Obinoscopy:

Please does anyone know how the Commonwealth Scholarship Interview is being done?

They ask questions in your field and general knowledge questions. During my session (I studied Petroleum Engineering), they gave me an integral calculus question to solve, they asked questions on fluid mechanics, thermodynamics. They also asked me questions on where I did NYSC (like what is d title of trad ruler? etc), where I intended to study-Canada, in my case (questions like the capital of french canada, languages, prime minister etc). They even asked me who the prime minister of Japan was (cos my name sounded Japanese LoL!). They asked about my hobbies, and told me to sing the national anthem as singing was one of my hobbies. Gosh! enough fumbling for me that day!

Depends on the universiy, but also the course you want study. Most of the top schools are in the US but that doesn't mean that some schools in Norway aren't more reputable than some US schools. Also, some courses have better job prospects with a masters degree than others.

SEFAGO:

Are u serious? i haven't even started yet lol. Still getting recommendations, and would probably send the GRE to various schools this Friday. And I have midterms in school right now so ridiculously busy (exams). Are you applying for fall admissions and why so quick? It is getting late though, so when I have assembled my recommendation letters and other info I would be done. I havent assembled my schools too lol and I have definitely need to contact professors.

Oh, you didn't know I was applying for spring 2010. I sent all applications just at the deadlines -October 1st. I'm even hoping that I'm not badly behind schedule and that the admissions come this month or early November like arshy said. As for you, you're very well on track as early applications increase chances of financial assistance.

arshy:

@Godeagle,
My man, i dey o. I have been too busy with office assignment these days (which involves lot of traveling). Thank God i finished all the application processes in September, i doubt if i would have the time now. All in all, i am good, following the thread every time i have the chance to do so.
As per the admission, the schools are mailing me informing me of the status of the application. I am hoping to get the good news before the end of this month or early Nov (with respect to the time they gave me).
How far with yours, any news?

No news yet o. The graduate schools have all sent my application packets to the departments for review, but I don't even know when the admission decisions will come.

Hey guys, pardon the lull, got carried away with some other things.

finidinwa1:

have enjoyed every bit of advice from this thread pls keep it up
am applying to Dartmouth and Howard for my MPH pls how do i go about the funding coz that is the main thing
i will also welcome other school where i can get fund for thesame program

I don't think I have the answers. Though a doctor friend of mine is doing the course in Houston. I'm not sure of the name of the University. I'll chat him on messenger in case he knows anything about it.

@ SEFAGO,
I'm done with applications and can't wait for their admission decisions. Yeah, Univ. of Alberta is a really good option, but also very competitive.

@ Arshy,
Where are u man? Any admission yet?

finidinwa1:

have enjoyed every bit of advice from this thread pls keep it up
am applying to Dartmouth and Howard for my MPH pls how do i go about the funding coz that is the main thing
i will also welcome other school where i can get fund for thesame program

I'm glad you found the thread helpful. What's MPH?

Those who score high know how to answer the difficult questions. Of course, they also solve the easier questions, but almost everybody does. So, what separates them from others is the difficult questions they solve and the amount of time spent solving them. If you look for score diagnostics on www.urch.com/forums, you'll notice that those who scored above 700 in verbal, for instance, got almost all the RCs in record time. Even if they fell short in some simple antonyms and analogies, it didn't hurt their scores much. I'm inclined to believe that since ETS places more emphasis on analytical and logical thinking as opposed to ability to store facts in the brain, one is better off when good at solving the complex questions.
Moreover, marking a question without recourse to the time spent is never a true test of ability. If ETS didn't think that time does matter, they wont put it on the diagnostic report. Granted, the GRE pattern is very difficult to predict, but I believe these observations are true.


NB: Diagnostic is a service provided by ETS where one can know what questions he got right/wrong and the time spent on each question.

Hey Moviebuf87, welcome to the forum We're more than glad to have you. It's a global village, aint it? There are Indians working in my office even as I write. Well, my new theory on the GRE, having taken it two times (scored Q740, V650 in my first attempt, canceled the second) and heard a lot of other people's experience with it, is that the key to scoring real high is to solve the most difficult questions with the smallest amount of time. And for the Verbal section, RCs are clearly the most difficult and carry the most points! So, cramming the barrons wordlist alone can only take one so far. I've seen people memorize the entire wordlist and still score low. My advice will be to get good material on verbal, eg barrons, kaplan and big book, learn the strategies for attacking the sections, especially RC, and master them by constant practice under timed conditions. Yes, the passages are abstruse, but you just have to study them with focus. You may not notice a marked improvement initially, but keep working and the results will come. Someone on this thread (Arshy) raised his verbal score from the 300s to the 400s in less than one month.

