Jubrilawest:
Good evening to the elders in the house. I am finding it difficult to register for the GRE with my GTB naira MasterCard. Can anyone suggest how to go about it? I am looking to write the exam in September 1 or 2. Thanks

This person could be helpful: stepoluchukwu AT gma.il DOT com. Reach out.

Hope you've spent time mastering the test. Otherwise I would suggest you do. 2-3 months of 8-10 hours preparation per day can work wonders.

Sorry for the unsolicited counsel - but it's important I say it.

Well done to all....

A couple of people have reached out to discuss recommendation letters for PhD. Much as I'd like to write - and I actually enjoy doing this and bigging up deserving students - I can't!

To write the kinds of breathtaking letters that land a student into a serious doctoral program, the writer needs to know the student in an academic setting. For example, as the student's former or current professor/lecturer, research project supervisor, or research boss at a place where candidate does serious research work, either as an RA (research assistant) to some PhD level researcher (preferably a serious researcher) or as full time RA to a group of researchers at a research think thank or consultancy, etc. PhD researchers are always preferable for doctoral recommendation letters.

So I encourage you to reach out to one of these people.

I'm happy to provide comments on letters if your recommenders choose to get a second opinion. But it isn't feasible for me to write such, I can only do that for my RAs and those connected to me via academics. I've like up to 15 letters to provide for this admissions cycle, already completed 8, no be small work. Each is about 4-6 pages, raving and raving and raving about the students and their uniqueness.

In February 2021, I shall be posting an update of where these students obtained positive outcomes and accepted scholarship positions.

Let me reiterate, once again, that letters are very important, and the credibility of the writer can be a big plus too. Thankfully, this is something applicants have power over, because you can choose someone who will write you the bestest letters. And if they do it well, you will swim in offers. A good letter goes beyond "this student is good and well behaved' and actually tries to provide arguments about why a student's average GPA is not reflective of their innate abilities or why a student's extraordinary research potentials are not reflected in the C they got in computational dynamics, etc.

Mechatronika:


Ask that guy again, your GC. He's in best position to answer that question.

This is also correct @Timitex.

I will like to hear what the prof's response will be. It will be interesting for me to be proven wrong...So come back with his response.

Timitex85:
Hi everyone,

I nees your input on this .

I got admitted earlier this year with no funding(I submitted my admission material s late )..so, I got a mail from graduate coordinator advising me to defer my admission till next year so
That I would be consider for funding next year..my question is does that necessarily mean my admission would be coming with full ride next year?

@Timitex
I think the prof is pretty clear. Consideration means consideration. It does not mean certainty. The prof did not say you're deferring your funding. He says you will be considered for funding This means you will enter the pool of competition for funding next year (which you didn't this year because your packet came in late). If you outperform that pool, you will get funding. If you don't, well, anything can still happen. They "may" still give you funding. But note the professor has not promised that you will be getting full or any funding.

That said, in your shoes, I will arm myself and apply to other schools this year - to protect against any risk of not getting any funding from this prof's school.

Paragontek:


Does this apply to MSc candidates?

Yes, the route, as clearly spelled out by TWoods, is friendly to all - PhD holder, MSc holder even BSc holder friendly. This is the employer-sponsored route and relies on the willingness of the employer to sponsor you. So, it applies to MSc and even BSc, provided employers are willing to sponsor. More information is excessively available online.

Once you're PhD and have research pubs and citations, then you are open to this employer-sponsored category plus other categories. In this case, you can basically shenk your employer's help and go your own. This self-petitioning is not everybody-friendly - the employer route is relatively more everybody-friendly - but it's doable.

If it's possible, it's not a bad idea to produce and publish research papers whilst doing a PhD; it helps to gather citations too. When you're finished, you have much much more options as far as green card applications go. If employer is being tricky and only wants to hold you on H1B, you can simply shenk them and go your own. I remember a story where I think one eastern european guy was promised "oh, once we hire you on H1B, we shall begin your green card application.". Well, after they hired this guy on H1b, they told him that, "see, we will only initiate your green card application after you've achieved so so so and so". What!, the guy screamed. He suddenly became someone at the mercy of the employer. Being able to file yourself is a big plus.

