools that pioneered the masters of software engineering program in us. I chose Monmouth university because their software engineering curriculum matches my research interest and offers the best fit for my career growth. My research interest aligns with that of professor wizzy* which is on the application of machine learning in personalized marketing. I am keen on being part of her research group to enable me gain practical knowledge of machine learning concepts. I also like the fact that their program integrates applied computer science, mathematics and management science in the course modules which will give me a well rounded experience in creating software solutions. I was also offered $4000 scholarship
VO: what's your highest qualification
Me: Bsc Statistics
VO: why the change of program
Me: well this is not a change for me though. Studying this degree will equip me with the technical knowledge and expertise to be able to implement machine learning algorithms efficiently considering my background in statistics. It will afford me the qualifications to take up a job as a senior software engineer in a Nigerian tech firm specializing in machine learning solutions. This degree will make me very desirable when I return back to Nigeria because there is a high demand for software engineers in Nigeria.
VO: When did you finish school?
ME: I finished 2015, after which I went for my compulsory youth service and that lasted till April this year. I was retained at the eCommerce firm were I was working a software developer. My primary duties entails extending the website functionality by developing and implementing ad-on magento plugins. I also perform routine maintenance which involves security patch installations, module updates and reconfiguration, search engine optimization...
VO: what are the courses you will be doing and how will they be beneficial to you?
Me: I listed about 7 courses and I repeated some lines from "why software engineering question":
This will help me solidify my knowledge and give me the ability to design, implement and improve software solutions across multiple domains. It will afford me the qualifications to take up a job as a senior software engineer in a Nigerian tech firm when I am back. I will be able to apply machine learning algorithms efficiently (Though I said it in a different way, so won't start sounding like a robot)
VO: I can see that your brother is your sponsor, what does he do?
Me: He is major distributor for so and so
VO: Has he traveled out of Africa before?
Me: Yes he's being to Dubai, Us
VO: Then she started typing for about 20secs and then asked: did you write any standardized test
Me: yes, I wrote GRE (I got 292)
VO: Let me see your score card.
Me: I reached out to my envelop, at this point I can see her dropping my passport in the tray. Then I passed the GRE result
She now said the sweet words.

My people my ear was still wide open I didn't go deaf oo. She now started rapping the usual " your i20 is as important as your passport always keep it on you, you'll need it at the POE and be ready to ...*I helped her to complete it* explain myself. Then she said I'll get a message in 7days to come pick up the passport.

Some people were denied but I didn't see any blue paper flying around. Abi na the 214g be the blue paper?

This has been a huge relieve. I can now close all the endless tabs that has been open on my system the past 2months

My advice to folks just starting the process: This has been repeated here countless times, please note that GRE is a vital component of your application whether you are seeking for funding or not. If you have enough time, abeg prepare for GRE and smash it.

All glory to God

sunshineluv5:
hello pls i have a question bothering me my sponsor does not base here in nigeria and he printed his statement of account dated within 3 months instead of the usual six months hope this won't serve as an obstacle during my interview?

sunshineluv5:
any idea pls?

aadeyi:


dont really understand your question, but if want you meant is "if 3 months old statement of account is good?" Yes as long as it is not older than 6 months. I remember my statement of account was 4 months old when i did mine then, though the VO did not ask for it sha.

Bettertomorrow1:
Much greetings to you all
I was refused visa months ago..which I drop my transcript here, I had to deffer the admission to fall 2018
I have received my new i-20, already filled a new ds160...with a a new barcode

But my question is,do i have link the new ds160 code with the old ds160 before booking for interview Or
I will just forget about the old ds160 code and use the newly ds160 code to book my interview?

Please advise.....

Damidolly:
Hello gurus in the house
Pls which schools can you recommend for someone based on the following
1. No standardized test required
2. Low application fees
3. 50%-above admission chances

Your responses will be much appreciated

Harry4cas:


Congrats bro... First of all, I'm the assistant Secretary of team silent readers. I must confess, your visa transcript was well worth the time ( I actually did read it twice).

We happen to somewhat have same interest, I studied Statistics too. Finished September 2017 from Unilorin and I'm presently serving. I'm very much fascinated to read the line where you mentioned ML. Everything about A.I intrests me. I'd love to also go for my masters in Data Science & Analytics in USA.

Presently, I'm on the the look out for schools with good track record on my intended course of study; it's really tiring to say least because DS is a field with a lot of sub niches, different school with their different area of core concentration. This has contributed to making the whole school search of a thing look very tedious.

Your transcript just motivated me to continue being steadfast in my research and preparing for the greater things that's yet to become of the 'hands that typed this'...


I wish you the very best in your studies... I'm coming very soon to join you guys (hopefully when the time is right)

monistick:
Someone should please help with this. I recently got admitted to a University in Indiana for MBA which is a two year program. When I got my I-20, I discovered the programme end date was August 2021, instead of August 2020. I sent a mail to the school and they responded saying sometimes the programme exceeds two years when prerequisites are involved and also to give me enough time to prepare to leave the U.S when the programme is completed.
Please won't this look like a part time programme to the Consular ?
Should I tell the school to change it ?

Atunde5:


Maybe you went earlier than 120days before resumption.

Glocal1:
Thanks bro, have you got an admission to the school?

