₦airaland Forum

I think what is more scary is the rate at which Nigerians migrate to the west. Its going to be China--->India---> Naija people.

While the Chinese have been returning home after education, Nigerians choose to stay abroad while typing on Nairaland about how much everything in Nigeria sucks

^ You guys, do you like spend time counting how many people are in a place lol.

Should the predominant group take blame for all the Nigerian bad images we get? Esp the drug peddlers and street urchins.

Personally I think they should. One group is predominant in China and South Africa where Nigerians are notorious for selling drugs. Another group is predominant in Sudan and one of them was responsible for an event on a plane last year  . The other group which are in the UK, do no one harm, are quite friendly and are in peaceful coexistence with their host countries (while their host country performs reform after reform to reduce immigration from these undesirables )

Your people outnumber us in Italy.  Grin I can't comment on Spain.

I am sure if there is a market for it in italy, there is one in spain

However, I will continue to reiterate that there are more Yorubas in the UK. In certain areas of London, I thought I was in Lagos.

This is a well known and accepted fact of life.

Nnamdi Asomugha - One of the CBs in the NFL right now

Osi Umenyiora - One of the best defensive ends that have ever lived

Read my above posts, I knew you were going to start naming athletes and people in the NFL since that is where igbo people dominate. Even in my undergrad half of the football team where igbo. So, I kind of figured out that igbo people tend to like pushing, punching and catching balls.

Well start naming the Yoruba-Americans. I can name some famous Americans of Yoruba descent, but there are not that many compared to the amount of Igbos who have the name recognition.

Really you want me to start? Yes there are more igbo athletes (which would be viewed as famous) and of course emeagwali  .

Moreover, I dont see the link between the number of famous igbo people and their actual numbers in the US

Igbos have always chosen the U.S. as a place of destination way before Yorubas came to this nation in droves.

Nah, I think its more because of the DV lottery system, which is awarded primarily to Nigerians that have led to a lot of igbos in the US.

Well then you should know what I am talking about. I actually feel that there are way too many Igbos in the Houston area. Texas is like an Igbo bastion. The sheer amount of Igbos in that state is astounding.

I think the issue is that people from the same ethnic group stick together. So when you go to a party everyone you meet is Igbo. When dayokanu goes to a party, everyone he meets is Yoruba. Your social sphere revolves around people who share them same cultural traits that you do.

Really I would not want to go to an igbo party since they dont make pounded yam like ileke-idi does.

Take it back

Have you ever lived in NJ?

Even in the colleges, you see more Yorubas than Ibos.

I can say it without mincing words that there are more yorubas in NJ than Igbos.

My street alone, on a typical day, you hear people speaking yoruba than Igbo, no kidding. most African shops here are owned by Yoruba

The only Nigerian club close to my crib is Yoruba owned, with mostly Yoruba patrons.

Word, I used to hear Sunny Ade blasting out of the windows of some houses in Maryland and new jersey. NJ has lots of Yoruba people especially from Ondo and Ekiti. However, I would note, I personally have met and know more igbos than Yoruba people though in the spirit of fairness. Never been to Texas or California so dont know whats happening there.

In the UK   , Nigerians effing everywhere  , In the US I can count how many Nigerians I meet on a yearly basis, but in the UK it feels like I am back home in Nigeria. Man even the area boys in nigeria have already moved to the UK. 800,000-3 million nigerians though would be a fair estimate though since the UK is a tiny island of 60 million people.

As for the US, I dont know but I have been to places like Mississippi where everyone is white then you find one random black person and they tell you they are from Nigeria  . Man there are too many of us, we should stop breeding. And the funny part if that nigerians tend to live where other Nigerians live, technically ghettoizing ourselves.

Dont forget that the hausa are plenty for Ethiopia and Eritea. Although most of us Southern Nigerians are ignorant about our brothers in the North, these guys are nomads, and they have extensive links to NW and East Africa.

fstranger1:
Care to join?

With your mensa-kini, we can make it the best three-some ever!

No thank you mate. I dont have health insurance. If something happens, and that chick falls on me, i would be incommunicado for a year

wow only fstranger can handle that

fstranger1:
Kidnapping technologist? Hi-Tech okijist?

What do you do exactly?

apparently he is a researcher. waste of a brain. His mum should have closed her legs during the night of his conception  

so mekusxyz is omongbati as I suspected  

Emeka nwa pawpaw men

The environmentalist. While your mates are doing particle physics research  

oldbende:
I thank all of you for your contributions, after reading your posts I have changed my mind to remain in the states, this forum have help me resolve one of of the most controversial issue in my life, moreover I'm a guy not a girl .

Once again I appreciate your contributions.

What you are not coming home? Dont you miss that welcome to Nigeria sign that is in Murtala airport right away to remind you that TIA (This is Africa).

Not even wimpy SEFAGO can do that?

