₦airaland Forum

Akdegreat:
Hello people,

I'd appreciate all the advice I can get about opting for a Ph.D in fall 2018 with just a B.Sc Microbiology (CGPA 3.73/4.00 using WES ).
I'm currently preparing to write GRE.

Moriiiiiiii:
Hello house, my evaluated transcripts is with SDR Texas .Please I don't know how to pay them to transfer the documents to the praire view A and M university. Please help a soul am new here

bigfrancis21:
Lolll....thanks. @nairaland voodooism.

Not really. In fact, WES happens to be the most popular among its peers such as ECE etc. I have seen some schools whereby the only evaluation they accept is WES, due to the fact that WES performs a verification of transcripts and certificates after the school and candidate respectively have sent both to WES, thus ensuring integrity and originality of evaluations, compared to others that do not perform this verification.

Most US schools do not include F grades in GPA calculation, except only in the year it was passed, though the failed course is indicated in the session it was failed. Inclusion of F grades in GPA calculation is a Nigerian thing. The reason 1.75/5.00 seems too low is because the GPA includes failed courses, whereas US GPA calculations do not, and her GPA would probably be 2.2/5.0 or 2.3/5.00 if calculated without the failed courses like the US does, which explains why when evaluated to the US scale, 2.5/4.0 (or 2.2/5.0 or 2.3/5.0 Nigerian scale without the failed courses included) seems plausible. WES is a life saver for many people. Even people with ND (2 years) and HND (2 years), who hitherto were disqualified from applying directly to masters courses in most US schools, will evaluate their WES into an equivalent 4-year US bachelors degree and apply for masters admission directly with their WES bachelors evaluation.

Sgttanner:
Hello gurus in the house.. i hope you all are doing fine. May the Lord continue to bless you all ... I actually wanna apply to a school in the USA and i came accross EDMONDS Community College(ECC) for the spring session 2018.. I am 25 years , already had my B.TECH from a Nigerian university in urban and regional planning, graduated with a GPA of (2.89/5) and i am planning to take a Degree Program in Construction Management so that i can get a transfer into a university for a masters program after completing the 2 years degree program......ECC doesnt require TOEFL and GRE for international students who had their undergraduate in English...Now my question is, Wont my age and my past educational record be a sort of a slight barrier when applying for a student visa at the embassy ( in terms of the probability of getting a visa) ? because i was just wondering i might ask by the consular why i have decided not to take a Toefl or GRE exam and apply for a direct masters.(just wondering)
Then secondly, i have applied for a visiting visa this year where i was planning to visit my cousin but i was denied? i hope that wont be a barrier for me either ?( in short , hope the attempted visiting visa record does not affect my educational visa application?)
Hoping to get your replies soon ..Thanks in anticipation.

skido04:
hello gurus in the house. I need help,
I have a BSc. in Computer Science with a CGPA of 3.69/5 . I want to further my studies by applying for Ms. in cyber security
the challenges I'm having is finding a good and affordable University that offers Ms. in cyber security. Most of them just offer Ms. in computer science, but my area of interest is really on cyber security. I have searched thoroughly with Google like most people here will advice, I still haven't found a solution to this, now I'm depending on you guys for valuable information from experiences. I ll be writing Toefl in 2 weeks and gre in october and i need schools to add, so they can send results there. . Any direction will be greatly appreciated.

bigfrancis21:
First of all, you need to know this. Community colleges offer only 2-year programs (leading to associate bachelors degree), whereas universities offer 4-year programs (leading to regular bachelors degrees), and you cannot go directly from a CC into a master's program. You would first have to transfer to a university to finish up third year and fourth year to obtain a bachelor's degree before you can proceed on to masters.

Second, it has been said here severally that it is not recommended that you take a CC admission to the embassy, due to higher chances of denial by the VO. Yet, people keep asking this same question again and again. CCs are good, and offer the same level/quality of education as universities, and save you a ton of money in school fees, and are recommended for people tight on funds. What you do is apply to both a university and the CC of your choice, get admission and I-20 from both, take the university admission to the embassy for your visa interview but transfer (SEVIS transfer) to the CC after you arrive the US and start school there.

