₦airaland Forum

imperiouxx:
It seems that is what's trending now. I wish these people can learn for once.




Are you a serious student? VOs are well educated! They know your intention the moment you stand in front of them with this kind of situation. How can you have a BS, served, worked and still want to go back for an associate degree? I will put it this way, an associate degree is useless! You will still need to go back to a 4 year school to complete your studies before you can make any meaning with your life. At the end, you will waste time and money. A graduate like you needs to apply to graduate programs unless your intention is not to study.

With the way your profile is now, you will be denied again and again if you keep going to the embassy with this crappy admission.

Sometimes only them really know their end game. I have a friend who is 29 years old, finished Bsc from Scotland, worked in Nigeria for few years and she is in a CC here doing IT now, Why? I don't know, maybe she is trying to change her field. But someone with a Bsc and going to a CC again to study the same Bsc course is just too obvious that the intent is migration,they wont agree now until 'after graduation depression' sets in. Even an International student with a University degree is still hustling to get job take less of a CC degree holder.

TWoods:
a “friend” in need is a “friend” indeed.

I just had to over-emphasize that friend

lovable85:
Goodday house, a friend of mine who graduated with a third class in medical laboratory science wishes to apply for a post graduate diploma course since a masters course is too far fetched, so we went online but couldn’t find any university that offers such, please does anyone know of any university that offers at least a post graduate diploma or masters course for a third class graduate ?

Most US schools if not all don't offer post graduate diploma. This is only common in Canada, you might want to tell this your 'friend' who seem dear to you, to check Canada out. However, your dear 'friend' has a 60% chance of getting admitted for a masters degree, two of my friends finished with 3rd class back in Nigeria; one has finished his masters degree in Pet Engineering and started working in the US while one just got a conditional offer for masters. In summary, there is no hard rule to this, with proper research and good shortlisting of school, this your dear 'friend' will/might get conditional admission but funding might be a problem if this dear 'friend' cant afford the tuition.

Taiwoteju:
Yes am going with the same I applied for befor community college ... same school (IOWA western community college) same course as well.. I. I started my U.S application in feb went for my 1st interview May25th..I was interviewed by the white tall man in window 5 or so. VO: what are you going to the U.S to do. Me: I’m goin to the U.S to pursue an associate degree in human service.. V.O: Ave you travelled befor... ME: yes told me places ave been to. V.O y did you choose the school. Me: the school has a long year of establishment..(2) the school public review is highly rated (3) there rich in cultural value.. naso the man just give green paper.. my second interview was July 7.... second person on the list .. V.O graduated from which skl , course and wat year mE: fountain uni, accounting (2012)... V:O after your Nysc service wat did u do. mE: I worked with Jumia for 3years as one of their consultant... V:O y human service generalist and not accounting ME: human service entails domestic violence crisis intervention , child welfare and assisting elderly once but I wanna focus on domestic violence .... domestic violence is rampad in my country the rate which women are abused especially people that are surrounded by me this prompt me in selecting the course... also situation of things in my country urge me in changing career from accounting to human service generalist ... next thing I was given a green paper again .. so I decided to chill till dis year by reapplying again..... Now ave decided to reapply again same course same school..... Any idea pls

I am not God but most likely you will get the same result when you apply again. Going for an associate degree after a Bsc in Nigeria is hard to prove to a VO that you are a genuine student. If I may ask, What will this associate degree do for you? If you don't know, community college is just like our own Polytechnic. Does going to a polytechnic after a 4 year University degree make sense to you? My advice to you is to apply to a proper university. By the way lets assume you got the VISA , whats the job scenario like for a human service specialist? Sometimes you have to think about long term gains than short term gains

Taiwoteju:
Hello peeps, new to this platform...... I was rejected twice last year June and July .... I choosed a community college (associate degree) human service generalist , all my papers are complete including sevis feee.. please am about to take another step by replying next month cos my school resume March... what are the likely questions asked on a third visa interview after rejection? I mean questions pertaining to y u got rejected and all.. Thanks

First of all, are you going with a community college again this time? Post your full transcript so people can know how to advise you.

