₦airaland Forum

lazywriter:
please oo...

Anyone know if I can get funding for graduate study in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign?

Also, how we de do this exchange rate wahala

Bro, you can get funding in any school that has funding, if and only if you have a competitive application file.

godG:
I will not judge the poster I just quoted, but I hope folks trying to come over will take a cue from his/her experience. America is not running away, let us take doses of chill pills when we are making life decisions. If funding no dey the offer, no reason am, at all! Guys, always, always, try to get funding; even if anyone is telling you not to worry, still, try to apply for funding. You do not want to be stranded or depressed in America. Good luck to everyone.

You are 100% right. No funding, plus no money for tuition is a recipe for disaster. A disaster I do not wish for my worst enemy. True, there had been cases of people who came here with no money and no funding but they somehow managed to eke out a living....but these category of people are less than 10%. Majority who come to the US under the aforementioned end up running out of status. And if you tell them not to come if they don't have money, they call you enemy of progress.

They do not catch late comers in America. Everybody's blessing is waiting for them, nobody can pick up yours before you. Stay in Naija, do your research, if one school offers admission but no funding, stay back in Nigeria and look for schools that will offer funding. They are in abundance, the applicant just needs to know where to look. Like you said, America is not a place where you wanna be depressed or stranded in. Not worth it.

LagosNIV:
If he is really a student, he should have some degree of intelligence. And if that is the case, he should be able to look at a map. The further you get from the equator (i.e. north) the colder it gets...

And these are the same people that cry on Nairaland when they get refused visas because their stories don't make any sense!

lol! Absolutely

godG MsNas

I think a fundamental piece of the puzzle being left out of this funding debate is the actual credibility and INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY of the said person seeking funding

To future applicants,
No school in the US is going to go all out to fund you if you don't show a very good intellectual capability. That goes without saying. Your test scores have to be good and every other aspect of your application has to be great as well.
Also, ability to carry out research is important.I can say this most guys on nairaland who got funding didn't get their schools by typing "SUGGEST SCHOOLS FOR ME" here on nairaland. They actually went online and did some good research which pretty much forms the basis of a good graduate career. Ability to do research.

Also research your school!, check the weather(There are tons of apps to do this), diversity(if you care about that), cost of living, tuition fees. No one on nairaland can help you unless they are in the same school which is not so common.

Also, funding opportunities are most times given by the DEPARTMENT /PROGRAM and not as a school wide decision. Get in touch with the program chairs of the department you wish to apply to , write them an email. This is the first step.

If you need any help along the way, there are lots of guys here to give you a helping hand. Be it with SOP or logistics or just good ol' advice but please be capable of doing some research on schools and make sure you ace your standardized tests.

Bests to all applicants.

cuteconnec:
Dear Friends and Gurus,

I urgently need help with a candid advice. i have not really been following this tread but i bow for gurus here.

I started applying for USA graduate schools in Oct 2015. I wanted to resume in Jan 2016-Spring, so i only targeted schools with very late application deadlines.

I did all the GRE, TOEFL and VISA interview stuffs and succeeded getting admission in 3 schools.
1. UALR- University of Arkansas at Little Rock - Phd (Integrated computing)
2. SIUE- Southern Illinois University Edwardsville - MSc (computer science)
3. UNO - University of Nebraska, Omaha - Msc (Management Information Systems-MIS)



The decision from UALR came so quick so i presented their i20 at the embassy and got the visa. Though i preferred the MIS course at UNO, but they did not decide on time. I Applied for funding in UALR but didn't get anything. Also some old naija folks at the school strongly discouraged me from coming..Finally, my admission at UNO clicked on Jan 6, I got into US on Jan 8th and decided to transfer from UALR to UNO. The transfer went pretty easy and i flew to Omaha.

On arriving here, i discovered the situation here was worse than i ever imagine, even though i got the course i wanted to study, i couldn't get any funding, tuition is very high, black population here is negligible, and the cold here na die. I have not figured out how i will pay the tuition yet, but i pray i will scale through this semester.