Third, your age is no more in the range the visa officers like to give visas for UG students and I would have suggested that you go for masters admission instead and do your masters right away upon arrival. Now, as for getting admission from a university and cc, I do not know if transferring from a university with a masters admission to a CC for associate bachelors would work given that one of the requirements for SEVIS transfer after you enter the US is that the transfer has to be for the same level of study. I am sure the transfer would work if the admission from the university is for bachelors and you are transferring to the cc for associate bachelors degree (same level of study). But then your age puts you at a disadvantage (not impossible, I have one time seen a 28-year old guy going for bachelors get his visa) of getting your visa for undergraduate studies.

Your situation is quite a tough one. My recommendation would be to go for masters admission straight.

biikeys:
I hope you're not comparing Computer Science in Nigeria with the one here. Personally, I would say you're better off going for MS in Computer Science to get your basics back together and then you can take few courses relating to cyber security in school..just also study for and take some professional exams as well. If you're not a US citizen or Permanent resident, jobs relating to cyber security might be tough to come by. With CS, you have more post-grad opportunities as well.

bigfrancis21:
No problem. Simply walk into any GT bank nearest to you with your international passport and $160 F1 visa fee in hand (in naira equivalency, the US embassy uses N400 exchange rate I think, not sure) and make your payment before the 3pm cut-off time.

Is your visa interview for Fall 2017 or Spring 2018?

scoreall:
Plz can u state d basis 4 ds assumption? Cos live may depends on it.

Ardedaryor:
My good people, I entered the US on 29th flew with Lufthansa airline from Abj to Frankfurt,
United airline from Frankfort to Chicago
United airline from Chicago to Salt Lake City

The Services wasn't below expectation, twas just like I was the Co-pilot with the Flight map feature, Food was nice.
CBP was also smooth..if you processed your admission yourself, you should have no fear,
I was asked
What's my purpose of coming?
What's my course of study?
Who is financing?
What's are the Food stuffs I have with me?

Boom!! Welcome to America...
I Claim my baggage and re-checked in for a transit to SLC,
It was a safe land at SLC airport, but so sadden my second Bag was mishandle(couldn't find it),I laid complains at the UA office, they said its was its at Chicago and they reassuringly told me it will be delivered to my address the next day..i checked the status online all I see is "we are still looking for your Bag".. I start to wonder if the bag has turn to a needle..

All the best to those awaiting admission decision, you couldn't get your Visa? use this time to cover all ground again next semester what is yours will come to you...

Pardon my Typo if any.

Sgttanner:
Hello gurus in the house.. i hope you all are doing fine. May the Lord continue to bless you all ... I actually wanna apply to a school in the USA and i came accross EDMONDS Community College(ECC) for the spring session 2018.. I am 25 years , already had my B.TECH from a Nigerian university in urban and regional planning, graduated with a GPA of (2.89/5) and i am planning to take a Degree Program in Construction Management so that i can get a transfer into a university for a masters program after completing the 2 years degree program......ECC doesnt require TOEFL and GRE for international students who had their undergraduate in English...Now my question is, Wont my age and my past educational record be a sort of a slight barrier when applying for a student visa at the embassy ( in terms of the probability of getting a visa) ? because i was just wondering i might ask by the consular why i have decided not to take a Toefl or GRE exam and apply for a direct masters.(just wondering)
Then secondly, i have applied for a visiting visa this year where i was planning to visit my cousin but i was denied? i hope that wont be a barrier for me either ?( in short , hope the attempted visiting visa record does not affect my educational visa application?)
Hoping to get your replies soon ..Thanks in anticipation.

LagosismyHome:
things like cyber security will be tightly controlled except if you are working for yourself developing your own program or some private company so that in itself is limiting .... There might have a lot of cyber security jobs in government agencies but you trust that will only be allowed for US Citizens or permanent residency ..