Ijebuboy525:
Good morning fams, my school resumes on January 10, but I intend leaving Nigeria on 11th for a personal reason, I want to know if I won't have issues at the POE

Why do you want to take chances? You will have issues except you get a letter from your school

LagosismyHome:
Good on you then...it not how far but how well. Since you already written GRE THEN You can target fall session for admission / funding

Pearl93, Honestly even if you get your visa now, this advice up there is a very good one. You can still defer to source for funding and plan well interms of funds.Trust me you dont want to come to the US and be stranded because of money. You could also apply to some better schools than tamuc within this period to get funding with admision. However if your source of funds wont mess up when you get to the US, then its fine. Pardon my doubting thomas spirit, maybe if you guys were married I would have been more convinced that he is going to foot the whole bills.I know of blood brothers just like your case, the younger one got to US with the hope and agreement that the elder one will pay his bills, story started when time to pay came.The decision is yours to make.

LagosismyHome:
But it not just by UK but what grades did she finish with ....

You know in my 'world people' degree,I had a first class .Yeah you are right, I checked her previous posts before I wote that

imperiouxx:
This is true. Yea, I know it's an escape route for many of them. But coming here to use it to start noise or trying to prove the degree worth anything is what's annoying. An associate degree on it's own is nothing in labor market except for ADN. It's only good for transfer for a better degree when people are broke.

Yeah you are right

Pearl93:
I have edited the post. Yeah I honestly didnt do a lot of planning. I was very sure i was going back to the UK in September. I had the admission and all but plans didn t work.
Is there no way I can still get a form of assistantship or something? Even when I get there? Or do i have to wait till fall? I have a first class honours. As for living expenses, he said he would give me 500 dollars a Month since i would be living with his friend(who he would sort out bills with). I was thinking of staying with a friend before but she recently moved Ohio. And do I stick with uncle or guardian?



quote author=femi312 post=63837198]You might want to edit that your long post, this is a public forum and VO do visit here. Your concerns and worries just boil down to the fact that you did not plan well, you put the cart before the horse. With your UK degree you should have gotten one form of assistanship/funding if you had done proper research. At this point there is nothing you can really do, if you cant get a relatives soa..then you might just go ahead with using his own and hope for the best. However you really believe he will pay tuition of 10k for at least 3 semester each? Do you ever consider if you guys breakup? what of living expenses? Just like you said, putting your hopes on anyone that is not parent or immediate blood is risky. Nothing is certain in life. Anyways consider editing that post.

You should be asking your grad cord all these assiatanship questions, schools are different. There are cases where a student will get to school and he/she is lucky to get assistanship without waiting till next semester while there are cases where if you get to school 'a year' before your resumption date and move from one dept to the other like an Israelite you wont see the light at the end of the tunnel, infact most schools don't always have much funding in Spring semester because less students are graduating in Fall. You should see alot of Nigerians in your school that you can ask specific questions on Linkedin, start adding them to your network. But if I were you, getting a visa is what I will worry about right now and not funding

Pearl93:
My interview is 5th. I would be leaving as soon as I get the Visa. So let's say 14th latest.

You might want to edit that your long post, this is a public forum and VO do visit here. Your concerns and worries just boil down to the fact that you did not plan well, you put the cart before the horse. With your UK degree you should have gotten one form of assistanship/funding if you had done proper research. At this point there is nothing you can really do, if you cant get a relatives soa..then you might just go ahead with using his own and hope for the best. However you really believe he will pay tuition of 10k for at least 3 semester each? Do you ever consider if you guys breakup? what of living expenses? Just like you said, putting your hopes on anyone that is not parent or immediate blood is risky. Nothing is certain in life. You need to start emailing your graduate coordinator asking specifically for funding opportunities if not now but at least in second semester, also try to connect African students in your school using linkedin to ask for likelihood of on campus jobs. Getting a Visa should be your first worry right now. Anyways consider editing that post.

imperiouxx:
If I were you, after knowing all this, I would still go with the CC admission. Your eyes will clear.

I don't know why some people are hell bent on this damn CC degree.

