pebes:
Please I will like to confirm.
Are you saying one can enter from a different airport other than the one closest to your school for your first point of entry to USA?

You can chose to enter from any airport of your choice. When I arrived the US, I didn't enter through an airport closest to my school. You or whoever wants to use an airport, not in the state s/he will be resuming is fine.

Evans211:
Visa Approved!!

Profile-
Program: MA Political Science
GPA- 3.28/4
Deficits- $6,677
GRE- 318
School- Texas Tech University (Spring)



I had a very concise interview. Before I proceed into proper details, permit to use this medium to thank Samuel (Sammy like I fondly call), Fortune, Fairheart, Mathew, Francis, Acers family, and a host of others I am yet to mention; these amazing lads gave me the mock interview and confidence (some deadly guts) to face my fears.

Sunday (4th Oct, 2020) is just like every other day where I casually mailed Lagos consulate with a view of booking an expedited appointment with no much expectations. I barely recall sending a mail that Sunday! On Monday morning, I got a mail from lagos consulate slating an appointment by Friday! FRIDAY? that must be a huge joke! How could I possibly pay sevis fee, fill my DS-160 form, get an updated I-20 to spring, going through the hassles of documents printing in just 4 days?! Hell no... I'm skipping this appointment. I was so damn sure about this on Monday but by Tuesday morning, I reflect on my thoughts and realized how golden this opportunity is. I presented my case before these great guys, Samuel and fortune who offered to help with documents printing errands and transcript drafting respectively, while I take care of other tasks.

Wasn't really thinking of the mock interview preparations until Thursday afternoon after arriving at my lodge close to the Lagos consulate at VI. It was a tedious experience filled with funny memories.

Thanks to the virtual mock interview organized by Mathew, Sam, Francis et al where I was given a friendly but yet, rigorous drilling, critiquing my transcripts which helped in boosting my confidence. Studied through the night with an open but yet prayerful mind...


By morning, I headed straight to the consulate; tho a walkable distance but I booked a cab. Upon my arrival, I focused my gaze on the scanty applicants (about 35 in total) contrary to the usual expectations. I shaped my mind and blended with the cue while I await my faith. Waited for about half an hour before the rain started (that's a story for another day). The CGFI official instructed us on the document arrangements while we align on a single line heading straight to the interview unit..............

The VO is in window 9, probably in his mid 30s. A very wonderful and yet witty conversationalist. He denied about 4 applicants ahead of me and issued 3 approvals. I won’t lie, my morale was dampened but I kept a straight face. A lady just ahead of me was literally begging the VO to reconsider his denial and almost not leaving the spot! (In my head I was like, hey pretty! Leave that spot before you annoy the VO.. don’t implicate me pls........)

Here goes my interview with the VO ���


VO: Good morning, pass me your passport and I-20.

Me: I obliged.

VO: What are you going to do in the US ?

me: I am going for a Master’s degree in Political science with Concentration in International Relations and Public Policy, in Texas Tech University, Lubbock.

VO: not a single word from him as he kept typing......(I wasn’t sure if he heard me but I kept my cool).. So who is sponsoring your studies?

Me- Well, I was offered a Graduate teaching assistantships with full tuition waiver and some monthly stipends to help offset my living expenses and my uncle will help with the deficits.

VO: ...keeps typing for a couple of seconds, this time around a bit longer than usual. So what does your uncle do?

Me- He works as a Real estate Developer and owns a wholesale supermarket.

VO: where does he work at?

Me: Lagos

VO: okay. ...keeps typing.... So where did you graduate from ?

Me- The University of Ibadan in May, 2018

VO: Have you ever travelled out of the country ?

Me- No sir, I had no reason to.

VO- Are you married ?

Me- No sir.

VO: What is your program start date?

Me: 04 January, 2021

VO: Oh! You said you graduated from University of Ilorin?

Me: No sir, I graduated from the University of Ibadan.

VO: I see... Okay. I will be approving your Visa. have your reciprocity fee paid at window 23 and make sure you make travel plans not more than 30 days before your program start date.. you will need your I-20 at the POE ...........blah blah blah... I smiled as he utter the golden words!!!

