How old are you? and I dont mean that as an insult. You don't have to agree with my perspectives. The freedom of expression you advocate also requires you to respect opinions different from yours. "Suum cuique"; to each his own. Your discourtesy was unnecessary.

slimmy2005:
Are you expecting research articles or academic reviews? This is a forum where people can at least be themselves out of the box.

Someone once described education as "the circumcision of the mind". I don't claim to be an Erudite- neither was I born of nobility that makes me better than anyone here - but as I read through these posts it is difficult to differentiate those already studying overseas from those still aspiring to that feat unless explicitly stated. I don't say this to spite anyone and I hope no offenses taken but is the experience of superior learning and orientation not supposed to have a concurrent effect on our thinking, perspectives and idiosyncrasies as well?
If not, then we are not learning from our mistakes; heaping accolades and pioneering scholarships and yet unchanged. Yet deficient and poor in mind.
It is my sincere hope that as the appendages and accolades against our names increase, that we would have acquired something surpassing a mere education from the experience of a graduate education. Goodluck to everyone. Bless

Mekan PM Me.

femi321:
Congrats. You dont need to pay any amount. Contact @cutemorgan for any tips. Hes in your school. All the best

@ Mekan PM Me.

femi321:
Congrats. You dont need to pay any amount. Contact @cutemorgan for any tips. Hes in your school. All the best

As an aside I was banned for offering guidance for payment of SEVIS fee without having to go through the seme border ordeal. Then I saw a parallel elaborate post about an alternative means of sending money home at a higher exchange rate than western union; no ban no caution to the author. I see the good a simple post could do otherwise I'd made up my mind to utterly abandon this forum. A word to the mods, I'm appalled at these sort of judgement.

Thanks. I wasn't so sure who was saying what myself but you are spot on about prioritizing efforts towards academics before the desperation for greener pastures. where are you headed?

happyday:

Are you sure you weren't the one interviewing the VO? Congratulations! Your testimony is as fresh as fine wine.

Your transcript would not have helped us much, if you left out the part where you itemized what you did to get here. I think I can safely say that visa interviews should be the least of any genuine student's worries, if he can actually work his bones off to get admission in a top school.

Welcome to Obama land.

You are welcome. All the best

iCool:


Thanks for the useful posts.

We all Look forward to joining you soon.

You can certainly get funding from here. A lot of schools give funding at the time of admission. I got funding from another school but I chose LSU because of the reputation of the program. Thats why I said research the school. If you need funding, then apply to a school that is lenient with funding like TAMUK (generous for good scores) . TAMU on the other hand is generous with funding but extremely competitive.
So research the school and target those schools on your radar.

Guitarlife:

Please I need enlightemen o. Are you all saying its not possible to get funding before leaving naija ?

Must one get to the department over there before he can be considered for funding ?

What of we that do not have any means of sponsorship and are depending on funding fully ?

What can we do ?

All the best

cuspy:
believerspraise, thank you for the enlightenment. We are grateful

Below is my interview transcript:

I have been praying because I so much believe in the power of prayers and that God can do and undo anything.
The day before I prayed and asked God that I dont want to be interviewed for my Visa and I dont want the interview to exceed a minute. My interview was for 8:45 Dec 13 (yesterday) at VI Lagos. I got there and joined the 8.15 queue; when I got to screening I was sent back because I joined the 8.30 instead of 8.45 queue (I didnt check the time on my appointment form). When I got in again, I was my name was not on the manifest, I sat down and waited till it was resolved. When I got into the embassy to be honest I tried to position myself in front of the guy I thought was giving Visas, he told me he was closing and the security told me to go back to the guy who just refused the last person. I immediately remembered the hard long journey until now and how God was with me every step of the way.

Now the interview proper

Me: Good morning
VO: Good morning, pass me your passport please
Me: Just the passport?
VO: Yes just the passport and your I-20
I passed them to him
VO: OOOOOkay (dragged it) you are going for your Masters in Petroleum Engineering at LSU
Me: Yes thats correct
VO: I AM NOT GOING TO INTERVIEW YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE GOING TO A VERY TOP SCHOOL AND I KNOW YOU ARE A GENUINE STUDENT
That was all the confirmation i needed, that was exactly what I prayed for.
Me: Smiling so hard, thank you very much.
VO: Did you take the GRE?
Me: Yes I did
VO: What was your score ( I told him)
VO: You must be a very intelligent student
ME: thank you very much
VO: how many schools did you apply to
Me: Listed them
VO: You are the fourth student i am interviewing today for masters and only you took the GRE. It tells me that you are ready to put in the work for your studies and for you to be going to LSU you must take your academics very seriously; unlike most of the students who come here and just want to travel to America. I can obviously see you have ties to your academics at LSU and you have ties back here in your country because when you done with your Masters you can come and get a better Job at Chevron (I was a trainee there).
Me: Yes, thank you very much.
VO: Is Chevron paying for you?
Me: No my Sister is paying
VO: 3 business days you can pick up your Visa. Congratulations you are going to a very very good school. very good school.
Me: Thank you very much.