I plan to complete one semester and transfer to another school. Which school can i get guaranteed Graduate Assistant ship or funding?
If i loose my status in this school(i don't pray for that-worst case scenario), can i possibly apply afresh again in another school since i am already in the usa?
Who knows the possibility of transferring credits from Management Information Systems to a course like electrical engineering?

Any valuable input will be most appreciated. Thank you

See, my brother.. please do not be vexed about what I have to say o. I am very sorry in advance. Seeing that you posted this, after you posted this awhile ago means you're indeed in a rut and you need a quick, fast fix.

But truth be told, you got yourself into this situation. You should not have left Nigeria with the intention of studying without at least first semester tuition or funding. That said, what has happened has happened. You need a way out.

1. Did you not know that the tuition at UNO was high? Why did you still chose to transfer to Omaha even after knowing that? That aside, the black/white population in a school should be the least of your problems. I know a female nairalander who went to school in Omaha. NE and graduated from there. You're there to learn and simply to learn. Ignore the racial distribution. You will get used to the cold. Layer up, bundle up and you'll be fine

2. Do you have any hopes of paying your fees at UNO before transferring next semester? This I say because UNO will not release your SEVIS record for transfer until all outstanding tuition is paid. Did you talk to your graduate adviser at UNO and explain your situation to him? He might be able to find you a GA after one semester, if not this one. Explore all your avenues before giving up, bro

3. There are plenty of schools who will give funding for your course. You're studying IT/IS, funding opportunities abound. Trick is to start applications now, but you have to decide if you're gonna be applying as a fresh graduate international student or wait until after one semester of study at UNO and have grades transfer. If your grades from Nigeria (undergraduate GPA, GRE and TOEFL) aren't that stellar, I will suggest you do your best this semester and at least bag a 4.0 so as to make your search for funding more easy and promising.

4. If you fall out of status, you either have to apply for reinstatement in the US or do a another entry by going to Mexico or Canada and reentering with your new school I-20. Both come with their own set of pros and cons...Choice is your to make. But I tell you, falling out of status is not easy as everything will just tire you.

5. Why are you transferring from MIS to EE? Do you have an EE background? That said, IT jobs are in abundance and it's easier to get sponsorship. But maybe I'm saying that cos I'm an IT person. Who knows?

MsNas:
See, my brother.. please do not be vexed about what I have to say o. I am very sorry in advance. Seeing that you posted this, after you posted this awhile ago means you're indeed in a rut and you need a quick, fast fix.

But truth be told, you got yourself into this situation. You should not have left Nigeria with the intention of studying without at least first semester tuition or funding. That said, what has happened has happened. You need a way out.

1. Did you not know that the tuition at UNO was high? Why did you still chose to transfer to Omaha even after knowing that? That aside, the black/white population in a school should be the least of your problems. I know a female nairalander who went to school in Omaha. NE and graduated from there. You're there to learn and simply to learn. Ignore the racial distribution. You will get used to the cold. Layer up, bundle up and you'll be fine

2. Do you have any hopes of paying your fees at UNO before transferring next semester? This I say because UNO will not release your SEVIS record for transfer until all outstanding tuition is paid. Did you talk to your graduate adviser at UNO and explain your situation to him? He might be able to find you a GA after one semester, if not this one. Explore all your avenues before giving up, bro

3. There are plenty of schools who will give funding for your course. You're studying IT/IS, funding opportunities abound. Trick is to start applications now, but you have to decide if you're gonna be applying as a fresh graduate international student or wait until after one semester of study at UNO and have grades transfer. If your grades from Nigeria (undergraduate GPA, GRE and TOEFL) aren't that stellar, I will suggest you do your best this semester and at least bag a 4.0 so as to make your search for funding more easy and promising.

4. If you fall out of status, you either have to apply for reinstatement in the US or do a another entry by going to Mexico or Canada and reentering with your new school I-20. Both come with their own set of pros and cons...Choice is your to make. But I tell you, falling out of status is not easy as everything will just tire you.