Because they feel its cheaper, most also feel its an escape route from Nigeria. I am not against people without Bsc going to community colleges, but people with Bsc already are looking for escape route and greener pasture. Whether the grass is green on the other side or not is what they might find out the hard way

Adesire1:
Hello house! I have a masters degree but thinking of going for another masters in the same course which is special Education with specialization in speech pathology.. reason is because there are some courses that are not available in Nigeria that were not taught which I intend to complete in the Usa . My question is if the second masters will not pose a red flag at the embassy, if yes ,is it advisable to go for a PhD considering the fact that there are some courses I need to take before admission.
Another thing is ...can i apply to schools without GRE?
Lastly ...is it advisable to go with children on a study visa? Thank you.....

Thank God you answered your first question yourself already. Your best and resonable option is the Phd. And yes you can go with your kids if you have proof of funds to support them on an F2 visa. Whether or not you can apply with GRE depends on your school requirement, however PHD Admission is competitive and it's going to be more competitive now withcut in research funding by the US government, so you need to think it through and be thorough with your application.

brightdocare:
Goodday....
please I need urgent answer to this....
I only see people here talking about Fall or spring session.
Does that mean that you can't get your visa approved when going for Summer section?

No you can. Most people apply for Fall because funding is more available in Fall however as a masters student very few schools (If not None) will admit you for summer because most schools dont offer masters course credit in summer, while you can only do research credit as a Phd student in Summer and no course credit. As an undergraduate student, you can take some course credits in Summer, so in summary, if you have an i20 that stats summers; you are good to go. Cc Sanctus1

Dexty10:
Hello guys... And Happy New Year.
I will like to know the U.S equivalent of my GPA score.
Had 3.6 GPA in My Bachelor's degree. What is the score on the U.S scale of 4.0?

Should be around 3.2 or so. Go to https://applications.wes.org/igpa-calculator/ and calculate it.

vinci500:
Abeg link me up Bro. I beseech thee! The co-signer requirement is the only thing delaying my loan application approval.

....on a serious note, sometimes when people argue here, its not just for argument sake. You should try to pick one or two things. If I were you, I will be checking out the non US loan facility they have mentioned to see which one will work for me. Nobody that is not blood or very close to you will cosign a loan for you. Cosigning is much more that it seems.

EZEIGBO1OFIMO:
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO don't tell me that you're going to pay for a PhD in Electrical engineering!!!!!!!!.... NO NO NO .. if so then this is very very very sad ..... Never pay for a STEM PhD; never ever ever ever ever ever pay; no funding, no school

Its just so sad. Imagine you paying for Phd and your lab mates are enjoying 'free' money. That thought alone can cause depression.

Fwesh101:
Thanks to everyone that contributed to the issue of the loan and co-signer I appreciate, it would have been much easy if there is anyone that has given the loan thing a shot... I have someone that can co-signer the loan to those doubting...cheers

Send me a Pm, let me give you a hint

Chidinho10:
Mandem101 got a visa presenting his cosigned loan to the VO. I guess I've proven you wrong (once more)

Sigh..your comprehension skill is appalling.

Teedawg Please just forget this loan issue, its obvious these guys cant comprehend simple write up..They keep talking and giving examples about loans that don't require cosigner when the main point and bone of contention is a loan facility with cosigner. No one is arguing whether or not you can use prodigy or whatever as proof of fund. But saying you will go to the embassy with Salie mie and the rest that require cosigner in the US is misleading and I wont agree to until you bring forth a proof. The main point of F1 visa interview is to proof intent of not immigrating and show ties.

goodemma20:
is there anybody that you know that mentioned OPT and was denied because of that?, the problem is that we are so afraid of getting denied that we refuse to reach the very limit that the law allow.