From what I observed, the interview lasted less than 2 minutes! No other documents requested. Financial statement was handy but he never asked.

Congrats my bro. You worked hard for this and it ended in praise. May God bless your journey.

Limitededition10:

Hello, if one gets a fully funded scholarship to study in USA, will proof of funds still be required?

Once your assistantship/scholarship covers everything, there will be no need to provide prove of funding, except if perhaps there is some kind of deficit in your funding.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2020/06/03/house-gop-immigration-letter-backs-opt-for-international-students/amp/

Looks like the GOP is backing OPT to remain for intl students.

Tomsss:


From what i know,you don't need statement of account for a full assistanship at the embassy. As long as it's indicated on your I20.

I think the deficit of $8000 is actually from his living expenses. He should check well, I think his tuition was taken care of with probably his health insurance but his living expenses may be where the deficit is coming from. Let him go through his I-20 he must definitely see where the $8000 come from.

Sharon8:
Good day everyone, I know the US embassy is closed but please does anyone know if one can still make online appointments for the interview on CGI website?

Why wasting your time trying to book an interview date when the embassy cancelled dates chosen by people before closing of the embassy?

Don’t be faster than your shadow or in a haste to book interview date. Wait until the embassy announce they are opening up for business before booking your interview date.

Aderin0la:
Please has anybody received I-20 from University of New Haven recently?

I want to confirm if the “name of sponsor” (name on SOA) is written on it. Or if not, what’s written?

I am sure they don’t write the name of the sponsor on the I-20, they usually write "Family funds" and not the name in the SOA, same applies to so many other schools.

Time2win:


What is this ? Let's not turn here to religious thread.

I tire for some people sha. Seers everywhere. This is the problem of Africans, claiming to see and making false predictions ����

mvem:
Biden that has a strong sexual allegation case building up

Trump equally had several sexual allegations against him in the run up to the last election but ended up winning. Do you think the sexual allegation by one woman against Biden will dent his chances that much?

Callmiabbby:
please guys help me out here, when I got my I20 and admission letter I didn't pay for any courier fee, I just got a call from dhl saying I got a package from the us. is this normal? and will I still pay the sevis fees. ese pupo

Some schools send out I-20’s to admitted international students for free, so it’s normal for some schools to do that without you paying shipping fee. And yes you must pay sevis fee, every international student is expected to pay the sevis fee before visiting the embassy.

tmphoto:
Hello, everyone on here I have some few questions I would like to ask for a clearer path

1: With Trump making move about reopening the United States ��, will we then be able to request for our I-20 form or we will have to wait for our own country to also open before we can make such request.

2: I don’t really know the one that someone has to put one’s proof of fund (bank statement) DS-160 form/ SEVIS. I need clearance on that as well

3: After Submitting a PROOF OF FUND for Filling the I-20 form then on the day of the interview can I bring along another PROOF OF FUND if i wasn’t able to get the previous one at hand, will it not affect the visa interview and will it also reflect that it is a different one I am submitting for the interview ?

4: One of the Schools that gave me admission didn’t indicate any form of Scholarships does this means I would have to apply for scholarships separately and or contact the school email about it.

5: I would be glad if anyone could suggest the cost of getting a Visa myself and also the other related fees like Tickets, BTA( money needed at the landing airport)

6: As I am an undergraduate student a little a young I guess but will it be advisable and worth it if I can make the procurement of the VISA myself since I will be one speaking to the VIO

Ask your school to issue you the signed I-20 by the school DSO electronically. I know some students that received their I-20 electronically through email and embassy will honour it when consular activities resumes. It will also save you shipping cost too.

flexicon:
Is it advisable to pay visa fee and fill your ds 160 with the situation of things around the world now?

You can start filling your DS-160 form but it’s not ideal for you to pay visa fee at this time. Why don’t you wait till US embassy in Nigeria resume consular activities before paying and booking a date.

tmphoto:


Thanks for the information but where I am getting more confusion is that do I have to pay the SEVIS fee first before I could make an appointment for interview

Can a bank Inflow that makes up the tuition and living expenses be used for filling the DS-160 and I-20 form or must it be a ready available cash amount for the FEE in the bank account
and also using a different bank for the 1-20 form and Interview will it be a Red Flag � or bad since they are ones available at the time

You can start your DS-160 form, get the DS-160 number, pay your visa fee and use the DS-160 number to book your visa interview date then pay sevis fee later. You can pay your sevis fee up until 3-4 days to your visa interview date, but if you have the money available you can pay much earlier.