5. Why are you transferring from MIS to EE? Do you have an EE background? That said, IT jobs are in abundance and it's easier to get sponsorship. But maybe I'm saying that cos I'm an IT person. Who knows?

Pls I need you to put me Tru on some IT stuff.. Chk ur pm

Helo my brother,

All I have to say is to do your findings Very well & make things happen fast. God help us all.

cuteconnec:

To be honest with you, I think you are so lucky today (no fighting or blaming or people cursing you out) and something tells me that whatever info you get from here today would be so beneficial to you. As a matter of fact, all of the comments here are valid and I would advice you make good use of them. As it has been said by others, there's no magic to funding; just research well and have good credentials.

In addition to what others have said, here are my suggestions:

- Find a list of all the schools that offer your course at PhD level in the USA.

- Email the grad coordinators of each of them (even if they are up to 20,000). At least half would respond and quarter would be positive about funding

- Apply to all of the schools that think you may qualify for scholarships or would give funding (even if they are 100 in number).

- At least one out of the over 100 schools that you applied to would give funding.

This is your last chance and I think it's a risk worth taking. So, spend all of your remaining money in paying for the application fees for these schools. The guy that WON the LOTTO recently in California played with over $10,000.

Simply, not only do you have to play the lotto to even dream of winning, you have to put in more money and permutate well to increase your chances.


N:B - Your first email to each of these professors would give the first impression. You don't want to get it wrong at all.

Good luck!!!

godG:
Bro, you can get funding in any school that has funding, if and only if you have a competitive application file.

Uni of Illinois @ Urbana no send international students o, at least not for my program.

bbdd:
godG MsNas

I think a fundamental piece of the puzzle being left out of this funding debate is the actual credibility and INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY of the said person seeking funding

To future applicants,
No school in the US is going to go all out to fund you if you don't show a very good intellectual capability. That goes without saying. Your test scores have to be good and every other aspect of your application has to be great as well.
Also, ability to carry out research is important.I can say this most guys on nairaland who got funding didn't get their schools by typing "SUGGEST SCHOOLS FOR ME" here on nairaland. They actually went online and did some good research which pretty much forms the basis of a good graduate career. Ability to do research.

Also research your school!, check the weather(There are tons of apps to do this), diversity(if you care about that), cost of living, tuition fees. No one on nairaland can help you unless they are in the same school which is not so common.

Also, funding opportunities are most times given by the DEPARTMENT /PROGRAM and not as a school wide decision. Get in touch with the program chairs of the department you wish to apply to , write them an email. This is the first step.

If you need any help along the way, there are lots of guys here to give you a helping hand. Be it with SOP or logistics or just good ol' advice but please be capable of doing some research on schools and make sure you ace your standardized tests.

Bests to all applicants.

Spot on! Everything boils down to your points, really. How are you doing, bro?

MsNas:
See, my brother.. please do not be vexed about what I have to say o. I am very sorry in advance. Seeing that you posted this, after you posted this awhile ago means you're indeed in a rut and you need a quick, fast fix.

But truth be told, you got yourself into this situation. You should not have left Nigeria with the intention of studying without at least first semester tuition or funding. That said, what has happened has happened. You need a way out.

1. Did you not know that the tuition at UNO was high? Why did you still chose to transfer to Omaha even after knowing that? That aside, the black/white population in a school should be the least of your problems. I know a female nairalander who went to school in Omaha. NE and graduated from there. You're there to learn and simply to learn. Ignore the racial distribution. You will get used to the cold. Layer up, bundle up and you'll be fine

2. Do you have any hopes of paying your fees at UNO before transferring next semester? This I say because UNO will not release your SEVIS record for transfer until all outstanding tuition is paid. Did you talk to your graduate adviser at UNO and explain your situation to him? He might be able to find you a GA after one semester, if not this one. Explore all your avenues before giving up, bro

3. There are plenty of schools who will give funding for your course. You're studying IT/IS, funding opportunities abound. Trick is to start applications now, but you have to decide if you're gonna be applying as a fresh graduate international student or wait until after one semester of study at UNO and have grades transfer. If your grades from Nigeria (undergraduate GPA, GRE and TOEFL) aren't that stellar, I will suggest you do your best this semester and at least bag a 4.0 so as to make your search for funding more easy and promising.