This will probably be my last post on this.Do you plan to come back to Nigeria IMEDIATELY after your studies? 99% sure the answer is No, so why didn't you inform the VO about your OPT plans when he/she asked you your after study plan? Your guess is good as mine. Yes the law doesn't bar you from OPT or taking loans but common sense will tell you that talking about OPT or showing proof of approval of US loan facility shows you are an intending immigrant. He is not the first international student to take US loan and he wont be the last, what he is supposed to do is staring him in the face but he has failed to see it. If he successfully pulls this through, he should come back and inform the forum how he did it but if I were him, I wont take chances and waste 63k.Have a good day and compliments.

goodemma20:
there is no US immigration law that bars international students from getting loans from US banks. Simply tell them the truth. I assure you it won't hurt you at all except the person co-signing for you has criminal records....Is your loan application already approved?

Same way there is no law that bans you from doing OPT after your studies for 3years if you are in STEM, but when they ask your study plan at the VISA Interview, we 'lie' that we will come back and never mention OPT.

Chidinho10:
Boss, stop beating around the bush and admit you were wrong there. The Sallie Mae you mentioned gives international students cosigner loans with the loan burden borne by their US citizen or PR cosigner. Someone here even took that kind of loan, told the VO and got approved. I just want to correct the notion that loan is a red flag. That is untrue. Maybe it will be true if you are taking huge loans for a one building school.

I remain your loyal boy

wrong? I am confused. I hate hearing 'someone' or 'they said', UNTIL you show me the 'someone' or one person that has taken US loan facilities, told VO and got VISA, I stand by what I said earlier.Have a good day.

Chidinho10:
You are right about taking loans to a top ranked school
But we have seen transcripts here of people who took student loans, talked about it in the interviews and got approvals. Someone for UConn (fysapop), Carnegie Mellon (ishow) and MBA (Ugoh11).

Search for them on nairaland and see their transcripts. They were all for Fall 2017. Thats one benefit of having transcripts here

So I checked the three names you have up there. I couldn't find the last person's transcript. 3 things stood out from the two I saw 1) They didn't take a loan from the US, one even got a partial scholarship which makes his loan less 2) They have substantial work experience in a good company, one even works with an international company and the other is a team lead 3) They are going to good schools. In summary, it will be hard for any international student to convince a VO with a US loan facility like Salie Mie and the rest. A sharp and wise student knows what to do from all these my earlier write up, but its not my mouth you will hear it.

Update: So I just saw that the first and third usernames got loan from prodigy finance with head office in UK with no cosigner which is different from the US loans facilities, so that explains why they could get there VISAs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prodigy_Finance.

blacnewton:
Guys in Yankee that need extra cash and have a valid US Drivers license and SSN, sign up for Amazon Flex, a minimum of $1800 a month is guaranteed.

Just google Amazon flex and sign up.

I think you need to be explicit about the 'SSN'. A student who works on campus has SSN, using this SSN for off campus might be detrimental. Wont this be on the record? One has to be wise, so you dont end up messing your future up because of few bucks and short term gains.

Chidinho10:
I disagree with you on this. People have gotten visas through loans on this thread. Someone had for Carnegie Mellon and another for MBA (I don't know the name of the school). Also, Indians take loans and still get visas.

I don't really know about your first statement but indians take loans in there country and not the US. However taking a US loan for an MBA in a top school or Carnegie Mellon is an investment unlike a one building school. Saying 'people' is over blowing it, I don't know/or heard of anyone that has gone to the embasy with US loan but I know some who go with SOA but end up using US loans to fund there education once they arrive in the US.The VOs are not daft, taking a US loan means you are not coming back to your home country anytime soon. How will you pay a US loan back with INTEREST if you don't stay back in the US to work? How much naira can you really earn to pay a US loan back? All these are put into consideration.Again you might be right that 'people' have done it but its very rare and each individual is different. What works for you might not work for me and vice versa

Fwesh101:
Thank you,trying to see my options..my cosigner is a friend,the loan would be paid directly to the school on my behalf it would not be handy, what if I show prove of[b] funds of a million Naira at the embassy?[/b] I had bsc in political science and international relations opting for MSC in criminal justice

If you are a VO and someone shows you proof that he/she can afford 1 million while the Tuition is about 7 million for a year, what would you do? Your guess is as good as mine.

