₦airaland Forum

Yes it is. I did mine using paypal a couple of weeks ago. Good luck to you.

Chars1289:
Longest time house and happy new year. I want to register for Gre test;i would like to know if the paypal method of payment is still valid. Thanks

That's not true. Take the bull by the horn. Browse the internet yourself (www.ets.com/gre). It's written everymonth where it has available dates. All u just need to do is pick the date that suits you.

My advice to people in here is to try do some online research (usually through google) regarding whatever question they want to ask. It's when you probably hit a brickwall you can start asking people. You will be amazed to find out a couple of answers on your own.

Gentlespencer:
I got to know dat GRE is done during march and December. Is there any lesson or past quest for it.

sirRiddy:
I bought a fake copy of Kaplan as I was desperate to start preparing for my AWA then. To make matters worse, the CD I found contained one of those KOREAN season movies. If sey the thing get English subtitles, maybe I for even dash my sisters make them watch. When you dey go those Bookshop house area, you gat to shine ya eyes.

LWKMD...

Ofcourse. Na naija we dey. One can't rule out the possibility.

Glocal1:
Watchout for fake prints or photocopy/pirated copies. A friend once bought a fake current edition of kaplan's.

ultrazone:
Please good people of NL, where can one get new/used Baron, Kaplan, Manhattan and Official ETS guide (for GRE) in Lagos or Ibadan? How much do they cost? I can't use softcopies for now.

I got mine (Baron, 2015 written on it with a CD) for N3k at Marina-Lagos, just at those kiosks where books are sold behind the famous bookshop.

reekadohbanks:
To the guy asking me not to be an a.s.s, you're just going to have to get used to my sense of humor. Its crude thats all. And i still maintain that Reekadohbanks of MAVIN is one ugly MF. Anyways back to the agenda..
Here's a fair warning for those that have just been granted F1 visas and are hoping to come to the US and survive on a job on campus. Be prepared for a rude shock. First of all, on-campus jobs only pay minimum wage ($8.25 if you're very lucky) and you can only work a maximum of 20 hrs per week (which isn't guaranteed you'd get that many hours anyways). So after your FITW (federal income tax withheld) your take home will be about $160 - $220 every month. That doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the heap of bills you'd have to pay. Your phone bill alone is almost 1/3 of that. Add the cost of transportation (Yes, even public transportation is pricey) and food, and you're done. Remember that you'd have to pay rent. And if you're unlucky enough to find yourself in cities like Boston, NYC, DC, or Chicago, be ready to shell out 750-1200 dollars a month on rent for a 12x12 room that isn't half as big as your mother's pantry in Iyana Ipaja. Best advice: Be honest with yourself right from the beginning and have a game plan. If your parents are civil servants in naija and had to put all their savings together to buy your flight ticket, and your plan is to come and "hustle" your way through school, don't even waste your time. There's no "hustling" your way through their over-priced schools here. Its outrageously expensive, even if you get financial aid (before you start asking what that is, F1 visa holders are not eligible). F1 students cant legally get any jobs and eve if you get any under the table jobs, be ready to slave for some smelly pakistani who was wise enough to come here and open a pizza place.
So now you're probably asking yourself... so what can a man do?. Fear not my children, I've got the answer for you. There's no shame in sneaking into the US under the guise of a student visa. We all know that the mushroom schools in some nasty backwater town in Mississippi or Oklahoma(who effing goes to Mississippi!!!!!) that gave you I-20 isn't much better than UNN or UI, but at least it gets you in (I entered with I-20 from VIU!!!.. sweet lord!, I'd have to do a whole new post on that podunk wastebasket they call a university!). When you get here, don't be slow, your 2 years visa is going to expire even before you can spell VISA. The sooner you're able to become a permanent resident, the better for you (and I mean that with all my strenght!... ANother post on that will come soon). Life will be easier for you. Then you can figure out which school to go to that will work out for you. Most naija people here just do nursing. you'll get an associate in about 3 years and you'll get a job in a nursing home that'll pay you $15-25 an hr. Not bad right?. All I'm trying to say is that, you're way better off if you have a plan before leaving naija... if you're planning to "jama jama" or "rugged" your way through school with odd jobs, you're going to be more surprised than when you discovered your 100MB data is finished because you opened one website!... you get the gist.