4. If you fall out of status, you either have to apply for reinstatement in the US or do a another entry by going to Mexico or Canada and reentering with your new school I-20. Both come with their own set of pros and cons...Choice is your to make. But I tell you, falling out of status is not easy as everything will just tire you.

5. Why are you transferring from MIS to EE? Do you have an EE background? That said, IT jobs are in abundance and it's easier to get sponsorship. But maybe I'm saying that cos I'm an IT person. Who knows?

I believe i raised about 3 out of the five points you raised here and someone else addressed this issue. I wonder why he or she chose to bring this up again.

lazywriter:
Uni of Illinois @ Urbana no send international students o, at least not for my program.

But you are not like every other international student. You are you. There are tons of Nigerian grad students in that school with funding. Anyways, since you are already skeptical about it, why not try some other 'safe' schools, sir?

godG:
Spot on! Everything boils down to your points, really. How are you doing, bro?

Chillin bro. It was finally warm enough for shorts today.. Mehn I'm tired of three layers life.

Other than that, its school work. One of my classmatea is a fulbright guy from Afghanistan. When he narrated the screening process...Mehn !!

godG:
Bro, you can get funding in any school that has funding, if and only if you have a competitive application file.

"COMPETITIVE"

godG:
But you are not like every other international student. You are you. There are tons of Nigerian grad students in that school with funding. Anyways, since you are already skeptical about it, why not try some other 'safe' schools, sir?

the "nigerianess" alone in that school is more than enough to get you funding, except your predecessors no wash ground well ( a common trend across some schools)

Guys, this rate can cause Alzheimer's o. Anyway out for fall hopefuls

cuteconnec:
Dear Friends and Gurus,

Any valuable input will be most appreciated. Thank you

To add to what OjaP has suggested, you can actually have most or all of your application fees waived before applying. Several schools offered me an application fee waiver either without or upon my asking. I had to email some of my choice schools for a waiver which they happily granted. From the pool, I chose 4 schools to which I applied.

My point is, you can ask each of the schools to which you intend to apply for an application fee waiver so you won't have to waste the money you don't even have.
I hope this helps...God be with you!

Good morning beautiful ppl. A good friend of mine graduated from university
nd want to go and live and work in usa, his agent told him f-1 visa will be good cause there are higher chances of being given visa through f-1 though he's not going there to study. Now my questions are
1. the agent wld apply for masters for him which is two years in usa, can he becomes a permannt resident by any means within that two years or he shld apply for another visa type
2: or shld he apply for an undergraduate program so he will be given four years mayb that two years might not be enough to get his p.R

OjaP:
cuteconnec:
To be honest with you, I think you are so lucky today (no fighting or blaming or people cursing you out) and something tells me that whatever info you get from here today would be so beneficial to you. As a matter of fact, all of the comments here are valid and I would advice you make good use of them. As it has been said by others, there's no magic to funding; just research well and have good credentials.
In addition to what others have said, here are my suggestions:
- Find a list of all the schools that offer your course at PhD level in the USA.
- Email the grad coordinators of each of them (even if they are up to 20,000). At least half would respond and quarter would be positive about funding
- Apply to all of the schools that think you may qualify for scholarships or would give funding (even if they are 100 in number).
- At least one out of the over 100 schools that you applied to would give funding.
This is your last chance and I think it's a risk worth taking. So, spend all of your remaining money in paying for the application fees for these schools. The guy that WON the LOTTO recently in California played with over $10,000.
Simply, not only do you have to play the lotto to even dream of winning, you have to put in more money and permutate well to increase your chances.
N:B - Your first email to each of these professors would give the first impression. You don't want to get it wrong at all.
Good luck!!!

