peacengine:


My guy, insanity is when you keep holding unto past and making them your present problems. If light will make you call a country failed state then o boy that's your problem, my own is different. If you think we are a failed state then present something substantial to me like evidence of economic failure, uncontrallable rise in inflation, drastic fall in GDP, all round war and non functional federal govt parastatals. Present evidence of all round famine, disaster in IT, total breakdown of communication facilities (no more gsm), and so on. Our country lacks adequate supply of electricity is a fact but are you free to provide yours? Yes. Road infrastructure is not totally a write off, at least I travelled through the East by road recently and I saw good network all the way to Ogoja(ongoing in Ogoja), through Enugu. Much still needs to be done but average rating can be given.
Guy migrate Sir, myself I de find way to trade business with Nigerians abroad as I'm looking into farming. Go in peace sir

Having worked in a government parastatal for four years, I can tell you straight up, we are doomed in Nigeria. From underground job recruitments without advertising to over-bloated budgets, to disobedience to the rule of law to massive fund misappropriation to terrible working conditions to insensitivity to staff welfare. Sweetheart, port if you can now. I regret not doing so 6 years ago because I believed so much in my country. I have seen that to survive in Nigeria, you need to have a bit of selfishness, heartlessness, wickedness, myopic, daftness, shortsightedness, and excess of corruptness. Excellence is not rewarded rather mediocrity is applauded. When you act different, many look at you like you are from Mars. Is this your idea of a developing country because from my analysis, that is still mediocrity.

DavidLoves:


congratulations bro... am a novice in all these GRE stuff. I recently passed out from the nysc scheme sir. l v a few questions though, what is the validity period (in Years) of the GRE exams? or is it yearly like jamb? do I need it to apply for these schools and what portal or site did u use in applying to these schools? thanks

GRE scores are valid for five years. Please check femi312 posts for detailed information on applying to the US. Also reading this thread from page 1 will be quite rewarding. If you have more precise questions after then,please post it here.

So there is truly a Whatsapp group. Interesting! I hope fours years from today, your Whatsapp group still exists. And everyone can access the plethora of information you have there

theamerican:
I have said it many times, the problem with Nigeria is not just with the corrupt politicians, but with the mindset of the average Nigerian citizen. Looking down on people/places/things in 2018? *sigh*

@thegrandchemist put it absolutely spot on!!! "KNOW THYSELF". Know your strengths and weaknesses, and plan your life according to them. If you have a background in creative arts or Insurance, don't let anyone fool you into thinking you'd be a complete failure here unless you switched to an engineering or nursing program. Life comes with NO guarantees.

Not everyone can score 320+ on their GRE or 110+ on TOEFL to get into top programs/schools. Don't look down on people who can't get into those programs and go to lesser known schools instead. As @Femi321 put it, the country has changed. Most of the employers now lose interest in hiring foreigners who need to be sponsored to get legal status to work. Going to study at the white house guarantees absolutely NOTHING.

Getting into top programs is great! I encourage people who have what it takes to shoot for them, but let's encourage others who cannot. A friend of mine went to a school no one knows about at age 32 and got a Bachelor's in finance. She works for Microsoft now and makes $120k+ per annum.
Another friend with a Nursing Masters degree makes so much less than her. They are both happy with their lives.

Other examples, a truck driver friend went to truck driving training for 8 weeks or so, job he got now pays him about $60k, CNAs (after 6 weeks of training) get jobs that pay $14+ per hour. Happiness in life is subjective, let's encourage people.

You have no idea how difficult it is for some people to even get into those schools you laugh at and the joy on their faces when they finally see the admission letters from them. Encourage people to believe in themselves and think outside the box.

This post pretty much sums up everything on the topic.

ABOLORUNKING:
Permit me to say praise the Lord "Hallelujah". I have been following this thread religiously for some time now. But somehow I have refused to share my GRE experience because of my low score.

Prior to my GRE exam I was very optimistic; I believed my minimum score would be 325 dint of my preparation and my practice test scores. However, I got a mediocre score 315. It destabilize me, because I had no contingency plans. My TOEFL score was low too very low. (I dey shame to post am self).

My initial school list was: MIT, UIUC, TAMU, Uni of Texas, Austin and UTK (ESE program at Bredesen Center).

Due to my low GRE score and lack of finance I could only apply to 3 schools - UTK, Tufts University and Uni of Akron (abeg no ask me where this school dey). I applied to RPI (free fee waiver things).

I got a rejection message from Tufts university (expected) march 6.