MSc holders, in addition to having the employer file for them, can also file for the green card on their own. There are success stories too, but not as many as the positive outcomes for PhD holders that have the other things as I stated above. Finally, as TWoods noted, nationality is important. Fortunately, Naija people do not face the backlog wahala that Indians and Chinese face. This is why it could take anywhere from 1 - 3 years for a naijan to get green card.

Before Trump wahala, even naija/ghana/zimbabwe etc lecturers, who're based in their native countries, could, if they wanted, file for a US green and do all the processing in the countries they're based, provided they are prolific researchers, have a PhD and have good lawyers to prepare wondrous applications for them. On this path too, there are several success stories, although this route is different and you do what they call 'consular application' instead of the I140 that US based people do.

Finally, please note that predicting green card possibility as a reason to embark on an MSc/PhD program, whilst a good idea, has its own risk, like any other thing in life. If status quo shifts and policies change when already in the program, regrets may result. I just wanted to say this. The green card used to be much easier before, but now, they ask many more people than before to attend interviews. Although interviews are largely a formality for people without any skeletons, any gben or suspicion during these interviews can spoil things.

Good luck to all green card hopefuls. Maybe we can revert back to deliberating and debating graduate admissions and scholarships

Prodigy01:
Hello house, I took GRE recently scored 287, though willing to take it again. I need suggestion(s) or better approach(es) to go about it. Thanks in advance. Help someone here!

In addition to the helpful comments you have gotten above, please refer to this below which I recently posted on the visa thread

----

People, while trying to gather information for some people we're trying to place in major programs, I came across this wonderful post on redddit.

It would prove useful for anyone who nurses the ambition scoring pretty high on the GRE

https://www.reddit.com/r/GRE/comments/i63eg6/v_163_q_170_awa_50_from_a_european_with_a_stem/

Enjoy reading and, mostly importantly, following the tips.

TJ0987:
Thank you so much.
Please can I send you an email?

Yes, please do, madam TJ

Guruindahouse:
Thank you for your detailed response sir.
I have read some of your posts here as well on this tread and I must say you are doing a great job. Can I send you a PM sir?

Thanks for the mention. Glad you found the comments useful.

Yes, please send PMs, although my above comment about posterity would have been better

Shuayb0:
Sir your responses have been impressive. Can I send you a PM?

Yes, please PM. But it would have been nice to ask and answer questions here so that posterity can benefit.

Meanwhile, thanks for your comments. But you know, I've been into the game for many, many years, so that's expected. You too will be the same or better if you have same experience.

Soleye24:
I had 4.06/5.00 at my ug. I am looking forward to courses like nutritional biochemistry or animal science or animal nutrition for my PhD. Any advise please?

This is good GPA, but good GPA is not enough, far from it.

Review mine and others' posts on this thread and then come back with your questions. Some of the questions being asked and asked had been answered.

So review and come back with specific questions. As I said, GPA not enough. I should also add that many schools these days say GRE is optional, but it will take a miracle for a school to reject candidate B in favor of candidate A if B and A are otherwise fully identical but B has GRE and A does not.

So, one place to start is to spend the next 6-8 months prepping fire for the GRE. Yeah, it's math and english and writing, but no it's not just math and english and writing.

This should give you an example of how to plan ahead - https://biochem.oregonstate.edu/content/admission-information. Oregon is not bad, although I admit I know very little about your field, biochem. I'm just trying to give general advice. Hopefully a biochem admissions expert will appear here and answer you

Guruindahouse:
I am planning to move to USA for my PHD study next year.
My question is all about life after studies. How long and how easy is it gonna take to get green card upon my graduation in USA. I am going to come to US with my family though.

The gurus in the house, enlighten me about how life can be after PhD studies in US.

If you give more details about yourself, you could get sharp answers that will address your questions. Are you a man (>35 and especially >40) or you're a guy (<35)? What's your educational record and work experience like? Are you an academic in Naija? Which field are you into? And which field do you hope to do this PhD? Do you have research experience? Papers in decent places? Finally, do you have profs who are willing to write you the type of letter that I just finished writing for a student? . A letter that will make oyinbo beg you to come their country?

