₦airaland Forum

A block of 6-flat at a strategic location in Arepo; Ogun state-Nigeria; useful as staff quarter, worship center/mission house, clinic, school, etc ready for letting.

Contact us at :+2348033191192, +2348030625533.

A block of 6-flat at a strategic location in Arepo; Ogun state-Nigeria; useful as staff quarter, worship center/mission house, clinic, school, etc ready for letting.

Contact us at :+2348033191192, +2348030625533.

A block of 6-flat at a strategic location in Arepo; Ogun state-Nigeria; useful as staff quarter, worship center/mission house, clinic, school, etc ready for letting.

Contact us at :+2348033191192, +2348030625533.

A block of 6-flat at a strategic location in Arepo; Ogun state-Nigeria; useful as staff quarter, worship center/mission house, clinic, school, etc ready for letting.

Contact us at :+2348033191192, +2348030625533.

Baba, you cannot just comman drop transcript na..... You'll have to publish a book too!!!! Congrats!

Time2win:
Visa Approved today https://www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/party/party0006.gif
U.S Embassy Lagos.

This was my 9th attempt since 2017 that I have been trying. I did alot mistakes at the beginning that resulted in the series of refusal but God showed forth today.

I will drop transcript later

Hmmm. This would have been a better answer...

CHUUKKSS:
You could have said although am not bothered by not getting a scholarship since I actually delayed in my application to the school, my dad is finally capable to sponsor my education, so there is no issue as regards funding, He might then ask for your bank statement.

Thanks! I won't give up.

Leone26:
With your GRE & GPA, you can surely get a GA. This fall is gone already, so look towards next fall. Spread your applications across other R2 schools (that match your interests). Most importantly, always reach out to the Graduate Program Coordinators via email; asking about GA opportunities available for MS students, and how you can be considered for them. As someone also advised, consider doing a PhD (higher chances of getting full funding); "if you're interested". Don't give up Brother...

Thanks. That'll probably be the next resort, if I don't get any positive response.

Maryam3:
I think the VO believes you can still apply to a school that will waive something for you at least. Since your grades are okay. Maybe you should try reaching out to more schools.

My Undergrad GPA isn't that high.

oluezekiel:
Why not apply to other schools? USF doesn't fund any of the MS (engineering) programs. And you're required to get an advisor to pick you or show interest before you can be admitted into the Ph.D. programs.
If your quantitative is >75th percentile and your undergrad GPA is >3.5/4.0, I'd suggest you consider a Ph.D. if you're interested

Lol. Well, I did try my best...and I put my best foot forward in every of my applications. Didn't just work out, and I don't wanna stall my academic progress and career on the premise of funding/no funding. I feel it's possible (and I even prefer it more) to secure assistantship and funding upon arrival to the university.

dumbiri99:
The vo was right to deny you
He did it for your own good
Are you sure you know what you are doing like this
You scored 318 in GRE and 105 in TOEFL but you can't get some funding for mechanical engineering, then that means you have not taken your application process seriously.
With your scores you shouldn't be paying school fees, look for other schools to apply. Try Tennessee tech

Well, I'm gonna try again.

Brown2Green:
Masters degree in Engineering barely gets Assistantship before arrival. ( mostly only upon arrival) That's Fact.
If you have a great GPA. Apply for PhD before going back. Your GRE and TOEFL is great. Hence, the discomfort of the VO. Felt you didn't make the best outta your profile.
PhD will have you automatically funded.

No harm in giving it a second try since your dad is funding.


il mio prendere

Yeah... The schools are not giving a positive reply to my request.

solihp:
Your case is a very special one. You had very good scores in your GRE and TOEFL but wasn't awarded a scholarship . I think the VO felt you should have been given a form of scholarship cause your profile seems to be good. If you went for your interview in May, I would have said you should reach out to your school to tell them the development and see if they can offer you a Tuition waiver, but now, I am not so sure.


Let's see what others have to say

Hello guys.

Visa denied last week Friday at Lagos Consulate. Please, kindly help review the interview transcript and advise if it's still worth it to apply with this same admission offer / any other advice or tip that comes to mind. Thank you.


...........................................................................................


VISA DENIED. Lagos Consulate.

Interview by a middle-aged man, probably late 40s or 50s (Indian origin) on Counter 1.