Magma012:
NEWBIE ALERT
Too many questions To ask let me start from here.. . Gurus in house I salute Una!... Searching tru mastersportal.eu for a cheap school in the US where I can do my masters, the schools I'm seeing on the site are expensive and they require IELTS..
The Question now is
a) Where can I or rather which site can I use to search for cheap schools in the US offering masters in Geology
b) does GRE serve same purpose as IELTS
Thank you in advance settings

You are welcome. First why are you looking for schools without considering chances of you getting assistanships? Trust me you don't want to come to the US without any form of funding. Even if you will at least pay for first semester, you need to have the possibility of getting funded in the second semester. This post below and the links might be helpful to you and ignore anything that is not applicable to you. Secondly GRE and IESLT dont serve the same purpose. Toefl and IESLT serve the same purpose but most schools in US require TOEFL.

First, you need to decide on the course you want to study, To save you some stress start from this website http://graddecision.org/ to know the application process, So step 1) Decide on the course you want to study 2) Search for schools using a)www.msinus.com (open this website with a laptop, you should see a list of school and ranking for some of the most common courses, you can start from there b)www.gradschools.com c)www.google.com (you can just type 'msc in bla bla in the us in google' d) www.usnews.com e) www.4icu.org . 3) check up the website of the schools you find, to see the requirements. most schools will require GRE and some will require both gre and toefl . 4) Register for standardize exam and take it. You can register for gre as soon as you are ready and prepared to take the exam. Its done online at www.ets.org. You can also get all the information you need about the exam on the website. You will get adequate materials to prepare for the exam in this dropbox I created https://www.dropbox.com/sh/t9ot6d07hp1lkm7/AADL_dTihjEvNBRCBsmAcoXja?dl=0

TOEFL is an English test required by some US universities. though, some schools waive due to the fact that Nigeria is an Anglophone country.
For toefl, all you need are the speaking noteful videos in the link below, the ets toefl guide is enough to ace the exam for other sections. Just download the toefl ETS Guide from there website and the simulation test.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/45tvc3ifi8wh8sh/AACXR5j6l3nsWK8vZx5P28TVa?dl=0

As for the Tuition, if you have good results (GRE, GPA, Toefl), SOP and LOR; US schools do offer assistanship to graduate students. This can either be Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant or Administrative Assistant. Depending on the school, if you get an assistantship, your Tuition will be waived and you will also be paid a monthly stipend that can take care of your living expenses. One advice, once you shortlist schools, send emails to the grad cord of the schools and ask specific questions relating to that course and funding opportunities, be very explicit.

Lastly, there are basically 2 admission session in the US, Spring (Jan) and Fall (August). Schools admit more students in Fall, so Its advisable you plan towards Fall 2018. If you plan to resume in fall 2018, make sure you submit all your application documents before ending of Dec 2017. If you don't give it a trial, you will never know.My philosophy in life is to always do my part, with that I don't get to regret later. Above all, if you believe in God,pray to him..if not, good for you.

If you have any question, drop it here and you should get more than one good answer.

For every Engineering graduate school prospect coming here to ask for school suggestions, who does not have access to US news ranking, this spreadsheet might save you some stress. It has all the 2017 ranking of Engineering schools. It wont take you more than a week to start sending emails, perusing each school website to see which one of them you have chances of getting into and which one meets your goals and aspirations.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwKmQy59LeEpUW5tbEZhRHJmR1U/view?usp=sharing

And I cant reply every pms again please, the busy season is here , below you will find a good SOP you can use as guide and ebook
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwKmQy59LeEpZ2Y3bnk2Vlh4ekM0dy13VERhWDNpY2FGLVRV/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwKmQy59LeEpQ0VGeFVSd0l1eUJyMUJvQ0V3cW1oeDhmZ3J3/view?usp=sharing

schrisade:
Hello everyone. My visa was denied by a guy in window 6 yesterday 29th December
Transcript goes thus:

