owoleo:
Hello everyone, I would like to know of what you think about these schools as i am planning to apply to them for Masters in Communications studies. *illionsion state university *Grand Valley * West Texas A&M. I would appreciate your contributions and opinions on this.

Illinois State is a good school but hard to get in, depending on your course. Good SOP and GRE score will make the difference.

Hello House,My Name is Ayo,am Graduate of Accounting(DLI) university of Lagos,Just Completed My Maters In risk Management AND insurance( result not yet out).Please i need a Step by Step guide to apply for a school in the USA on scholarship(master program) as i dont have a sponsor.I am strictly a novice when it comes to applying to school abroad.Please kindly help me with info..Bless u as u do so.
Regards

ayuyos1:
Hello House,My Name is Ayo,am Graduate of Accounting(DLI) university of Lagos,Just Completed My Maters In risk Management AND insurance( result not yet out).Please i need a Step by Step guide to apply for a school in the USA on scholarship(master program) as i dont have a sponsor.I am strictly a novice when it comes to applying to school abroad.Please kindly help me with info..Bless u as u do so.
Regards

are you ready to write standardized test? First, start with usnews.com, you'll find schools and their requirements.

innovativeame:

Illinois State is a good school but hard to get in, depending on your course. Good SOP and GRE score will make the difference.

. Thanks for your comment @innovativeame, my course doesn't require a GRE score @ those 3 schools. They are also concern about experience and I have 2 years work experience as a Radio presenter cum Show host and voice over artiste.

owoleo:
. Thanks for your comment @innovativeame, my course doesn't require a GRE score @ those 3 schools. They are also concern about experience and I have 2 years work experience as a Radio presenter cum Show host and voice over artiste.

course?

efiyefaa:
hello all please do I need to get a yellow card for my trip? congrats to all who just got their visas

Kai someone answer me na biko do I need yellow card to travel?

slimmy05:
course?

. It's Masters in Communications

efiyefaa:

Kai someone answer me na biko do I need yellow card to travel?

If your school requires that then u should if not be calm and happy. If I may get you right, isn't it the card that shows your immunizations record? If not, pls forgive me, because "yellow card" is an ambiguous term. A yellow card in my school means something else ooo

owoleo:
. It's Masters in Communications

In this case you need a strong SOP and irresistible LOR. In my case it was the SOP that served as a hook, as a communicator I know u can do better than me. However, you shouldn't totally rely on your prowess, write and give to others ahead of you in ur field to proofread and contribute. ISU is ok (No advert oo, justwise must not know that I'm advertising ooo )

Horayce:

Hopefully this spring. Was accepted at UH's Msc subsea engineering program early in November.That's were i wanna end up but it's taking forever for their i20 to get to me. R u in UH?

am resuming in UH downtown for spring 2015. i just completed some pre reqs at HCC. keep calling them, they will send it. did you get some kind of funding?? UH is quite expensive without funding

innovativeame:

If your school requires that then u should if not be calm and happy. If I may get you right, isn't it the card that shows your immunizations record? If not, pls forgive me, because "yellow card" is an ambiguous term. A yellow card in my school means something else ooo

thanks bro yes the immunization, no school doesn't require it they only asked for tuberculosis which is done.
so I don't need it Shey?
Thank God

zeezahbee:
am resuming in UH downtown for spring 2015. i just completed some pre reqs at HCC. keep calling them, they will send it. did you get some kind of funding?? UH is quite expensive without funding

What's UH downtown? Is that the main campus? No , I didn't get funding. The PE/Subsea programs are quite competitive and i was pretty late in sending my apps so it was a miracle I even got accepted. I'm hoping to get some kind of funding/assistantship in the fall otherwise id weigh my options. What do you mean by calling them to send my i20? My programs admission officer promised she would send the mail last Thursday but I haven't been notified or given a FedEx tracking number to monitor my package. If she sends it via regular mail then I'm royally screwed.

[/b][b]

dicapino:




SORRY ADMIN...this post is for @coolbiz...hope you see this.

