Athos99:
Thank you very much!

You too!

gracefoundmme:



Hi Sir...I have some questions as regards MSc application and other info to ask personally can I mail you, I'll appreciate if you send in your mail.

Sure, send me a PM.

Ikjosh04:
Nice Nice!!

Thank you.

BelieverDE:
I absolutely love everything you've written. Kudos!

It would be superb if you could also create a YouTube channel along your write-ups.

Thank you! Really appreciate it.

Chidexter:
Impressive and quite in-depth too. Now that I've done the reading, I guess travelling is next!

Thanks for your nice comments.

ODJ124:
kudos op

Thanks!

prodigyy:
Nice!

Thank you!

ZINIBANKS:
Nice write up
But I didn't read it is too long

Thanks!

Jayson504:
Wow nice one.

Thank you!

LordIsaac:
Insightful

Thank you!

I was on my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program back in 2015 when I decided to take my GRE test in Nigeria. Because I was serving in Delta State, I wanted to choose a test center that was close by.

So I registered to take the paper-based test (PBT) in neighboring Benin City, Edo State. I then registered for a November test date, and started preparing.

I took the test and my final GRE scores came back as follows:

Quantitative Reasoning: 157/170
Verbal Reasoning: 157/170
Analytical Writing (AWA): 5.5/6.0

So what specifically did I do to get those results?

In this post, I will share everything with you, link out to helpful resources to use, and explain the lessons I learnt from that experience. But first, here’s the summary:

-Learning about the GRE and its general structure
-Taking the official GRE practice test under timed conditions
-Gathering materials to prepare
-Test day experience
-Learning about the GRE and its general structure

I registered for the GRE to give myself a 3-month space between registration and sitting for the test. This is because I’ve heard from multiple sources that you can’t just brush through everything within a month and expect to blast the GRE.

Also, I was working at my PPA during NYSC, which means I needed to get creative with finding time to consistently study. It’s always a good idea to give yourself enough time to register for and take the GRE (I suggest three to four months). Don’t push it back to the tail end of your application process.

The first reason why is that perhaps you didn’t achieve your desired scores the first time, you can re-register to take the test, and still have time to better prepare before your applications are due. Also, your GRE scores are valid for 5 years… which means if you take the test today, you can keep using the scores to apply to schools up to 5 years from now.

So the earlier you prepare and take the GRE test, the sooner you can close that chapter and move on to the other parts of your application.

How much time do you need to prepare?
To give yourself the best chance at success, plan to spend three to four months (while consistently spending three to four hours per day) preparing for the GRE. Unlike other exams that test you on hidden concepts and specific topics, the GRE is very open about the topics you should expect.

The challenge you’ll face is building the muscle to identify what each question is really asking you to do… and to do that in a timely manner. This skill takes time to build. More so, you need to build your vocabulary to the level that can help boost your score on the Verbal section.

Just like learning to drive a car or riding a bicycle. Early on, you need to learn how to start the car, use the brakes, put on your lights, etc. In other words, you think before you do any of those things.

But as you keep practicing, you start training your hand, feet and every part of your body to learn. You start learning the ropes, and it gets to a point, where you don’t need to think. You just drive. Your body muscles take over… you just do those things ‘automatically.’ Then you can use your brain to focus on the really challenging parts of driving on the road with the other drivers.

Same with the GRE… you need time to train your muscles to recognize the skills being tested in each question… and get good at that. Then, you can use your brain power to brainstorm the few but really difficult questions you’re bound to see on test day. If you’re constantly thinking on every question on your actual test day, you simply might not have enough time to complete the test with a very good score.

Summary: The process takes time. You don’t want to rush the process… and later wish you had given yourself more time to prepare.

However, much more than the time you allocate each day, you need to be intentional about learning new GRE-level problem solving skills every day.

It’s not enough to just say you spend four hours per day studying, if you’re not constantly pushing yourself to learn something new or uncomfortable that will keep increasing your scores to where you want them to be. So, you might want to wake up early, put in a hour or two. Then, set one hour aside after lunch, and use another hour in the evening to end your prep for the day.

You’ll need to test to see what works for you, your retention ability, and time constraints.

Taking the official GRE practice test under timed conditions

Once I registered, I went to this page on the official GRE website to learn more about how to prepare.

I read through the page, understood that there are three sections on the test: Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, and Analytical Writing. I went through each section, scanned through the general notes under each section, and proceeded to download the Practice Book for the paper-based test.

I read the practice questions in the book across all three sections (Verbal, Quantitative, and Writing), and tried to answer as much as I can within that first week of learning about the GRE test. Majority of test takers in Nigeria will take the computer-based test, and so if that’s you, you can go on to download the Practice Test software (also called POWERPREP Online) for the computer-based version of the test.

Basically, either download gives you a rough estimate of what you should expect on your real test day. And so, as you start to prepare, taking this practice test will help you get some sense of what the test looks like and how it is scored.

I took the practice test on Page 34 of the GRE Practice Book. Keep in mind they might have changed the actual questions. But I set out 3 hours and 30 minutes to work on the practice test, without distractions. Since I was taking the PBT, I wrote out the AWA essays by hand and didn’t use a calculator for the Quantitative section (you’ll get a basic calculator for the actual test, if you take the PBT).

In the end (there’s an answer guide at the end of the book), I got a 159 on the Quantitative section, 162 on the Verbal section, and didn’t get an AWA score.

Which goes to show... that your scores on the practice tests (either computer or paper-based GRE) may or may not reflect your actual level of preparation.

Taking the practice test in the comfort of your home or office is vastly different from taking an actual paid-for test in a room miles away from home, under the watchful eye of an examiner for roughly 4 hours and little breaks in-between.

Should you compress your learning process?
In other words, should you spend five to six hours a day for 2 months, so you can quickly learn what you need with a lesser time?