Note: He did most of the talking and he was just telling me about his experiences with Nigerian students who apply for Visa.

two things I left out in my strategy post

i. Aim for top schools. You will get a better all round education and be more desirable to potential employers here or abroad
ii. Try to build a good profile for your graduate application. If you want to study software engineering at UCLA or CALTECH or MIT, go to oracle in VI, tell them you are a potential MIT graduate student. talk about your areas of interest and tell them you would like to work for free to acquire some experience in your field of study. Trust me, no one will turn that kind of objective talent away. thats just an example. Be proactive ! Bless you all. (I've said it all in my strategy and visa post). Before you send a pm look for the answers there

Sorry if I failed to quote any responses to my earlier post. Once you lose tabs on the thread, its hard to catch up with the posts.
When I said I got into LSU with a 304, based on the responses I received, I felt it was important for me to also stress the daunting work that went into my application.

i. visit department website

ii. familiarize yourself with the admission requirements

iii. Based on the requirements identify what you lack, what you have, and what you need to add to your credentials. Start talking with the following people. THE GRADUATE COORDINATOR OF YOUR DEPARTMENT, THE GRADUATE STUDIES ADMINISTRATOR. you will find these are the two most important people you will need.

iv. Study for the GRE and try to ace the tests; I had a 304, lots of people with higher scores were turned down but believe me you will make things easy on yourself if you did well on the tests.

v. Select your desired school. If your faith can take it, aim for top schools on your program, include some safe schools also. 2 top schools, 2 safe schools.

vi. By now your GRE is already done, start talking withyour GRADUATE COORDINATOR about your application. discuss events from your letter of recommendations, your experience in your industry and some academic work you may have already done in your field.

vii. Except you want your application turned down, please be familiar with the funding policies of your department. This information is rarely disclosed for public knowledge, but most top ranked programs only offer assistantship after the admission. That is when you are already physically on campus then you approach a professor for a research assistant, teaching assistant or laboratory position. which will waive your tuition

viii. Grad school is hardwork. Focus more on the academics. The reason why a lot of visas are denied is "because they dont think you are a genuine student". When you are thinking of America, omg I'm leaving Nigeria, you will come across as that kind of person when you open your mouth. instead of whoa I am gonna be studying Mechanical engineering. Finally I can acquire all this knowledge about hybrid cars and complex engine systems. You cant go wrong because your academic pursuit will be your priority, you will make a mark on your program, and come career day at least one company will want your signature.

ix. I have tried to capture what I did to succeed with my application. First application was in Fall, LSU, TAMU, OKLAHOMA, ULL all refused me. Second application, I wrote another SOP, wrote two SPE standard technical papers and did not ask for funding. Even at that my department and the Dean of the College of Engineering had to write petitions to the Graduate School for my admission.

x. Finally you have to pray and ask God for his grace and favor. Even after my department wrote a petition the Graduate School still insisted for a signed petition from the Dean of Engineering. It would have been much easier to say its too much hassle trying to get this student admitted and thats why you need the favor of God.

I have carefully itemized a strategy for aspiring applicants. Anything is possible if you are ready to work hard and realize GOD HAS THE FINAL SAY ALWAYS (see my visa transcript). To Him be all the praise and glory.

P/S: please if you pm asking if LSU needs WES evaluation or GPA requirement and all, I may not respond. All such information are published boldly on the school websites and asking "such questions" shows you want things to fall right into your laps without any effort on your part.

happyday, seeker88, aanexplus.. hope I answered your queries. Please warn me if you send me a pm. I'll try and respond as early as I can. Regards.

I am writing this to a young man Lucas going through trials, losing his mind and purpose. I was not sure what I was doing stumbling around the threads tonight until I saw your message. Daniel 4v34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me.... As you read this God is causing your understanding to return unto you. I do not know anything about your case but God has instructed me to pray and intercede for you. He is changing your situation now as you read this.
Pray midnight, 12 midnight, Read Psalms 51, Psalm 57 and Psalm 69. Please make sure you do this.
What you are experiencing is not natural, advises are good, but therapy, doctors will soothe you not set you free.
The Lord will reverse every evil work against your destiny. Romans 10v13, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,
as you read this, I decree that power of the God of hosts, the power of the name of Jesus shall arrest every demon tormenting your life, I plea the blood of Jesus upon you. The Holy Spirit has commanded me to pray for you and give you this word. Pray and leave the rest to God. God has heard your cry and I have been instructed to tell you so. Pray, cry out to God and see what the Lord will do

Hi. Yes you can send me a PM; and I will do my best to respond to whatever queries you may have. I'm glad you found my text encouraging, never let your circumstances or deficiencies intimidate you, the only one who could ever hold you back from succeeding is you. Aim high, you have nothing to lose.

seeker88:

Thanks for sharing this....so encouraging!
LSU is one of d schools in my list....please can I send u a pm ?? Cheers!

Sorry for my late response. No its not funded. I chose not to apply for funding upfront. LSU: Louisiana State Uni,,yes. All the best to you

baum1:


Guy, nice one, uplifting testimony, praise God.

Is this a funded MSc? And does LSU mean Louisiana State Uni? If yes, then congrats again. Louisiana has a good record for oil company placement whenever the oil industry is good.

Thanks Bro. Sorry I've been occupied with prepping. I replied your PM, what you wanna know. Team Tiger

happyday:

Congrats. Go Tiger! "Have faith, not fear"> I got that! I'm thanking God on your behalf.

Ride on, bro.

I'll PM you shortly.

To all aspiring test takers, applicants and graduate students, I just want to encourage you that if you set your mind to do anything, be determined enough to persevere in-spite of the disappointments you may encounter in the process of striving towards your goal.
I will write in detail in my next post; I have to do that to give back as I have received. If you are reading this right now, the first thing you have to overcome is fear. Fear you might not pass the GRE, fear you might not get the Visa; replace that with faith. Believe you can do it, understand how things work i.e the exam, the visa interview and then prepare yourself. I had a 2.2, 304 on the gre and still got accepted into LSU for MSc Petroleum. I know Graduate admission is competitive; when you have honestly gone as far as your effort can take you, have faith in God.
Hope this helps some one out there. I give God the praise, shortly I'll share the rest.