₦airaland Forum

LOL, which one be sitting allowance again

This is old news. However, I class it in the group called Afroentric bu*ll*shi*t

2good you said my mind!!!

Engineering at Harvard and Yale is insanely competitive but their engineering departments are crap. TAMU might be higher ranked but its less competitive. This is not hearsay but actual truth. Moreover, the schools you selected have a policy of first looking at the applications of Americans, then the second batch would be foreigners who studied in America. The final batch would be those like you. You would have to be exceptional because space would have gone primarily to Americans, then batch 2.

State schools dont have these policies.

haha true apps cost money

How much did u spend? Do you know anyone from Nsukka that went to those schools? Just curious.

Nice, I did not know Nigerian professors ran labs.

Also Michigan is a good option, these schools take lots of international students and fund them, then after that you have to hustle for an advisor for the following years

fair enough. However, those schools are competitive and it is possible to get a full rejection especially with lack of research credentials. Graduate school committees dont care about GRE scores (trust me I had a high one too) but more about what you bring to the table in terms of research experience. However, they might be nicer on people from certain places with few research opportunities.

Did you not write a dissertation/thesis at TU Delft?

This should give you an idea of the competition: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/graduate-school/771815-official-2010-engineering-graduate-school-results.html

nice, i think u shuld be fine though it seems you applied only to the top top schools

I think u have a shot at Stanford, but you should have added more public schools. UIUC, Washington are very nice to international students, and are better than some schools on your list and they dont do university snubbing. All those johns hopkins and columbia like people from American undergraduates first then others later. That's why you rarely would find someone straight from Nigeria at Columbia doing a PhD but people from OAU and Unilag get into MIT, Stanford, UIUC e.tc

I personally think you might get into one of them. But good luck though. I remember when I applied for undergrad in the US straight from Nigeria, how apprehensive I was because I did not have the mega requirements of most schools.

Nice scores but research experience is supreme compared to anything else. However, I would point out that lots of people from Nigerian universities make it to Stanford and all these big named schools without research experience. I just dont know how.

depends on you. Some people have good luck and some people not so great luck with F1. The US embassy is nie to NIgerian students for now though, and its not that bad. If u get into those tippy top schools then it would not be that hard. You would have satisfied half of it, they not have to be sure you are not planning to run away from naija at the moments.

Its kind of weird the law they use to grant student visas

for undergrads , they use their masters sometimes for cash cow to milk money from people. She is doing a PHd in something that has to do with technology policy or something like that

It seems they do give funding but it will be every limited. However since you are from NIgeria you will likely be on top since MIT is obsessed with diversity and crap like that. Assuming of course that you are qualified sha. WIth the caliber of schools you applied to, I hope you had first class

nice, I actually know a nigerian girl who did the program then headed to do a PhD at Columbia.

But that type of program will be expensive sha.

me just chillin man just chillin

Old soldiers never die as they say

^what program did u apply for?

MandingoII:
Myth making is HUGE with nigerians.

carry on

there are more nigerian professors in science academia than african americans.

eeeeew mammy water  , 

Thats how professors dress. If you see one hot girl professor it would be shocking sha

Kai I have met some professors who have been working in the same university for 30 years.
And they seem not to have their bath lol.

strangerf:
Okkikiolu is not a Nigerian

BTW, she is ding donging a white fella

I would not call her Nigerian.

LOL, is she fine, if she is well thats bad but if she's fugly, good riddance hehe

I'm well aware of that (physicists (where did you hear theoretical chemists were involved? I would be interested to find out) involvement in finance), but in case you don't know, that's NOT what they initially got into the field of physics for. That they can have so much success in finance isn't due to any passion for finance but due to their inability to find success in physics and their ability to apply their high intelligence to finance.

Theoretical chemists go into finance especially hedge funds. Remember, theoretical chemists focus on statistical mechanics and thermodynamics  and quantum theory just like theoretical physicists. They study the same concepts, they just apply it to different systems. Most of the skills sought after in quanitative finance (building of stochastic probability models and computational finance) are possessed by chemists, engineers and a lot of engineers (most engineers in academia are jack of all trades because engineering is a dying field, and most research grants are now on biotech or "bio-based projects.

