Gozychuks:
Please which is easier to pass for graduate studies IELTS or TOEFL. I have just abot 2 weeks to prepare. And what are the pros and cons of each . For ielts I need 6.5 for toefl I need 80.

Please note that not all U.S. schools accept IELTS (that's de-facto a U.K. English proficiency test).

You should first confirm if your intended school accepts IELTS or not, make you no go throway money.

ebdib:


Watch out. Rent kills!!
Depending on your stipends, you're going to really be on a strict budget.
Like really strict.
If you're stipend is >25K then you can afford to splurge a bit here and there.

The biggest culprits are rent and feeding.
Start looking now for cheap deals but keep utilities and distance from campus and activities in mind.

Regarding feeding I hope you can cook.
I recommend learning how to cook with corned beef, baked beans, eggs. Raisins, frozen vegetables etc.

I didn't carry all those egusi etc. I can't cook those anyway.
Just bear in mind. Student life is a poor life. There's no sugar coating it.
Don't expect to be flexing oo. Clear your mind now.

Happy to answer any other questions.

Thanks! I am already applying for rent, one on campus and one just outside the campus gate. I am on a waitlist for both of them, and I am also checking out other options. Ah no my stipend is < 25k and that's even before tax. It might be more by my second year. I know grad school life is a lean life so we go try manage. Thankfully I can cook. I appreciate all the advice, man!

One thing that's been on my mind is the harsh cold weather. I hear the winters in Indiana are very long: from like September till late April or even May sometimes, so about 2/3 of the year is winter. This means heavy heating bills... that's one thing I have been planning along with housing options.

Edit: I mean, the really nice weather is just like 4 months.

slimmy05:
Well, for clothing, you would need traditional wears, cos they are pretty expensive to sew here. Well, you might look at drying small egusi, ogbono or crayfish and dry pepper, try and get some traditional spice. Your incentives should be very ok for your living expenses.

Thanks bro, all noted!

slimmy05:
Hows preparation? Hope you've gotten what you need to survive here

Thanks bros. Lol me I no know all the things I need to survive there oh (besides academic and research preparation). Any advice for me? I am generally preparing to move sha.

dicapino:
Hello guys. Funny how life is. Okay this afternoon I called Texas A&m Mech Eng to check on my grad application. I was informed that I got denied- I was angry oo. Now I just got a mail from the University of Louisiana Lafayette that I have been admitted for Petroleum Eng.

Dont no what to say but help me thank God. Cheers

Congrats diCapino

slimmy05:
No, summer classes are normal classes as well, gives opportunity to graduate fast than attending just fall and spring. Students get admitted for the summer session and its not a red flag either. Community college is just the issue, except you are below 19 years with a CC I-20 then the VO might overlook. Spring is a normal resumption date, but the general ones are usually Spring and Fall semester. Summer classes as adopted by Nigerian private universities which is strictly for students who have carryovers to write is different from US summer classes. It is used to gain extra credits and its better for undergraduate student.

Thanks for the correction! I understand better now.

sealleone:
he applied for a 2year AS degree in a community college and they have a summer semester..

I think summer semester for undergraduates is usually for catching up on studies before Fall semester (e.g. if the student failed courses in that academic year, or the student wants to gain more credit points) and also for REU. For graduate students, it is for more research. Then lastly there are those that go for summer-only short-courses, as I said before.

I think applying to a 2 year community college - which are usually inroads for illegal immigration - was the first red flag, and the second one was trying to go during summer semester from another country, which is not a normal resumption time. Usual resumption for first-time international students is Fall, and in some other cases, Spring.

sealleone:
Hi guys, please a friend was denied visa to the US today, he said the VO told him that schools don't issue i-20 for summer semester..am I the only one that thinks that's kinda incorrect...u know as in the VO ain't well informed

Generally, only summer schools issue an I-20 in summer, and it will be valid only for the period of that summer. e.g. a 3 month short course. If your friend was not going for a short-course like that, then the VO is correct.

ebdib:


Congrats.
Enjoy South Bend and what it has to offer.
Cheers and remember everything they told you was in good faith not out of spite ..
Bests.

Thank you

masquellett:

Bro, are u on whatsapp or bbm, pls drop ur contact, pls I need some infor from u. Thanx.

You can reach me at

ucookme AT gmail DOT com

@Everyone: Thank you. I pray the testimonies will go round.

If I may offer some words of advice from personal experience, , ttmacoy is right to a very large extent.

If a school will give you admission (let alone funding) they want your profile to have something that sparks their interest. They want something slightly beyond what everyone else is submitting.

I am informed that sometimes a department has like 5,000 applications and they need to choose just 10 or 12 people. They might first check your CGPA and whether your application is complete and other things, to reduce the number of applicants. Maybe it is now reduced to 2,000. They use other criteria to reduce the numbers further. After they have reduced the number and they have maybe 400 applicants, they use a software to first filter out some people e.g. those without GRE will get cut out. EVEN THOUGH they said GRE is not compulsory, but they'll rather choose someone that has it rather than someone that doesn't. They go on like that till it's like 100 people. They can read those ones' statements of purpose and reference letters. Cut it down to 50. Then maybe they'll interview the 50 in person, and for international students, interview them on Skype. Finally they have 20. Out of that 20, maybe just 12 will come to that school in the end.