@dicapino ! Great scores and Congrats.please am also preparing 4 Gre,i would be very glad if you could share some of your study materials with me if you can.i have also been promised some by some good fellas here but still yet to get them and i wouldnt mind having some more to better my chances in the exam.

Congrats once again.
Best regards.

Horayce:

What's UH downtown? Is that the main campus? No , I didn't get funding. The PE/Subsea programs are quite competitive and i was pretty late in sending my apps so it was a miracle I even got accepted. I'm hoping to get some kind of funding/assistantship in the fall otherwise id weigh my options. What do you mean by calling them to send my i20? My programs admission officer promised she would send the mail last Thursday but I haven't been notified or given a FedEx tracking number to monitor my package. If she sends it via regular mail then I'm royally screwed.

the main campus is in downtown Houston. they do not send through fedex, they will send through regular mail, call your admission officer and tell her how you want your i20 to be fixed.

innovativeame:

In this case you need a strong SOP and irresistible LOR. In my case it was the SOP that served as a hook, as a communicator I know u can do better than me. However, you shouldn't totally rely on your prowess, write and give to others ahead of you in ur field to proofread and contribute. ISU is ok (No advert oo, justwise must not know that I'm advertising ooo )

. Okay, thanks as I am working on that. I am considering if I should take GRE for the purpose of the Interview at the embassy incase the VO ask for which of the standardized do I have. However, I currently have a valid visit visa to the US but I am jus preparing to be on a safe side. My course major requirements is CGPA of 3.0 over the last 60hours of undergraduate course work,SOP,LOR,TOFEL,writing sample and telephone interview.

Walspring:


when you get to the page that you wanted to book appointment you will see available dates and also see the dates that the embassy won't open..

Dec 25th and 26th 2014 embassy won't open then Jan 1st to 6th also...

I hope this help.

Thanks Boss

My Transcript yesterday at d abuja Embassy at around 11am?

This particular VO on window 7, she's one old white woman , she had neva approved any visa since morin until d immediate 2 people before, a girl with her mother & a young boy going for BSC. Everybody including me were praying to avoid her window & wen it was my turn, i was praying wimdow 8 sud quickly finish before her, so that she can call me to her window instead of her.D interview goes thus;

VO- Good Morning
Me- Good Morning, How is it going.
VO- No Answer again.
VO-Pass me your document
Me-Here it is
VO- Which school are u going to.
ME- Didn't hear her well, so i was like i am going for my masters.
VO-Which school are u going to?
ME- Eastern Kentucky university.
VO- What course are u going for.
ME- Engineering Technology Management with Computer Network Security as option.
VO- How many schools did u apply to ?
ME- 5 schools.
VO- Name them.
ME- Ohio state, Mid-Tennesy state, Youngstown state, Murray State and Minnesota.
VO- She didn't allow me to finish but i struggled to name them completely.
Why EKU above others.
ME- It is only EKU that offers my course under Engineering Technology Management as option, all d other schools only have it under computer science and some under Information systems management and that makes it more theoretical, but d curriculum in EKU march my career goal & it is more technological & practical since it is under Engineering Technological Management.
VO- She didn't even allow me to finish, did u do d GRE.
ME- Yes, I did it.
VO- Let me see d result sheet.
ME-Open my document & i was finding it dificult to find it, so i said I'm sorry for delaying u o & i keep searching until i found it and gave it to her and she checked it.(I realised it was like she was mainly interested in d schs i sent my results to, since she had earlier asked for d name of d schs are applied to, thank God it was only Minnesota i added witout applying to).
VO- Who is your sponsor.
ME- My Brother.Though my parent wuf havr sponsored me but i chose to sponsor me as pay back to my parent having had his own masters in d UK sponsored by them.
VO-What does he do.
ME-He works with Globacom Nigeria Limited, one of d leading telecom provider.
VO- (Cuts in), what does he do there?
ME- He is one of d roll managers, and he also a consultant wit NCC, Nigeria Communication Commission.
VO-Do u have his bank statement.
ME- (I gave it to her and started explaining sum tins inside,). The last transfers were from his other account .He wanted d bulk of d money to be in one account, so he transfer from his other account to this & i also have d bank statement of that account to show d transfer.
VO-She didn't even answer me, she just checked d starting balance and flip thru small, then move to d closing balance which was #7m and my 1st year fee is like #4m. And she took dat lovely pretty white sheet, pick up your visa on tuesday.
ME-Thank u, i didn't even wait to pack my tins back in my folders b4 she changed her mind, i just bungled all my documents on top one another & walk out fast, i got to d exit & met d guy b4 me dat was also granted & we hugged & shake hand. Then d securities at d exit, like evry naija agencies do behave, i wasn't exoecting to find such in d american embassy though, but they are blacks. So d securities were like, no u can't go o, u must celebrate it for us,& d other guy said na 1k he give them, vut d joy was too much, me self juat drop 1k for them & waka out of d place o.