University of South Florida 

MS in Mechanical Engineering 

No funding/assistantship received 

35K deficit 




Transcript:


VO: Pass me your passport and I20

Me: *passed him my docs


VO typing and looking at his screen for almost 45seconds. Finally asks questions but was staring at his screen for most of the time


VO: When did you finish High School? 

Me: 2010


VO: Bachelor's? 

Me: 2016


VO: What course? 

Me: Mechanical Engineering 


VO: What have you been doing since then? 

Me: I went for my mandatory national youth service at Co**... (VO cuts in) 


VO: Oh... That's just one year 

Me: Yes... After that, I secured a job as a project engineer at **** Engineering Limited, and I've been there since then. 


VO: As a project engineer? 

Me: Yes


VO: And you're still working there? 

Me: Yes, currently working 


VO: You don't have any assistantship. Did you take the GRE? (Now looks at me) 

Me: Yes


VO: What did you score? 

Me: 318


VO: TOEFL? 

Me: Yes, 106.


VO: So, how come no assistantship? (VO said this looking very disturbed)


VO: How many universities did you apply to? 

Me: 4


VO: How many admits? 

Me: 2


VO: So why no assistantship?

Me: Well, I was also surprised that I didn't receive any assistantship or funding, so I contacted the schools about this and I was told that assistantships and scholarships are usually awarded on a first come first serve basis


***All this while was always typing and looking at his screen,then stares back at me .. He was still disturbed even after I told him the reply I received from the school ***


VO: Ok. So, why a Masters in Mechanical Engineering? 

Me: Well, I have career interests in Energy sys.... (VO cuts in) 


VO: Ok. Who will be sponsoring your education?

Me: My father will be paying for my education 


VO: Ok. (says this while still typing) 


VO: (Types for about 15 seconds, then brings out the pink slip). I cannot approve your visa. 

Me: Ok sir. 


He didn't ask to see any supporting documents throughout the interview

Duly noted.

fairheart:
Fairheart wouldn't do better than this! Thanks for doing the needful bro! The student has sent me a PM but will ask him to come here to note the correction.

Wise words! Thanks for the advice. I'll do the needful.

Porpor:
Go with any valid document that can prove your case. If it is not required from you, you don't lose anything. But you may lose it all when it is demanded and you fail to produce it.

Hello house! Many thanks to all the Great Minds on here for all that you do.


Please, I have a question:

With regards to proving home ties, is it compulsory/important to have an official proof of study leave / support letter from my current place of work; because looking at most of the successful transcripts that have been posted here, its like most applicants don’t go with such documents.
Could the absence of such letter / documentation from my company harm my chances, or is it completely sufficient to tell the VO that I plan to return to my current place of work after my studies?

My current place of work (been there for 1 year 9 months) is an engineering firm, and it’s directly linked to my intended course of study (M.Sc. Mechanical Engineering).

Just when many Nigerians were beaming with profound joy in celebration of the long-overdue rescue of some (just 21, a number representing less than 10%) of the secondary school girls kidnapped in Chibok about two years ago, we were yet again hit with another seemingly stupendous gaffe from the Commander-In-Chief of the most populous black nation in the World. President Muhammadu Buhari reacted to statements made by his beloved wife, Aisha, who publicly declared that she would not support her husband for re-election come 2019 if the status-quo does not change for better. According to various news reports flying helter-skelter, Mr President, who is on a state visit to Germany, informed journalists during a Press Conference that his wife's office is now officially located in the kitchen,....

A tale of the kitchen, the living room and "the other".

A tale of the kitchen, the living room and "the other".

A tale of the kitchen, the living room and "the other".

A tale of the kitchen, the living room and "the other".

A tale of the kitchen, the living room and "the other"

On August 26, 2014, the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, through its Minister for Education, Ibrahim Shekarau, directed all schools not to resume until October 13, 2014; an order stemming from the fear of the dreaded Ebola virus disease (EVD). Many Nigerians acknowledged this decision as a sign of preemptiveness of the Federal Government in containing the spread of the ravaging virus. They saw it as a sign that the FG actually does care about the welfare of the younger generation of this nation.

Poignantly, one thing we failed to remember amidst our elation about the news was the fact that the FG will always remain the FG. We forgot its typical nature is that of falsehood and indecisiveness backboned with implausible whys and wherefores. And many Nigerians got their hearts broken for that when they were thumped with the news of the FG’s revertion of the proposed resumption date to September 22, 2014. The declaration of this reversal was made on September 5, 2014, barely a week after the initial declaration. We really do have a good government; a government that can make solid and stern decisions for its citizens!

