₦airaland Forum

aminalib:
i can't help but love tpia

WHere and when do you want to start, ho?

SEFAGO:
There is not that much of a gap between UT Austin and Havard in terms of research. I meant for example do you expect to find a top researcher at the University of Tennessee? No, but you will find some genius researcher at the University of Central Lancaster (hope i spelt that right).

Yeah Cambridge is awesome for physics one of the best. I really would love to work at Cambridge to be honest. Its my dream school to work at.

What are you smoking?

The Nobel prize in Medicine in 2007 went to a researcher at University of Utah, a supposedly shyyty school.

Stop underrating schools like that!

There are some brilliant people in lesser known American schools.

[quote author=tpia* link=topic=593399.msg7631908#msg7631908 date=1296365846]i've listened to the video twice, and i have no problem with her speech.

having a nigerian accent isnt a crime, and it's not everyone who can talk posh.

at least she isnt pretending to be what she's not.

most first ladies around the world do not have an american or british accent.

with time and exposure, her diction will improve.[/quote]My sentiments exactly

She did fine, not like the Queen of course, but definitely better than a lot of people

I really do not understand what the hullabaloo is all about.

[quote author=EzeUche_ link=topic=593966.msg7631898#msg7631898 date=1296365505]Berkeley or Stanford?

That is the question we must ask ourself. [/quote]Or College park

PhysicsMHD:
Hehehe


1530.

Impressive!

Katsumoto:
Why are you making assumptions? Why don't let you let him tell you how long he stayed in the UK and in what capacity. Its like someone doing a 5 week program at a university and referring to himself as an alumnus.

You seem to have personal vendetta against SEFAGO

Did he rub you off wrongly or something?  He has stated his opinion in the most honest way possible and few people can disprove his conclusions. All you have done so far is to nitpick insignificant details in his post in an attempt to discredit him.

He has presented his argument with unrivaled intellectual fervor and yes he has the right to be angry if his privacy was breached. He actually has not generalized at all. It was you who started this British schooled Vs. US schooled argument, and all he did was to respond to your posts.

I have nothing but respect for you, but the way you are going about attacking SEFAGO isn't just right. And, makes me wonder if there is something the rest of us are missing.

Katsumoto:
So I guess Nigerian students who get into British universities are average but Nigerian students who get into American universities are smarter?

Not in all circumstances, but on average I'd say yes. Once in a while, there is always an Hakeem Bello Osagie who leaves the shores on Nigeria for UK. That said, the bulk of Nigerian students attending elite UK schools are in the mold of AbdulMuttalab. Few of them would have gotten a look at respectable states schools in the US, let alone have any shot at top schools.

Entry requirements are different and students prepare fo entry into institutions based on the requirements. If a system requires you to study 30 hours to get a good score, that is what you do. Likewise if a system requires you to study 5 hours to get a good score, that is what you do.

The system, and in this case the American system, that requires you to put in 30 hours to get a good score is the better of the two. Given the choice between a Neurosurgeon who spent 7 yrs learning the trade and one who spent 5 yrs, who would you trust the life of your mother to?
The underlying assumption here is that the American system expects more form you, exerts you more, and invariably makes you the better person overall.

Succintly arguing that Nigerian students in the US are smarter than other Nigerian students is just plain dumb. The system molds you.

No one has said that.

What SEFAGO and I have been arguing is that Nigerian students in the UK are not as smart as the ones in the US, all other things being equal. We all agree that the smartest Nigerian Students invariably are the ones still schooling in Nigeria. SEFAGO's argument is that the lax in admission requirement into UK colleges fosters an atmosphere back home where the more mediocre tend to gravitate towards UK while the more hardworking, and probably the smarter, attend US schools.

Look, this is what I have seen with my two eyes korokoro. Students who could barely make a 240 on JAMB attending top elite schools in the UK. Abdulmuttalab, with all his education and privilege could not crack a 1250; yet he was given a red carpet into UCL, a supposedly top UK school. He himself wanted to go to Caltech, but after seeing his SAT, he knew Caltech, UCLA, Stanford and other US colleges are off limit.

And even, going by your argument that "the system molds you": Don't you think that the more rigorous system would attract the smarter and probably mold you into a better person than the less rigorous one.

[quote author=eku_bear link=topic=593966.msg7631703#msg7631703 date=1296359871]I guess it depends on the area. ETH and EPFL are highly respected in my own area, more so than any of the British universities. But I'm sure that for something like economics, LSE might be better (this is pure speculation on my part, I'm not an economist.)

Regarding language, I think pretty much everyone publishes in English these days, so cannot really use that as an excuse.

H[b]ungary is a pretty underrated country as far as mathematics go.[/b] I really wanted to do a semester abroad there, but unfortunately never had the time.[/quote]Not just mathematics alone, probably in all of basic science. Those guys are impressive.

SEFAGO:
The fact is that they got accepted. In my group we kind of know that british schools are easy to get into. Year in Year out I see kids get into Imperial, LSE and Oxford who are not even the best in Nigeria. When I see a pattern, I am allowed to make conclusions. I live in a very up-scale neighborhood in Nigeria, and everyone goes to a top UK university. Like no joke. However when they apply to the US even UT Austin na wahala for them to get.

