₦airaland Forum

Scholastica16:
Brother congrats. What is UNI? Too lazy to hit up Google.

andradaeze:
On my application update:
K-State: I sent a mail to Statistics Program Grad Coord asking for admission update. I was
informed I was on the wait-list for funding. The availability of funding will determine admission.

Bowling Green State University: Masters in Mathematics. Admitted, funding decision to come later.

Scholastica16:
Thank you fam. I dey gidigba. No shaking. My resolve is further strengthened.

I hope you are expectant too. I knew you wanted to defer to next fall session but I hope you still tried to apply now.

happyday:
Waoh, thanks everyone for the love. Really. Everyone. I wanted to do research, never thought it would be this "challenging". Well, I told the VO I wanted to work on challenging stuff in grad school, so I deserve all I'm getting now. Lol.

200+ pages? Really?? I'm glad this thread is thriving day by day. Let me try and play catch up.

Ndawe:
Hello everyone. I've been an ardent silent follower here. I wrote my GRE sometime in 2012 during my NYSC (first and only attempt). It was this year I decided to further my studies; I didn't require GRE to undertake my MSc.

Scholastica16:
University of New Mexico. Saw 2 attachments and thought one was my acceptance and the other my "funding" letter so I hurriedly opened it. You can imagine my shock when I saw "I regret" somewhere. I could have reported it but I came online and saw you celebrating PennState, so I went back to silently moan.

I guess it is -2/8 now for me.

seeker88:
Another decision (acceptance) came in from Texas A&M University Kingsville, with $1,000 scholarship and in-state tuition. Still very much hopeful for admission with better funding...

Battywonder:
TOTAL/Quay d’Orsay Scholarship for Nigerian Students in France, 2017
TOTAL E&P Nigeria Limited in partnership with the French Embassy in Nigeria is inviting applications for TOTAL/Quay d’Orsay Scholarship. This scholarship is intended for outstanding Nigerian students to pursue master’s programme in France.

OGreene:
Acceptance! University of Minnesota

They were the only school that asked for TOEFL. I kuku wrote and sent the score to them.

No news on funding, will follow up on them.

hirschfelder:
Hello house, I hope we are all doing great. So, I was accepted at KSU for PhD in Chemical Engineering and I would like to share my experience with you all, since we started this journey together and will hopefully all get into great programs at the end!
This is my second application cycle, I was rejected from all the schools I applied to for Fall, 2016. I was disconsolate as you'd imagine. Luckily, I stumbled upon this thread and gained so much information from it. I contacted a very active and helpful member, SirRiddy-he gave me some tips and suggested I re-write the GRE (my previous score was 310), IELTS-8/9.
So, I did and got a better score (332), applied to a wider range of schools and got accepted into one of them. I would like to say, happening upon this thread made all the difference. If one makes use of the information posted here judiciously, great improvements in one's profile would be made.
Soo, thanks to everyone that has contributed to this thread in one way or the other! And special thanks to SirRiddy of course!!!

happyday:
Hahahahah. Me ke! I didn't mean it like that.

For a start, I used this guide from Shruti Rijhwani. She had a 170 VR, 169 QR, and 5.0 AWA.

Here goes:

One practice essay of each type (Issue, Argumentative) is a must. All possible topics are already on the internet, published by ETS themselves - check the official website. Unfortunately, there are around 200 for each essay type, so practising all of them is near impossible. Writing in 30 minutes is not easy, so practice at least once.

Issue essay - read sample essays (from ETS and the internet) and figure out what pattern of paragraphs you want to use.

The essay is essentially asking you to analyse an issue, take a stand and support with examples. The stand does not have to be either for or against the issue. It could be inclined towards one side or even ambivalent, if you can substantiate it.

I used introduction, brief body about my opinion and example 1, example 2, example 3, contradiction and justification, conclusion - 6 paragraphs.

Contradiction is a paragraph where you approach the opposite stand and justify your stand with that view - like arguing with a completely opposite opinion.

Argument essay - read samples (from ETS and the internet).

