₦airaland Forum

mare23ayo:
Buhari needs to put sentiment aside and appointment Prof Charles Soludo into his Economic team, He has adequate knowledge of Nigerias FDI, GDP and other economic policies that should be employed for the fast recovery of our economy

Word!!!!

Dot1:
Hey guys. Is anybody attending the NSBE convention in Boston between 23rd and 27th March in Boston. Please message me so we can plan something. I have flight tickets , hotel boked and everything set already so no creeps

What's good? l'll be driving down from NY.

Hey Mr Edozie04, stop displaying your extravagant lifestyle on Nairaland! Now, a sensible, reasonable, and responsible individual will not spend all his/her first salary from a job straight up on any form of goods or services (including paying for a rent or what have you).
Now look at it this way, you never had a job all along, and all of a sudden you got a job and you'll immediately spend your first salary, say 80k, on renting an apartment? So how do you feed for the rest of the month? How will you pay for transportation to work? Can you now see how unreasonable your argument about responsible/irresponsible spending habit is?

edozie04:
I can spend 80k for houserent for a year, have I not spent that under 1hour? minutes sef, even seconds

Just listen to yourself, why are you displaying your typical failed sense of reasoning in public. Damn!

veraponpo:
It takes two to tango.

Oba Akinolu may not be right on this but the attitude of our Igbo brothers and sisters could frustrate one.

Having helped them more than what their region has done for them, instead of being grateful; their actions seem to be undermining the essence of our existence through their incendiary statements. Calling their hosts cowards- what do you want after that-fight to show we are not cowards.

Oba Akinolu is their match and that is why the situation seems difficult now.

A gentle king could be disobeyed easily but did they say anything at the palace? No. They dare not.

It was after leaving the palace that chest beating, ultimatum , etc started surfacing.

Who then is the cowards? Ta lo fe gbenan woju ekun lai f'eje we ( who wants to put light at the face of a tiger without being bathed with blood)

Remember, 'He who makes peaceful resolution difficult , has made violence inevitable.'

Hello house!
Good to see everyone's making progress. Some of us will be graduating this spring. Thank God for the journey so far.
Some of us came to this country not knowing or having anybody here but we thank God for the success we've achieved so far. It has all been a wonderful experience.
I school in New York, the Big Apple! Lol. My people, NY no be joke o. Just like someone said in some other posts here, NY is fu**king over hyped. I wonder what the craze is all about of this NY self. A lot is wrong with this over celebrated state. Anyways that'll be for another day.
I'm just here to encourage those of you that are finding it difficult to survive in this country. Tuition palava, job wahala, accommodation, GA, among others. Please and please, try to find a way to stay as a student and complete your education. The benefits you'll enjoy while still a student and after graduation are way superior than going out of status for the sake of struggling & scouting for residency papers. I'm a witness, son! I have friends who came here, abandoned school and went out of status with the mind of trying to get residency papers. It has not been easy and rosy at all for them. So please, don't go out of status.
And another thing is, please don't forget God in this distractive country. Pray, pray & pray. Never forget those teachings your parent used to give you back in Naija.
For me, I'll be graduating this spring. I came studying in fall '13, got a GA that same semester. Got a scholarship plus another GA in the following semester. Got hired as an intern in NYC. Drive a very good car, Lol. All these, as a student. Although at first, it was not that easy but God made it all easy along the line.
Don't be deceived, even the Americans are not smiling. There are also beggers here. Most of them don't even go to school (college). They are mostly high school graduates.
So count yourself as being lucky to be here studying in the first place, because even the Americans will like and envy you when they know you came all the way here to study.
And as for papers/kpali/GC, bro, that one na small thing. Just put your trust in God and finish your school, there are many legit ways of crossing that bridge.

For the new arrivals, I say welcome to the land of opportunities.
I hail the veterans in the house as well. God's favor for us all.

I hail everybody. It's been quite a while. Thank God I am done with final since last Thursday so its enjoyment time now. To those of you coming for spring,bring all the food you can bring that will last you for some good number of weeks,I bet you,You will be happy you did. I say journey mercies to ya'all.
It wasn't easy the first few weeks I got here,but I thank God everything is making good sense now. New York is very expensive man, if not the most expensive aside DC.
And one more thing, for those coming in,if you have a GA(Graduate Assistantship) offer from your school,please make sure you get your appointment letter as soon as you get to your school and proceed to getting your Social Security Number. Because without the SSN you might not be allowed to start work immediately and that can as well reduce your total number of work hours for the GA and thereby, affect your pay as well.
Yankee sweet no be small. Peace to you all!