VO: Good morning
Me:Good morning sir
VO: How are u?
Me: Im fine thank you and you?
VO: Where are u going to?
Me: Eastern Illinois university
VO:Y eiu
Me:cos the communication and media studies programme is organized in three academic concentration which is the strategic communication, human communication and cultural studies which aligns with my professional ambition (Vo cuts in)
VO:What would the degree do for u
Me:it would equip me with skills to be able to identify and develop the best communication strategies when the need arises and would also be able to provide possible solutions and recommendations as I want to work with the Nigerian Communication Commission as a communication specialist.
VO: What do u do
Me:I work with a telecoms company and I stated my job descriptions.
VO: So wats gonna happen to d job now. Mayb u're probably gonna take up a job at next.He was laughing and said somethings I didn't hear
Me: I just giggled along with him
VO: Whats your highest qualification
Me: Bsc Masscommunication
VO: Did u write any test?
Me: Yes Toefl. I had 72 ( it was actually waived but I didn't mention it)
VO: I can see you're going for a communication programme
Me: Yes ( he looks at the I-20)
VO: Did u apply to other schools
Me: Fort Hays State University and East Tennessee State University. Got offer from FHSU while ETSU still pending
VO: Who's sponsoring you
Me: My dad
VO:What does he do
Me:He's into import and export of goods as well as haulage of goods
VO: Does he import cars from the US
Me: Yes sometimes
VO: Can I see a statement
Me: Handed him a copy of his company's bank statement
VO: Typing....
VO: Sorry, you said your dad import cars from the US
Me: I repeated yes sometimes. He's into import and exports, haulage as well as clearing and fowarding.
VO: I can see you've been to the US on a family vacation
Me: Yes
VO: Where did you go
Me:Houston and Atlanta
He typed for some mins and handed over the blue paper.

My family members have actually renewed their visas but withdrew mine cos I wanted to apply for student visa. Now I'm feeling I should have just renewed with them.
So also, before my interview I sent a mail to the school as regards my late visa appointment stating that the earliest date I got for my interview was 29th of December. I got a response from them saying "Please move forward with the visa process and keep in touch with our office with an estimated date of arrival. We are able to provide you with an orientation to make you cover what you miss. I hope the interview goes well"
Mind you the statement I presented dats from May to October 2017 cos dat was what I sent to the school. Can I still use it to reapply in January? (Just wanna know if the statement could still be useful for a January application)

Please I would like to know where I got it all wrong. Thank you.

1) You probably went wrong when you tendered a company account. Most times you cant get a visa with a company account, will the company be sponsoring you? why would a company want to invest on you, what do they stand to gain? The VO knows company account is used to run the company and not any personal use. So you might start to remedy your situation by getting your Dads personal account.
2) There seem to be something on the company account that suggests you might be lying that your dad imports cars from the US. I guess that was why the VO asked you again when he saw the SOA. Additionally, next time be very explicit about what your Dad does, saying he is into import and exporting of goods is vague.

Renewing your visa with your family wont have changed anything since they are different classes of visas.

Mokpesneh15:
Good evening am Onajite Mokpe by name I was directed here by a friend Imasuen Osazee who was giving student visa last year
I have few ideal of how it goes so he said I should come here and I will see people who would assist me towards applying for it next year he said it starts in February my please if there is anybody who is going to be applying like me pls kindly contact me via 09076758690 I will keep on up checking on here daily thanks
God bless you all

You are welcome. Applying for What? You can apply for Visa within 90days of your school start date. Your main concern now is how to apply to schools and get admission. You need to be more explicit on exactly what you need help with. If you plan to resume in Fall 2018, your grace period to apply to school is fast elapsing. Have you applied to schools? Have your gotten Admission(s)? Lets start from here

Klebsy:
Mr Twood. Please I would also love your take on this.

Hello house
Can I enter the US a day or two after the start date on my I-20?

If you dont want your village people to win this war, dont try it. On a serious note, its a 50/50 thing if you dont have a letter from your school, you might be sent back home. A recent story about a Ghanaian at Michigan Tech comes to mind http://www.mtu.edu/unscripted/stories/2017/november/finding-home-abroad-michigan-tech.html

goodemma20:
you don't understand me. What I meant is that getting a yellow card is one of the requirements in entering Nigeria which is an African country. what I said has nothing to do with US

Okay, now I understand