To your question, green card is doable. But one thing though - provided the government does not change status quo that much and if you;re self-petitioning, you would need a decent job with decent pay and a good research record. This is just one way. There are several ways/categories, and it's a good idea to do some google searches. it's all on the internet.

To summarize, it's relatively easier (not easy though) to get the green card via one of the categories if one i) has an advanced degree ii) has a nice job iii) has research papers (sometimes with citations) and iv) has the grace of God. In fact, people get US green card from outside the US. There is a colleague in South Africa who will be applying and getting the US green card there in SA. This person seeks the green card so they can enter and leave for life. Academic jobs in SA are very lucrative, at least at the professor cadre level, so this person does not plan to "ja komot" from SA, but they are open to opportunities nonetheless.

I hope this helps you. Meanwhile, if an academic institution hires you as assistant professor after your PhD, then you will get a green card. This is because many of them initiate the process of your green card application immediately you join them. In most cases, you join them with an H1b, which they obtained for you (no cap for academic people for H1B), and then they file green card for you once you are hired. The sad thing is just that academic jobs are hard to get in the US, but it becomes easier either if you i) attended a strong program or ii) do a path-breaking research which your advisor does a good job "shouting" about.

All the bestest, Sir.

TJ0987:
Hello Guys,
I sent an email to a faculty member, requesting for PhD supervision and now he wants to schedule a zoom meeting.
I'm really nervous and would love to get tips on what areas I should prepare on.
Thanks guys...

What type of research are you doing? What are your ideas?

You should research your ideas and the type of research you want to do, have them clear in your mind, and try to discuss them to the best of your ability. Nobody expects you to know all the literature and research in your field as you're just starting out. However, you do need to demonstrate that you have done your home and have some understanding of what you're talking about.

All the best

Jona48:


What of someone with a GPA of 3.49 who wants to go for a social science related course for masters, what will you advice him do?

If you want specific advice, be very specific. Social science has like 10 courses. What did you study? Give an idea of which school? And what do you want to go and study? Which country do you like? US?

And if it's econs you're talking about, then you should state the micro and macro and econometrics courses you have taken and grades obtained. You should also list the mathematics courses you have taken and the statistics courses you have taken and the grades you obtained. If you read my long long posts above, you would see where I argue that stating the GPA may not be enough. Which modules did you do well in and which modules did you not do so well.

If it's any other social science course, all the things I said before plus your above GPA can get you into a masters. But full scholarship may be a bit harder, though not impossible. I know of someone in the sciences with like 0.03 more than your GPA. They got 80% scholarship from one US university often mentioned here. However, this person has a GRE score and research experience and good letters of recommendation. In general, the lower the GPA, the lower the chances of securing scholarships. Nonetheless 3.49 is not a bad GPA, so there is a fighting chance if other parts of the application are bam, though you may have to spend something since you may not get 100%.

Heylonmusk:
I'm currently in my final year,and the thread is long can someone please give me the steps to study abroad for the first procedure??

Seriously?

I wish I had a thread 4 times as long as this one many years ago when I was just launching out. You don't know the gold you have in hand.

Anyway, if you're a poor guy like I was years ago, then the first step to studying abroad would be to get a fairly competitive GPA. If however you're not poor, or better still if you have the financial means, then the first step would be to start searching for schools that have the course you want to study. In my experience, many schools in the UK will admit you today or tomorrow once you can cover your expenses.

But this thread is mostly US focused, hence you would normally need a GRE score plus your GPA plus letters and others to be able to study in the US. Many schools are cancelling GRE these days, but it's still a great idea to take it and 'wound' it if you're dreaming of getting a full scholarship (and this is not impossible, fellow Nigerians get full scholarships to US schools, plus the very top schools, every year).

If you're the high-achieving, ambitious type, with a very solid GPA, and you have plans to reach the end of formal education (read PhD), then I would suggest you, as I already wrote in a previous post, start befriending your lecturers, offering to work for them as a research assistant, write papers with them and get them invested in your growth and success. If all goes well, this move will get you extremely solid letters from them when the time comes. With these letters, research experience, possibly research articles, your GPA, and strong GRE, you can walk into many US PhD programs fully funded.