Also with company science you are not as limited as focusing only on cyber security because Computer /IT is wide and can fit into many various roles , Implementation, support , development , maintance and then even cyber and many other roles ....... I am into IT implementation , don't ask me how I got there because I don't even know how I put my head there . But this role is a very good fit for someone with a computer background as system things will be so easy to pick up ...

as I no want to be hungry I am forced to pick up or learn IT quickly but not because it comes naturally but more of need to survive

Emexnairaland:
Greetings, God bless you guys for being source of knowledge to others....
Please does anyone know better about Point Park University Pittsburgh? I have really made some research about them but I need your personal views about the school as I intend applying for my post graduate study there.

Please the view is open to the gurus in the house...

Respect

joshtune:
.

Please I want to ask How easy is it for someone with zero knowledge of computer science to venture into the field in the US? Or for someone who has no love for mathematics to survive learning Comp Sci as a minor? For someone like me who will be majoring in business admin. does it make sense or is it possible?

LagosismyHome:
things like cyber security will be tightly controlled except if you are working for yourself developing your own program or some private company so that in itself is limiting .... There might have a lot of cyber security jobs in government agencies but you trust that will only be allowed for US Citizens or permanent residency ..

Also with company science you are not as limited as focusing only on cyber security because Computer /IT is wide and can fit into many various roles , Implementation, support , development , maintance and then even cyber and many other roles ....... I am into IT implementation , don't ask me how I got there because I don't even know how I put my head there . But this role is a very good fit for someone with a computer background as system things will be so easy to pick up ...

as I no want to be hungry I am forced to pick up or learn IT quickly but not because it comes naturally but more of need to survive

skido04:
bro, I just graduated 2015, my basics are in order. I have also worked in different companies, some of them as a product implementation and support officer, if you read my initial post, you see I already have BSc in computer science, Ms in cyber security is an addition and somewhat of a specialization. or do you think my computer science certificate won't be considered while looking for a job? I need more clarification on the things you stated

skido04:
bro, I just graduated 2015, my basics are in order. I have also worked in different companies, some of them as a product implementation and support officer, if you read my initial post, you see I already have BSc in computer science, Ms in cyber security is an addition and somewhat of a specialization. or do you think my computer science certificate won't be considered while looking for a job? I need more clarification on the things you stated

folmus:
Oya Bro, different monikers for you, it was Lagos mummy, now bro

joshtune:
.

Please I want to ask How easy is it for someone with zero knowledge of computer science to venture into the field in the US? Or for someone who has no love for mathematics to survive learning Comp Sci as a minor? For someone like me who will be majoring in business admin. does it make sense or is it possible?

LagosismyHome:
female.. See I corrected it in 1 second

skido04:
bro, I just graduated 2015, my basics are in order. I have also worked in different companies, some of them as a product implementation and support officer, if you read my initial post, you see I already have BSc in computer science, Ms in cyber security is an addition and somewhat of a specialization. or do you think my computer science certificate won't be considered while looking for a job? I need more clarification on the things you stated

LagosismyHome:
Never heard of this school ......2 minute research shows its a very small private school . I think what you would get from this school you get from anyother school and more so you must have made a good reason why you picked it .. So why this school ?

also I saw this on google; Tuition and fees at Point Park University are $28,250 USD without financial aid. With room, board, and other fees combined, total cost of attendance is $42,370 USD...............

If that the fee and you have no funding , If it me I rather pay that money not to a very small school but a much bigger or well established school

boneruns:
Thank you @bigfrancis.....is a student that is being offered admission required to make a payment of any form for deferment of admission?

And secondly, would there be a problem should a student ignore the school upon arrival to the USA?


Bro, sent you a PM

bigfrancis21:
Thank you @bigfrancis.....is a student that is being offered admission required to make a payment of any form for deferment of admission?

And secondly, would there be a problem should a student ignore the school upon arrival to the USA?