Nah thats why i am saving up for ileke-idis bride price.

mu heheheh Grin Grin Those lil boys in the corner. . . . SEFAGO and fstranger looking for free yam

Funny right now, I would give anything to be those boys. I miss real pounded yam so much. I am obviously the one in front, I have the bigger head, which indicates I am smarter, and I then i have my bowl ready while fstranger is too slow to figure out that the food is nearly ready for consumption and is stunned by seeing a camera for the first time.

@SEFAGO: I just don't like getting messy when I'm eating. And getting stew all over the cup, etc. Just makes me enjoy my food less if I'm eating with anything other than a fork. I'm a very finicky eater. I hate eating rice with spoons, for example.

No one in my family uses their hands anyways. So all of us were brought up using forks. Its rare in lagos to see people using their hands. fstranger is from the  village so his experiences might be different.

[quote author=eku_bear link=topic=589689.msg7580404#msg7580404 date=1295667235]@fstranger1:

Wtf is ule? I barely know Yoruba, not to talk of Ekiti dialect.

100% correct, I eat pounded yam with a fork  Even my little sisters born here eat it with their hands. I'm weird![/quote]Ignore them joor, I eat pounded yam too with a fork. Lots of Nigerians do.

^ nah, thats just google/wikipedia that you used- in general liberal arts is just an educational system that is used in the US. Its more the development of learning a field using the socratic method of critical thinking. So its not just Liberal art colleges that use this method- all the big names are in essence liberal arts colleges.

Its very very different from educational systems in the rest of the world which emphasize cramming and spitting out what you cram without knowing how to apply it to solve issues.

So in a biology exam instead of being asked " list three type of drugs that can cure cancer" you would be asked "given the organic structure of a molecule, elaborate on what type of disease that this drug can cure, and the mechanism that is involved"

man the non-mensa guy beat me to it

^ in nigeria there is no such thing as liberal arts. Man all these fake people parading as nigerians

^ I said I have a mensa brain, not that I am a quantum cryptographer

The grand total of all graduating students in the university this year academic session is 8,209; the College of Medicine 243, Faculty of Business Administration 355, Engineering 403, Law 248, Pharmacy 89. The School of Postgraduate Studies had PhD 76, Masters Degree 2,875, PGD 265.

Just curious only 76 PhDs- is that in a year? WOW, thats like the incoming class for one decently sized PhD program

^ So you received a degree , and you cannot type properly? What did you get? First class too


Yep long term hustle. Seems you were slow in university and all those boys were doing run"s while you were wasting time reading .

U think say I know know unilag sebi?

I understand your point fstranger. All I'm saying is that whether you think these things are useful or not, they certainly are not easy to get.

There will be some exceptions here and there, but overall it represents some of the best students at the university.

Eku_bear`I will have to agree partially with fstranger. Half of the people on first class in unilag did what they call back home in nigeria "runs" the other half worked for it. Most of the engineering and science students worked for it since engineering exams are cut and dry probably while the "History and strategic studies" (WTF is that) would need runs since grading would depend on the professor.

Professor Helen Asemota’

I could have sworn asemota was a ghanaian name. Just found out its an edo name

tensor777:
Chiogo you are not just yarning after all. Not many students would welcome such a system in Nigeria as they do avoid the sciences and languages even though thse subjects are of crucial. importance
The one compulsory science subject taken tends to be biology. So apart from maths and English a typical Arts student would take subjects like history. religous knowledge, literature, economics, commerce, and fine arts.

Thats why Nigeria is backward, and thats why the US even despite lagging behind in test scores compared to other countries still manage to produce some of the best homegrown scientists. Biology is a cramming subject, why cant arts and commercial students learn to take chemistry or something more hardcore. Most of these students never even take further maths 

myforumid3:
Always Busy!, Where and at what? Ph.D I guess.
Few minutes of your time to advise & help your fellow 9ja bro nor go do you harm!
Abeg no quarrel meant!

ha bros wetin now , I really want to help but i have to finish some stuff quickly. You guys will not be applying until next year anyways and there is not much I can do. However, I think I have given as much tips as I can. If you guys have additional questions, I will try my best later. However, I have been learning more about the admission process, and I have discovered that yes, Princeton and Stanford might be more lenient to Nigerians than other schools

What, in retrospect, will you have done when you applied to make yourself a better candidate?

1. Research. I wish I had jumped into research early. Instead, I took tons of difficult classes and useless classes. Was studying economics for a while then jumped to mathematics, then physics before I became more focussed.
2. Published a paper. I wish I had written at least a review research paper or something. The biggest mistake I ever made was not trying to get published before I applied for a PhD although publications are rare. Comparing two applicants with the same stats- a publication can make a difference.
3. Developing more relationships with my professors. Wish I had discussed my aspirations with them earlier.
4. Contacting professors before I applied. It works a lot for the sciences and engineering though not all the time.
5. Had decided to do a PhD earlier, probably right before I entered university. I would have strived to get better grades. My first year was a string of B+ and a couple of As because i tried to do the impossible, and take the toughest courseload possible. I got over 3.8+ in my last two years which saved me a bit. However, i think some schools saw that I was a hard worker anyways and were impressed with my dedication and ability to work like a dog.