Hello house,this is just to inform you all that my visa was approved today @ Abuja Embassy. I'll try to summarize the interview experience.
And let me also add that Abuja embassy is very friendly to applicants unlike what is the usual @ the Lagos consulate.

My appointment was for 10:30am but we were let in around 12:30. After the biometrics we got back to the queue. I observed all the VOs,an Asian-American lady,a white grey-hair guy,a black-american lady. They were all giving visas and also denying people at d rate of 60:40% respectively.
Now my interview,I was interviewed by the Asian-american:
Me: good afternoon
VO: good afternoon,how are you
Me: fine thank you
VO: why do you wanna go to the US
Me: I'll be going to US for my Master's degree program
VO: where in d US are you going you to
Me: told her
VO: why this schoo?
Me: smiled...first of all,I got to know about this particular research project that is presently being carried out by the school. I was able to contact Pro. Stanley Greenwald who is spearheading this research work also,the chairperson of the Envir Engineering dept.
VO:so what will this project do for you?
Me: it will provide me with relevant skills,training and expertise I need to be able to perform excellently in my company here in Nigeria
VO: and what research will you be working on?
Me: Application of Hydrologi and Geophysical Processing Methods on Environmental Remediation and Restoration.
VO: wow,that is interesting
Me: smiled
VO: when did you finish your undergraduate?
Me: 2010
VO: so what have you been doing?
Me: after my program,I went for one year NYSC program finished in 2011 and resume work in a manufacturing company owned by my brother
VO: so what do you manufacture?
Me: told her
VO: how many brothers do you have?
Me: only one and he is the chief executive officer of the company
VO: I see...smiled. Can I see your bank statement
ME: okay,give some minutes pls. I quickly scanned through my bag. Here it is
VO: did you write GRE?
Me: yes,I wrote both GRE and TOEFL
VO: what your score
Me: told her. Sorry my GRE is quite low,but good TOEFL.
VO: ok. Started typing for long on her computer. Then looked at me and said,I will approve your visa. Make sure you do a very good research work ok and make your family proud.
Me and VO: started laughing seriously.
VO: so take this paper,go and pick...
It was just God all the way.

Ezigbo nwannem Bigfrancis! Congratulations nke uku. Jehovah bu eze!
Where's Anthonymighty??

Ezigbo nwannem! Congratulations nke uku. Jehovah bu eze!
Where's Anthonymighty??

ferdimako: Desperation can make one say Ball university is in Ball State.....is Indiana in India?

LMAO

Find Out!:
House.

Got my visa at the Abuja embassy today. After waiting in vain for dates in lagos, i decided to choose Abuja, i got 16th August, applied for emergency and was able to book 1st August.

Appointment was for 10:45am. Wanted to fly in early this morning, decided against it and went yesterday afternoon, good decision it turned out to be as both flights (yesterday's and this evening's return) were delayed by an hour each (20 & 30 minutes officially ).

Anyway, got to the embassy some minutes before 10, about 15 minutes later, the security guys announced that everyone for 10:30 and 10:45 should come in. We did security checks and all...e.t.c...

Fastforward...

Now, there were only 2 VOs interviewing, a man and a woman. Both were asking lots of questions, but the man was granting more than the woman even tho man denied a good number of people too.

For everybody who came for a student visa, his first two questions after you state the name of your school were: "What state is the school located in?" & "What part of the map is the state located, north, south, west east, where?"

As it turned out, only few got both questions right, especially the second. At a point, i couldn't supress giggles when a guy going to Ball State university (which is in Indiana) was asked what state his school is located and he confidently answered "Ball state" after a few seconds hesitation. He was asked a few questions later before he was denied.

My turn:
VO: Good morning,pass your passport and application
Me: Good morning.
VO: Why are you going to the US? *typing on his computer*
Me: I'm going for my masters degree in Safety management
VO: What school?
me: Indiana University Bloomington
VO: *stops typing on his computer and looks at me* What state is your school located in?
Me: The state of Indiana.
VO: And where is Indiana located on the map? east, north, south, where?
Me: *with a smile* It is located in the mid-west
VO: *says audibly but almost to himself* Good job. *resumes typing, then asks loudly now* And what other schools did you apply to?
Me: Kent state University Ohio and Pennsylvania State university
VO: So why did you choose Indiana University over the others? *Both VOs asked this question too from other student visa applicants who applied to more than one school*
Me: Well, aside from the fact that i got a Graduate Assistantship.....
VO: (cuts in) *darts a glance at I-20 on his table then continues typing* Oh really, good. So what are your plans on your return to Nigeria after competing this course?
Me: *with a smile again* Well, I intend to spend about 6 months at a safety management consulting firm which I've already contacted about my plans before i launch my own consulting practice. I intend to start small but I'm confident things will surely pick up over time.
VO: So who's going to pay the balance of your fees? (my GA plus benefits covers about 82% of first year expenses, not 100%)
Me: My dad
VO: What does he do?
Me: Told him.
VO: *hands over the white paper and talkin at the same time* Your visa wil be ready for pick up by monday at the adress here.. *didnt hear the rest of what he said tho I heard "an hour delay", "point of entry" & "enjoy your studies in the US"
Me: Thank you sir