You don’t need a bank account to be able to fill in your DS-160 form. All you need to do is to fill in the name of your sponsor you will be using his/her statement of account to the embassy for the visa interview.

And for your I-20, you will need to present to the school account statement that covers your tuition and living expenses if you are not given scholarship or GA and the money must be shown in the statement of account you present to the school for them to be able to issue your I-20.

As for the last question, if you have a statement of account that you can use to get your I-20, why not use same for your visa interview since the sum is still in the statement of account you are presenting to the school? Or is there anything else to using 2 different SOA, one for I-20 and the other for visa interview?

onicemus1:


Hi, thanks for taking out time to respond. she was a PSY major (Bsc) and currently works in Banking - Insurance precisely. Point is, she wants to further her education (guessing PSY) in the states and would like to know what the process(es)/steps are. I currently live, study and work in the states(NYC) but Im an undergrad and don't have much details on postgrad applications.. so any lil info will be much appreciated.
Thanks

She should use Google and search for schools that offer psychology MS or PhD. She could type it State by State or just type schools that offer Psychology masters in the US.

Majority of Psychology graduate programs in the US requires GRE for funding purposes, so I encourage she register and write the GRE if she wants to be funded. She can prepare the GRE in say 3-4 months and write the exam and start preparing her application to schools against next FALL.

tmphoto:
Hello house,
I have some questions i want I want to ask

No 1: I have gotten admission from some Top University in the United States ��, step by step what are the next things to do on time since one have to make the appointment for the interview within 120 days to the start of the program.

No 2: Can I be able to procure the VISA myself provided i have all of the necessary information at large or should I just stick with Travel Agent knowing that the Fees would be a cut-throat.

No 3: Any advice for the Interview preparation will be gladly welcome.

NB: The No 1 breakdown is what is keeping me on hold for now and I really need a directive for it thanks.

(1) Once you have your I-20 handy, you can go on and book your visa interview. Any date from late April for Fall entry is within the 120 days to resumption of class so I guess you should be fine with any date from late April upwards to July.

(2) You don’t need any agent whatsoever. Once you’re able to pay your sevis fee, fill your DS-160 form and schedule your visa interview and prepare for your interview.

(3) The advise I will give you for your visa interview is to read through all the visa interview transcripts on here and model your own answer in a way peculiar to yourself.

Adequate preparation is key. GOODLUCK!

[quote author=tmphoto post=87463600]Hello house,
I have some questions i want I want to ask

No 1: I have gotten admission from some Top University in the United States ��, step by step what are the next things to do on time since one have to make the appointment for the interview within 120 days to the start of the program.

No 2: Can I be able to procure the VISA myself provided i have all of the necessary information at large or should I just stick with Travel Agent knowing that the Fees would be a cut-throat.

No 3: Any advice for the Interview preparation will be gladly welcome.

NB: The No 1 breakdown is what is keeping me on hold for now and I really need a directive for it thanks.



(1) Once you have your I-20 handy, you can go on and book your visa interview. Any date from late April for Fall entry is within the 120 days to resumption of class so I guess you should be fine with any date from late April upwards to July.

(2) You don’t need any agent whatsoever. Once you’re able to pay your sevis fee, fill your DS-160 form and schedule your visa interview and prepare for your interview.

(3) The advise I will give you for your visa interview is to read through all the visa interview transcripts on here and model your own answer in a way peculiar to yourself.

Adequate preparation is key. GOODLUCK!

Comique:


Thank you. I've read this yesterday, however are there differences between the interviews from those levels.??

Both undergraduate visa interview and post graduate follows the same interview pattern. Almost all that is asked a graduate student is asked undergraduate students.

Just prepare well for your interview and prepare to answer similar questions to the ones you see here.

Peterjosh:


I dont have any experience about that..Sorry...

Both undergraduate visa interview interview and post graduate follows the same interview pattern. Almost all that is asked a graduate student is asked undergraduate students.