You want to tell me that all the half-brained dullards I saw going to Loughborough, Newcastle, Sheffield, bristol all became smart at a go. WTF  

My bitterness stems from the fact that some of the best brains in Nigeria will be left to rot because they cannot afford to pay for the same quality of education as some rich kids with slightly decent brains.

The best students in my school never got the opportunity to school abroad, they all went to Nigerian universities. Most of them hustled to just get a 2:1 my really smart friend could only make a 2:2 because of some evil lecturer. However, some i/d/i/ots on nairaland will call them m/o/r/ons.

I totally agree with you SEFAGO
I may not be as upscale as you, at least not when I was in Nigeria,I had the same experience and this post is just spot on, especially the last paragraph.

This is getting interesting!

Grabs my popcorn, collar adjusted, rooting for SEFAGO, hoping he comes out unscathed in this epic showdown with Katsumoto.

SEFAGO:
.
Never said they were. I said they were different. A kid can screw up on the SAT and do excellently on the A-levels. I saw this consistently in Nigeria. If you are good in chemistry, physics and further mathematics but suck at verbal reasoning do you think you are going to crack past Tufts? For example, I had excellent grades in  so I definitely would not be attending crap like bristol thats for sure. But my first SAT score was a 1400+ which was just decent anyways. they are two different things. One test reasoning, the other tests your ability to do past exams very well.

I want to believe your 1400+ was on the Old SAT.

That said, if you cannot get into Tufts with a 1400, then you must either have applied late or you did not apply at all. Despite the fact that my brother did not crack 2100 on the new SAT, Mellon and Rice were still begging him to come, good all round application otherwise.

Tufts average SAT is not even that high, even for foreigners.

That said, I understand your point. I have always wondered how Abdulmuttalab with his 1200 on the old SAT was able to get into UCL.Respected State schools like UCLA, Berkeley. Penn State, Rutgers, Maryland would not even touch his application let alone accept him. And, i always thought of UCL as been on par with places like Rice, Mellon, Swarthmore, Occidental,and may be Dartmouth.

Anyway, good to know that UK colleges admission requirements arent as strict as US colleges'

PS: So I could have gone to oxford for undergrad if i had done A -levels. Oh mehn, I wish i knew.

SEFAGO:
TBH they are not the same. I know kids in my area who at Oxford but would not get the SAT score to make tufts. Its kind of a different system. Its based more on knowing your subject as opposed to having pure intelligence.

I just dont believe that. Tuft is a decent school , but not on the same level as Oxford.

Check your facts genius.

Tuft is like a third tier college, not that difficult to get into.

Aigbofa:
LOL

Ma_j_Blige is an optimist

EzeUche is a pesimist

Aigbofa an amateur psychoanalyst.

Ma_j_Blige is a Nationalist

EzeUche a secessionist.

really?

which school of thought?

[quote author=tpia* link=topic=67866.msg7631088#msg7631088 date=1296348013]true.

a man with such an attitude will make a bad husband.

shortage of men notwithstanding.[/quote]any evidence to support your assertion?

^^^

Did Tpia offend you?

Why the insult?

Anyway. ROFL

adeibi:
Thank you but I have heard that several times. I just want to know if it happens to others here in 9ja and how do they go about it?

or you could sneak put of Niaja and then we can live happily forever after in Obodo-oyinbo where internet access doesnt blink!

pro01:
I'm convinced that some people must have failed English comprehension woefully in school. And yet they argue so blindly.

I hear you, especially those color blind people that write in pink!

oyebambam = becomrichn


you cant mistake the Batu English.

[quote author=EzeUche_ link=topic=595293.msg7630370#msg7630370 date=1296340870]If I was president, I would call for a SNC.[/quote]in Washington DC?

alex101:
@OP, These Igbo leaders sometimes don't cease to amaze me. I am from the school of thought who believe that for Ndigbo to survive and assert themselves anywhere in that nigerian dungeon, they must see nigeria of 1966 as no different from the nigeria of 2011. Only with this 'essential' mindnest will we as a people assert ourselves and those who think they can toil with us will think twice. I'm glad the Igbo in Kano understood this. Igbo business men should arm themselves to the teeth, and defend themselves aainst any uwarranted aggression from this hausa/fulani cowards. Nobody has monopoly of violence.

do u live in borno?

[quote author=aloy/emeka link=topic=594268.msg7630305#msg7630305 date=1296340159]I don't know why you mentioned Cameroun here because their condition is worse than ours. Ghana is a very small nation and what worked there may not work in Nigeria. Nigerians needs to first understand that ethnicity is nonsense and nobody cares for them unless they unite and ask for justice like Tunisians and Egyptians.[/quote]Again, you seem to be a slow learner. Are you Ibo?

If you are not ready to lead a revolution, STFU and leave the status quo as it is.

The people dying in Tunisia and Egypt are young dudes and dudettes like you, they did not complain, they took their destiny in their own hands.

So stop complaining and go lead a revolution, but if you are like me and you are not ready to die , either STFU or go entertain Madam Kobo in a Illinois home. Be occupied, stop complaining like an Aba made broken recorder!

Kapisch.