Also, definitely look up the kinds of logical fallacies common to GRE argument essay topics. There aren’t many (maybe five or six) and are easily identifiable. If you can detect three or four logical fallacies, you’re set to write the essay.

Pattern I used - introduction, fallacy 1, fallacy 2, fallacy 3, recommendations, conclusion - 6 paragraphs.

Also, look at Essay Guide, Strategies and Logical Fallacies.

Long essays are preferred for both topics - look at ETS samples. 5-6 paragraphs is sufficient.

The next few lines are courtesy Anjishnu Kumar who scored 5.5/6 in Analytical Writing.

The first thing about the essays - They are NOT testing how great of a creative writer you are. Do NOT try to use them to express your originality.

They are testing articulation, perfect grammar and logical structure - so use simple language as far as possible and easy to understand sentences.

Have a relatively rigid sentence structure for your essay - you then can devote more time to coming up with points to write and less time thinking about how to start the essay and conclude.

Spend the first few minutes thinking about what you are going to write before you start typing- finish with time to spare and spend a few minutes proofreading what you write. Practice writing with a 20 minute time limit, it’s OK if you overshoot a bit.

BTW, they aren’t important for MS programs, but PhD programs look at AWA scores very seriously.

Looking back now, I pretty much agree with all she said. Especially on the need to:
- Practice at least ONE Issue and ONE Argument before test day
- Develop a specific structure that you will use to plan your essays in the test hall
- And also the need to follow through.

I can't stress that last part enough. Take my case for instance. I already planned what structure to use for my Issue task; Intro, My take (i.e. support or oppose . . . I always prefer NOT to stay in between), example 1, example 2, example 3, a sham argument and defense, and finally conclusion.

Believe me, it was easier for me to outline all these, and follow them while practicing. But, I almost discarded it on the actual test. Planning out the structure this way, to me, was time-wasting. But, you would need to resist the temptation to dive all in, once you see the task. If you don't take time to read, understand and plan ahead, and then you dive in, you'd likely run out of points, and get destabilized halfway.

Scholastica16:
Just want to update the house. My AWA came out as 5 today. 93rd percentile. Saying I am excited does not do justice to how I feel. I was expecting the same 4.5 or 4 because I didn't feel I wrote better than my first one.

I looked at CrunchPrep, Barron, ETS, Nova and Princeton for the AWA but this was before my first one. In the second one, I didn't even practice let alone look at any material.

One thing that changed from the last time was the use of transitional or linking words. I noticed that higher scoring essays rarely made use of firstly, secondly etc but instead used Moreover, However, Additionally etc. My recommendation is that for the Issue-based aspect one should stay away from the use of first, second etc.

As per the Argumentative aspect, the mistake many people make is that they could identify the loopholes but not state the implications/assumptions made by the author and the modifications that could be made to plug those loopholes and make the argument more robust.

For example, if you say "first (yea in the argumentative aspect you could use this but avoid it entirely in the issue-based) the author states that X will happen". You have to add- "by stating this he assumes that Y and Z must have happened. This is not always the case as A or B could have been the cause. By doing so, the author unwittingly makes a fallacy of a false correlation. To make his argument more logically sound, he could have added C and D, that way we can know bla bla bla".

Ofcourse, I am not an authority. I am only stating what I did in both essays to have gotten 4.5 and 5. Having a template to work with also helps. I think I dubbed HappyDay's own. Also take note of some always recurring fallacies like hasty generalization, false correlation and the use of polls. In fact, if your argumentative prompt mentions a poll or survey or questionnaire, begin by questioning it. You can never go wrong.

At the end of the day, the topic you see in the both of them should be favourable to you. I pray it is the case for all members of the forum.

Scholastica16 out!

ojWinston:
I Woke Up this Morning at 5 o’clock. Couldn’t stop Praying even while showering. My appointment was for 7.30.

Olayinka15:
Transcript
Me: Good morning sir
Vo: Good morning....pass me ur passport and ur I20.....looks at it and said" Tell me about ur study plan".
aculty members are certified public accountants with...

