₦airaland Forum

abnice2004:
Good morning to everyone in the house. Base on what I have always been reading here about writing GRE to get scholarship, I encouraged my sis to write it and she got 294 and she has 4.22 Cgpa over 5. Pls What are the chances of her getting a full scholarship with this profile? Which school can she apply to in order to get full scholarship? Should she rewrite the GRE? She is preparing for next year fall. Thank you.

Since she's preparing for next year fall, I'd suggest she rewrite the test with the aim of scoring higher. That way, d probability of getting funded will be higher.

234ng44uk:
A GRE score of 294 with a GPA of 4.22/5.00 is a disgrace. No school will take her serious, especially for funding. Her only bet are schools that do not accept GRE scores. Or rewrite GRE and score over 310.

GRE scores are dependent on the amount of preparation channelled into it and not directly proportional to one's CGPA. So it's definitely not a disgrace, perhaps, she didn't prepare well before taking d test.
Haven't u seen First Class student performing bad on d GRE?

Well-done mfarad. May God bless your effort with great success. Cheers!

Congrats fredoricko. May your journey to TrumpLand open doors of opportunities for u. Cheers bro.. ..
#TeamFall2017

femi321:
Have you tried searching for Nigerian Students in TAMAK on LinkedIn? If not, you need to. TAMUK is Nigeria away from home, you should find as many as possible. I can give you some names and you can search for them on linkedin if your personal search doesnt bring results but it should. One of them should be able to help you out. Life isn't that hard.

Thanks a lot boss!
I have actually checked LinkedIn and found so many of them, but they don't respond when messaged.

Please can I send u a PM?

jvof231:
I have an innocent question house, pls can reapply first week in July? Cos this admission must not waste

I think you can reapply as soon as you are ready to fire back. You mustn't wait till July.

Congrats to those who got their visas approved this morning. To to those whose visas were delayed, it's not denial.. ...gather yourself and fire back, and visa will be yours.

Please, is there anyone in TAMUK who's willing to help me in settling down? I really want to book my flight ASAP as the rate keep increasing every hours, but I can't because I'm not sure of where I'm going to stay on arrival.

My people, please I need your advice on how to settle in a strange land like this. Abi dem get better underbridge dey wey I fit stay before getting accommodation

Your advice/help/suggestions will be sincerely appreciated.

aamstih:
icool baba o o, congratulations... You have been Texined!
People where dey owe me flexing for that Texas don dey plenty small o o...

Make I go listen to that 'Make a way by Travis Greene' since the latest formula be that

damiliano:
Please guys,how can one get a very cheap hotel very close to the embassy??

There's this hotel in Obalende. Join a bus or keke going to Obalende and tell them you're going to Lewis Street. When at Lewis Street, ask about Bayland Hotel.. ..it's around that area. Room rate is 4k and 5k. The place isn't great , but it's still manageable. Bike man charged 200 from d hotel to Lagos consulate .

All d best in your interview

iCool:
My Transcript - Approval was today.



I was glad I didn't have to pay the 64k again and then travel all the way to Lagos.... I remembered the song 'You Made a Way' by Travis Greene as I walked out....




. Thank you all.... Oluwa by Eze.

Congratulations boss!!! Texas, here we come.

@bolded, this was d same song that occupied my mind the moment I woke up on my interview day.. .......I'm still singing it even
.......don't know how but YOU did it, made a way **singing**

Thanks to everyone for the congratulatory messages.....

whyqueu:
at @seeker88 , please can i have your email please.. I want you to help me with something ..Please my email is **********

Sent u an email

whyqueu:
Please @Seeker88 at West Texas A&Q University, did you send your transcript to them or your school and also is there any need for WES evaluation for the school? Please reply. .Thanks

I didn't apply to West Texas A&Q University Sir.

aamstih:
Seeker88 my G, why dem no go call you sir when you apply to a whole 11 schools .... Guy, I am happy for you!