I am an alumnus of UMD myself, and I finished my masters program in December 2015. UMD is really a good school to be in and an admission from UMD is at least 95% assurance of getting your visa. Hardly are UMD students denied their visas. The UMD graduate school offers two types of engineering masters programs: thesis based (very competitive, requires GRE scores etc. and is for those intending to proceed on to PhD) and non-thesis based (offered by the Office of Advanced Engineering Education, GRE is waived, TOEFL waived for Nigerian students, not as competitive and for those intending to proceed on to the job market upon graduation who do not need to be saddled with the heavy burden of research work). However, be aware that the tuition fee for Engineering programs offered by OAE is about $9,300 per semester (which is also the same for both international students and citizens) and anybody intending on attending UMD needs to have at least one semester's tuition ready before they come in. The non-thesis based masters programs offer no graduate assistantships, although you can apply for other GA positions at https://ejobs.umd.edu Also, coming in Spring, as against Fall, will probably be better as you have only the spring semester (January to May) to pay through before the 3 months summer vacation (June to August) comes to be able to sort out yourself financially for the following semester. Cost of renting a place around UMD - in College park, Adelphi, Hyattsville, Greenbelt etc. is sort of above average (around $500 per month on average) and you should be ready to take care of that too, except you have someone to house you for a couple of months till you are ready to get your own place.

In all, I encourage those interested in UMD to apply. Nigerian students make up majority of the black graduate students in UMD and also the majority of the greater african students studying here. Also, the number of Nigerians living in Maryland especially (PG county) is enormous that hardly a day goes by would you not meet someone speaking Igbo or Yoruba. Maryland is home to plenty Nigerians and is a little home away from the greater home (Nigeria) for incomers.

For those looking for very good but yet affordable schools to study at, I strongly recommend University of Texas El Paso and University of Texas Tyler. Goodluck.

bigfrancis21:
I am an alumnus of UMD myself, and I finished my masters program in December 2015. UMD is really a good school to be in and an admission from UMD is at least 95% assurance of getting your visa. Hardly are UMD students denied their visas. The UMD graduate school offers two types of engineering masters programs: thesis based (very competitive, requires GRE scores etc. and is for those intending to proceed on to PhD) and non-thesis based (offered by the Office of Advanced Engineering Education, GRE is waived, TOEFL waived for Nigerian students, not as competitive and for those intending to proceed on to the job market upon graduation who do not need to be saddled with the heavy burden of research work). However, be aware that the tuition fee for Engineering programs offered by OAE is about $9,300 per semester (which is also the same for both international students and citizens) and anybody intending on attending UMD needs to have at least one semester's tuition ready before they come in. The non-thesis based masters programs offer no graduate assistantships, although you can apply for other GA positions at https://ejobs.umd.edu Also, coming in Spring, as against Fall, will probably be better as you have only the spring semester (January to May) to pay through before the 3 months summer vacation (June to August) comes to be able to sort out yourself financially for the following semester. Cost of renting a place around UMD - in College park, Adelphi, Hyattsville, Greenbelt etc. is sort of above average (around $500 per month on average) and you should be ready to take care of that too, except you have someone to house you for a couple of months till you are ready to get your own place.

In all, I encourage those interested in UMD to apply. Nigerian students make up majority of the black graduate students in UMD and also the majority of the greater african students studying here. Also, the number of Nigerians living in Maryland especially (PG county) is enormous that hardly a day goes by would you not meet someone speaking Igbo or Yoruba. Maryland is home to plenty Nigerians and is a little home away from the greater home (Nigeria) for incomers.

For those looking for very good but yet affordable schools to study at, I strongly recommend University of Texas El Paso and University of Texas Tyler. Goodluck.

joshtune:
.

Please I want to ask How easy is it for someone with zero knowledge of computer science to venture into the field in the US? Or for someone who has no love for mathematics to survive learning Comp Sci as a minor? For someone like me who will be majoring in business admin. does it make sense or is it possible?

abeolas:
Thank you @bigfrancis.....is a student that is being offered admission required to make a payment of any form for deferment of admission?

And secondly, would there be a problem should a student ignore the school upon arrival to the USA?

sirhamilton:
I wish everyone would respond to queries like Lagosismyhome and Bigfancis . Noticed how the thread has been void of snide comments so far ?

abeolas:
Thank you @bigfrancis.....is a student that is being offered admission required to make a payment of any form for deferment of admission?

And secondly, would there be a problem should a student ignore the school upon arrival to the USA?