1

The GRE verbal is essentially a test of your grammar. Get the Barrons or Kaplan word list and memorize as many words as possible. You can also try using flashcards since you have such a short prep time. Kaplan also has an Advanced Verbal book that you can buy, it is supposed to help you score 800 on the GRE.

Consultant:

The GRE verbal is essentially a test of your grammar. Get the Barrons or Kaplan word list and memorize as many words as possible. You can also try using flashcards since you have such a short prep time. Kaplan also has an Advanced Verbal book that you can buy, it is supposed to help you score 800 on the GRE.

To be sincere I really doubt most people here need an 800 since most would be doing engineering. Except if someone wants to do a PhD in the humanities

Wow guys! It's nice to see how much information have been shared in this since I've been gone. I've learnt a lot more. Well, I'm back for Fall admission. All thanks to the player hater that denied me visa after asking silly questions relating to my current job; it not being an oil company, my choice of school, if I had travelled out before (I've not) and who my sponsor was; him being an uncle that doesn't bear my surname. These questions I had answered honestly and satisfactorily in my own opinion. The guy no know the current job situation for 9ja? I just dey vex

Anyways, I intend to give it another shot while I look at other good programs in the UK and Canada. I've sent mails to the departments where I was admitted to have them defer my admission but there has been no response. Does anybody know how the deferring thing works in the US?

holakunle:

Hi fellas,

I need some words of advise on GRE exam. The new year came with a drastic change of career path for me. And as such, I intend enrolling for an engineering graduate admission come Fall 2010. I have been able to lock down a few schools whose application deadlines are still open. The main point here is that I'll need to write GRE test by January ending if I'm to meet up with these deadlines.

Can the house please advise on the best way to crush the GRE Verbal Test for a score of 700?

I would be glad if all relevant materials (pdf/softwares) can be sent to  holakunle(at)yahoo(dot)com

@ SEFAGO, Yalesman & Bebure    Your opinions on the caption above would be highly welcomed and appreciated

For the Quantitative- Use Powerprep and NOVA GRE. For the Verbal, Barrons would be helpful but focus on developing techniques to answer RCs. I wish you the best in your exams.

SEFAGO:

To be sincere I really doubt most people here need an 800 since most would be doing engineering. Except if someone wants to do a PhD in the humanities

Yeah that's true. Even with a 500 on the Verbal section, you could get admitted to an Ivy League school.

@ Others, Focus on the Quantitative section and the Analytical section. A bad score in those two would hurt your application.

Godeagle:

Wow guys! It's nice to see how much information have been shared in this since I've been gone. I've learnt a lot more. Well, I'm back for Fall admission. All thanks to the player hater that denied me visa after asking silly questions relating to my current job; it not being an oil company, my choice of school, if I had travelled out before (I've not) and who my sponsor was; him being an uncle that doesn't bear my surname. These questions I had answered honestly and satisfactorily in my own opinion. The guy no know the current job situation for 9ja? I just dey vex

Anyways, I intend to give it another shot while I look at other good programs in the UK and Canada. I've sent mails to the departments where I was admitted to have them defer my admission but there has been no response. Does anybody know how the deferring thing works in the US?

What's wrong with those folks? I'm so sorry bro. But keep trying. I'm expecting a decision come March. For those preparing for visa interviews, visit this thread and read through the pages. It would help a great deal.
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-240241.0.html

Wishing every January test-taker success in their exams.

Wow guys! It's nice to see how much information have been shared in this since I've been gone. I've learnt a lot more. Well, I'm back for Fall admission. All thanks to the player hater that denied me visa after asking silly questions relating to my current job; it not being an oil company, my choice of school, if I had travelled out before (I've not) and who my sponsor was; him being an uncle that doesn't bear my surname. These questions I had answered honestly and satisfactorily in my own opinion. The guy no know the current job situation for 9ja? I just dey vex

Interesting your case is a good example of what one should not do in a visa interview. From past experience with the American Embassy,

1) If you haven't traveled before then visa would be harder
2) If your sponsor isn't your father/mother/company but a relative then you will need a miracle then to get the visa.
3) The guy doesn't need to know the job situation in Nigeria, all he is interested in is making sure you don't plan to work in the US to pay your fees.
4) The fact that you don't work in an oil company when you are probably doing chemical engineering is another bad marker especially if you plan to do a masters. You have to be able to convince the Embassy that you would be coming back to Nigeria even if this is not the case. If you had a job in an oil company for example, you could tell them that after my masters, I would reapply for a better position within the oil company, but since you don't even have a job in oil, they are not convinced you know what you are doing.