You owe me a treat when I land by fall 2018.

11 scchols keh, Biko no let Teedawg hear this, him go think say this guy dey confused

No wahala baba.. ...all d best with ur fall 2018 application.

[quote author=happyroyalty post=57677756][/quote]Yes sir, I got a little scholarship with out-of-state tuition waiver.

OjaP:
Sometimes, you even pray for a slay queen to slay all your pay check especially if she has a good check too and has same goals as you. MsNas is one.

Haha, na financial woman be that oo. ....*singing*

OjaP:
That's a smart move. With a Mech. Eng. degree, you can still go back to the oil industry and work as a petroleum engineer. You can also easily get other engineering jobs outside of petroleum too. In contrast, you may find it so tough to get into other sectors with a Pet. Eng degree.

I see you mentioned Engineering Management, some schools have it as a concentration in their mechanical engineering program. My school has it as a concentration in their Industrial & Systems engineering program and I picked that concentration - don't ask me why. So, you see it depends on what you actually want the degree to do for you.

Congrats again not just for the visa but for the wise decision.

Boss!!!! It's an honours to have u quote my post
Another insight from this post. Your contribution is ALWAYS on point except when MsNas start slinding something into u .......**i don't know d details boss**
I'd like to talk more with you. ....please, would u permit me to send u a PM?

@ Drocks, electronic, thanks a lot.

OjaP:
Congrats!! Just out of curiosity; where are you working presently? Why did you switch from petroleum engineering to mechanical with a renewable concentration?

Thanks a lot boss.. ..
I work with an Oil servicing firm in d area of project cost controlling.
My decision to switch was because I feel that d era of petroleum is gradually phasing out and also d fact that Pet considers mainly the non-renewable energy sources (ie, crude oil n natural gas) which makes it more streamlined . Since I still have interest in energy, mechanical engr on d other hand will give me more avenue to explore various renewable energy resources and not being restricted to only crude oil n natural gas.

Time2Smile:
Congratulations!!! VO even used sir for you. I hail ooo. During my interview me self go use Sir and Ma for any VO that interviews me regardless of age. It is a nice courtesy.

Thanks boss
@ bolded..... The thing fear me oo

MasterforceII:
Good day Mr. Seeker. First and foremost, congratulations on your admits. Your journey is an inspiring one. Thanks for sharing with we prospective applicants. You really applied to 11 schools? Wow. That's a lot of money spent on application fees et al which some of us may not have the luxury of. A major dilema we (prospective applicants) face is selecting schools where the prspect of admission and funding is nearly certain. .Although most of the research is done by the applicant themselves, stuff like what you have just done goes a long way in aiding that process. This is kind of what @RexChaeng was campaigning for some pages back. I really hope some others here take a cue from you. Infact, i hope to do same once I have been admitted.

Looking at your profile, two things caught my attention and that is your change in majors and your GRE score is not so stellar. Yet, you shot at schools like TAMU College Station and Georgia Tech for which you were waitlisted even though the admission didn't eventually come. I admire your intrepidity. People on this Nairaland rarely apply to these top schools. Maybe only a few do. I understand that most of us apply to schools within the reach of their profile to avoid stories that touch but seeing that GeorgiaTech on that your list has sort of reinvigorated my ginger. Lol. Nigerians get admitted to these schools afterall. Maybe they just arent on Nairaland to share their stories/profiles.

Thanks once again. Goodluck in all your endeavors.

Thanks a lot. I'm glad u got inspired by this experience shared.

Yes, I applied to 11 schools. For most of the schools, I paid just d application fee and didn't need to send official transcript or test scores for my application to be evaluated . Also, I applied to schools with low application fee in d range of $30-$55 in order to reachmore schools. However, app fee was high for TAMU, Georgia Tech and LSU, it was $90, $75, and $70 respectively. So you may not necessarily spend on sending transcript and test scores to each school u applied to for your application to be evaluated. It totally depends on your choice of school though.

