₦airaland Forum

Ricky Rozay: Sure, there are some things you need to do before your i-20 arrives, If ONLY you have your Sevis Number and School code with you.

You will need your Sevis Number and School Code to Fill your DS 160 form and to enable you book appointment. You will also need the sevis number and your school code to pay for your Sevis fee.

If you DON'T have a copy with you, Email your School and ask them to send you a scanned copy of your i-20, so you can use it to book appointment.

OR if they refuse to send you a scanned copy of your i-20, you can also tell em to email your Sevis Number and the school code to you.

Things you Need to Do before your i-20 arrives;

1. Pay your Visa fee @ GTBank for #26,400

2. Fill your DS 160 form as accurately as possible and Fill in your Sevis Number and School Code correctly where Required.

3. Go to the appointment window and Book appointment with the Application ID generated from the DS 160 form.

4. Pay your Sevis fee of $200.

The Above mentioned are the things you need to do while waiting for your i-20, by doing this things, you have automatically speed up the whole process.

Cheers.

although ur post was not directed to me but I must say it's helpful. Thanks

Capt. JH Miller:
Guy where you dey abeg!? My plans don spoil aswer..

bro how far..

dmoney104: How are you all doing? Sorry, I have been away for a long time now , please i will be writing my TOEFL TESt soon i really need someone to help me out with some materials. davidobah843@yahoo.com

u r welcome.

Good aft Fellas.
@ Ricky Rozay u've got a mail, pls reply.

FIZIK: Just one month in the US and I had to use password help to log into my dear Nairaland.

Education is fast-paced and demanding, with loads of homework that makes me wonder if I am not gonna break down.
I understand why people rarely post when classes starts (not because they don't want to).
I am wondering how Imperiouxx et al does it.

My suggestion based on experience:
GTBank mastercard is accepted in most payment platforms.
Rather than having people do FX transfers from Nigeria with attendant transaction costs(fixed and %'s), You can have them pay into your Current/Savings account while you use the money here.
Note that for each ATM withdrawal, GT charges #1,000. so what I do is to take out a money order on my GT ATM at Walmart (60cents) or Wells fargo bank ($3 for 3 leaves) and deposit into my domestic checking account here where I don't incur ATM withdrawal charges.
You can take a maximum $5,000 out of your card in a day but you will be required to provide your passport if it exceeds $3,000 for the day.

Be outspoken,ask for clarifications when you do not understand.
Don't think your accent sucks because there are lots of Indians and Chinese who can barely speak the way you do. ( I have been told many times my English(British accent) is great and sometimes I like the idea of an American asking me ''What did you say?"
90% of my class composition are Chinese, 5% Indians and few Americans.
At first I wondered how they follow in class but you will be damned to write them off because they are really smart.
Do not isolate yourself, nobody sees you in that way.

I use a calling card (African King) when i call Nigeria.
45 minutes for $5.
Some of my friends use Keepcalling.com.
Its also cheap and convenient because you can pay online.
Skype(I mean purchasing skype credit and calling the Nigerian GSM) is most convenient if enabled on your mobile and not just on your computer.
For domestic calls, visit a cell phone carrier and get a plan tailored to your individual need.
Limit your international calls, you are here to study.
Be sure of what you subscribe to, bills add up real fast.

Be careful what you sign at the leasing office.
It may put you in bad rating if you don't follow through.
Judging by where we come from, you dont need a sea view or pool.
All apartments have relatively the basic amenities you need.
Off campus apartments are usually cheaper if its on the free bus route or you have a car/bike.

COOK, COOK and COOK.
Not only will stop overs at Mcdonald's and Subway for pizza and sandwitch drain your pocket, you'd be imagining how fast you got obese each time you look in the mirror(there's always a big one in the bathroom).
My groceries come from HEB and Walmart.
Basically Rice,egg, chicken, milk, bread.
Who has an idea of alternatives to Beans and garri which I order from Houston at a cost?
Convenience stores are not as good.
Come with condiments if you can.

Come prepared.
It takes money to settle in here no matter how you try to cut cost.
There are many side attractions, only you know your priority.
Maintain a positive outlook and Lastly NETWORK,
That's what you'd have left after graduation.