Ok, to make things more real, let's assume you want to do engineering, below, I give the profile of one girl who recently got into a US top 3 engineering, PhD...It will give you an idea of what to do and you can adapt to your own situation..

BSc engineering + solid GRE + 3 solid letters from naija profs + research experience with these profs + wonderful SOP + some luck= full scholarship in US top 3

So, in your case, although you didn't give much information, let's assume you have a CGPA of 4.3 in engineering and maintain this into graduation (or even increase it to like 4.4). If you get a GRE of, say, 165Q/155V/4.5, plus research experience, plus maybe some nontrivial articles and, importantly, have strong letters from 3 of your professors saying you're the next best discovery after slice bread, then it will be hard for you not to get into some very good or even top engineering departments in the US.

Anyway, I'm sure this gives a preliminary answer to your question. The bottom line is that it's indeed possible to study abroad, and on full scholarship too, if that is your target. Many Nigerians continue to achieve this every year. You too can do it. Just keep sourcing for information by taking time to read as much as you can. It's when you can't easily find something that you should ask questions. Not because threads are long.

People, while trying to gather information for some people we're trying to place in major programs, I came across this wonderful post on redddit.

It would prove useful for anyone who nurses the ambition scoring pretty high on the GRE

https://www.reddit.com/r/GRE/comments/i63eg6/v_163_q_170_awa_50_from_a_european_with_a_stem/

Enjoy reading and, mostly importantly, following the tips.

.

Barca worst final defeat in history?


Some body answer!

gaeul:
Thank you so much. I appreciate. I have plans to take the GRE but was just following advise here that says we should apply to at least one or two safeties..

Thanks for the detailed information. Much appreciated.

Ok. Be sure you're taking the right test that is valid for your program of focus. If I remember well, management, strategy, accounting, finance, and others are done at the business school. Verify that it is GRE they need and not GMAT. If it's either, then I'd research which is easier to pass and take that.

I suggest spending 3-4 months, 6 hours per day, if time still permits you, preparing well for the test. Yes it's math and english and writing, but no it's not just math and english and writing.

When you have the solid GRE or GMAT score, with your other documents, reach out to me privately - it's possible for me (if time permits) or someone equally experienced to do 'application strategy' with you. As I told you, with your profile, top 30is/50ish is possible, and your field is very good. You won't find it hard getting a tenure track AP position after 5 years of PhD in the US. AP pay for business school people is also 'atrocious', it's really damn good, and the research budget and exposure are also added perks. So I encourage you to make all the sacrifices required to get admitted into a solid program which will mostly fully fund you.

All the best

TheNoble007:


With all due respect to you, kindly invite them to this thread to glean information by themselves. Hinder them not. Show them the fountain of water and let them not fetch from a bucket. Thank you!

@ predstan, I trust you are doing well.

This is good advice. Nonetheless, answering those questions will help all HND holders who visit this thread.

Hannania:
Hello, I know this ain't a GRE thread, but do send me a link of GRE materials or link to access it.

PS: I have some, but would appreciate some recommendations. I've got two years to prepare. 335 is the target.

Do a search here and ask people for GRE material, people who did exam yesterday, last week, etc.

I prepared for GRE 12 years ago!

saheedniyi22:

Thanks a lot for the words.

As regards number 2
(1) there is usually a communication gap between students and my lecturers(because most of them just teach and leave the class) I hope to close that gap soon by participating actively in class activities and asking questions.
(2)I don't even know anything about research papers though but will start making research from today.

Thanks for the advice once again.

Read hard before classes and participate hard.

Then try to get rumors about the ones that are active in research. Go to those ones and offer free service. They would love it. I love it when people say they want to do research with me, for free..Lol..But I still pay something sha.

Yes, search for papers on anything you learn in class and discuss with these identified lecturers. Tell them you will be happy to do something similar with them, etc.

In all these, don't sacrifice your GPA sha.

If you execute all the points well, in 3-4 years time, you will be among the students in a US top 5 program in your field by God's grace. You have advantage, because you're getting this information 4 years earlier!

Good luck

saheedniyi22:
Just arrived here!!!