Infact these are not silly questions and pretty standard. If I was interviewing you, those 4 questions already marked you down as someone not likely to come back to Nigeria and who possesses insufficient funds and might be planning to work in the US to pay your fees.

I agree with I and 2 above and know from the experience of others that it is hard. Infact, I was also hoping for a miracle myself. However, I also know people who didn't meet those criteria and still got their visa. As for my 3 and 4, with the employment situation in Nigeria, It shouldn't be hard to understand why someone with an engineering degree will be in another industry with the hope of securing a job in his dream industry upon graduation from the masters program. That doesn't mean the person does not know what he's doing. It's an attempt to reposition oneself to be more competitive in a world class industry with companies that only want to employ people with world class degrees. I've got friends that have done so who are currently in the oil industry. (Though they went for masters in the UK)

Hopefully I'll do a better job of convincing them the next time. I'm not about to give up on my dream and it will work out well if it's God's will for me.

Superbrain:

What's wrong with those folks? I'm so sorry bro. But keep trying. I'm expecting a decision come March. For those preparing for visa interviews, visit this thread and read through the pages. It would help a great deal.
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-240241.0.html
Wishing every January test-taker success in their exams.

Thanks bro, I'll try again for Fall. All the best with your admission decisions!

i was away for a while,  that was why i couldnt reply mails and post comments here.

@bebure, i did sent u mail, check it and get to understand my needs, thanks so much i got the the powerprep gre, it so wonderful, i do really appreciate u for your support and encouragement. actually i have started reading the barron and it has really been helpful alot ,  i will find time to lay my hands on the powerprep,

@Goodeagle, the basis and the most important thing when going for visa interview is to able to convince the interviewer to your optimal capability that u will definitely come back after your study and that one is not going to join the long bundles of foreigners depending on their economy for survival,  so when going for visa interview, rehearse your answers to likely questions and be able to convince the interviewer that u will come back probably with some certain bondings. to be candid, visa interview question and best way of answering them worth researching for most especially anyone who has not travelled before. anyways i still wish u the very best as u forge ahead to try your luck again.

@netsos, i will send u the barron or did bebure already sent it to u.

@holakunle, all u need is dedication and self confidence that u can make,  but then since the limit is so small, i will advise u to focus more on your reading comprehension as it has been researched that Rc covers 1/3 of the whole verbal mark and just try laying your hands on some vocabs,  but then u might not be able to exhaust the vocabs due to time limit. but u can have consolation in the fact that u can capitalize on your quant to improve your score generally so alos do u have AWA also there for u. i will send u the two materials i have here

@bebure, i am finding it hard using the powerprep u sent to me on vista, is it that it is not vista compactible or what,

@others, this thread as been somewhat inactive for the past few days, guys, lets keep the thread blowing with resourceful info and contributions,


anyway doing gre exam this feb, and do we have those that did this passing month jan, we need u guys to tell us about ur experience, we could always learn from u guys, tx all,

yalesam:

@bebure, i am finding it hard using the powerprep u sent to me on vista, is it that it is not vista compactible or what,

@others, this thread as been somewhat inactive for the past few days, guys, lets keep the thread blowing with resourceful info and contributions,


anyway doing gre exam this feb, and do we have those that did this passing month jan, we need u guys to tell us about your experience, we could always learn from u guys, tx all,

Well there really isnt much to talk about because application season is done- applications for the fall semester should be in by now

SEFAGO:

Well there really isnt much to talk about because application season is done- applications for the fall semester should be in by now

Actually that depends on the school. They are not all monolithic regarding application deadlines you know. For some schools like Texas A&M (deadline was november), Stanford and University of Texas (deadline was early january) it is certainly too late to apply now for fall. For other schools like Colorado School of Mines, LSU, Houston however the deadlines range from 1st of March to May. With that said some of them advice international studernts to apply nine months ahead cos of visa issues etc but you can still try your luck and apply. And from my experience it is always, aways always good practice to apply ahead of the ddeadline because most of these admissions take place on a rolling basis and if you apply at the beginning there is less competition as opposed to applying at the end of the cycle. Hope this helps.