I was just wondering why someone should apply to 100 schools.please funding is not the same as LOTTO (seriously),it is usually meant for people with exceptional academic performance, but on the flip side others can as well get funding based on some stochastic factors. However, If you desire to study abroad please take your time and plan very well, look for schools that are best fit for your research interest or career objective rather than randomly applying to all schools. Maybe you should spend more time to build and increase your competitive advantage, do independent studies, get some publications and finally, ace your standardized test. At this point you will not only apply to fewer schools but rather, good and ranked schools.

cosxzbay:
I was just wondering why someone should apply to 100 schools.please funding is not the same as LOTTO (seriously),it is usually meant for people with exceptional academic performance, but on the flip side others can as well get funding based on some stochastic factors. However, If you desire to study abroad please take your time and plan very well, look for schools that are best fit for your research interest or career objective rather than randomly applying to all schools. Maybe you should spend more time to build and increase your competitive advantage, do independent studies, get some publications and finally, ace your standardized test. At this point you will not only apply to fewer schools but rather, good and ranked schools.

"100" as used in my comment may have been exaggerated. It is an hyperbole and I was thinking that the readers would understand that it is just a figure of speech.

You have also made good points just like others and I would encourage the guy to follow or use them for a better result.

Thanks and God bless.

purplesummer:
To add to what OjaP has suggested, you can actually have most or all of your application fees waived before applying. Several schools offered me an application fee waiver either without or upon my asking. I had to email some of my choice schools for a waiver which they happily granted. From the pool, I chose 4 schools to which I applied.

My point is, you can ask each of the schools to which you intend to apply for an application fee waiver so you won't have to waste the money you don't even have.
I hope this helps...God be with you!

Very true. Application waiver is another important thing that would help. Thanks purplesummer.

Ok, let's do it.

aadeyi:
Chai mummy....... 350 to 305. U know to buy dollar is more expensive than selling right? Was selling at 320 on monday but u know what d parallel market is saying now in naija right?

Good day house,I know I can get d answers to what I need from d gurus down here,my wife just got back from d states which she spent 3weeks on a visiting visa,and she intend going back by fall for her masters....my question is since she has a visiting visa will she be required to do another visa interview b4 she can get d visa to be converted to a student visa? No2 is dat she graduated from lastu with a bsc in biochemistry in 2010 and she is presently working here in Nigeria,she intend to study nursing BT she has her previous degree in biochemistry, I need an adviser pls if she needs to start afresh or if she can just do masters in nursing if possible? No3 will she be needing the GRE for the masters programme? Thanks expecting ur response?

emmy1997:
Good day house,I know I can get d answers to what I need from d gurus down here,my wife just got back from d states which she spent 3weeks on a visiting visa,and she intend going back by fall for her masters....my question is since she has a visiting visa will she be required to do another visa interview b4 she can get d visa to be converted to a student visa? No2 is dat she graduated from lastu with a bsc in biochemistry in 2010 and she is presently working here in Nigeria,she intend to study nursing BT she has her previous degree in biochemistry, I need an adviser pls if she needs to start afresh or if she can just do masters in nursing if possible? No3 will she be needing the GRE for the masters programme? Thanks expecting ur response?

Your friend will need to do another interview for the new visa - they are for different purposes and don't just convert.

That being said, your other two questions depend on individual schools. Some may be willing to accept her prior coursework and others may not. Some may require GRE or another entrance exam, others may not.

Thank you Lagosniv...I appreciate

landuseact:
I believe i raised about 3 out of the five points you raised here and someone else addressed this issue. I wonder why he or she chose to bring this up again.

Yeah...we did raise these points. He is probably depressed and confused and needed reassurances. So he is got it clearly again.

To reiterate, do not change your your school or your course again. Work at getting all As. Don't be despair. You will be hurt to find everywhere is same on changing location AGAIN.

godG:
I will not judge the poster I just quoted, but I hope folks trying to come over will take a cue from his/her experience. America is not running away, let us take doses of chill pills when we are making life decisions. If funding no dey the offer, no reason am, at all! Guys, always, always, try to get funding; even if anyone is telling you not to worry, still, try to apply for funding. You do not want to be stranded or depressed in America. Good luck to everyone.