Just prepare well for your interview and prepare to answer similar questions to the ones you see here.

Pepperoni001:
Thanks for the advise. It actually helped

I am actually going with the school with $4k deficit.

Are you saying I can put my dad as sponsor on I20 and use my uncle's SOA for interview?

Well! If your uncle will be willing to sponsor you with his funds, it will be fine you use him as your sponsor. After all he is also your family too. Your father can take over the sponsorship from him subsequently.

In essence, if your uncle will be willing to commit the 4K plus for you for the first semester, use him on your DS-160 and take his statement of account to the interview too. You can’t have one person on your DS-160 and another for your statement of account during your visa interview because it will contradict things for you.

Pepperoni001:
Good Afternoon everyone.

I was admitted by Eastern Illinois University for FALL 2019 with no funding and my Tuition and Living expenses was estimated at $25,598.

I was actually denied and I was forced to defer the admit till FALL 2020.

I paid application fee and I was readmitted given GA that comes with a monthly stipend and also a tuition waiver.

I sent an inquiry email to the International Students office inquiring about what my statement of account for I20 to show and I was informed that I have a deficit of just $4,598.

Meanwhile, I applied to Western Carolina University for FALL 2020 and I was added a GA of $11,500 but it doesn't come with tuition waiver and an inquiry mail showed I have a deficit of about $23,500.

Here is my challenge:

Does anyone here knows which school is highly ranked among the two of them?.

Secondly, my dad is my sponsor, but he doesn't have such amount presently for both deficits in his account because he has used them up for investment that wont mature till July. Can I indicate my dad as sponsor on form DS-190 and present my maternal Uncle's statement at the embassy for the interview sake or how can I go about it.

Both universities are ranked in the regional universities category.

While the Eastern Illinois University is ranked 40 in regional universities Midwest, Western Carolina University is ranked 23 in regional universities South.

At this stage, I don’t think ranking should be your priority, would you rather go to Western Carolina University because they are ranked 23 in regional universities South with 20 something thousand dollar deficit, or would you not be better off with Eastern Illinois University with deficit of 4kplus.

Again, your chances of being denied visa with 20kplus deficit is on the high side regardless of ranking than when you are going with a similar regional ranked school with only 4K deficit. The question now is, will your father be able to even foot the 20k plus deficit. To me, 4K plus is still reasonable for him to be able to foot without grumbling.

With regards to statement of account, YES you can use your uncle SOA to get your I-20 and attend the visa interview, while your dad get the funds back to foot your deficit when resuming in school.

I hope this helps.

Glokit:
Yes, but just two other schools. Both came without funding (msc and PhD). Although, I already sent a mail to the graduate coordinators for assistantship.

All the best bro. I hope you get funded from those admits.

Good luck!

Glokit:
I already did, but I didn't get a response. I think I'll wait and be expectant. Thank you

Yea! Just be positive about the outcome of the delay in communicating to you. There is still time for him to get back to you as the admission cycle is still not late to admit you.

I hope you applied to more schools while waiting for his further communication?

Glokit:
Oh, okay.

Am I supposed to be worried if a PI that asked for a convenient time for a Skype interview hasn't sent fixed a time yet for it after weeks?

Maybe you should send him a reminder through email that you are still expecting the date for the Skype interview from him. Tell him you hope to hear back from him with regards to that, trust me he will respond and put more clarity on why he hasn’t fixed the date yet.

Glokit:
Is it compulsory one get interviewed to get a PhD admit?

Nope it’s not compulsory.

Some programs may wish to have an interview with you before admitting and funding you, while others can also admit you without any form of interview.

I hope this helps.

electromagnito:
"whatever" i find that disrespecting, you need to learn how to correct people. no one is misleading anyone, i gave my comment out of experience and if you feel is totally not true; you can call my attention to it and not sound like you never asked for information from this group.

For the records, I never used the word "Whatever". Instead I said "Wherever", I used that to say what is obtainable wherever you are currently.

The reason I picked on you really, was because me and some other persons here tried to correct your ignorance about the application process in the US but you kept making it look like it’s a MUST or compulsory to contact a potential supervisor which is misleading.

Anyways, let’s leave what bite in the night to be mosquito. I hope you are doing well today?