Good things I did:
1. Tailored my SOP for each program I applied to. I made my SOP fit the school program, and mentioned how my previous background had prepared me to fit into the school and particular research groups.
2. Did decently in the GRE. Although I knew this exam would be useless for me, I studied for it for a month (While watch Naruto ) instead of studying the day before like most of my friends lol.
3. Being a perfectionist. I am very anal and kind of like everything I do to be perfect- projects, assignments have to be 100% on point, and I would work for hours until its done. Same way I deal with my applications.
4. Took graduate level classes and topped the classes. I took what was reputed to be the hardest class in my field, and made sure I got the best grade in a class of PhD students.

To me though you look good on paper, you are writing a honors thesis and doing some research that is good. I am sure you are worried about your undergrad, but while undergrad matters, its not as significant as experience and test scores. Your test scores show you are smart- even if you dont make MIT, you will find somewhere that you like. Life goes on without MIT. However if you get published in somewhere like Nature you are good to go even if you attend the worst university in the world

I cannot comment on safeties because I dont know much about the difficulty of engineering. However engineering is not as hard as a hard science program from what I have gathered

^ maybe because nigerian higher education is crap and most companies know its crap, and so getting a degree outside nigeria might help you not be viewed as crap

crap, how many times did i say crap?

I presently have a 3.8 and will probably have a 3.9 at the end of the last semester before I apply to graduate school. My GRE scores are Q:800, V:750, W:5. The problem is I go to a very small, perhaps inferior, school. My school is a 3-tier school according to USNWR. In fact we have little to no research opportunities. I attended a summer research experience last summer and will do one more before I apply to grad school. I will also complete and Honors Thesis and do some research with a professor at a nearby better school. What schools should I consider safeties? I really like MIT. What are my chances for MIT, Stanford, OSU, UC Berkely, Penn State, CMU, UT Austin?

Busy now, but will try and remark. but yeah i did, I think u will likely get into MIT or UT Austin IMO but if you are international be careful about berkeley though- money no dey for california again ooh, yawa don burst. And berkeely is very stringent for international students. Keep doing research- dont worry, and consider some safeties.

^ dont worry u will likely get into MIT anyways. From what I have seen. CMU is tough though- maybe as tough as MIT to get into.

I will give you guys more advise. I am actually busy now.

[quote author=flo_path link=topic=943.msg7391132#msg7391132 date=1293047559]5
I attend a decent school in the us. In final year. Technically, I should be done but my thesis is taking longer than expected so I decided to do the 5 yr bs/ms thing they have here. So far, I think my research experience is just meh. No publications to show for it, and it is getting much more difficult than I thought. I'll keep at it though.

Right now, I am looking into anything that is at the intersection of biology, engineering and math. Traditional engineering is becoming boring to me. One field that fits this mold is control theory/systems biology and applied math. Right now, if I were to send in applications I would apply broadly to EE, biology and applied math departments to study control theory and applied math in relation to bio. I was originally interested in bio-mems, but from my experience with it so far, the field is more like a means to an end. It is not the actual koko. those are my interests. I am also part of a research group now, but let's see how that goes.

cezeozue thanks for the detailed list. I have to say that mutallab guy really spoilt show for you oh. I am going to keep those things in mind when I apply. Hopefully, you'll have a much better cycle. stay optimistic

Since I am no longer considering straight up engineering disciplines anymore, places that value an interdisciplinary environment are the places I am generally looking at. From my research so far, all those schools encourage it a lot. They also have a lot of funding in these areas. I just don't want to be another poor grad student. I'd rather go into something that I am really interested in. A last option that I have actually considered seriously is the exit options. If I come out of the other end not wanting to be a researcher(I doubt it) anymore, atleast I'd have a lot more options than other places. Another thing is that most of these schools have great medical schools or life science departments that like collaborating with their engineering departments, so I think these are the places to be.

How did all you people study for the gre. I have been under the assumption that it shouldn't be too bad. A friend of mine took it and scored 800 620, complained a lot about the verbal. what tips do guys have for that section. They are actually about to switch things up, so I guess I better take it kia kia.[/quote]Dude it would be a mistake to go to yale or even Havard if you can get into MIT to be honest. Forget about how boring your research is, and think about what would happen if you went to a top 10 program. However, for your research area, Yale actually is very focussed and obssessed with systems biology, a lot of the professors work in that field. I can mention professors for you that are into that field. If you mention an interest in that research area, I can guarantee you two things

- Your application will be likely in the top ten of applicants
- You will get additional funding in excess of 33,000 dollars stipend. They have additional stipends for engineering biology. My bet is that you will easily get into even if your GPA is a 3.4. They are pretty snobby at the engineering department at Yale- for a none top 10-, and like Ivy league undergrads or people from oxbridge. But they have a huge crowd from Rice University, dont know why though.

I will give you more info that will likely assure you a place at Yale, though it seems that you could get into MIT. And MIT>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Havard and Yale fro engineering.