Infact a lot of the theories in operational research was by a theoretical chemist, I cannot remember his name. Remember quantitative finance involves a lot of computational work- who is more skilled in computational and building complex algorithms to model behavior more than theoretical chemists?

I would also point out that lot of chemists go into finance though mostly at boutique investment banks. Its just not as highly publicized as physicists because they are far and few.

http://chemjobber..com/2009/08/25-of-harvard-phd-chemists-go-to-wall.html

Its just different for Physics because there are not that many physics  industry jobs so if you dont get tenure track position in the US then your next bet is finance.

If you had more familiarity with the subject matter you would know that those who go into finance simply could not hack it in pure research or could not land a position and decided to cut their losses. Landing a position higher than a post-doc after a physics Ph.D is no cakewalk and some people can't be bothered to put in the years to move beyond the post-doc stage. Physics Ph.D's do end up job hunting, and that's where the very appealing post of financial consultant would snatch away a disillusioned ph.d into the world of finance.

Depends. Some physicists and mathematicians are drawn to alternative fields like finance for the thrill and gamble not because they cannot find jobs. Some notable physicists started off in finance then moved back into academia (quite difficult since you would not have the papers to get a look at your CV). They did so because the y liked finance.

For the most part you are correct. But everyone loves money hehe. Look at these guys trying to run away from physics even before the beginning
of their academic careers:
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/physics-phd-wondering-where-to-go-next
http://www.quantnet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3062
http://www.markjoshi.com/books/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=329

See how these physicist are looking for finance jobs without even looking for jobs in academia first. Money ttalks b*u*l*l*s*hit works

Also the US academic market sucks. UK/Europe sucks even more. No one gets jobs in academia straight out of graduate school except you are a God in your field. Hehe all of u guys doing PhD should be looking at Naija. Nevertheless, Physics unlike chemistry or biology has very few applications in industry. You mentioned Photonics and Condensed matter research but thats just two of several areas in physics. Lots of physicist specialize in other areas.

I think that the example you mentioned of  quantitative finance, while not exactly fitting into my idea of surrendering to conformity for the reason that practical careers are better for immediate development, exactly fits into my idea of sacrificing one's dreams and aspirations for the practical reason of comfort and monetary satisfaction.

Actually it does. I dont know about what happens at the graduate level but if you go to say any top undergraduate in the US, all you are going to hear about is Investment banking. Even if you have never heard the word before, you will learn all the vocabulary within a week. Its a sort of conformity, people in those schools are conforming to ideas that they should move into finance or consulting as opposed to academia. Most of the physicists at the undergraduate level end up working in finance instead of pursuing Physics PhDs, and these are intellectually curious people I bet.

Past a certain level of intelligence, or a certain level of intelligence & creativity, no intellectually minded person can give up something like scientific research for finance. To do so would mean the complete surrender of one's own inclinations, desires, dreams, aspirations, etc. to unrewarding conformity. Thus even if one were to do so- and I doubt that this often happens- one would enter one's new, more practical field with no passion or seriousness about the field.

Tell that to theoretical physicists and chemists who spend most of their life working on the most difficult concepts and end up working on wall street after their PhD.

In case you dont know, a significant bulk of quantitative finance theory was devised by chemist and physicist with PhDs.

Olubusayo Awomolo would have been one of these people.

But the cruel world took that away. But there's a God they say

Have they caught the culprits yet? In the spirit of martin luther king, I did not want to say anything about mandingo and his people. So unfortunate though, I wish I actually took steps to know him.

igbobuigbo:
Nwadiuto (Diuto) Esiobu
PhD: University of Louvain, Belgium; Post Doc. MIT Cambridge
Associate Professor