WHAT I OBSERVED- Be prepared, don't cram wat u re to say, because a guy was denied in window 6 because he was explaining too much, though d points were good but it was like he was lecturing d VO, defining computer & gesticulating too much and going to deep and d VO, was like u re telling wat u went to read & cram.
If u want to show u know d program u re going for, explain in d simplest form to pass ur message (Note that d VO u re explaining u re explaining to is not an expert in d field, so just say tins dat she can undastand & convinced dat u know wat u re going for, not explaining like she is ur student & like she will have to answer an exam after ur explanation).
2.) Just pray inside j, if it is ur time, u will get it, no matter how stubborn d VO cud be, don't have preference inside u, believe any of d VOs can give u.
3.) Be confident & very relaxed, talk to her as if it was bot an interview, as if it was just a frbd asking u sum tins.(I WAS ALREDY TALKING WEN I REALISED I WAS RESTING ON D SLAB IN FRONT OF HER WIT MY 2 ARMS FOLDED) AND I JUST CONTINUE.
4.) Smile, even she didn't smile back because d VO here did not smile thru out o and also talk loud and audible.
5.)Try to explain any gray area u believe will give u problem once u notice d VO asked for d document relating to it because she might not ask u for explanation & just make her decision from wat she sees o.
( Like me now, i knew d VO can raise a eyebrow dat my brother is sponsoring me & not my parent, so i quickly gave her reasons why immediately she asked for my sponsor. Also immediately she asked for my bank statement i quickly gave reasons for last lodgings. )
6.) Don't try to bring any topic she didn't ask anytin about & don't talk too much so dat u won't bring new questions for urself.Go to d point & very few strong & concise words are enough to convince d VOs.( Like for me, she didn't ask about my work, eventhough it was in my DS160 & i tried my posible best to avoid any answer dat will bring it up.)
7.) Package ur form DS160 very well, d VOs had alredy make a decision to a large extent once they go thru d DS160 on dia system, they re only expecting u to prove them right. ( As for me, i knew d VO saw dat i work as an IT section manager in a company & Im going for Computer networking, she must have seen dat i collect 100k monthly so no reason to run away to d USA).
8.) No sum of d courses dat u will be taking under ur program, because i notice d question was common, d VOs were asking pple to name sum of courses they will take wen they get to school.
9.) Make sure d reason why u chose dat sch is unique, not sumtin u will find in other schs.Don't only say because d sch is one of d top schs in d US or dat because d sch is havin good infracsture&academic profile. Say sumtin dat relates to u personally, like d courses they take dat other schs don't take, like a research group dat interest u, like because u get a reduce sch fees or an assistantship which others didn't give u.etc
10.) Make sure atleast sum of d schs u mentioned dat u applied to are also in ur GRE score sheet dat u sent ur result to them.
11.) When asked about ur sponsors work, pls package it very well, i realise once d VO knows ur sponsor sud be able to finance from d work his doing, d VO may not even asked for a bank statement, many pple were given witout a bank statement espe ially those dat said dia Dad works as 1 boss in big oil companies & even if d VO is going to ask for ur Statement of account, she won't check it thoroughly once u alredy gave a very gud job for d sponsor.Personal business is not alwys too gud enough because i guess d VO won't be sure of wat u make.