I later discovered that I mistakenly applied to a wrong program at UTK. I was supposed to apply to the ESE doctoral program at Bredesen Center, but, somehow I mistakenly apply to a different department. Hence, I did not even get the privilege to be rejected because my application was not reviewed.

Mind you, UTK was like my main school. I have already developed camaderie with many graduate students in the program, I talked to about two Nigerians, messaged the recruiter and also, had a prof that asked me to reply. But, my silly mistake denied opportunity to get into this program.

I got admission to Uni of Akron Feb 24th, they said their funding decision will be in later dates, I was hopeful I will get a TA position. Up till now no show, and I do not really like the school.

So I accepted my fate that I won't join Fall 2018 cohort. In fact, I bought "higher everyday" note book to start my GRE practice again with plans for fall19. I had already downloaded galvanize prep, ready4GRE, Manhattan App, Magoosh vocab. I had some text books and I made up my mind to borrow some books from the embassy.


Exactly 7:20pm today while I was reading an article on aeon.co, I received an email from Tuft University (that rejected me before), I became irate, as I thought it was a promotional message or message about our school is this or that. So, I wanted to archive the message without reading it.

But when I opened the email I saw this: "I am writing to you with excellent news from Tufts Mechanical Engineering. The school is able to provide a fellowship to offer you a place in our PhD program! A new source of funding was identified by the School."[[/b]b]

As you must already know I started crying. I called my friend already in the program and told him about it.

My story is getting too long.

Major: Mechanical Engineering
GPA: 4.84/5.0
GRE: 315 - Q 163 and V 152.
Tufts University. PhD Mechanical Engineering
Funding: fellowship

I name drop on my application to Tuft, which made the grad coordinator to ask one of her advisee (a Nigerian bearing thesame name with my paddy) if he knows me and he said no. My friend gave me this info last week and he had to email the grad coord on my behalf (he kept this away from me) telling her the he knows me and that he was the person I was referring on my SOP. He almost told her I am the best thing since slice bread.

Many thanks to Time2Smile, reDazey (My paddy, the news sweet her pass me self), Scholastica16. And everyone.

I have very sorry for not catching you guys up soon enough.

God is faithful! After giving up.

Fall 2018
Yes we Fit.

Congratulations dear. I am so happy for you. Your news made my day. Awesome God!

RexCheeng:
I hope My post inspires/challenges someone out there.

The summary of this post (TLTR)
WES CGPA: 3.45
GRE: 320, 163Q
TOEFL: 107
TA for 6 months.

Schools applied to:
University of Nebraska (MSc)- Reject
Miami University, Ohio (MSc)- Admitted without funding
University of Tennessee, Knoxville (PhD)- Rejected
University of New Haven (MSc)- Accepted with TA position

Full Gist ( Because I enjoyed reading the gist of people like DrHopeful, SirRiddy, MsNas, BigFrancis21, sureb0y, etc.)

I began my grad school journey in 2016, researching schools on thegradcafe.com and MSinUS group on Facebook. My good man, MasterforceII, pointed me in the direction of Nairaland where I met our very own guru, SirRiddy, and bombarded him with questions like "What is the difference between Spring and Fall?"

Fast forward to November 2017, I completed my applications and waited on my professors to help out with LORs. December came and most apps were not complete just because of LOR. I had to eventually use a GA in my school and my employer at work. I actually started about 6 applications during this time but due to obligations at work and some other factors, I couldn't complete it.

In the course of writing my SOPs and CV, I reached out to a host of people on LinkedIn who were all too happy to help. I also contacted our very own happyday here and he gladly helped me vet it. I was so proud of the product and I was certain, to a large extent, that I would snatch a fully funded offer from all the schools I applied to and that my problem would be which to choose. Lol. I remember seeing other schools I could've applied to like UArk, UC Denver, Uni of Utah, All the schools in Dakota, etc. but they either required WES or official transcripts. Before I forget, I also began an application to Georgia Southern Uni but they required an evaluated transcript

Middle of February, I received a reject from Nebraska, and then it dawned on me that I was really just an average Joe. I was competing against geniuses from the USA, China, India, Pakistan, and Nigeria, and this realization just weakened me. Crestfallen didn't do justice to my plight, but I promised to move on. I was to choose between writing GRE again while gaining experience as a researcher here in Nigeria to improve my profile or apply to more schools and hope to cop half funding from any school in particular.

I strengthened my resolve and concluded that there was no assurance of a drastic GRE increase because of time, my place of work is in shambles and definitely, research was all about recycling papers and submitting to new journals.