Robert6708:


What I meant when I mention standards is just the fact that I feel a lot of hidden factors are always at work during the Visa process. I read a lot and I read this whole thread from start to finish. Some responses are rude, harsh, insensitive, and some people make it seem like you’re doomed to fail if you applied to one school and didn’t write standardized exams. I think I read where someone was saying some schools are waste of time and all. I just feel everybody’s circumstance is peculiar and since this is a faceless forum, it’s better to give more tailored advices.

theamerican:


What we do here is to advise anyone to cover any potential loophole(s) and be as prepared as possible. There's no one sure way to securing a visa and all we encourage people to do is prepare as much as possible. People can come back after they get their visa and say: "I didn't even do this or that as I was advised on Nairaland". All you get here is what we think would boost your chance. It's taken for granted most times because it's free advice.


"You can't get a visa if you apply to one school, have no wife/kids, apply to an unpopular school, weird course, etc." is different from "try to apply to more than one school, a good school, take exams, etc.". You're only advised to do as much as possible to boost your chances.

For example, a man who wants to meet his girl's parents asks you for advice. You tell him to get a shave, dress well, and cut his hair when he's going to meet his in-laws to ask to marry their daughter. It doesn't mean he's doomed to fail if he doesn't do these. It's only an advice. Now, imagine the said man arriving there after following your advice.

Upon his arrival, the parents aren't home. He calls them and tells them who he is and why he's there. They talk on the phone for 30 minutes and the parents say "ok, you can marry our daughter". It'd be ignorant to blame you for having unrealistic standards because in the end, the things you said didn't matter.

I agree with you, everyone's case is peculiar and people deserve as many opportunities as possible as long as they don't screw it up by getting banned. My first visa interview lasted 39 seconds. I don't remember it much or if I even made any sense during it. In the end, I was approved and the rest is history.

Immigration lawyers give almost the same advise you get on online forums such as this and those guys charge thousands of dollars. Ordinary consultation, people are already paying $150+. Let's show appreciation. We are all trying to do better and help one another.

Congrats to you again.

jeffery23:
Hello great gurus in the house
My Visa was delayed 04/5/18
Kindly go tru my transcript and tell me what went wrong,God bless.

Vo: where are you going to
Me: am going to Lincoln university for my mba with a concentration in general business in Oakland carlifonia.

Vo: how did you get to know about the school
Me: the school was recommended to me by an alumni at my place of work and I also did my research online via Education US, Usnews where I found out it’s a good school for me and it’s inline with my dad budget
Vo: how many school did I apply to
Me: LU,UCM and UNC
LU and UCM gave me admission
Vo: what course did you study
Me: Bsc accounting
Vo: okay,so you going for MBA now
Me: yes
Vo: who is your sponsor
Me: my dad
Vo: whats does he do
Me: his a civil engr and his into real estate management
Vo:oh that’s cool ,it mean he build ?
Me: yes he work for both private sector and govt parastatals
Vo: nodding and head and smiling
Vo: have you travelled before
Me: no,had no reason to until now
Vo: are you married
Me: no
Vo: do u have kids
Me: no
Vo:am so sorry ,you may not be eligible for the visa now,kindly apply again
Me: thank you

arilewo:
Good morning to my oga in the house, I made Visa payment via the GTB Online platform this morning.
(1) Does it mean I will have to wait till 3:00pm tomorrow before I can schedule my interview?
(2) In confirming my receipt on the CGI website, am I using the Transaction reference number on the receipt or my User ID as there is no receipt number on the receipt?

jeffery23:


Please, Someone should please tell me what’s wrong with my transcript
My school is to resume June 2 ,registration has already started.

Damidolly:
Hello gurus in the house
Pls which schools can you recommend for someone based on the following
1. No standardized test required
2. Low application fees
3. 50%-above admission chances

Your responses will be much appreciated

jeffery23:
Hello great gurus in the house
My Visa was delayed 04/5/18
Kindly go tru my transcript and tell me what went wrong,God bless.

Vo: where are you going to
Me: am going to Lincoln university for my mba with a concentration in general business in Oakland carlifonia.

Vo: how did you get to know about the school
Me: the school was recommended to me by an alumni at my place of work and I also did my research online via Education US, Usnews where I found out it’s a good school for me and it’s inline with my dad budget
Vo: how many school did I apply to
Me: LU,UCM and UNC
LU and UCM gave me admission
Vo: what course did you study
Me: Bsc accounting
Vo: okay,so you going for MBA now
Me: yes
Vo: who is your sponsor
Me: my dad
Vo: whats does he do
Me: his a civil engr and his into real estate management
Vo:oh that’s cool ,it mean he build ?
Me: yes he work for both private sector and govt parastatals
Vo: nodding and head and smiling
Vo: have you travelled before
Me: no,had no reason to until now
Vo: are you married
Me: no
Vo: do u have kids
Me: no
Vo:am so sorry ,you may not be eligible for the visa now,kindly apply again
Me: thank you

Abacino007:
Good morning house, i have a little challenge. I listed my dad as sponsor and I also have $5,800 in my private account. Can I go to the embassy with my own SOA in addition to my dad's SOA?

theamerican:


What we do here is to advise anyone to cover any potential loophole(s) and be as prepared as possible.

Congrats to you again.

kikky91:


Thanks the boss @ walspring

lasthero:


Yes, MBA. But I'm waiting on Eastern Illinois University admission decision before I make a choice

Glocal1:
Ok, Congrats. I will send a PM.