Such a long thread (500+ pages), I think I have to read from beginning to end.


I'm a second year student of mechanical engineering in a federal university, I'm hoping with the aid of this thread and mentors I hope to meet here, I would get a Scholarship upon graduation to do my MSC/PHD.

Yes, you can get full scholarshipS.

Since you're still second year, focus on doing the following

1. 5/5 from now on every semester
2. Researching with your lecturers/professors and try to write papers with them
3. Cramming and reading and understanding GRE for the next 3 years so that you can get top scores when you take it. No matter how hard, any exam can be blasted if someone prepares long enough for it, even if that person no too smart. If the GRE is finally cancelled, then no wahala. No knowledge is wasted.
4. Making friends with the most research-active lecturers/professors, working research stuff with them, let them know you, make them invested in your successs. This is important because these are the people that would write you big big big letters and send you to MIT in years down the line
5. Keep praying hard, doing right, and working hard and having faith in yourself. I'm also speaking to myself with this last line

Good luck

KlausMichaelson:


Wow, this is one reason I like asking questions. I never knew that it's possible to get a PhD Scholarship directly from BSC in the USA. Thanks a lot for the infos, I really appreciate your time and swift response, remain Blessed Sir.

Nice, thanks for your kind words.

But you should do more research online. These are well known facts.

Some "sharp" people who don't want PhD, some even pretend they wanted to do a PhD so they can get full funding....Only for them to drop out after two years with masters.

You should ask questions, that's a good thing to do. Also a good idea to do more research online too. You will find a lot.

Go here - https://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/

Look at most profiles for PhD...Very few have MSc

KlausMichaelson:


Sir from the Bolded, do you mean they got a direct Scholarship to PhD with just their 2:1 BSC ??

2:1 BSc in the right courses + strong GRE + Other Strong things like high sounding letters, research exp etc = US scholarship for PhD...It happens well

UK, Europe and elsewhere, that's hard. This is because, as you may know, PhD in the US is >=5 years. First 2 years is where you take some deadly courses, which can pass for MSc, even Mphil, then next 3+ years is for the research. People who don't do well in the first two years but did not too bad, they dropout of the PhD after 2 years with an MSc in hand. Someone just sadly told me last week that this is their situation..

KlausMichaelson:


Sir I really appreciate your response. I'm grateful.

I can see that it will make no much sense to compare tho. But tell me sir, what are the advantages of being a best graduating student but not a first class in terms of MSC Scholarship because I have seen scholarship eligibility asking the applicants to make sure they are top 5% of their class. Imagine a class where there are no first class?

So to reiterate Sir, what are the advantages of being the best but not a first class in terms of MSC Scholarship Application?

If possible Sir, tell me about someone who was in that same shoe but still managed to get a scholarship.
Thank you.

As I wrote before, in a class with no first class, you can see that any student better than 95% of the class is indeed a top 5% student.

In a scenario where grades are curved, there will almost always be someone with summa cum laude (top first class). But in naija, it's possible to have zero first class because grades are generally not curved and nobody got the mark.

I don't know if MSc admission and scholarship is as thorough sha, but for PhD, we look very deeply!

Many people I know, with 2:1 and around the best in their classes, got PhD scholarships. So, it's possible, very possibly. A way to play the trick is to have a professor who will explain everything in letters. This is usually time consuming and only lecturers or profs who want to help a student will do this.

Again, first class is good...But there are many instances where it may not be the 'be all and end all'. Sometimes we carefully go over where the A's are gotten

KlausMichaelson:



This really got me wondering.
Does being the best graduating in your class but not a first class really boost ones chance of getting a scholarship abroad or is getting a first class but not the best in class better?

Sir please relax yourself and give me a detailed answer lols. I will really a be grateful Sir. Thanks you

If your professors can argue this, yes and yes. Many profs don't know how to play this game, but for those who know how to play the game with letters, they can greatly help their students.

I like your question!

So, to answer your question, a first class (with A's in the right courses oo) is always good. If I were to choose, for sure a first class (with A's in the right courses) will be chosen. However, a 2:1 that is the best in class is not a disadvantage. It all depends on how this is sold.