I'll also advise that you don't neglect to study for quant, since the schools you want (UT and TAMU), have their average acceptable quant scores in the upper 700s. In any case, you may want to also apply to the other schools you mentioned as the competition is crazy for those two. You didn't mention Colorado school of mines and Oklahoma Univ. They are among the best too. I believe admission in Stanford will be tough , from my research, they have the highest accepted GRE score and are just behind UT as per lowest acceptance rate. Confirm the deadlines from the departments' websites.


All the best!

Thanks man, hopefully I will get one with funding. Though UH already told me that there's no financial assistance in their program.

SEFAGO:

I think if u are planning to do a MSc, apply to do so immediately. I dont know the funding position for Meng programs.

Yeah, I know funding is scarce for MEng. But that's what I intend to pursue. My reasons are: 1) The shorter duration 2) I don't feel like I've learnt enough in 9ja to go to US and start doing research. 3) MEng sounds cooler in my ears Lol. . It's possible that I might still change my mind with more information though.

@ SEFAGO, yeah I kinda felt that way too. But then, the advise to contact profs came from a current Petroleum Engineering Masters degree (not sure if it's MSc or MEng) student in Texas A&M. And who knows, I might decide to change to MSc when I get there.

@ zukkie, it's ok. I think you can use a mastercard for registration. But If there's a situation where you can't use it, then you can use your friend's visacard. ETS only needs to know the card details; not whether it's your own or not.

by the way guys, what do you all think about contacting professors for admission recommendation. I've been researching this options, got some good links on the subject: http://www.happyschoolsblog.com/low-gre-score-college-admission/, http://www.happyschoolsblog.com/contact-professors-for-college-admission-aid/,  http://archaeology.about.com/od/gradschooladvice/qt/forstadt_apply.htm. They basically ask you to indicate interest in the professors' research areas, but my challenge lies in the fact that I'm pursuing an MEng. So I'm not going to be doing independent research. I learnt that lecturers only get to work with MEng students  as their project supervisors. That's why I don't know whether my mail would fly. Moreover, I'm still unsure if this idea of contacting profs is a good Idea for every school. I might just give it a try though. I guess I have nothing to lose.

Hey guys! I've been having a hard time trying to post on Nairaland. I post successfully and then it disappears for no reason. I'm even wondering if the posts are actually there and I'm the only one not seeing them. Anyways, it seems to be working today.

zukkie4eva:

i'd settle for MS. Chemical Engrg ( i'd pass Petroleum engrg. . .lol, don't u guys all sound thesame?. . . i mean petroleum engrs. . . lol)

So u mean i can pay online??. . . a friend of mine told me they've stop accepting online payments from Nigeria. It will be a huge relief if i can pay online. . . . i better go subscribe to FCMB pre-funded mastercard then.

How do you mean we all sound the same? As per payment method. Yes, you can pay online. Mastercard may work for initial payment but visacard is preferable. In response to why they had no mastercard in stock, I heard from an ICB customer service staff that mastercard is being phased out. Infact, when I ordered additional scores online, it was stated on ETS's site that only visa and jcb are acceptable.

Thanks for the info Soi. You mean you succeded in getting a scholarship from that site? Please tell us more. Like your major, school, country etc. I'm interested getting a scholarship to study in the US though I'm still waiting for admission.

Great Job Suxes, good guidiance related to studying in the USA for Spring 2010 is absolutely welcome.

Hey all, I recently did my GRE, though cancelled the scores. I don't advise anyone to register for the GRE or TOEFL through agents. Do it yourself; just get a visacard from one of the banks and pay online at ETS's site. There are so many scam artistes around. I've had cases where they register for you sucessfully but somehow withdraw the payment after you have taken the exam. ETS then withholds your scores saying that you are owing them.

As for acing the exam, my advice will be that you give it enough time, some people study up to one year. Get the best books: Barrons, Kaplan, Bigbook, PowerPrep software. I also recommend you use this site: www.urch.com/forums, its the greatest place to be if you want to ace the test. All the best folks.

ha ha what do I know, but then, we're saying almost the same thing: since they're not familiar with the degrees, they tend to underestimate it. So we don't see many Nigerians in the top schools. However, I know that for petroleum engineering, Nigeria has the most foreign students in many top programs. For instance, Univ of Oklahoma-Norman.