God bless Nairaland

Thanks for ur write-up, its really helpful. pls keep up ur good deeds & I wish u success in ur endeavors.

electronic: If average app fee = $80
then 4 Schools = 4 x 80 = $320
320 x 160 = 51,200 whew!!!Sweating
GRE = 30,000
Transcript = 4 x 2500 = 10,000
estimated (51000+30000+10000) + other = 100,000

boy oh boy!!!

u are good at evaluation, keep it up.

@Ricky Rozay, pls can u reply my PM?
Thanks

@ eucharia64 congratulation I wish u best of luck in USA.

electronic: Check the first post i explained ABOVE!!...sorry

Thanks I've seen it.

@ electronic pls can u explain what u mean, eg.
Mississippi State University - Mississippi
State 1050-1150 80 60-70% 1-2
Thanks.

smithjanetstore: @House can somebody please tell me how to make GRE payments i mean the full procedure

Referring to bigfrancis21 post on page 99

TO PROSPECTIVE GRE AND TOEFL TEST
TAKERS:
It is no longer a hidden fact that GRE and
TOEFL test takers in Nigeria cannot register
for the test online. Even someone registering
on your behalf from abroad is banned once
the test taker would still be writing in Nigeria.
Well, I have good news for you. Are you
aware that you could still register for the
exam by yourself, fast and at the lower
official ETS test fee? All you need to do is
simply call ETS and register! Its that simple.
Just as you can call to schedule a visa
appointment, so can you call to register for
your GRE/TOEFL test! If saving money is
your priority, rather than wasting N50,000
needlessly on GRE agents and enriching their
bank accounts when you could simply do it
yourself at the cheaper official GRE price of
$185(N29600) or at $175(N28,000) for
TOEFL, then this option is best for you.
To register, you'll need the following:
1) Your GRE account login details on the ETS
website. If you don't have an account
already, quickly visit http://www.ets.org/gre
to create your account. For TOEFL, you'll
need your TOEFL account login details on
the ETS website. If you don't have an
account already, quickly visit http://
www.ets.org/toefl to create your account.
2) A valid GTB MasterCard. I can't really
vouch for other types of debit cards because
I've not used them before. However, I'm sure
of GTB MasterCard because it never fails to
work. Take note of the 16-digit card number
printed on the front of the card, the expiry
date (month and year) also embossed on the
front of the card and lastly, the c.v.v code,
which is the 3-digit code printed on the back
of your ATM card. Have these details handy
because you'll need to provide them to the
agent to enable them make the payment over
there for you. Of course, I need not remind
you that you must have funds of, at least,
the registration fee amount in your account
for a successful payment.
After you must have done the above, then
you're ready to go. Call the ETS Registration
Center on +31320239593 . That is the phone
number of the ETS Registration center or
Region 9 located in Netherlands and it is the
ETS center, out of the 12 regional registration
centers worldwide, in charge of registering
Nigerians for TOEFL and GRE. Once you call,
you'll hear the voice prompt and wait to be
connected to the next available customer
agent. Once you're connected, the agent will
ask you for your login details which will
enable him log into your account and register
you over there by himself.
First, you'll be asked for these details - first
name, middle name, surname, address, date
of birth, phone number, email address,
preferred test center number and test date.
Second, comes the payment stage. At this
stage you'll provide the agent with your ATM
card details to enable him/her key in the
data and make the payment himself. Once
successful, you'll be told by the agent and
also receive an email immediately containing
your examination e-ticket.
PS: Be sure to recharge, at least, N750 credit
on your phone as you'll be spending some
good quality time on the call (15-20
minutes).
Please, this is in no way a scam but rather,
its one of the valid means of registering for
the GRE or TOEFL test as you'll see stated on
the ETS website:
http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/
register/cbt/
http://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/register?
WT.ac=toeflhome_ibtregister_121127
However, only a few people know about this
easy and cheap means. Two noble members
from this forum registered successfully on
Friday and this morning after telling them
about it.
Success.
http://www.ets.org/s/mygre/rrc.html
www.ets.org/s/toefl/pdf/
toefl_ibt_rrcs_11-12.pdf

winbyforce: "Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle"- Plato

wise saying, we are all different and unique.

klplus: hello all,
I believe I owe this house my visa testimony and I want to give thanks to God.

Congratulation klplus, wish u success in Obamaland.
I sent u a PM, can u pls reply. Thanks

syahboy: Hello Nairalanders, I recently took the Gre and today I received the official Score Report Quant-165, Verbal-156 Total 321 and AWA-5.0(Not stellar but laudable).