In fact, a 4.4 with A's in all the right courses and a 4.6 with B's in the right courses and A's in the "second" right courses, the 2:1 will not! be a disadvantage in this case, and I'm talking about PhD admissions. We look at where you got the A's, not just "Bola get first class". No oo.

Take PhD econ admission for example. If Bola and Eze studied econ and Bola scores wonderful A's in all those accounting, sociology, business courses and a mixture of B, A, and C in hard math, econ, and stats courses, while Eze focuses on the hard stuff and scores A's in all the hard math, econ and stats courses while getting C and D and B and maybe A in the other courses. Assume Bola gets 4.62, first class, and Eze made 4.41, 2:1, it will be hard for a US program to ignore Eze for Bola in PhD econs admissions, all else constant.

I think I have gone into too much detail, but I am sure you get the point. First class is always good and you should get it, but 2:1 is not always a disadvantage even in the presence of first class. We look at the courses!

If you have more questions, ask. i have time today.

Again, good question you have asked.

gaeul:
Hello Everyone,

Please, I need safe schools suggestions for PhD in Management (Focal study area; Organization Structure/Human resources).

I went through the thread and found about 20+ Uni offering PhD in management for fall 2021 but one thing that kept popping up on this thread is Safeties.

I have plans to apply for 3-4schools. Please anyone with info on these safeties, Please help a sister...Thanks in advance

I just read some of your past posts and it seems you have not taken the GRE or GMAT (in the case of business schools).

My view is that you have a good profile as far as BSc/MSc GPA goes. I strongly believe that you could get into a, yes, very good ranking university in the US if you can get a solid GRE/GMAT score, in addition to your profile and of course exceedingly great recommendation letters. However, if you don't have plans to take this test, then you could search for the schools that have waived standardized tests for this application cycle and apply to them. Yes, also search for safeties.

But, given my experience, I just strongly believe your profile is good/very good and with a strong GRE/GMAT score and other things, you could hit top 50 program, even top 30, in your area. And yes, I said it.

bigfrancis21:


Hello, I haven't been here in a while but just scrolled recently and came across this post. From your post, you strike me as an intelligent person and I decided to reply you and offer you an honest and straightforward recommendation (people who know me know that I can be very honest and detailed with the truth). I also write this from personal experience with bringing my younger brother and cousin over after their secondary school and the hoops and battles that we had to go through during their first two years here. Thankfully, they both are now permanent residents, in their third year studying Information Systems and go to school at no cost to them/no student loans (FAFSA grants).

The most pertinent question you need be asking yourself is, how do I intend to sponsor my studies here? Look, bachelor's studies here can be VERY VERY expensive for international students (who are charged at twice the rate citizens and PRs pay) and on-campus work which pays peanuts CANNOT pay your school fees. Schools here barely offer full funding or scholarships for undergraduate studies anymore, even with high SAT scores, which you chose to skip writing (gone are those days in the 70s and 80s when a high SAT score meant automatic educational funding in the US). So-called $1k or $5k grants per year offered by some schools won't cut it. Without SAT scores, your WAEC result alone will hardly get you substantial funding. You are talking about at least $5k per semester/(N2m per semester (this is community college rate, universities even charge more to the tune of $6k and higher). Then, you also need to have your accommodation plans in place for at least one year (if any family members will accommodate you for a while until you are able to afford getting your own place). On-campus work (which limits F1 students to 20 hours max) CAN MAYBE afford your living expenses (housing, feeding, transportation etc), nothing more. Totally, forget any hopes or dreams of a family member living here to 'pay your school fees' as we do in Nigeria. Undergraduate tuition of most college kids here is paid mostly via student loans. Only rich folks here pay tuition for their children.

Also know that if you choose to skip taking the SAT and you get admitted, obtain your visa and somehow have the funds to study here, be aware that you will be required to take placement tests by the university/college to test your readiness for college and in most cases you might be required to spend your first semester or even two (at N2m per semester or N4m per annum) taking ESL classes (English as a second language) or/and College Prep Math classes before taking your supposed first semester classes. However, having a good SAT score exempts you from these preparatory classes and you would go straight to college level classes. Skipping the SAT test which costs less than N30,000 or so, only to end up paying N2m instead for an extra semester which could be avoided by taking the SAT test? Saving N30k to pay N2m instead? Is this what you really want to do? I'm writing from experience with my younger brother and cousin who took the SAT but had average scores and were required to spend their first semester taking ESL and Development math classes (their WAEC results are just the same as yours, both got B2 in WAEC English).