Early March, I stumbled upon someone's transcript on the USA thread. We had a similar profile and he got a scholarship to University of New Haven. We spoke and I realized that it was just a 50% tuition waiver. I was desperate, I was going to source the rest, let them just give me admission.

Late March, Received admission and 50% funding as expected. I was a bit relieved and then I remembered my initial resolve, "no full funding, no traveling." Low-key, I was still hopeful that Tennessee or Miami would eventually come through.


Early April, Miami came through. Admission, no funding. The prof I maintained correspondence with said he'll accept me but I would need to fund myself. LOL.
I began to assess my chances with Tennessee and I saw that I was hanging on a thread abi rope, abeg, how them dey talk am. I met another UNH hopeful who was stoked to hear my profile. He also got 50% scholarship and felt I deserved more than that. He told me I should press for the Provost's scholarship and I did.
I sent a long mail to the department, expressing my inability to fund my studies and my wealth of experience as a TA. Few days later, my friend (he also requested) and I (along with two other people who we didn't know) were asked to be interviewed for the scholarship via skype.

Two days ago, I got the offer. Unfortunately my friend didn't.

I'm extremely grateful for the guys on this thread, reading stories like this way back then used to keep me awake till 2am while I was prepping for GRE. I'm extremely excited for everyone here also. Quoran, you're a legend, sir! Tizentos, Yildiz, smallsuper, Ridsan, tescoman, Temmitarts, everyone!
Scholastica16, I can't express the joy I felt in my heart every time you joined your faith with mine. God bless you!
P.S: Your rejoinders on the USA thread about MBA or no MBA made me laugh my head off! I itch for your Quora, Twitter, Medium, or any other account detail where you share your views. I'll send a PM.

#Fall2018 has been tortuous, a hell of a ride, but worth it still.
The knowledge that this is the beginning is quite funny. Internships, OPTs, H1-B, PhD. More rejections will come, but above all, we shall rise!

I will end with a famous quote which I do not know verbatim and will not check Google for, "Any fool can learn from his mistakes, it takes a wise man to learn from that of others."

Congratulations RexCheeng. Great inspirational story.

akatovic1:

Although I have posted my profile before, for reference purposes here is my updated profile:

First Degree
School: UNN
Course:Mechanical Engineering
CGPA:4.53

Test scores
GRE
Q:166 , V:157
TOEFL:101

Graduate School (course:Mechanical Engineering)
University of Texas, Austin(Msc/PhD):Rejected
Texas A and M, College Station (Direct PhD):Rejected
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute(Direct PhD):Accepted
University of Notre Dame(Direct PhD):Awaiting
KAUST (Msc):Awaiting

Congratulations akatovic1. RPI is a great school.

For the Opportunity Fund program, I have an information that Physics and Chemistry graduates with good second class upper results and above are seriously advised to apply.

Daint:

Are you an engineering student and do you have a 320?

I really do not understand why you asked this question and how it relates to my post. But you can ignore what I said, however.

Finally Quoran...

Congratulations on all your admits. You had a beautiful admission season. Texas A&M, College Station is a wonderful choice.

Thank you for sharing those admission tips.

I will like to add on what have been said on the OF Program. On the Opportunity Fund Program for Engineering students,you guys are too many, so the hustle is real . I will suggest you score above 320 on the GRE to be considered competitive. It is strictly for students from public universities.

Time2Smile:

Whao congratulations, I am so excited for you.

Thank you Time2Smile,kacey007, and dmajor1.

kacey007:

Congratulations.
Sent u a PM

I could not see your pm. Please resend.

TheGrandChemist:

LoL. Not like I know you in person, but I am so glad for you. Nice one.

TheGrandChemist:


LoL. For real? This must be heartbreaking, but the way you put it makes it pretty hilarious.

For real. It was not heartbreaking at that time. I had funding already. If not ...

almeida3:



I always knew something great was cooking up for you!

Thank you, dear.

Edited: Thanks

Thank you all for the congratulatory messages, @ Quoran, mfarad, ponpon, Sherlock5577, paulbets, layez, smallsuper and TheGrandChemist.

@TheGrandChemist, lol. Rankings are not checked that way. You look at course-specific rankings if ranking matters to you. The University of Utah is among the top 50 graduate programs in Computer Science, highly ranked than William and Mary.

In fact, I got an acceptance email with admission and funding letter from the University of Utah. After 10 hours, I received another mail saying it was an error. Then I wished "Amadioha's thunder" was real. I had the perfect target.