Nice info bro. That'll help our plans for those of us working towards getting a F1-visa. However, not taking anything away from your 'presentations', I personally feel you could present you information much better than those you have written here. I actually laughed at a couple of your expressions even though they make a lot of sense.

From the one you posted earlier where you wrote about your girlfriend, I learnt a whole from that. Even though one needs to prepare very very well for the interview, it take DIVINE GRACE to breakthrough that challenge.

I would appreciate more info from you bro.

Horayce:
I woke up this morning around five thirty and went for a light 2km run. I’m an occasional runner and it’s something I usually do when I have a big event (say, a job interview, a presentation, a major exam). It usually helps my mood immensely when I run. I got home, and wanted to go over a 3 page word document I prepared last night for my interview, instead I just wolfed down breakfast and watched BBC. Mum came over to my room and said a little prayer with me though I’m not really into praying. About 8.30 I drove off to the Abuja consulate office (it’s about 12 mins from my family home) and was surprised by how chill the venue was relative to all the stories I hear about US embassies. I was thinking I’d be asked to wait till my appointed time but the guards ushered me in just before or after 9am ( much earlier than my interview appointment time of 10:15) That’s how the protocol and document checks began till I was moved, a moment later, into the section with the VOs.

Standing on the queue I was still a bit fidgety and caught myself making nervous movements with my feet, despite how well prepared I thought I was. One slim light skinned chick directly behind me looked far more assured. I noticed how crisp her greetings to the guards and protocol officers were compared to mine during the document checks. Read about how people try to make small talk to break the ice, but the people on my queue no gree at all. Chalked it down to the Abuja factor. Went through the pre interview routine without much hassle and tried to use it to rehearse my gestures just before I go against the real VOs. I found it hard to pay attention to what was going on around me but I felt visa approval rates were quite fair today. Some young undergrad bound chap who couldn’t even remember where he kept his grant/funding letter was given his visa. The friendly looking male VO who attended to him wished him a merry Christmas. At counter nine, a female VO, probably in her early to mid thirties was grilling an F1 visa applicant, asking him for reasons why he would return to Nigeria. He went off saying he was a reverend father and there’s no way he would live in another man’s land at the expense of his fatherland. I thought his response was so-so but he spoke quite confidently and he was granted his visa. On the queue, I wished the male applicant before me good luck and the fair lady behind me good luck.

And then it was my turn at counter nine.

VO: Next applicant..
Me: Hello (with a forced smile).
VO: What are you going to do in the US?
ME: I’m going to study a post graduate degree in Subsea Engineering at the University of Houston. (I didn’t say more than that, against my colleague’s better judgment that I should be as vocal as possible. But I observed and noticed how some applicants before me who were talking plenty weren’t necessarily the most composed. I was still slightly nervous and went for the cool and calm method, opting to give measured answers for anything I was asked)
VO: When did you finish your undergraduate studies?
Me: I finished in 2006 from FUTMINNA with a bachelors in mechanical engineering.
VO: What have you been doing since?
ME: My core work experience to date has been in banking and finance.
VO: So why are you going to do engineering?
ME: Well, I had a career rethink right around late 2013 and was looking at other career options. I wanted to go back to my engineering roots and an ex school mate of mine who works as an Instrument engineer with an oil services firm recommended I give subsea engineering a try. I did my independent research and found the UH Subsea curriculum a good fit for my academic and career needs. (By this time I had my composure back and was a bit more relaxed)
VO: Did you apply to other schools.
ME: Yes. I was admitted to study Subsea Engineering at Curtin university, Perth, Western Australia but UH was my first choice. (*In my notes I was going to tell the VO I applied to four engineering programs but that sequence skipped my mind).
VO: Did you do the GRE?
ME: Yes
VO: Can I have your score report? (I panicked a bit, couldn’t remember hearing any applicant being asked for a Test score sheet. I thought by now she still wasn’t convinced I was a strong applicant for a masters program in engineering.)
ME: Gave her my GRE & TOEFL score sheet
VO: Looks like you applied to many schools
ME: Yes I sent my scores to quite a number of schools (I sent scores to 10 schools, lol, I was worried again that I didn’t mention I had applied to more than ten schools for management & engineering programs. I only mentioned the one in Australia when I was asked earlier on)
Vo: Who will sponsor your education.
ME: My mum
VO: What does she do?
ME: She works with XX banking institution.
VO: Ok, your visa has been approved, kindly pick it up on Tuesday….