Hushee:
Not all schools, I paid 15k for mine, and that's egunje inclusive.

kennynelcon:
Published papers, projects, some YouTube clips

kennynelcon:
if you have evidence of research, check UAlberta (Recruitment scholarship is full Funding) and UWaterloo (Willing Prof, I think./Full funding but limited)

iCool:
Happy New Year my people!

May the New Year bring with it good results, admissions and most especially free money funding...

nelly28:
LETTER OF SPONSORSHIP FMT

(Your Sponsors Address)
The Visa Officer,
CDHC (In full),
Victoria Island,
Lagos, Nigeria

Dear Sir,
.........LETTER OF SPONSORSHIP
This is to confirm that .....(your name)...... is my ......(relationship)....He intends to proceed to Canada to pursue graduate studies in ....(course)... at the University of ........., commencing may 1 2017
I wish to inform you that I am his sponsor and shall be responsible for his tuition fee, accomodation, feeding, medical insurance, transportation and all other expenses whatsoever needed for succesful completion of his studies during his stay.
I currently work as ...(position)...... at .....(Company name).......on a permanent basis (If self employed state otherwise), I am married with.... ( no of kids) or with ......(ur name)...... as my only dependent. / with my wife and ...(no of kids , with age)... as my other dependents.
Attached are documents indicating my financial stability and saving. Should you require further information do not hesitate to contact me.
Looking forward to your positive consideration of his application
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Riddeek:
of course Ucalgary and Umanitoba are on point, as for york, i rest my case

Riddeek:
your cgpa should do, but i implore you to widen the radius of your net. Don't limit yourself to one or two schs. 4.5 might be high enough but to the likes of Toronto,McGill,UBC na still moi moi. Thats where ur SOP comes in to save you, depending on how strong you made it
I wish you well

Osemigho:
Competitive but not up to UofToronto and UBC. Still submit a perfect app.

Osemigho:
Nice GRE score.
Mine was 148/148 3.0 TOEFL 99 and that made me drop US option cos my aim were Illinois Urbana, Havard, UofCalifornia LA, etc. I don't need a spiritualist to tell me my money will waste if I submitted my apps.

You can try mid rank US schools. A friend of mine is partially funded(submitted account of #1.5m alone) in Sam Houston of texas with a GRE score lesser than yours.

Based on several articles on after school options have read plus the fact that a GRE and TOEFL fee can pay for 4-5 Canadian app, I dropped US.

If I were you, I will try US schools with your score and also apply to Canadian schools. I won't retry any GRE. But you are not me! be yourself.

Shalom!

freeradical:
The score u have is very good but may not fetch you funding for US schools. It would have been fantastic if the writing had been up to 4.0. I scored 305 (Q155 V150 AWA 4.0) and it was above requirement for one of the programs I applied for in Canada Day requested for it.

Its good u r still trying both ways. If u get into d Canada msc funded u can easily get PhD admission in US if u intend to go further.

Osemigho:
Lemme tell you somthing i didnt know early enough. While looking up fall 2018 programs, try programs that offer winter admission. You are not too late for winter 2018 and some of them offer full funding too. You don't have to wait till fall 2018.

Osemigho:
Their competitiveness is the major thing wrong with them. Look for other 3 schools alongside those ones. The three school doesn't respect first class GPA.

I was a victim to Toronto and have first a little above 4.50 like you.

If you are going to apply to those 3 schools alone, you better submit an over perfect application and prepare for the worse. Your proposal must be an intriguing research. Intriguing!! Your recommendation letters must be fantastic too.

My advice for you is that, preparing for the worse is applying to other three mid-low rank schools. Shalom!

freeradical:
Not bad. Be quick to come to a decision because most programs deadlines r fast approaching for fall 2017.
I'm also considering putting in for one more school and I think I'd look up these ones u listed above.

I gave up on US schools for now bcoz my gre score wasn't so strong to challenge for scholarships. Canadian schools r equally world class so lemme pitch my tent there.