My honest suggestion to you would be to suspend any US study dreams for now and finish up your Bsc in Nigeria first and come in for your master's instead. It is much easier to fund your graduate studies here (graduate assistantships, Prodigy student loan for grad studies for select courses and universities) etc vs bachelors. Lucky you, you have a scholarship from the LSG to enable you fund your bachelor's studies in Nigeria.

This is not to discourage you and I am only being realistic here. You remind me of my younger years. Right when I was 16 and in my first year in the university (UNN), I nursed plans of quitting my studies in Nigeria furthering my studies here in the US. I was prepared to take the SAT exam, downloaded some study materials and found some schools. Excited by my hopes, I called my father and relayed my plans to him and needed to register for the SAT, but he dealt me a very realistic blow. He flatly rejected my suggestion and advised me to finish my UG studies and aim for MS in the US instead. I, till today, have not forgotten that call I made to my father. Having studied in the US himself (on automatic federal government scholarship due to having high scores) back in the 70s, he relayed to me exactly these same concerns. I was mad for days. Looking back now, that was the best advice that he gave me. I took his advice, finished my UG with 2.1 came in here right after my NYSC.

My two cents.

Thank you for taking your time to post this for the young lad/girl. It's true and there are no secret desire to discourage anybody in your post.

Nonetheless, the young lad/girl can still try their luck if they have the money. Anything good can come out, we may never know...

But, please, to the young lad/girl, know that you're competing against some other crazy kids from naija..Those with, yes, 9A1, 7 A* in IGCSE, >330 in Jamb, and almost 9 in IELTS. Yes, this is a real profile and some kids have it in naija. For example, my friend's daughter...16/17 years old. But again, anything can happen, so still try your luck, but be realistic.

Finally, my own advice to my sister's son with 5 B2 and 3 B3......Do a BSc in Nigeria, get as close to 5.0 GPA as possible, then come here for your MS/PhD. As the above poster rightly said, it's way easier to get a full ride for grad school, even MBA, than it is for undergrad. Every year, people go for grad studies from naija on full scholarships, even at top top schools, name them... Another thing I've mandated that my sister's son to do is for him to start reading for the GRE from year 1. I gave him all the material. We don't want stories. The lad/girl you responded to may want to adopt same style.

Good luck to him or her

Hannania:
nice work. But previously on this thread, I've seen people with below 3.5 on a 5 point scale getting a 3.0 and above on a 4 point scale, and can very well remember a guy around part 12 who had a 4.18/5 or there about getting a 3.5+/4 through WES evaluation. I guess WES conversion ain't same with conventional logic we make use of.

Even, I think WES made a little rounding error, lol. 4.18/5 should be around 3.55-3.6.

But grades are mostly curve in the US, not same in Naija - at least when I went to school. This could make the grades of some otherwise okayish students in the US to look good, even very good. An example of curving is giving A to the person with the highest score in the class....That highest score does not have to be the highest possible score that is needed to get A...In fact, it can change from year to year, that's what gives a student an A.

Whereas in naija, we once did a course and nobody got A because all scores <70. In a curved system, the highest score would get A and even some scores slightly lower.

That's why a letter of recommendation describing your rank in class is very important

gaeul:
Hello Everyone,

Please, I need safe schools suggestions for PhD in Management (Focal study area; Organization Structure/Human resources).

I went through the thread and found about 20+ Uni offering PhD in management for fall 2021 but one thing that kept popping up on this thread is Safeties.

I have plans to apply for 3-4schools. Please anyone with info on these safeties, Please help a sister...Thanks in advance

What's your profile like?

See my response to the guy on the other thread - letters are important.

Let's start with your profile...GPA/GRE/research experience/work experience/have you written intensive research stuff?