Is anybody applying to UH? I'm trying to get them to waive TOEFL for me, but they said it cannot be waived. Does it mean they don't consider Nigeria an English speaking country? What else can one do after appying to facilitate admission? I just sent all my applications.

arshy:

@Godeagle,
I think it will be nice if you can proceed to PhD immediately. (Everybody has their reservation anyway). But, all in all, you are doing well. Wish you best of luck!
Wait a minute, where is emmyclev, has he done it? Brother, show your face o
We shall all get there.

Amen brother! Yeah, it will be nice if I can proceed for PhD immediately, but I'm just not ready to spend the next 5-7 years in any school. Anyways, I'll still consider it; let me get the masters first. Seems emmyclev has gone off the radar, even if the GRE turned out bad at least he will have a lot of time to retake. Not like my case where there's no time to retake the test.

@ SEFAGO

Great job sir; our in-house grad school guru. I'll be considering your recommendations. Please keep it coming.

@ Nkinght

Great job with the GPA conversion. I appreciate your imput. But seriously, I contest that a 4.0 in Nigeria is equivalent to a 3.0 in yankee cos if a person with 4.0 in Naija were to study in yankee, I bet he won't get anything less than 3.5. I know your calculation is technically correct; it's the representation of reality that I doubt.

SEFAGO:

Also, I am looking for an interpretation for why with so many smart ppl,I see on this board, why not many are at top schools. For example, i have met quite a lot of people who applied for there Masters in finance/financial engineering/industrial engineering/Operations research at princeton/columbia/berkeley/northwestern and they rarely have scores above 1400 in their GREs.

Clearly, they don't respect Nigerian degrees.

Well, netotse, it depends on the Fall admission deadlines of the schools you're applying to. Fall semester starts in September and for most schools, the application deadline is between  1st march and 30th april. So taking the GRE in February may be risky if something goes wrong. Just ensure you take it at least a month to the application deadlines of your receiving schools and pray nothing goes wrong.

@ Superbrain, thanks for the observation and advice. It's cool that you're planning to nail the GRE once and for all; that means you will be considering admission in the Fall of next year. All the best with it!

Congratulations NKnight! SEFAGO has said it all. The verbal score is almost useless for engineering programs. Your score is good enough for any school of your choice. Just work on the other aspects of your application.

@ all, I'm currently sending applications and working on my SOP/LOR. In fact, I have already sent some out. But I'm stuck with trying to choose between the thesis and non-thesis options for my programs. I wanted to go with the non-thesis option since I won't proceed for a PhD immediately and I heard that the study duration is shorter (not sure about this). But then, there's the reduced chance of obtaining financial assistance. What's most important to me at this time is the admission. So, I'll go with the option that guarantees my admission, assuming there's a quota for both options and most people will apply for thesis option in order to get financial assistance. Any suggestions?

Hey people, please pardon the long hiatus. It's been a challenging time. I did retake my GRE on 10th september-my first attempt in 2008 (Q740 V650) may not fetch me admission into any of the the top 3 schools. However, this time I had to cancel my scores because I felt I didn't do justice to the quant. Now, I'm kind of regretting why I canceled it. It's very possible I did better this time in quant than in my last attempt. I might reinstate the scores or I'd just use my previous scores to send the applications. I think I can make at least a top 10 school with my former score. I'll keep us posted on my final decision.

Hey arshy, what's up with the CGPA conversion thing, did your school ask you to do that? I've browsed the net but I could not find any site that does the conversion. The only option might be to subscribe to the services of WES- world educational services. They charge a fee to help you do the conversion.

@ findinnwa1, Wow! brilliant you are: 4.85! that's more than anything they can ask for. I don't know about completing one year of US education. Why not find a school without that requirement. Are you going for MS or a Ph.D?

@ emmyclev, that's cool. I'm in a rush, I've got to start my MEng in Spring 2010 cos I'm not growing younger. I'm glad to know you're going for Pet (Petroleum Engineering or am I wrong?). But seriously, do you need an international publication before you get in? I don't consider myself an expert in admission matters but I presume that such is required mainly from those going for MSC (thesis option) or a PHD. All I have are my project works from school, my internships with Shell and Mobil, SOP and LOR. Hopefully, those, along with a good GRE score should get me into a reputable program.