No single document was asked of me, i didnt even get to flaunt my GRE score.lol. Big thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. I knew i won the VO's heart when i answered that map question, tho i believe my other answers may have counted as well. Plus, prayer is important. I had some terrible cattarh right from the time I woke up this morning in my fam friend's house till even after biometrics. I just kept sneezing, a new handkerchief and face towel given to me by my hosts were already wet! People seated next to me were just telling me sorry. I was praying that this cattarh should go o, so my composure in front of the VO won't be affected. But by the time it was my turn to go back in and wait for the VO to call, my nose just became dry and is still dry even as I type this. No kidding.
God answers prayers. I wish everyone all the best and I hope those already preparing for Spring 2014 will learn from these interview experiences posted and be well prepared.

Cheers

Congrats FindOut. Pls what airline did you take to Abuja? And I'm assuming you travelled from Lagos? Also how long is the drive from the airport to the main city?

Congrats once again man.

Ricky Rozay: I dislike that UK with Passion now... I used to cherish them before, until I got to know that if you have goals in life and you are from a very poor background, your dreams will DIE if you apply to a UK University... Seriously speaking..

That country is too Money Concious.... They don't wanna know whether you are Talented or Brillant, na their money dem dey find..... No offense, that is why you see majority of students who are Not academically bright will run to UK to school there because the money is there, they know they can't cope with the US Education system.

No Realistic scholarship, they will be giving u crazy #100,000 to #500,000 scholarship out of a overall tuition of 3million and above...

That is why I love th US Education system, Talents and goals are all welcomed from all works of life, No matter ur background, the US don't want to know who or what position your Father holds, they are more interested in what you offer on the table..

You will be challenged to take challenging courses that will prepare you well for your profession..
When you study in US, you will be challenged, they welcome the brightest students around the globe...

And also you have opportunities to various Realistic scholarships, GAs, TAs, e.t.c... Even some undergraguate students get FULL scholarship when they meet certain GPA or SAT score...

The US education has opened doors to many bright students who are financially challenged and from poor homes, they now have hope of making their dream come true with the US Education System.

Students going for Masters studies are even the ones enjoying the Most than those going for Undergraduate studies, Most of them receive one form of assistanships, like the GAs, TAs, Fellowship..e.t.c.. Even some go to the extent of securing a FULL assisstanship from the school or their department...

Unlike UK, the Only better thing dem sabi do is to be introducing useless and crazy UKBA Rule, tightening their Border every minute as if say everybody wan go steal GOLD for there... SMH.....

U'r so right my brother. UK is has got nothing to offer,just collecting foreigners hard earned money. If you do your master's in the U.S. You're expected to do a one year OPT (especially if u'r a STEM student), but in UK, you do a master's programme of about 4.5million-6mill naira without any industrial/practical training.

kofsy: just saw 20th of august appointment date! go book it nowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Pls which location is that date for,Lagos or Abuja?

Please if anyone sees date for August @Lagos consulate's page, please kindly alert the house o. There's presently no available date. Please can someone that has been denied before book for an emergency appointment by calling the embassy?
House please help o!

[color=#006600][/color]@GboyegaD:Rice is so wonderful and got good rating, it is located in Houston a nice environment to be. Hope you got funding though[/quote]Thanks Oga GboyegaD.U'r one of d folks I respect here. Actually got no funding from Rice but NYIT I have a GA from NYIT. Please do you know about the school too?

Hello house, good 2 see many people getting their visa, we'll all make it by God's grace. By d way, I have been a silent follower of the thread,good things happening here.
I already got admitted into 2 schools for an MS Environmental Engineering program: New York Institute of Technology & Rice University. Please I want the house to give their cheers or jeers as regards the standard/ranking of these schools.pls gurus help out. Thanks