bebure:

Actually that depends on the school. They are not all monolithic regarding application deadlines you know. For some schools like Texas A&M (deadline was november), Stanford and University of Texas (deadline was early january) it is certainly too late to apply now for fall. For other schools like Colorado School of Mines, LSU, Houston however the deadlines range from 1st of March to May. With that said some of them advice international studernts to apply nine months ahead cos of visa issues etc but you can still try your luck and apply. And from my experience it is always, aways always good practice to apply ahead of the ddeadline because most of these admissions take place on a rolling basis and if you apply at the beginning there is less competition as opposed to applying at the end of the cycle. Hope this helps.

Yeah but standard is January 15th I think for most graduate schools. But yeah ones in the south might be slower but Northeast schools usually set a January 15th deadline especially for fellowship consideration.

SEFAGO:

Yeah but standard is January 15th I think for most graduate schools. But yeah ones in the south might be slower but Northeast schools usually set a January 15th deadline especially for fellowship consideration.

You are very rightSEFAGO. But I think homeboy is applying for petroleum engineering and lets face it thats a mostly southern thing. Also from what I understand unless you are doing a PhD or maybe a research based masters (big MAYBE) then you're not going to get financial aid. The bottom line is that it depends on each person's situation and the onus falls on the individual to know what needs to be done and when. I assume yalesam has done his research.

@yalesam regarding the Powerprep thing follow these steps coutersy of ashis on testmagic(http://www.urch.com/forums/gre/66983-gre-powerprep-many-other-gre-programs-dont-work-vista.html#post644340):

1. Start -> All Programs -> power Prep ->
2. Right click on the powerprep.exe icon on the menu.
3. Click on "properties".
4. The following window will appear.
5. Then change the compatibility options for Windows Xp and also put a tick mark to start the program as an administrator.
6. Then click on "Apply".
7. Then run the program from the menu again.

Thats what I did and it worked fine. It should work for you. If it doesn't then I cant help you further.

You are very rightSEFAGO. But I think homeboy is applying for petroleum engineering and lets face it thats a mostly southern thing. Also from what I understand unless you are doing a PhD or maybe a research based masters (big MAYBE) then you're not going to get financial aid. The bottom line is that it depends on each person's situation and the onus falls on the individual to know what needs to be done and when. I assume yalesam has done his research.

True that- I haven't really considered whats going on for masters programs- they are definitely rolling though. I know a lot of masters people who turn in their application and get a response in like 3 weeks.

Infact a lot of people are receiving offers right now for top schools such as berkeley, michigan, Carnegie mellon, MIT, caltech and such.

biina is a quite correct, early applications would have helped a lot. I just have to keep my fingers crossed- God prolly loves me

yea sure not all the skools are monolitic as regards that, but then most institutions prefer early submission of application mostly for those considering getting assistanship.

Hey people, been a long while. I'm expecting an admit any time soon. So nervous I've been freaking out, i hope it doesn't turn to paranoia. Can't just imagine that after all the stress I went through I would not get an admit- won't happen folks.

Infact, I'm expecting an admit with aid. Join me in prayers,

@ sefago, are you the one on talk.collegeconfidential.com? Those folks got some amazing stats it makes me wanna scream.

I need that barron's list and powerprep software

^ Go and buy a book and stop being stingy. It cost a total of like $35/40, moreover check if your school library has GRE books. I spent a maximum of $40 on preparing for my GRE, that exam is not worth spending money on.

I will get it for free, I promise.

http://www.ets.org/gre/general/prepare/index.html

You can download powerprep here. Barron is 25 bucks. If you are using previous software versions of windows then you are ok. If you are using vista you need a compatibility pack setting. If you are using mac, then powerprep does not work on a mac laptop.

peace

Thanks.

Superbrain:

Hey people, been a long while. I'm expecting an admit any time soon. So nervous I've been freaking out, i hope it doesn't turn to paranoia. Can't just imagine that after all the stress I went through I would not get an admit- won't happen folks.

Infact, I'm expecting an admit with aid. Join me in prayers,

I'm with you my brother,
, really really with you,
, in prayers and in shoes.

I believe in prayers so let us pray together. Superbrain, by the grace of God, we'll post our testimonies here.