Brilliant, godG

So much inspiration and motivation to draw from your story. Thanks for taking your time to be succinct and honest.
I wished I had an answer. But I am also a fresh applicant still seeking admission and funding.

I hope the lovely Guys here can help you out. Good luck!

cuteconnec:
Dear Friends and Gurus,

I urgently need help with a candid advice. i have not really been following this tread but i bow for gurus here.

I started applying for USA graduate schools in Oct 2015. I wanted to resume in Jan 2016-Spring, so i only targeted schools with very late application deadlines.

I did all the GRE, TOEFL and VISA interview stuffs and succeeded getting admission in 3 schools.
1. UALR- University of Arkansas at Little Rock - Phd (Integrated computing)
2. SIUE- Southern Illinois University Edwardsville - MSc (computer science)
3. UNO - University of Nebraska, Omaha - Msc (Management Information Systems-MIS)



The decision from UALR came so quick so i presented their i20 at the embassy and got the visa. Though i preferred the MIS course at UNO, but they did not decide on time. I Applied for funding in UALR but didn't get anything. Also some old naija folks at the school strongly discouraged me from coming..Finally, my admission at UNO clicked on Jan 6, I got into US on Jan 8th and decided to transfer from UALR to UNO. The transfer went pretty easy and i flew to Omaha.

On arriving here, i discovered the situation here was worse than i ever imagine, even though i got the course i wanted to study, i couldn't get any funding, tuition is very high, black population here is negligible, and the cold here na die. I have not figured out how i will pay the tuition yet, but i pray i will scale through this semester.

I plan to complete one semester and transfer to another school. Which school can i get guaranteed Graduate Assistant ship or funding?
If i loose my status in this school(i don't pray for that-worst case scenario), can i possibly apply afresh again in another school since i am already in the usa?
Who knows the possibility of transferring credits from Management Information Systems to a course like electrical engineering?

Any valuable input will be most appreciated. Thank you

Hmm!
Strong piercing words but true.
Thanks for the advice.

bbdd:
godG MsNas

I think a fundamental piece of the puzzle being left out of this funding debate is the actual credibility and INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY of the said person seeking funding

To future applicants,
No school in the US is going to go all out to fund you if you don't show a very good intellectual capability. That goes without saying. Your test scores have to be good and every other aspect of your application has to be great as well.
Also, ability to carry out research is important.I can say this most guys on nairaland who got funding didn't get their schools by typing "SUGGEST SCHOOLS FOR ME" here on nairaland. They actually went online and did some good research which pretty much forms the basis of a good graduate career. Ability to do research.

Also research your school!, check the weather(There are tons of apps to do this), diversity(if you care about that), cost of living, tuition fees. No one on nairaland can help you unless they are in the same school which is not so common.

Also, funding opportunities are most times given by the DEPARTMENT /PROGRAM and not as a school wide decision. Get in touch with the program chairs of the department you wish to apply to , write them an email. This is the first step.

If you need any help along the way, there are lots of guys here to give you a helping hand. Be it with SOP or logistics or just good ol' advice but please be capable of doing some research on schools and make sure you ace your standardized tests.

Bests to all applicants.

amanze15:
the "nigerianess" alone in that school is more than enough to get you funding, except your predecessors no wash ground well ( a common trend across some schools)

True.

bbdd:
Chillin bro. It was finally warm enough for shorts today.. Mehn I'm tired of three layers life.

Other than that, its school work. One of my classmatea is a fulbright guy from Afghanistan. When he narrated the screening process...Mehn !!

Shorts? I can only wish for that.

Hehehehe, It's one hell of a process, but it is worth the stress.

dicapino:
Seriously. Was that's at the graduate office/ email . Mine took me 2 weeks before my file was complete ( I think it was my letters of rec. though!).

You might get a decision 2mao. My file got completed on a Friday and I was admitted Monday.

Gud luck bro!

I had been in exchanging emails with both the grad cord and the office manager at the department (not the graduate school). SO I simply sent my credentials to the graduate cord, office manager of the department and to the graduate office including a screenshot of the application fee payment confirmation page. Will be glad if the decision can be that fast though.