It's always better to have the basic things that other students have, if you want a solid chance. If possible, even have other things that can make your profile unique. If you don't have an item in your profile, and other students like you have it, you have set yourself up. Even though the school says it's not compulsory, study, do it and send it.

My background is Electrical Engineering but I was applying for a program that almost all my classmates would have been Math Majors or Physics Majors in their undergraduate program. Trust me, Engineers don't know or understand many things that Mathematicians and Physicists play easily with. I knew I was already disadvantaged so I knew I had a point to prove. TOEFL 116/120. Then the usual GRE, I scored 800/800 in the Math section (before they changed the scales, now that's like 170) though my verbal was just 590/800, now like 152). But I still felt it's not enough cos the people I'm competing against have stronger backgrounds. I decided to meet them on their level so I registered for the Subject test GRE in Mathematics. Yet, all the (advanced) mathematics I did in Engineering school was not up to 15% of the syllabus in this GRE. I decided I'll study and take the exam anyway, so I pushed myself and even after over a year of hard study, my score was just like 60%. Other applicants like me, that I talked to in various forums online, they said the dullest among them scored from 85% above. Most of those topics, they have done since undergraduate study. I was discouraged but I sent the score anyway.

I also knew I had to prove that I cope with the research studies, in another way. So I contacted people already doing their own research / Masters abroad (by email) and I offered to help them do research and computation. For free. They let me help them, and one of them wrote a reference for me. Another one, his paper won an award in London so I wrote it inside my statement of purpose that I helped in that research, that they can ask the school.

I'm not taking glory for myself, it belongs to God, but I know that they couldn't have seen my profile and not realized that I was actually trying hard. So that's probably why they gave me a chance.

Stanford rejected me anyway, because I'm sure the competition there was even much tougher than at Notre Dame.

sirRiddy:
Congrats bro. Your transcript is one of the best I have seen here. Good luck to you.

Thanks bro. I think I over explained some things cos I was tense, but when she smiled I was able to relax.

DeeTus:
Congrats. Basically, full-funding was the key to your success. Congratulations once more.
Your interview was in Abuja, right?

Thank you.
No it was at Walter Carrington, Lagos.

I am back, as I said I would come back to Nairaland to give details after my interview (even though some notorious people here wanted to tear my head off just because I didn't mention the name of the school / program, as if say I wan chop am! Na wa for patience).

I got my visa this morning, thankfully. Here is my transcript as I remember it. The whole thing took like 3 to 4 minutes.

VO: Good morning, how are you today?
Me: I'm fine thank you. Good morning.
VO: May I see your passport, I-20 and SEVIS documents?
Me: (hands them over)
VO: Please place your right four fingers on the scanner...
Me: (does as requested)
VO: I see you're going for a PhD in Computational and Applied Mathematics. Why the University of Notre Dame?
Me: There are only a small handful of programs in the world with my current research interest i.e. in silico research in Computational Haemodynamics. Of the better programs, Notre Dame is one, and Stanford is another. Stanford is just beginning its own Computational Medicine program this Fall. I applied to Stanford as well but sadly I didn't get in. On the other hand, I got into Notre Dame with full funding and it has my exact research interests.
VO: Computational Haemodynamics?
Me: Yes, the study and computer simulation of the Mathematics and Physics / Motion of Fluid-Structure Interaction in Blood Flow. It has diverse applications in the treatment of cardiovascular ailments and in other heart monitoring therapies.
VO: (smiles) Wow, the Mathematics and Motion of Blood Flow? (typing fast on the computer, probably googling to see if I was bullshitting)
Me: Yes indeed, the Mathematics and Motion of Blood Flow.
VO: Okay, do you already have a Masters degree?
Me: No, I don't. I got admitted on merit into the University of Lagos for an MSc this January but just as I began registration, I also got the Notre Dame admission in February so I didn't bother resuming at UNILAG.
VO: I see. What was your undergraduate degree in?
Me: Electrical / Electronic Engineering. But I have been working as a programmer and self-studying postgraduate mathematics since I finished at the University, so I have the required background for computational and applied math.
VO: (smiles) How do you hope to fund your way through school?
Me: I received full funding from the department I applied to. It covers a tuition waiver, stipends and health insurance.
VO: (Flips through my passport) So you've never left Nigeria before?
Me: (smiles) No, I've never left Nigeria before.
VO: Congratulations, I'm glad to tell you that your visa application has been accepted. Please pick up your documents at this location (circles location on my documents). Have a nice day!
Me: Thank you. Have a nice day as well.

P.S.
I just took all sorts of documents to the place for nothing, she didn't even look at them. I was also worried about two things but she didn't even ask:
(a) Worried I'd be asked about strong ties to Nigeria, which I don't really have.
(b) Bothered I'd be asked how I will intend to apply my study when I come back to Nigeria (cos I didn't want to lie... well, it's possible sha)

I'm really grateful, especially after seeing her deny every single person that went to her own dock ahead of me. Last last sha, na God win.