Any results yet for everyone?

Hi guys,

Honestly speaking I thought this topic is dead, until when I wandered into it last night. I must commend you guys are doing greatly.
@Superbrain, Sefago, and Godeagle, nice job for keeping the flag flying high.

@Godeagle, sorry about the visa thing. It really pained me when i saw your post, but I believe All is Well. Never throw away your dream, cus it is worth pursuing and I believe God will surely make a way for u somehow.

I decided to focus on my wife's admission last December since mine was delayed till Fall, and to the glory of God she and my baby are doing fine in the US even as I am typing now. I am still waiting for the confirmation of my admission, the school said I will have to wait till April. They even told me to go and do TOEFL (may be because my Verbal score is low or because it is a PhD admission they are given me, cus my wife did not do toefl, and she is in the same school). I used to think getting visas to US is the toughest part of the journey, I never know, until now, that getting admission might even be worse unlike UK education that I even have up to 4 admission wasting in my desk.

Anywayz, am back since the blog is still alive and hoping to help the little way I can.

@Godeagle, I say it again, don't quit the dream. Try to re-strategize your plan. Mail the admission officers of your intention to defer the offer till Fall. If that is not possible, ask them if u can re-apply, and spell out your reason of needing the degree. Find a very good reason why it is necessary that you have a sound academic knowledge from such a reputable school. You can even link your application for admission to the present Climate Change. Knowing fully well that Nigeria is flaring gas and that has been one of the main way why the ozone layer has been depleted. Let them know that you need the academic knowledge involved in helping Nigeria to solve this problem. You can read more on climate change - the cause, the impact, and the vulnerable - for u to have enough information in achieving this purpose. And since it is Fall admission, you can still get the visa because a space of like 5-months would have passed since you last applied for one, and i am sure by then your confidence would have risen higher.
Best of luck mate.

hey pple,
from what i gather, you have to specify the schools you want your gre sent to abi? what if you dont want it sent to any school yet? its valid for 5years isn't it? i just want to do it and get it outta the way so i dont have to start reading for it while i'm working. . .

@ arshy,
Where have you been bro? I missed your presence on this thread. A lot of newbies now, The process has been a hell of an experience. My undergrad transcripts was finally sent out on the 26th of Jan but following up on the schools ain't been easy cos I ended up applying to six! Anyway, I'm hoping to hear from them before April. What school are you applying to and what's your major? You should consider taking the TOEFL to make up for your low verbal score. I think the visa interview process is much easier than the application for admission.

@ netotse,
Looks like you got alot of cash to throw around. Additional score reports are now $23 per school. You can save yourself the $92 expense by choosing the four schools while you register for the exam. Just an advice.

hehe, I have gotten so many rejections in the past two days its quite demoralizing. I am a few steps away from breaking into tears

SEFAGO:

hehe, I have gotten so many rejections in the past two days its quite demoralizing. I am a few steps away from breaking into tears

pele, dont give up hope yet. Have a friend who applied to more than 5 schools and got rejected by most, until he finally got an offer in late may from one of the top ones that he had given up on.

Yeah it sucks. I have gotten a somewhat offer from a very lowly ranked school though lol but it was my safety. I still have to nail that one. It is a big name school but lowly ranked in my field of interest. So when you applied for your PhD did you write the professors you wanted to work for? And did you contact professors? I know people who got in the backdoor route- they knew and had done research with professors in the evaluation committee.

I think writing professors works better at lower ranked programs. Most professors at top programs are busy enough and get tons of such email. You will be lucky if the guy reads it, talk less of replying. You often would get a generic response from such.

You will surprised how much of a 'main route' the backdoor has become. A lot of people gain admission into top programs thru direct personal recommendations or by proxy recommendation (e.e an old colleague or student of the professor). It is not uncommon to find research groupd being dominated by people of a particular nationality. Undergrad research in a school of interest is definitely a very good way of getting into top programs. You could also look into the diversity angle. A lot of schools have diversity office that try to increase the number of minority students in grad programs in Engineering.

For schools you are still waiting on, you might consider contacting a Nigeria/Black/minority professor in the department or if possible going to see them in person. Even for schools that have turned you down, there is nothing that says the initial rejection is final. If you can convince a professor to be willing to take you into his group, even the rejection can be reversed.