FINALLY PRAY & FAST because AT D END IT IS ALWAYS GOD, ONLY HIS FAVOR, MERCY AND GRACE CAN MAKE U GET THAT VISA. Many pple performed better than me & were denied.And may be if i was queried further i wud have fumbled, but for God, my interview was short.GLORY BE TO HIS MIGHTY NAME ! THANK U GOD

femoric9:
My Transcript yesterday at d abuja Embassy at around 11am?

This particular VO on window 7, she's one old white woman , she had neva approved any visa since morin until d immediate 2 people before, a girl with her mother & a young boy going for BSC. Everybody including me were praying to avoid her window & wen it was my turn, i was praying wimdow 8 sud quickly finish before her, so that she can call me to her window instead of her.D interview goes thus;

VO- Good Morning
Me- Good Morning, How is it going.
VO- No Answer again.
VO-Pass me your document
Me-Here it is
VO- Which school are u going to.
ME- Didn't hear her well, so i was like i am going for my masters.
VO-Which school are u going to?
ME- Eastern Kentucky university.
VO- What course are u going for.
ME- Engineering Technology Management with Computer Network Security as option.
VO- How many schools did u apply to ?
ME- 5 schools.
VO- Name them.
ME- Ohio state, Mid-Tennesy state, Youngstown state, Murray State and Minnesota.
VO- She didn't allow me to finish but i struggled to name them completely.
Why EKU above others.
ME- It is only EKU that offers my course under Engineering Technology Management as option, all d other schools only have it under computer science and some under Information systems management and that makes it more theoretical, but d curriculum in EKU march my career goal & it is more technological & practical since it is under Engineering Technological Management.
VO- She didn't even allow me to finish, did u do d GRE.
ME- Yes, I did it.
VO- Let me see d result sheet.
ME-Open my document & i was finding it dificult to find it, so i said I'm sorry for delaying u o & i keep searching until i found it and gave it to her and she checked it.(I realised it was like she was mainly interested in d schs i sent my results to, since she had earlier asked for d name of d schs are applied to, thank God it was only Minnesota i added witout applying to).
VO- Who is your sponsor.
ME- My Brother.Though my parent wuf havr sponsored me but i chose to sponsor me as pay back to my parent having had his own masters in d UK sponsored by them.
VO-What does he do.
ME-He works with Globacom Nigeria Limited, one of d leading telecom provider.
VO- (Cuts in), what does he do there?
ME- He is one of d roll managers, and he also a consultant wit NCC, Nigeria Communication Commission.
VO-Do u have his bank statement.
ME- (I gave it to her and started explaining sum tins inside,). The last transfers were from his other account .He wanted d bulk of d money to be in one account, so he transfer from his other account to this & i also have d bank statement of that account to show d transfer.
VO-She didn't even answer me, she just checked d starting balance and flip thru small, then move to d closing balance which was #7m and my 1st year fee is like #4m. And she took dat lovely pretty white sheet, pick up your visa on tuesday.
ME-Thank u, i didn't even wait to pack my tins back in my folders b4 she changed her mind, i just bungled all my documents on top one another & walk out fast, i got to d exit & met d guy b4 me dat was also granted & we hugged & shake hand. Then d securities at d exit, like evry naija agencies do behave, i wasn't exoecting to find such in d american embassy though, but they are blacks. So d securities were like, no u can't go o, u must celebrate it for us,& d other guy said na 1k he give them, vut d joy was too much, me self juat drop 1k for them & waka out of d place o.