I don't know about schools where u can be very sure of getting funded. Funding situation in schools changes from time to time. Even some schools that you may see a s a safe school may end up rejecting your application. So u can't be very certain of anything. Nevertheless, you may use usnews.com to check the research grants to some schools, d higher the research grant, d more likely they are to release funding to students.

Yes, despite my low scores, I still gave Tamu and Gatech application a shot. However, if your profile isn't competitive like mine, do this only if u have some cash to spare and have applied to some safe schools though. I thought of retaking d test to improve on my scores for better funding opportunities but there was no time as I needed to meet up with fall '17.

People here have applied to top schools like PennState Uni, UCBerkely, UT Austin and the likes and got in, they are just very few though.

Finally, I want to specially thank everyone here who has contributed to this thread in one way or the other...i can't mention names cos they are innumerable. I appreciate your selfless services.
I want to specially thank texrem who helped in paying my sevis fee.

I wish those who are to get their visa all d best. Just go through the transcripts here n go grab ur visa with confidence.
Congrats to those who also got their visas approved today, and to those who visas were delayed today, please fire back and get ur visa. Sorry for my loooooong story.

Interview come finally start. Choi, see blue papers flying upandan, small fear catch me, but I still gather morale. It finally got to my turn, and below was the conversation between the VO and I:

VO: Good morning Sir **for my mind, I say this one way this man dey greet me with Sir **
Me: Good morning, how was your weekend?
VO: Great! And yours?
Me: Very well thank you.
*passed my document to him during d greetings *
VO: So tell me why you choose this school?
Me: I chose Texas A&M University Kingsville because the school offers a concentration in Renewable Energy system within their MSc Mechanical Engineering program.... * I never talk finish n vo cuts in*
VO: why the concentration in renewable energy? *I didn't expect this*
Me: The world is moving towards cleaner renewable energy so I wanna move with the trend.
VO: Tell me how the course is gonna run?
Me: I will be required to complete a total of 30 credit hours within 24 months; 12 credit hours of core courses, 12 credit hours of elective courses and 6 credit hours of thesis..... *he didn't allow me finish*
VO: So what are those core courses?
Me: Advanced engineering analysis, Advanced Fluid Mechanics, Continuum Mechanics, *vo cuts in again*
VO: Did you apply to any other school?
Me: Yes, I applied to a total of 6 schools, and got 4 admits, 1 rejects and 1 pending. (I actually applied to 11 schools but I was afraid d VO might see me as being desperate if I mention 11 schools). Thanks to DrHopeful for this advice.
VO: So why did you choose this school over the other ones?
Me: During the application process, I developed a good relationship with Prof ****** who's currently working on a research in my area of interest. He was quite impressed with my GPA and GRE that he agreed to allow me join his research team upon my arrival. *at this point, I saw him brought out a white paper and circled a part, I started stammering...... Couldn't finish d last line as a result. I didn't even hear when d vo mentioned anything on approval. I just saw him passing d white paper to me
VO: *passes the white paper along with my i-20* .....it usually takes 4-5 days to process, I didn't hear d rest.

Immediately, my brain just reset... *in my mind I was, just like that? * Na so I collect d white paper disappear sharply.

No document was asked. He didn't ask me why I'm switching to Mech Engr from Pet Engr......neither did he ask how my current job relates to my intended Msc program. Everything was just God's favour.

My Little Advice
*Please make sure you go with a 'big' hard copy of your passport, not a 'tiny' one like mine. I was quite surprised that this was required from everyone even though it wasn't clearly stated as one of the items to come to d embassy with.
*Like what my bosses have said here over n over again; know about your school and course. It's d key.
*don't be in a haste to bring out document when it's not asked. One man in front of me was denied outrightly when he tried giving d VO a document that d VO never requested for. The VO just said to d man "I didn't ask you for any document, and then passed the man's passport to him with a blue paper immediately.
*I think the way one answers the very first question matters. They say first impression matters. If you answer the first and second question wella, they may not want to further probe ur genuineness with so many questions. Some VO may not even be patience enough to ask more questions/documents to confirm your genuineness.
*Go through d transcripts here to learn more about suitable responses, then develop d response to suit ur own case. I went through the transcript of part 10 and it was very insightful. Thanks to iCool for compiling such.
*Pray as if everything depends on prayer and prepare as if everything depends on ur preparation.
Anyways, these pieces of advice are not entirely new to anyone who has been here.