Nonetheless, the raison d’être of this article is not to blast or censure our darling FG. Hence, if you are looking forward to seeing a barrage of ravenous and indicting attacks on the Presidency and the FG as whole, I suggest you make a u-turn right this instant and stop reading this article! I’m afraid you’ll end up being utterly disappointed! On the contrary, I’ll be addressing this sticking point from a different vista.

Since the FG’s declaration of the reversal, all hell has been let loose. Adrenaline levels have been shot up by the news of the reversal. Umpteen individuals and stakeholders in the education sector have voiced out against the decision; one they perceive to be unimaginably doggone and inane. Different labour unions in the sector have not been left out. The National Union of Teachers (NUT) are not taking the news lightly; they are, in point of fact, palpably cheerleading a revolt against the FG’s decision, instigating its members to flout the directive of the FG. Other unions like the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) have also come out to express their discontent at the directive. Even the parents and pupils/students themselves are reluctant to accept the FG’s directive with a bulk of them considering not complying with it. At first, I decided to play Viewer as regards the issue; I saw it a conventional Nigerian precautionary reaction. “It’s nothing, the hullaballoo would die out in no time”, so I thought to myself. I was outrightly mistaken! As it stands, the FG is unusually maintaining its pronouncement while the unions with the parents and their wards are bent on flouting the FG’s new directive.

The phobia of the unions and the parents as regards the new resumption date is quite understandable. I mean, who in Nigeria isn’t scared of the dreaded ebola virus? The whole country has been tossed into an ambience of nosophobia. I won’t even wish my enemy contracts the virus (because that would mean the virus would spread more), let alone my own child. But, I believe that its only extreme situations that should warrant extreme measures. I would want to accentuate at this juncture that ebola virus spread is yet to reach an extreme or pandemic level. At least, it has not yet been declared so. Applying an extreme approach such as delaying resumption of schools for almost four weeks (that’s almost a month!), all in the name of being prophylactic, is rather unnecessary. I deem the postponement of resumption for primary and secondary schools in the country as nothing but a mere nostrum.

Our pupils and students have stayed idle at home since July! As we all know, the idle hand is the devil’s workshop. We should not allow the culture of incessant interruption and paralysis of academic activities that has been inculcated into tertiary institutions to creep into the lower levels of education. We should not be clamouring for the postponement of the resumption date. Rather, now is the time for us to step up our orientation of these young ones.

Come to think of it! There is yet to be any recorded case of a child casualty of the disease in Nigeria. This goes to show that our children can remain safe from the malady if they are properly taken care of and well-monitored. Rather than screaming at the top of our voices, advocating that these leaders of tomorrow remain idle at home, we should begin to orientate our children on how to comport themselves when amidst their peers. School managements should ensure that sanitizers, hand-washing soaps or liquid and other cleaning materials are on ground for all pupils and students. Parents can even procure personal cleaning kits for their wards. Teaching and non-teaching staffs of the various primary and secondary schools should be cautioned to be more at alert than before.

We shouldn’t be advocating for an alteration to the academic calendar of these schools; an alteration that will ultimately result into non-completion of the syllabus meant to be covered by the pupils and students. On the contrary, we should be mandating all schools to upgrade their medical facilities. Many schools cannot even boast of a complete first-aid box, let alone a sick bay. Those are the issues we should be tackling rather than mounting pressure for a postponement of resumption. Besides, what is the assurance that the virus won’t persist beyond October or even till the end of the year? I suppose that if the disease persists for the next one year, our children would remain idle at home for that very one year. Laughable indeed! In the interest of of our leaders of tomorrow, let us all cast sentiment aside and focus our attention on more momentous matters that would be instrumental in preventing the disease from spreading to our young ones.

To round off this piece, let me reiterate my standpoint which is that a postponement of the new resumption date is highly unneeded. Locking up our pupils and students at home for an extra three weeks or more could end doing more harm than good for them. With the proviso that schools ensure their pupils and students maintain proper hygiene and are provided with necessary cleaning material, I see no reason why they can’t return back to school on September 22. Let us not add more fuel to the fire by wasting a whooping three weeks of their academic life. Let our children return back to school!