WHAT I OBSERVED- Be prepared, don't cram wat u re to say, because a guy was denied in window 6 because he was explaining too much, though d points were good but it was like he was lecturing d VO, defining computer & gesticulating too much and going to deep and d VO, was like u re telling wat u went to read & cram.
If u want to show u know d program u re going for, explain in d simplest form to pass ur message (Note that d VO u re explaining u re explaining to is not an expert in d field, so just say tins dat she can undastand & convinced dat u know wat u re going for, not explaining like she is ur student & like she will have to answer an exam after ur explanation).
2.) Just pray inside j, if it is ur time, u will get it, no matter how stubborn d VO cud be, don't have preference inside u, believe any of d VOs can give u.
3.) Be confident & very relaxed, talk to her as if it was bot an interview, as if it was just a frbd asking u sum tins.(I WAS ALREDY TALKING WEN I REALISED I WAS RESTING ON D SLAB IN FRONT OF HER WIT MY 2 ARMS FOLDED) AND I JUST CONTINUE.
4.) Smile, even she didn't smile back because d VO here did not smile thru out o and also talk loud and audible.
5.)Try to explain any gray area u believe will give u problem once u notice d VO asked for d document relating to it because she might not ask u for explanation & just make her decision from wat she sees o.
( Like me now, i knew d VO can raise a eyebrow dat my brother is sponsoring me & not my parent, so i quickly gave her reasons why immediately she asked for my sponsor. Also immediately she asked for my bank statement i quickly gave reasons for last lodgings. )
6.) Don't try to bring any topic she didn't ask anytin about & don't talk too much so dat u won't bring new questions for urself.Go to d point & very few strong & concise words are enough to convince d VOs.( Like for me, she didn't ask about my work, eventhough it was in my DS160 & i tried my posible best to avoid any answer dat will bring it up.)
7.) Package ur form DS160 very well, d VOs had alredy make a decision to a large extent once they go thru d DS160 on dia system, they re only expecting u to prove them right. ( As for me, i knew d VO saw dat i work as an IT section manager in a company & Im going for Computer networking, she must have seen dat i collect 100k monthly so no reason to run away to d USA).
8.) No sum of d courses dat u will be taking under ur program, because i notice d question was common, d VOs were asking pple to name sum of courses they will take wen they get to school.
9.) Make sure d reason why u chose dat sch is unique, not sumtin u will find in other schs.Don't only say because d sch is one of d top schs in d US or dat because d sch is havin good infracsture&academic profile. Say sumtin dat relates to u personally, like d courses they take dat other schs don't take, like a research group dat interest u, like because u get a reduce sch fees or an assistantship which others didn't give u.etc
10.) Make sure atleast sum of d schs u mentioned dat u applied to are also in ur GRE score sheet dat u sent ur result to them.
11.) When asked about ur sponsors work, pls package it very well, i realise once d VO knows ur sponsor sud be able to finance from d work his doing, d VO may not even asked for a bank statement, many pple were given witout a bank statement espe ially those dat said dia Dad works as 1 boss in big oil companies & even if d VO is going to ask for ur Statement of account, she won't check it thoroughly once u alredy gave a very gud job for d sponsor.Personal business is not alwys too gud enough because i guess d VO won't be sure of wat u make.

FINALLY PRAY & FAST because AT D END IT IS ALWAYS GOD, ONLY HIS FAVOR, MERCY AND GRACE CAN MAKE U GET THAT VISA. Many pple performed better than me & were denied.And may be if i was queried further i wud have fumbled, but for God, my interview was short.GLORY BE TO HIS MIGHTY NAME ! THANK U GOD

Thank God for his faithfulness I over your life... I tap into your testimony IJN

nice one femoric. welcome to america.