Scholastica16:
Sirriddy getting all the love.

Don't talk to me again.

You are the Boss now. I cannot appreciate you enough . I don't even know how to start or end.

My Second Experience
I will start by congratulating everyone who has an admission. It is truly an arduous journey. More congratulations to those with funding and all the best to those still awaiting funding. I must add that it is not over till you hear from all your schools. Last year, I can recall a close friend who got an admit with full funding in May. Hope still dey!

I want to encourage someone here today with my story. Never give up on yourself and your dreams. When you plan to retry, find out the actions that failed you and learn to change your strategy for success. Finally, keep trying if you believe so much in a vision till you achieve it.

This is the period where most of us sit and wait with bated breath, hoping and praying that our admission with some sort of financial funding drops into our mailbox. I pray everyone gets their heart desires.

Last year, I was in a similar position. I felt dejected, some of us can relate to this emotion. Lots of admissions with no funding. I applied to combinations of (MSc and Ph.D.) in Statistics/Maths. Got some rejections and some acceptances( without funding). It was a terrible blow because I felt I had a good profile. (GPA 3.6/4(WES), GRE 318, TOEFL 109). However, I learned some important lessons. It is not always about one aspect of your profile. LORs and SOPs are very important.

Having been out of school for a while and working in an IT-intensive organization; I overlooked my IT skills which were going to be advantageous. I got some advice from several persons, I selected the ones I felt will work for me and dropped the rest. So for Fall 2018, I restrategized, applied to CS programs. Also, I realized I did not take some risk on my former school list (Sirriddy and Scholastica16 encouraged me to aim higher).

So this year, I reapplied to 5 Ph.D. programs
1. The University of Massachusetts, Amherst (pending)
2. The University of Utah (rejected)
3. Kansas State University(accepted with full funding)
4. The University of Alabama (accepted, no funding. I did not bother to ask for any.)
5. College of William and Mary(accepted with full funding, being considered for fellowship)

Also, to "avoid stories that touch", I applied to Georgia Southern (MSc Mathematics and I was accepted with a funded GTA position)

I thank God for the courage to try one more time and I pray that everyone finds a reason to believe in themselves and keep pushing.

Special thanks to the extraordinary persons that supported me throughout this journey; Sirriddy(you are just too much), divabiola, jaybiz007, Scholastica16, MsNas, dramaka). Thank you guys for being more than friends.

STENON:
I am finally here.
My Profile :
Applicant for 2018 fall
Submitting my application by next monrh
Cgpa : 4.64/5.00 BSc (Ed.) Physics Education
2 years of teaching experience
Writing my GRE by next month
Not registering for TOEFL
My fear is changing from Physics Education to MSc Physics.
No Publication in Physics
One publication in Physics Education plus two conference proceedings in Physics Education.

Please I need your advice and suggestion on the schools that can accept me for MSc in Physics based on my profile.

Thank you

You have a good CGPA and a decent publication record. Also, you studied a well-funded course. Forget the education in the name. It is the USA, not Nigeria, where unnecessary discriminations occur. So yes, you can apply for Physics(MSc). Just research the programs you want to apply to and check out their GRE requirement but aim high. I will advise you to write TOEFL if you require funding. BTW, I think it is too late to shoot for fall 2018 unless you have plans to fund yourself. All the best.

femi312:
Check my posts, you should see it on page 12..scroll down

I have seen it. Thanks.

shayhune:


reDazey, I sight you

femi312:
I didnt.

Oh good. I am searching for a post you made on obtaining cheaper health insurance some time ago. Please, I need the link.

Oga femi321, why deactivate your account? With all the priceless information attached to your moniker, how do I find them now ?

eso18:
Hello house,

Please help connect me with fellow Nigerian graduate students at Auburn University. I will be starting PhD studies there this Fall. Thank you.

@Mandem101: thanks for your assistance on the earlier post.

Cc jaybiz007

akatovic1:
ok I am back again and here are my admission decisions( for now) for fall 2018
- University of Texas Austin (msc/Ph.D)- Rejected
-Renssaeler Poly (Direct Ph.D)- Accepted but no news on funding yet sha

I am still awaiting the rest and may God help us all.

Congratulations on the RPI admit. I hope the funding package follows soon.

Congratulations dmajor1 and TheGrandChemist.