Have a blessed day ahead.

OluDare01:


This is not true.

@bold, you shouldn't make a generic statement when you're not sure. This is not true for most of the programs here. You have to go through the advisor selection process after resumption. Infact, some schools/programs give up to two semesters for lab rotation and exploration before you can choose a PI.

Thank you for still letting him know.

Because it’s what is obtainable in France or wherever he is currently does not mean that it’s obtainable in the US.

I hope he say what he is very sure of going forward so that he will not be misleading rookies here.

electromagnito:
all this arguement about Phd makes me laugh, even in europe you need to get a potential supervisor for the school to reason you, reason why some schools do phd for 5years is because the mentioned student couldnt get a Potential supervisor as such you will use 2years to do some course work which is still like masters, but it is always advisable to talk to some professor from the interested department or else yout application dey God hand... best

Stop saying what you are not too sure about Oga.

When I applied for a PhD I did not contact anybody or talk to any potential supervisor. I just contacted the DGS, asked him about the program and told him about my qualifications. He asked me to apply and I repeat I did not contact any supervisor. The rest is history.

Nobody is telling you that it’s not proper to contact a potential supervisor, but the success of ur application does not lie squarely there.

electromagnito:
now i see the angle where the rejection, Although it is not always stated but it is important to get a supervisor who will add weight to your application, the supervisor whom will likely carryout a skype interview with you, cause your GRE look okay compare to mine 284 but a supervisor can comment can override this and the school gives you an admission.. next time trying contacting a professor and keep trying untill you get a responds except you are going for Msc but PhD its important.... best

This is not true in most cases. Yes someone can contact a professor to be his/her supervisor but that does not mean that those who did not contact any professor will not get in.

The admission process is not biased against anyone regardless of contacting a professor or not.

Usually the admission committee meets and review application file of the individuals that applied into a certain program. They take a holistic review of the application file ranging from the GPA, GRE, statement of purpose, LOR, Resume and in some cases quality of ones writing sample.

That he has a fairly decent GRE score and GPA does not mean that he is automatically qualified to be given admission if the other parts of his application file is deficient in one way or the other. Another thing to look at is the quality of the applicants pool in the program he applied to, maybe the other people are strong in areas he may be deficient. A lot of people apply for PhD positions in schools and get in without contacting any professor or whatever the case may be.

My own take is, don’t make him believe he didn’t get in because he did not contact potential supervisor(s), admission decisions (reject/accept) is not hinged on contacting professors.

hammed71:
does anyone knows anything about Claremont graduate university?

This school is in Claremont, very close to Los Angeles and cost to attend is extremely very high.

Tuition and fees and living expenses is above $60k and they can only give you fellowship or GA that can’t cover anything much.

The question is, do you have such money to attend? Look well before using that school for your visa interview, unless they are ready to cover everything and leave u with maybe something not more than $15k.

LagosismyHome:


Have you seen any transcript of examples where VO asked to prove other admission ...

I think he assumed that the VO may ask to see the other schools admit letter to be sure he applied n get accepted there or rejected.

But I think the person asking that question shouldn’t have come here to ask the question. Why did he not apply to many school, instead of coming here to seek validation for his/her intended lie.

Onyedika11:

I don't think it's funding issue because PhD programs are usually funded

It is for funding.

Some people are also admitted into PhD programs without funding especially those who apply after deadline for seeking GA elapsed.

In your case you are on waitlist because they have admitted their cohorts for the Fall 2020 and put you and some others on waitlist. What that entails is that if any person(s) reject their funded offer after April 15, they will then move to those on waitlist and make offers of admission and assistantship.

iPLEXUS:
Profile
Profession: Medical Doctor
WES Evaluation: 3.26
GRE: 313
Prospective program: Masters of public health
Schools for Spring semester 2021
Georgia State university
Florida International university
University of Illinois Springfield
University of South Florida
Any chance of full funding for spring?
Advice please....
Choice of Spring semester was because of the timing of my programs here in Nigeria.

Nobody here can tell you if you have chances of funding or not for the Spring 2021.

If I were you, the rational thing to do is to email the public health dept of the various schools you listed here and ask them if they fund admitted students for the Spring semester.