Predstan:
I've known about studying in the US since I was a junior in college, I mean I've been reading this thread since I was in 200Level in a polytechnic in Nigeria. Then ,I was maintaining a weak Upper Credits(3.1 of 4). I've had the dream and the vision of studying here in the US. I Graduated ND and was looking to begin the process but there was no money for even the least which is a passport. I paused it and decided to apply for Direct entry into a university because i didn't know HND can get me into America. I had applied and sat for unilorin's exam. I was admitted into Biomedical Engineering but was dropped and they changed my major to Educational Technology after i had paid tuition. I dropped them and moved back to that polytechnic for HND after I read about Ibrahim Waziri, the guy that got his PhD in 4 years after an HND degree in Nigeria. Yes, he's there on google, he bagged his Phd at Purdue University in Engineering. Ive been saving up since my first year of my HND degree. I didn't only just saved, i graduated best in my HND. I was still saving even when i was doing NYSC. I saved over 1.5million naira throughout those years. I started the process with WES, GRE, paid SEVIS when it was 200$, still paid when it was 350$, paid the embassy 3 times and i travelled 3 African countries as advised by my great PAdi and Mentor *Fairheart and several other expenses. It didn't come easy for anyone and don't expect it to come just easy for you. Im here in the US studying Engineering and will be researching what TESLA is researching atm(Abandoning the LIDAR system for self-driving cars). Its not a dream if you cant face the difficult challenges.
Go get your degree and plan ahead. Many couldn't make it here because they abandoned every other thing just for the dream. You shouldn't tow in that path....

@Justwise. This is not just for him, it might be helpful for others. I hope the post lives

Hello Predstan

I'm fascinated by your story and it's interesting to know you've achieved all you said. Well done. I have two questions

1) Are you doing master's, phd or bsc with your HND?
2) Do you have a full scholarship?
3) If 1) and 2) are true, can you give a long list of schools that give full scholarships with HND from naija? Did they require GRE?

I have 2 people I really want to help with information. One has distinction ond and hdn in statistics; another has upper credit ond and hnd in computer science..Both went to top 5 polytechnic in naija...I'm show you can guess where.

If you can give me detailed information, we could have have these two people take the GRE before December and follow through with the other process.

Let me hear from you soon. If you want, you can drop an email where I can email you, get your number and then speak.

Many thanks

ofspain:

Please guy, I wrote GRE with a score of 311(verbal: 152, quant: 159) I wish to apply for PhD in chemical engineering in the USA. I have 3.15 in my undergraduate and 64% in my MSC, please what chances do I stand?

This is a decent profile and you should get in somewhere decent.

Although I don't know too much about chem engr, I would suggest you

1) get letters where the professors literary say that your examining taking skills have near zero correlation with your research ability, and that you're a research beast - the best they've seen in 20 years. Yes. And then they should go ahead and give plenty examples. This is how we write letters if we want to really help a student that we feel would do well in research down the road

2) apply to many 'safeties' and only a few ambitious places. It's better to be safe.

3) let me reiterate the importance of letters again. Letters that are written to help you. I could have given you a sample of what I have written for students, but I sadly can't do that. But I'm sure your professors know how to write tight letters when they want to actually help a student. Again, all the focus must be how your research capabilities put you in the top 0.1% of students they have known in 30 years. Letters work wonders, especially if it's written by someone who does good research and publishes good stuff, not crap in some pantokrata journals.

4) I hear publications can help too, so if you have at least a neatly executed publication in a peer-reviewed, non-predatory journal, that should score you some points above students with stronger gpa/test scores. I also hear engineering schools welcome potential PhD students to contact their faculty, though some other programs frown badly against this. You should take advantage of that if it's allowed in your chem engr field. Just make sure you present yourself well and send many messages to those "safeties" and then to some of the more ambitious places you're looking at.

I wish you all the best with your plan. Your prof in naija can really help you a lot if they can write impeccable letters for you. And such letters take up to 1 week to write and fine tune and rewrite and fine tune again, until it sounds fluid and wonderful. When I write for students to top, top, top schools, I write 6-page letters of 'scatter pieces', crazily outstanding paragraphs and supported with examples that will help the students to compete favorably with some of the best applicants in the world. So, your recommenders can make or mar you.

All the best, omo oba