Was a bit thrown off by how it ended all of a sudden, considering the applicant before me spent quite a bit of time with her. I grabbed my documents and wanted to ask her hey, just that? But kicked against it before she changed her mind for being a confused applicant. As I left I met the chick who was behind me and was kind of shocked she was already done with hers. I acted all glum and told her I wasn’t given mine. She brushed it off saying yeah right she heard the VO approving my visa. She was also granted hers. On our way out she was the one giving all the guards tips, I left my wallet in the car and just looked on like a mumu who didn’t know how things were done in naija. I also did well to collect her number and bade her good luck in her PhD program in public health.

It goes without saying that this thread has been of tremendous help to me. I began this process from around mid 2013 and at that point it looked like a tall order I’d never surmount. I just lurked around for the longest time reading and soaking bits of advice from active forum members. I really just want to say thank u to everyone for being such a helpful and supportive family and really wish the rest of spring 2015 and fall 2015 hopefuls all the best in their applications. One thing of note that worked for me was my determination to be as honest as possible. I have zero experience in engineering and read on here about how VO’s deny people who go for stuff unrelated to what they’ve been doing. I took the advice and was tempted to embellish my resume or lie about the fact in my interview. But then I trusted my inner instinct to remain as honest as I can possibly be about my intentions to study. So for people who don’t fit the ideal requirements in terms of age, work experience, course of study, etc. Try to do the best you can in your application in areas u can control like your SAT/GRE/TOEFL/ scores. Apply to good reputable programs and maintain a consistent and coherent narrative about your intentions so that when you’re in front of the VO you’d be far more convincing. Some applicants today were giving out canned and memorized answers. I believe reading other people’s transcripts had such a calming influence on me in the end and made my preparations far less difficult than it would have been. Thanks for everything. Dogged determination and honesty would see you through!

First of all let me congratulate you on your breakthrough. I also want to commend your precise and concise transcript as well as your command of English. I tap into this testimony. May God see you through it all. Congrats once again.

Walspring:
To all those who registered with papal using their naira master or visa card, can you please post or send me the link or procedure?

I searched for how to register on paypal via google. I found my way through and I registered using my email and password. It'll ask for your ATM card number and expiry date as well as d 3 digits @ the back of the card. Then you are registered on paypal. This means you can buy anything online via your ATM card using paypal.

You then go back to your profile on ets.org/gre (if you have created a profile. If you have not, you have to create one through which you will register for exams as well as access your GRE scores when it's out). Respond to all the questions asked and you will finally checkout to the payment page, you click on paypal and it will ask you for your login details on paypal, it will notify you of the payment. Then you print the notification mail on the screen while you receive a confirmation of payment in your email as well.

@sabiguy and @siriddy: I appreciate you guys. Thanks for educating me. I have been able to make my payment using Paypal. Information is KEY.

Wishing everyone in here success.

Hello beautiful people. Please I need clarification on some stuff.

I was offered an admission into a school in the US for Fall 2015 without any standardized exam because of my grade in WAEC (English) and my work experience. However, due to what I have picked from here for the past couple of weeks that I have been following, I noticed that most of the time the VOs ask for results of standardized exams most especially GRE. And then I decided to prepare and write the exam most likely in February, 2015. Now I have been having issues with payment for the past couple of days. The payment through VISA card (required) was not going through. I visited a tuition centre and I was told I would pay N47,300 to register for exams. I feel that's very much on a high side though the dollar rate is messed up. Since it's something I can do myself, no big deal, it should save me some cost.

How do I go about the payment before all the available seats are taken completely?

Please I need list of US schools that do not require GMAT for graduate admissions.