I don't know that much about the softwares; most are used by reservior engineers. I've only used wellview and I'll like to specialize in drilling and production. By the way, don't you think you fixed your GRE too early considering that you have over one year to the application deadline?

@ emmyclev, you've got me confused with someone else. I have an eagle as my avatar, not the Soyinka pic. I think the guy with the Soyinka pic's name is ezekielekata. Yeah, TM is a blessing. It has a lot of highly motivated guys; they let you understand that the GRE and indeed studying in a reputable program in the US is no joke. My exam is in a week's time. Are you applying for Spring or Fall 2010?

@ Afrodoc. Congratulations on scaling the GRE and welcome to the forum. I don't know much about the US scholarship foundations but I'll seriously look into those when I finish my GRE. Please stay in the forum and tell us if you find.

Great job arshy. Oh well, no school will tell whether you will be admitted or not before the Review Committee has sat, it's the committee's job- that's normal. Otherwise people may decide not to apply and the school will lose money and students as well. What I'm saying is that you ask them about their policy on multiple scores. That is, which of the scores they will use to evaluate your application.

@ Superbrain, if you don't have copies of the transcript. Then I guess we can only pray for ASUU to call off the darn strike. I'll join you in prayers.

@ emmyclev, I think you were the one I saw on Testmagic today. You used the same name. My name there is eagle uk . Even if I didn't tell you could have probably guessed as both names have "eagle" in them. LOL

arshy:

I should have scored more in Quantitative (because i know i am very good at it, and i know what i said very well), but during the test, i had about 3 minutes left on the verbal and i was still on question 24 on reading comprehension. I started fidgeting and i lost my total ground, i couldn't put myself together till the end of the test, even till i got home.
Before i could know what was happening, the test was over.
another mistake i did is that i did not take the 60 seconds break which would have eased my tension, may be i could have put my shaking feet together.
I know that it will take a miracle for me to score higher than that at the Verbal, but the Quantitative is surely my error.
I beseech you to watch-out and be composed when you are taking your

I don't mean to harp on this issue. But I think it's a learning for others intending to take the exam. Three minutes may actually be a lot of time depending on the questions you get. For instance, you can do an antonym question in 10 seconds or less if you know the answer. Same with analogies. You can then spend the extra time on the hard ones. So we don't need to lose composure because we have only few minutes left. Practising on pacing helps too. So when we practice, we need to do so under timed conditions and try to increase our speed.

Congratulations on your achievement. No doubt, preparing for the exam is a hard test of self discipline and mental toughness, not to mention those grueling hours you spend in the test centre sitting for the test itself . Those are decent scores. However, while a 440 on the verbal is more than adequate for many engineering programs, I can't say the same for your quant score. Sorry about what transpired during the test -I was certainly expecting a higher quant score from you considering that you did much better the last time.  Thankfully, though, I heard that there are some engineering programs that use only your highest scores from both sections in a case of multiple scores. Some average the scores and others simply pick your latest scores (e.g. UT @ Austin). So, you may want to ask your chosen programs what their policies are on multiple scores. You could also apply to more schools that use the highest sores from both sections.

I don't think you have written your Statement of Purpose yet. That's one area you should focus more effort on. Kaplan and GRE bible have some good tips on writing a strong SOP. Try researching tips on the web too. But make sure you tailor your essays to the unique coditions of each receiving school. These are just my opinions, other tips are welcome from us if arshy won't mind. All the best with your applications.

emmyclev:

i concur with you, i will endeavor to be more active rather than passive, wishing arshy the best as well

Good man! I'm encouraged. @ Nairalanders, wake up and join us! Even if you are not preparing for the GRE or looking to get admission in the US or Canada in the immediate future, you can still be members of this sub-forum as long as you have that dream.

@ SEFAGO,
you seem really informed about admissions, SOP and LOR. Please, your imput is needed.

Happy new month to us all. I pray that God will take us to our next level this month cos we belong to the top. This post is a special dedication to arshy my guy. I wish & pray you have tremendous success on the test as you take it today. You will overcome the GRE for good.

@ all, Let's keep posting na. I understand that most of us are busy with preparation for GRE along with other engagements. We may not realize it but the forum has so great a depth of potential information and support which can only be tapped by constant sharing. I'm also talking to myself by this post. I will increase my activity, internet access and engagements not withstanding.

I used a Skye Bank Prepaid Visacard. This is the umpteenth time I'm saying this; check my earlier posts.