I started practising for the test since march and to be honest the first powerprep attempt I scored a meagre 290. However, I requested for materials on this forum and some materials were sent to my mail. I found the barrons basic as it covered some aspects of the quant section but not up to actual test standard.

A friend of mine recommended the Nova Gre Bible which I found very efficient as it teaches all the tricks and formulas needed to ace the Quant section, infact with this book you can get a perfect score on the Quant.

For the verbal I learnt 299 common Gre words and also practised with the free verbal flashcards from magoosh gre, although on test day the words were actually reasonable than the ones on the practise test.

I did a lot or Reading comprehension questions on both Barrons and http://codecoax.com/grerc/ as this was an area I struggled with. For the AWA I studied essays from http://gre5dot5./ and it helped me a lot as two of the essays on my test were directly from this site. I also recommend downloading the ebook Gre-AWA model essays.

Powerprep is a must as it helps you get the test experience, also your score on the powerprep will likely be your actual score on test day plus or minus 10 points. In summary practise, practise, practise and you'll do great. Having great scores is not esoteric, just be passionate and zealous and you'll make it. On test day I sent my scores to TAMU, ASU, UIUC and UTD. Currently doing my final semester and will be applying for Spring 2015 semester(EE VLSI) plus my Toefl is on tuesday, wish me luck guys

I'm really impressed with ur perfomance, also thanks for ur advice. I wish u success in ur TOEFL exams.
pls can u kindly forward those GRE materials to me : idalex85 [at]yahoo•com
thanks

lisadem: Hello house,
I got my visa approved at the Lagos embassy today. Sorry this is coming late. I was preoccupied in other endeavours.

Thanks to Francis for informing the house on my behalf.

The transcript is prepared and will be launched soon . PLEASE DON'T QUOTE! Na one kind long anecdote with plenty appreciation.

congrats man, wish u d best in Obamaland. pls don't abandon ur root.... NL

...fortune favours the bold... I'm elated about ur visa approvals.
Congratulations to Bigfrancis and omg_star.

“You do not realize now what I am doing, but
later you will understand.” John 13:7

GOD MOVES IN A MYSTERIOUS WAY

kofsy: Ah! My cousin already asked for it its the 19th edition

no problem. thanks

kofsy: ok! I did my GRE today and I'm not pleased... I had 154 in verbal and 152 in quantitative. My quant score is kinda lower than i expected cos the questions where quite simple and i think i got at least 14 questions right in each of the two sections. could there have been an error





I want to thank Gboyega once again.... The Barron's actually helped me in my quants. God bless you.





Bigfrancis, pings sent to you are not delivering. whats up?

congrats kofsy on ur exams. pls I'll like to know what edition of d Barron u used & if u can help me wit it.
thanks

Barka da Salah to all the Muslim Ummah.

yemego: My people, I duf my cucumber. Av been a fervent reader of this forum since May. I went for my 2nd attempt interview on July 31st and I met with the Favor of the Lord.
My first attempt wasn't that good because I was very nervous. Prepared but not composed . For each question the VO asked me, I asked her to repeat, so i was delayed. This is how the interview went. 18th of June

V.O: good afternoon, pass me your doc.
Me: good afternoon, How was ur day. Oh!! sorry how is ur day going (She looked at me for like 2sec)
V.O: Why are u going to the US
Me: To pursue masters in computer science
V.O: Which school did u grad
Me: (You said wat ma?) she repeated the question (ma?) again. Truly, I didn't hear the question well because the speaker dey misbehave. I later answered after 3rd attempt.
V.O: wat did you study
Me: Computer science
V.O: Why masters
Me: For long career prospect and to also have indept knowledge in computer science. (i stammered throughout )
V.O: Are you married
Me: No
V.O: Why dis university
Me: Aside the fact that the school is highly ranked in the north according to usnews, they are offering me computer and information science as a specialization which am able to combine with Artificial Intelligence (not stated on the I-20) which i believe is a booming technology back here in Nigeria as a developing country.
V.O: Who is sponsoring you
Me: My dad
V.O: What does he do
Me: He's into oil and gas. He has his own filling station along lagos- ibadan express way. He's also an entrepreneur. (I think this oil oil thing no dey freek all this V.O again oooo)
V.O: (she type for like 5 sec. then she started saying their famous but very disastrous anthem which I pray neva to hear again)
Me: Please ma, can I know the reason.
V.O: It's written on the white paper.