House please am I good to go with Mississippi State University? Though it is the poorest state in the US

And what kind of excuse do u think someone can give the VO for selecting that state. Thanks

Congrats Femi....guess I saw u yesterday everything still boils down to God's favour.

aadeyi:
House please am I good to go with Mississippi State University? Though it is the poorest state in the US

And what kind of excuse do u think someone can give the VO for selecting that state. Thanks

The university is good. Remember,you can always relocate after school.The worst thing about living in Mississippi is the heat and humidity..The cost of living is low and it is less crowded than other parts of the country,but the climate cancels out all the positive aspects of the State.

efiyefaa:

Kai someone answer me na biko do I need yellow card to travel?

yes you do. You can get at the airport clinic

My interview was so brief
Vo:goodmorning
Me:morning how u doing?
Vo:am good...can see u going for graduate programme first before msc can u tell mi more about it?
Me:sure,d programme is more like a pre masters before msc D department that it was wise i.do.that first since I only have a degree in plant science and Biotechnology with aconcentration in environmental science D prog will help.mi get used to the environment and culture in the school and get used to the courses since one of the course am taking is an introduction to environmental sci.vo nods head.
Vo:can see ur dad is with u smiles and I said yea..have u been outta the country before I replied no.smiling and she asks my dad he replies and she smiles.
Vo:who's sponsoring u? I reply my dad she asks him where do.u work and ur pay per month?
Dad:i work with Bleep company as an engineer and earn Bleep per month.she nods head can.i see ur bank statement?
Me:hands it over to her she flips it and as ur visa is being approved come on Tues / we'd for pick up..cobtinues talking about arrival and all omehn my mind no.just dey dy just kept nodding my head thanking God I didn't fail my dad and mum cos they were both in...
Na so.i.just dey smile comot trust the security na Oga make we join u celebrate popsi.mi with happiness just dy share D kudi with joy...
I.just thank God though u need to be confident and loom into the eyes of D vo Dnt fidget and all...most of all pray cz i.did hammer midnight prayers no be small ;Dand practice...

owoleo:
. Okay, thanks as I am working on that. I am considering if I should take GRE for the purpose of the Interview at the embassy incase the VO ask for which of the standardized do I have. However, I currently have a valid visit visa to the US but I am jus preparing to be on a safe side. My course major requirements is CGPA of 3.0 over the last 60hours of undergraduate course work,SOP,LOR,TOFEL,writing sample and telephone interview.

if you have a good TOEFL score, then you can either write GRE or go with your TOEFL

stevecrun:
The university is good. Remember,you can always relocate after school.The worst thing about living in Mississippi is the heat and humidity..The cost of living is low and it is less crowded than other parts of the country,but the climate cancels out all the positive aspects of the State.

@aadeyi

Eerr that advice makes no sense to me
Mississippi weather is very ok. What will you say about Florida or Miami??

If you're from a country where it snows and you're saying this I'll understand but the weather there makes it easy to adapt because it's similar to Nigeria's.

So according to your logic, Wyoming, Alaska and north Dakota are good because they're frigid?
Naahhhh

ebdib:

@aadeyi

Eerr that advice makes no sense to me
Mississippi weather is very ok. What will you say about Florida or Miami??

If you're from a country where it snows and you're saying this I'll understand but the weather there makes it easy to adapt because it's similar to Nigeria's.

So according to your logic, Wyoming, Alaska and north Dakota are good because they're frigid?
Naahhhh

Ebdib,I won't argue on this..I made my researches during my time while looking for schools..when I said hot I neva said like Miami..its just like the weather in Texas

hello house,

I have seen a lot of transcripts with VOs asking to know how many schools that you applied to , as for me I only applied to just one school and I got my admission ..Please what kind of response can I give if I am asked this question

Secondly , Like how much balance should I have in my SOA relative to the amount stated on the I20.


please I need honest responses

Mystiqme:
dicapino,
Good scores, good GPA. Can definitely get you funding. Frankly, you are almost late, if you want funding. I would have thought you would have done all the requisite school research before the GRE. Most schools that offer funding for Fall, close their application portal between mid-December and mid-January, so if you haven't found a school at this time, you should probably be online 24/7. Write a strong proofread SOP, and send emails to professors like slimmy mentioned. With those scores you can attend engineering grad school for free, but you need to put in the required time and effort.
Best.

Yes bro ...24/7.