My visa was approved this morning at d Lagos Consulate. It's not been an easy journey, God has been great!
My appointment was for 6:30. I had to spend d night in a hotel at Obalende so that it wouldn't be stressful finding my way to d consulate.
My story go long sha.....
Me wey like sleep well, I no fit sleep in d night. I bn set my alarm to wake by 4:30am but I just dey check time at intervals make sleep no carry me go. I finally woke up by 4:30am, and got to d consulate around 5:45am. As I just reach d "checking point" bus stop with d bike man wey carry me, I see one man wey just comot from taxi, no so I say make I ask to confirm whether na d consulate dey there cos d bike man no sure and me sef never enter there before. Na so d man tell me say make I follow am say na there him dey work. Na so I happy follow am..... As we dey match in, those hustlers dey jinja: take ur passport, do this do that, d man say make I no even talk to them, and based on d orientation wey I get from here, I no even send dem. When we reach gate, him come show me where I go stay till dem call us to queue up. I see crowd, fear catch me ni.

Na so we wait till dem start to dey check us in. But when we come enter inside at dat place where they do d document check and d verification from their master list, d guy say my passport photo no good, say e too small. Choi!!!!! *I begin pray for my mind make dem no send me back to take another one* the guy asked if I get another photo, I tell am say I no get. Him come approve am and allowed me go in.

As I enter d judgement hall, to do d verification before d finger print stage, d passport issue came up again...... **in my mind, I say my village people no go see me....lol ** d man in charge come dey ask weda wetin I give am na passport or I dry joke ? No so I tell am say dem no specify that exact dimensions for d hard-copy of the passport photo wey we suppose bring to d embassy, say no only the uploaded one dem specify dimension. The man come say what if d uploaded copy no good? Say na d essence of bringing a hard copy. Him come finally turn him system to show me d one wey I upload during my ds-160 application, say e dey okay make I go do finger print. Na so I go do d finger print successfully come enter d main line...... D waiting for d VOs began.

tolutweety:
All the best, Seeker88.
Good luck in your endeavors.

Thanks a lot man. You have been of great help too.. ...it's unfortunate I haven't heard from your school even when they promised automatic departmental assistantship upon acceptance to their Msc Mech Engr . It's well oo

happyday:
Congrats on your admissions and offer! I'm happy you made your decision already. That was one heck of a journey! Schools would overlook your lack of research experience, sometimes GPA, but it seems they're unforgiving about grad school prerequisites. I see you were willing to do anything at all to get into MechE!!

Which begs the question, why Mech Engr?? Especially coming from PetE.

Cheers!

Thanks a lot boss! You really inspired me. As at October when I wrote my GRE, I never had Mech Engr in mind, I wanted something closer to my current job: Engineering Management which is what I chose during my GRE. I after my GRE, I got discouraged with d course and made up my mind to go for Mech Engr after some pieces of advice from friends. Also, after reading DrHopeful profile on how she switched from Pet Engr to Materials Engr, I knew I could achieve my dreams of getting into a masters program in Mech Engr. Every single person here has been a source of motivation in one way or d other.

Your post especially, concerning my case then further pushed me to make more research on what I really wanted. That was when I had to start checking so many stuffs online and eventually wrote my SOP. It took me a while and that was why I submitted most of my applications not too early enough (Dec) even though I wrote my GRE in Oct.
I'm really grateful to my boss cutemorgan who really took his time amidst his busy schedule to fine tune my SOP. We analysed each paragraph of d SOP together .....he actually took the SOP as his , he's such a great man!