Jumybecks:
Just in.......
School: University of Arkansas
Status: Accepted
Program: PhD Cell and Molecular Biology
Funding: Yes (GA)

I have been on this admission of a thing since 2015. Wrote GRE in 2016 but did not apply to any school due to finance. I sat for another GRE in Nov 2017 and I applied to four schools: U of Arkansas, University of Delaware, New Mexico State University, and MTU. Got a regret mail for U of Delaware already but nothing yet from NMSU and MTU. It's really been God and the encouragement I tap from people on this forum.

Profile:
UG course: Microbiology
GPA: 3.7/4.0
GRE: 307
Toefl: 105
Publication: 1 (but it was after I had already completed all my applications so it did not count really)

May those expecting admit and funding get it by His grace.... AMEN!!!

Congratulations Jumybecks!

Pampaya009:
Hi everyone,
I am new here and I've gone through some of the experiences shared here and I'm well pleased. I have found clues on the right materials to practice with.
However, I have questions I'd love you guys to help me with.
I am a polytechnic graduate with GPA (3.43/4.00) and (3.10/4.00) ND and HND respectively from Electrical engineering department.
I recently send my transcript to WES and it's under valuation as I speak.
I'm also preparing for GRE and my exam date is 10th of April.
I am currently looking into Florida State university where I could apply for MSc or PhD directly.
I'd therefore like to know if my HND wouldn't be a constraint, is there anyone in the house who'd been given admission as a polytechnic graduate and can help me with relevant information?
If it is possible, I want to know the kinds of schools I should be looking to, schools with application waiver, and finally I need someone to give me clues on how to write a fascinating SOP.
I also need someone who stays around Alakuko area in Lagos whom I could practice with.
Thanks in anticipation for your kind reply

It is not impossible to get an admission with your ND and HND combined. I like your initiative; you have gone ahead to get your results evaluated by WES. It will help because your qualification will be evaluated as equal to a bachelors.

However, you should mail schools to find those that will accept your WES evaluated transcript because not all will accept it, to be honest.

Also, be careful with choosing schools based on application fee waiver. It does not work out for the best. Someone explained the reason somewhere in this thread. I am too lazy to type.

Finally, use the search button and search for people who were successful using their ND and HND combined. You will get some tips.

All the best in your GRE and TOEFL exams.

smallsuper:
You have not convinced me that you know about RPI.

If he knows RPI, he would not have started the comparison. But there is always room for new knowledge.

athorello:
Just in.... Admit for Michigan Tech PhD but no financial aid though it is stated that my department provides assistantships. I'm required to upload my certification of finances and bank statements asap. Where money dey? Lol. Let me contact the dept first.

Congratulations on the admit. Personally, I agree with others about this school. I felt they were bad news but after reading a post on the Visa thread(someone narrated that he got fully funded), I might not be quick to judge them. Anyway, nothing is impossible. Keep pushing for funding.

smallsuper:
Thanks @ reDazey. I have been looking for who to break the silence.

Let me share my little experience.

As a mechanical engineering post graduate applicant, my targeted score was 326 and above. I have been consistently knacking between 156-159 in Verbal with my Quants mostly above 167 in all my practice test. I decided to "gave" my first GRE as our Indian peeps normally say on the 11th of Aug, the exam was in the format VQVQV. After my A.W, I could not concentrate due to the discordant sounds of keyboard punching from every angle and couldn't even comprehend the SEs and TCs. I knew immediately that I had "entered it". I got 170Q (because I can solve mathematics under any condition), 150V and 3.5 AW.
I had mixed feelings because of my low verbal and A.W score and my perfect quant score and I decided to rewrite the exam after two months of contemplation.

I registered for another Gre in late October and sat for the exam on the 1st of December. Nothing changed in my preparation and I ended up using the same materials. The exam was in the format VQVQV, at the end of the exam, I had 167 Quants, 156V (Though I was expecting something higher) and 3.5 A.W( I didn't practice writing, I thought it was all about template but I was wrong). The seeming improvement in my verbal was a result of my decision to be among the last set of people that entered the exam hall to prevent the previous unpropitious experience. Technically, I didn't improve in any section because I know 156 was achievable in the first attempt if not for the inauspicious experience.

How I wish I knew this thread then and asked for advice from savants here. That's why it's good to speak up, However, I remain undaunted and had learned my lesson.

#Team 2018
Waiting for admission decision from Georgia Tech, University of Maryland College Park, Iowa State University, University of Tennesse Knoxville, Louisiana State University and Ohio University.

Great scores . Quants 170. I believe you will get the best of your schools. Congratulations on your admit @LSU.