The Second Interview was on the 31st of July, more than a month after. I know they normally ask for changes in ones profile so i changed the school and went with another I-20.

Me: Good Morning....
V.O: Good Morning
Me: How are you doing today ma
V.O: very fine... You are
Me: I mentioned my name
V.O: ok, so where are you heading to
Me: Told her.
V.O: oohhh!!! have I interviewed you you before
Me: Yes ma (She was the same person that delayed me in my first interview)
V.O: I see, you've changed your school..
Me: Yes ma
V.O: ok ok, I can't interview you again so i will have to pass it to my colleague, so wen eva she's free you go me her.
Me: Ok ma (so I went to meet her colleague)

Me: A very good morning ma
V.O: good morning... Your document
Me: ok, passed... How are you doing today ma
V.O: fine thank you. So where are you heading to
Me: Connecticut
V.O: which school
Me: Told her
V.O: ok, what did you do during your NYSC
Me: Am OCA, OCP certified, so I served in an IT firm where I instruct students on bla bla bla.....(She dey type dey look my face as i dey talk. Me no stop for NYSC work alone, na so i continue dey tell am say; So after my NYSC, i got a job in #company'sname as their software developer where I develop full life cycle object oriented software, testing and implementation.
V.O: gud gud, So how do you want to pay
Me: ok, I have academic merit scholarship that is worth $$$$$ and my dad will be responsible for the rest.
V.O: (she read thru my I-20) ok gud (2ce), So wat does he do
Me: told her
V.O: Can i see his statement
Me: Yes ma (gave it to her)
V.O: She looked at the closing balance for like 1min then gave it back to me... Ok... she then dropped my passport and I-20 beside her system. Na from there i knw say God don do am. She picked a paper and cycle one address con dey tell me the story wey everybody wey dey this forum go hear in their next interview.
Me: Thank you ma. (i jux look back look people face, den waka comot)

I really appreciate wat you guyz are doing on this forum, tho i dont comment but i dey read una comment. A special thanks to Orlawale and bigFrances, God bless you guys... And to everybody, we will all get to our promiseland in Jesus name.

congrats man. I wish u a solid stay in Obamaland.

foohard: Glory be to GOD. VISA approved at 11.45am today.
.

Again, I'm grateful to you all and I say a big thank you to GOD

congrats man, wish u success in d US.

imperiouxx: Yea, I used GTN in Ikeja for all my application fees payment. I only know the way from Oshodi. From Oshodi take a bus going to Secretariat or drive to Opebi Raod. Stop at Salvation bus stop. The building is across the road.

http://gtn-ng.com/contact.html

NM..... You will certainly enjoy it here but I move out soon after my graduation.

hello imperiouxx, pls what are the charges per transaction.

pls house does any one knows any other means thru which fee can be paid to schools.
Thanks

justwise: Add him as one of your followers and contact him using nairaland email system, no dropping of contact details here pls.

pls how can someone chech his mail on NL.

webstradamus: 23k is fine but you really don't have to spend that much if you know your way The only mandatory expenses are tuition/fees and insurance. All others are "negotiable".

can u explain what u mean by "negotiable"
Thanks

bigfrancis21: Quite a number of US schools
usually
set 2.7/4.0 as their minimum CGPA
requirement.

pls can u list some schools with such requirement.
Thanks

@babasharon I sent a mail to u pls reply.
Thanks

imperiouxx, Ms Nas, technolee pls can u give me ur email I need help on an issue. Mine is idalex85 at yahoo dot com
Thanks

technolee: Academic transcript you mean? Go to the transcript office of the school you graduated from (if you are a prospective MS student) and request for your transcript to be sent to your choice of school in the USA (you can get the mailing address by navigating through your school's website). It is that simple. Although, I got mine by hand and sent all my documents in one envelope to ensure they arrived the destination at the same time PERIOD, T. Hope that helps.

Thanks for ur response.

technolee: Young man, have you filled in the school(s) you would want your scores be sent to? If no, please do asap before it gets to less than 12 hours to the test. Else, you will pay to send those reports. Wish you success

ur advice is also helpful to me.
When applying to uni in US how will d transcript be sent. House pls u can help out.

flynbird: Visa approved!!!! Thank God! And thank nairaland. I'll share my experience soon. My battery is low for now

Congrats, we thank God for his good works, have a grt time studying in US.