₦airaland Forum

In this post, I thought I’d talk about what you need to do to get full admission offers to study for your MS or PhD in the US… and also get funding offers (so you don’t have to pay any tuition).

Before we go further: I’d like to introduce a term that U.S. schools use a lot. The term is “graduate school.”

Or grad school for short.

What’s a grad school?

Good question!

A grad school is a department in a school that trains its students and awards them MS or PhD degrees. In other words, grad school (in the U.S.) is the same as postgraduate school (in Nigeria).

The term ‘grad school’ is more commonly used in the U.S., so now you know what I mean anytime I say: “grad school.”

So back to the subject of today’s post: how do you get full admission and funding offers at excellent U.S. grad schools?

I got admitted with a full funding offer (to cover my tuition and other fees) to study at Louisiana State University (LSU), Baton Rouge in the U.S. back in 2017.

And let me tell you this:

Even though the road to getting full admission and funding offers is a long and demanding one (especially for international students e.g. Nigerian graduates)…

… only a few critical factors are supremely important to master to make the admission and funding process easy and successful for you.

Today, I’d like to talk about one of those critical factors: that is, understanding what U.S. graduate schools look for in Nigerian graduates.

You have to put yourself in the shoes of these U.S. schools, and understand what they’re looking for.

Because once you understand this, things suddenly become easier and clearer.

You’ll understand:

-how to evaluate your profile, just like your dream schools will evaluate it
-how to select your list of schools to apply to, so you don’t waste time and money
-why your GRE scores are not the only important factor
-why so many first-class Nigerian graduates can’t get into any U.S. school; and
-how to properly craft an awesome application packet that makes you shine while schools compare you with other applicants from several other countries (including the U.S.)
-the most important sections schools want you to highlight in your resume and statement of purpose

With more competitive students applying than spaces available at schools, it’s no longer enough to guess your way, slap an application together, and call it a day.

No.

You NEED to be intentional about moving from point A to point Z, knowing what you’re doing at each turn, and why you’re doing it.

For most research-based MS & PhD programs in the U.S. (of which a lot are), they want to know about your ability to do quality research work. That’s it.

U.S. grad schools want to admit and fund students who they know will be able to do high-grade research and publish research papers in top journals.

Re-read that last sentence.

Because you need to make sure every single part of your application confirms that you fully understand the fact in that sentence.

In other words, much more important than your GRE scores, undergraduate GPA, or campus leadership experience, U.S. graduate schools want (first and foremost) Nigerian graduates who can do high-grade research.

And that’s true either you want to get a Master’s research degree or a PhD.

And although your final year project was a form of research work, there are higher standards that U.S. grad schools look for.

If the only major research work you did was your undergraduate final year project, don’t be afraid.

You’ll just need to know how best to:

-how to present the research you did for your project,
-carefully choose schools where your research experience (and profile) will stand out

In the next post, I’ll be talking about how I got into my desired U.S. grad school even without any “high-grade” research experience.

That is, I applied mainly with my undergraduate final year project; and got accepted with full admission and full funding.

Read more: https://beyondbsc.com/get-admitted-full-funding-us/

Oladayo12:
Hi guy, i got an info of a fully funded scholarship in usa. but i needed a very good letter of purpose as i also want to apply, don't know if you can help me out on that.

Hello!

Go to this page (DOWNLOAD PAGE) to download a good template you can use for your letter of purpose/statement of purpose.

Very nice work, Eniola! Well done on those videos too - I'm sure they take time to produce and edit.

Eniolakiite:
Hello Fam

I have created this thread to share my experience and help many who would like to study abroad and get funding for it.

Please note that you must be willing to do the work and all that is required by yourself.

I did it so you CAN do it also. And the efforts paid off and it’s all worth it.

I will share tips and answer questions as much as I can.
Feel free to ask questions.

I have a channel on YouTube where I post videos to help many prospective students looking to study abroad and get funding.

https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ_B7IeHWv3IWVt1XZUlYpqplehTn6nPS

Klvn9:
Of course you are right, that is why I said during my previous post, until marketers take digital marketing as an ordinary way of life just like the big names do it would be hard to actually succeed here

True.

As a Nigerian graduate, the odds are stacked against you.

I won’t bore you with the complaints we hear every day about the country, because frankly, that’s not why I’m writing this to you today.

Personally, I believe you need to 1) acknowledge real societal problems and 2) improve your individual situation.

I’m here today to talk about No. 2 – improving your individual situation.

To get your dream job, ask yourself three important questions.

Question #1: "What is my dream job?"

Before you can get your dream job, you need to know what your dream job is.

I’ll give you an example: A Process Engineer at Shell in Lagos.

Question #2: "What are the requirements to getting my dream job?"

There are two paths you can take here:

a) From the company: For our ‘Process Engineer at Shell’ example, go to the Shell website and LinkedIn page, see if they have the opening available and go through the Job Description and Job Requirements provided for that specific job

b) From current employees: Go to LinkedIn and search for ‘Process Engineer Shell Lagos.’ Spend time studying the backgrounds of the employees – the schools they attended, their day-to-day job duties, previous jobs and internships, resumes (if available), etc.

Question #3: "How can I spend quality time, each day, on getting this dream job?"

You can do this in different ways.

Review your background, skills, and experiences to see that you can actually prepare for and get the role. If you studied psychology while in school, then it might be challenging to get a process engineering role at Shell.

Talk to current employees at your dream job. Email them… bother them, pleasantly. Find out how they got the job, useful tips they have to share, what they do day-to-day on the job, sample resumes and cover letters you can use, and resources that were helpful for them.

Spend time implementing the advice that you’ve received. It’s not enough to simply ask for the advice, if you won’t act on it. Re-write your resume, cove letter, and other application materials to focus on the dream job.

To be consistent and committed towards your goal, create a job search chart that goes from you preparing for interviews TO applying TO finding a referral to recommend you TO interviewing across the various interview rounds TO getting the offer.

And spend quality time each day steadily working down that chart.

Although there are only three steps here, I can assure you this: they are very hard to do, but they work.

Here are some of the mistakes that I’ve made, and see a lot of other Nigerian graduates make, in their search for a dream job:

1. Not actually deciding on ONE specific dream job

2. Trying to start a business while working towards that dream job

3. Thinking you can pursue multiple dream jobs

4. Relying only on your academic achievements

5. Simply applying online and waiting for an interview invite

6. Not finding an insider in the company to refer you

7. Missing out days or weeks without religiously following a daily routine to prepare for the dream job

8. Not preparing for interviews with an interview partner, friend, mentor, or coach

9. Expecting a PERFECT dream job – every job has its pros and cons

10. Expecting to land a dream job in three weeks – it takes time

11. Not practically calculate your chances of getting the dream job, given your background, skills and experiences

12. Losing focus, and applying to any job opening that comes your way

13. Blaming the government, system, politicians, etc. for your challenges, without taking care of your personal situation

14. Reading an article like this, and looking for the next ‘shiny’ method to getting your dream job

15. Giving up at the first sign of defeat/failure.

Valuable points - that can be applied to other areas in life, outside marketing.