Then, why I eventually went for Mech Engr even though I did Pet Engr in my UG is because I feel that d era of petroleum is gradually phasing out and also d fact that Pet considers mainly the non-renewable energy sources (ie, crude oil n natural gas) which makes it more streamlined . I still have interest in energy though, and that was why I applied to schools with options in renewable energy systems in their Msc MechEngr. I know it's gonna be a tough one doing mech engr without mech engr in my UG, but I believe with God and with the motivations of the wonderful peeps here, I will scale through.

Surprisingly, TAMUK actually found me deficient in 9 credit hours of MechEngr UG courses and still gave me their scholarship and out-of-state tuition waiver.. ....it can only be God. I'm so grateful to HIM.

Thanks again to all of your here for being a source of motivation for me. I hope to meet some of you someday. See you at d top.

And I was at the Lagos Consulate this morning.. ..but those guys didn't allow me to leave the place with my passport oo, it was only my passport jacket they permitted me to go back with.....

Details coming shortly .. ..

tomisinobm:
DHL should be able to pick up from the school directly

Most schools won't release d i-20 to DHL except the DHL from eshipglobal. I wanted to have my i-20 picked up directly from my school via DHL from Nigeria, but the school refused saying it's against d school policy. The best option is to have someone in d school pick it up, then DHL can then pick it up from d person....same thing I did.

dawbbleOuEi:
Thanks a lot for this; indeed a prospective applicant has picked up something.
Congratulations!

Thanks bro.. ..all d best to u too.

aamstih:
Congrats bro.

I had personally thought that you were in the US for for your grad studies due to the soundness of your contributions on this thread. Welldone once again!

Please I need some enlightenment in the areas below:

How did you get your references to send in their recommendations to 11 schools?

If an applicant that is aiming for fall of 2018 sends in all his applications by Dec 2107, could that be termed 'early enough'?

How did you go about sending your official transcripts to those schools, was it sent from your school ends or you uploaded e- copies from your ends?

Thanks

Thanks bro.. .

I didn't send recommendation letter to all d 11 schools as few of them didn't require recommendations, eg, Wayne State Uni and Wright State Uni.

Getting my referees to send their recommendation was the biggest challenge for me especially the academic ones. One of the academic referees was my project supervisor then in school, so we had a good rapport to the extent that we even chat on BBM till date. Despite that, he couldn't submit most of his recommendations early enough cos he was always busy with work n travels ...for example, he submitted his recommendation for my Georgia Tech and TAMU application in early March even though I completed these applications in Dec. So in all I just had to be patience with them while sending gentle reminder at intervals.

To d second question, yes, Dec is still early enough. For most good schools, their priority deadline is usually from Dec 15 to Jan 15 and that's best time to apply if you aim for funding....my advice is: "submit your application before the priority deadline if you have all the application materials ready, that would give u enough time to follow up with ur referees for their final recommendation submissions".

Finally, for majority of the schools, I uploaded the student copy of my transcript. Then for the school that required evaluated Transcript (eg, South Dakota State University) , I sent a copy from WES. It was only in LSU application that I ordered for a copy of my transcript directly from my UG school since they don't accept transcript from evaluation agency. The transcript took forever to get to d school. .....#NaijaSystem#

Time2Smile:
I am really smitten by everyone's good wishes, Thank you all. I have a lot to share which I would do in due time. Congratulations to seeker88 and Ndawe.

Ndawe's story is particularly sweet, I think she came here initially looking to rewrite the GRE, now she has 2 funded offers using her previous scores. It shows the power of information and threads like this.(Shout out to Oludare01). I hope we all continue contributing.

I just hope Scholastica16 would post his success story soon, we started this together and the thread is better with with him on board.

Thanks baba, we look forward to learning from your own experience.
@bolded, I hope so too. May God bless his hustle.