Research Interests:
Work in my lab is in the area of applied microbiology.  There are projects in Environmental and Public Health microbiology, microbial ecology, antibiotic resistance, development of antimicrobial agents (drug discovery) and decontamination of surfaces.  The goal is two fold viz:  To understand the complex interactions and distribution of bacteria in the environment (land, water and air) to allow for risk assessments and protection of public health; and To apply cutting edge techniques in defining microbial communities especially in poorly characterized niches.  The molecular fingerprint of these communities can serve as early predictors of environmental disturbance or restoration.   Examples of projects include a) Microbiological quality of beach sand in Florida and health implications b) Characterization of marine bacterial community using DNA sequence analysis c) Decontamination protocols for endospore contaminated surfaces,  d) Development of rapid detection methods for bacteria in the environment and Foods  e) Tracking the sources of bacterial contamination using biochemical and whole genome restriction analysis etc.  My current project is to determine the mechanism and scope of action of recently patented novel antimicrobial agents.  Several of my former students have found careers as Quality Control Microbiologists in Beverage, Pharmaceutical and Biotech industries using skills acquired in my lab.  Others go on to become Laboratory managers and Research & Development Scientists, or well-grounded School teachers.  Students who work in my lab are involved in all aspects of the study – from planning to execution to data interpretation.  They learn a plethora of traditional microbiology techniques, molecular biotechnology techniques as well as research ethics.

http://www.science.fau.edu/biology/faculty_staff/esiobu.htm

Is this mekusxxx, ehen keep searching for me jor 

Oh its a woman well, dont expect women to go to school, they are supposed to be in the kitchen

What is she doing there

DapoBear:
It is what it is, plenty of professors coast after getting tenure. Not going to name names, but even a pretty famous guy at my own school is imo coasting, despite only being 55 or so.
Eh, Bolaji is your superior. Achieve at his level before you attempt to criticize him. What on earth have you done in your life that compares with him? You have less degrees, a smaller brain, less money, and less respect in the Nigerian(-American) community.
You might not even be good enough to gain admission into Bolaji's ChemE department, talk less of being a tenured prof there or the chair.

Word, getting tenure is pretty difficult but immediately you get it you are done. I know some profs who stopped publishing in 2003. I had a research advisor once who was very lax although he had a PhD from Berkeley. The guy ran away to Cambridge because they focussed more on undergraduate studies there than some major research universities in the US. He ws not under consistent pressure to publish or produce research results. However, Americans dash tenure compared to their european colleagues. A lecturer could teach for years in the UK but never get the opportunity to be called professor.


And me and dapobear are not the same people lol. I keep telling people I dont make fake usernames, if I want to tell you my mind I will. And records show those guys are not Nigerian. A lot of them identify with being Nigerian- but they did not go through the stress that the average Nigerian did. There is a difference between a Nigerian borna nd bred in the US or UK and a Nigerian born and bred in Nigeria who moved to teh US or the UK.

They are not the same, and their achievements are not equal.

The nzelibe guys is not nigerian. A nigerian is someone who was born, bred and hustled in Nigeria before going abroad to hustle some more.

na u talk am. His accent is carribean man.

hehe

Nice ones

kai see yoruba people scattering books and attending PhD at MIT and Caltech

Nice name "Osisikankwu", has a nice ring to it

This man graduated less than 20 years ago from a Nigerian university and got all those international jobs on that basis. He has no foreign academic degrees.

I am just wondering how far the youths of today's Nigeria who study there can go, given the level of bastardization of our university system.

He got those jobs based on experience, and his publications in research. Obviously when you produce such top results it would be foolish for an organization to consider what school and in what country you attended years ago.

I guess it is the same thing in academics. Ivy League schools in the US and Canada recruit 1st class graduates from Nigeria as teaching/research assistants come postgrad students.

Only Nigerian engineering students actually. I think professors have caught on to the fact that a lot of people studying engineering in Nigeria are at the top of the curve in rote memorization lol. However its very very very very rare to find Nigerian students at Ivy Phds since these are not the best at engineering, and most are very selective in the US. However there are lot of Nigerian graduates at MIT- their Chem Eng dept has a couple i think.

Also the majority of idiots congregate in social science courses in Nigeria, so there is really no standard for the program to keep anyways.

You will never find a Nigerian in a hard science PhD (theoretical chemistry, quantum particle/biophysics/astrophysics and all those difficult science names) straight from Nigeria.

Nigerian education has its merits- It teaches you how to cram stuff you dont even understand.

American MBA programs have joined UK universities in soliciting for applications now ehen

The show will not last long though just like Miss jocelyn which was prolly way funnier.

Hackney is not dangerous. There is nothing dangerous about Nigerians.

I beg to differ

Wow, I wish I had the opportunity to know him offline

RIP