The simple answer is NO. A critical learning technique that has proven by lots of research is what’s known as Spaced Repetition.

That is, if you really want a lesson to stick, you have to review it over and over again with time intervals in between. If you try to compress your study period, you lose the advantage of letting your brain process and digest those new skills you’re building… which could make you forget what you’ve learnt one week later.

Don’t focus too much on your actual practice test scores…
…Rather, use the practice test to identify your areas of weakness and strengths.

Go through your answers, and see where you struggled the most.

For me, it was mostly the Quantitative Comparison, specific concepts like standard deviation, and interpreting charts and graphs for the Data Interpretation questions. Whereas for the Verbal, I found myself struggling to understand the meanings of a lot of words, and just plainly guessed the answers to many of the questions.

Turns out you need to know the contextual meanings of various uncommon words before you can really understand a passage or fill in the missing blanks. The most important takeaway here is to be honest with yourself… and identify the areas you need to work on more. Else, you might end up ‘wasting’ that practice test, which you just can’t get anywhere else.

Also, these practice tests are still the most reliable, since they were prepared by the makers of the actual test. So, try to squeeze the juice of the practice test as much as you can, and learn from it during your first timed exam.

If you try to take the same practice test a second time, it might even reflect less your true level of preparation. This is because you’ve already seen some of the questions, learnt the answers, and possibly even read the answer explanations…

…which will not be the case on your actual GRE test.

Gathering materials to prepare
The materials you use to prepare will make or break your final GRE scores. This is, by far, the largest contributor to your final results. Use weak or non-standard materials and you run the risk of becoming ill-prepared for the test.

Don’t use materials that are too hard relative to the GRE… or else you might endlessly rack your brain while you prepare, and not a commensurate results to show for your efforts.

On the other hand, stay away from materials that are just too easy compared to the GRE… or you’ll be shocked at the more challenging problems you’d have to deal with on the real test. So your goal is to choose materials that are just in that ‘sweet spot’… of best preparing you for what you’ll see on your actual GRE test.

Official Materials from ETS, Makers of the GRE Test
By far, some of the best materials out there are those from ETS, the makers of the GRE test… which makes sense since ETS is the one that administers the test you will see on your test day:

Official Guide to the GRE Test: [/b]This is the most authoritative guide also from ETS. It captures the whole length of what you should expect on the GRE. This book contains insider details on the content and structure of the GRE test; and tips and strategies to do well on the test. You can find these details at other places online. The contents in this book that you won’t find anywhere else online are: real GRE questions with answers and explanations; two real and complete GRE practice tests; and two CBT practice tests if you’ll be taking the test on a computer. So, it’s definitely worth its price.

[b]Practice tests: ETS practice tests provide you with free and paid practice tests for the computer-based test (CBT). If you’re taking the paper-based test (PBT), use this link to get the practice book, which contains one practice test.
List of topics for Analytical Writing (Issue & Argument): These two pages are THE BEST materials you’ll need to prepare for the Analytical Writing section of your GRE. Each page contains a list of topics that you can use to practice for your Issue and Argument tasks respectively. The actual questions you’ll get on your real test will come from these two pages… all given to you for free.
Other materials: You can see other preparation materials on this page, including information about each section of Quantitative, Verbal, and Analytical Writing, helpful guides, and apps to help you get started.
So start with these materials first, and then go on to specific materials that tackle specific areas where you want remarkable progress in.

Even though you should start with these materials, DO NOT only use these. You NEED to combine these materials with others for maximum results.

Let me say that again: don’t expect to only use the GRE materials from ETS, and expect to get a top GRE score. You need to go beyond those by gathering other useful materials to help you reach your desired scores.

Here are the other materials I used

Quantitative Reasoning:

1,014 GRE Practice Questions (contains Quantitative, Verbal, and Analytical Writing)
Official GRE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions
(Manhattan Prep 5 lb): 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems: 1,800+ Practice Problems in Book and Online
Magoosh GRE Math Formula eBook
Verbal Reasoning:

Official GRE Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions
Gruber’s Complete GRE Guide
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Analytical Writing

Pen and notebook
Magoosh’s Issue essay strategies
Magoosh’s Argument essay strategies
My comments on using these materials
I used the 1,014 GRE Practice Questions to get a feel for the range of questions I should expect on the test. I took the Diagnostic Test and reviewed the answers and explanations. Next, I moved on the Math section and solved questions on each problem type. This made me feel comfortable with the instructions for each section in the Quantitative section, a little more than what the Official Guide did.

Then, I went through the Magoosh’s GRE formula eBook to get familiar with the formulas and quick tips to solving the Math questions. I spent most of my time in the Manhattan 5 lb, starting to solve hard questions if I feel comfortable with the topic, and started from easy if I found the topic challenging.

I took a practice test along the way and realized I still needed more work on Data and Interpretation and the advanced Statistics problems. So I went in search of online materials, specific to the GRE, to help with those. Lastly I used the Official Quantitative Practice book to get GRE-level questions to test my understanding.

For Verbal, I pretty much focused on Gruber. I used it to learn new words, practice using those words, answer text completions, sentence equivalence, and other types of GRE Verbal questions. I occasionally read A Short History to prime my reading for challenging GRE-style comprehension passages.

For the analytical writing, I used those articles from Magoosh to develop outlines for my essays from the official list of topics. Then, I used those outlines to develop my essays each time I wrote. That way, I was able to gather my thoughts and start writing quickly, while making sure I covered each section and write enough paragraphs important to the essay in question.

Although the actual AWA essays are 30-min each, I used 20 mins to practice, and often times usually run over the 20-min time limit by a few minutes. This puts me in the “exam mood”, to gain clarity and write very quickly, while leaving time at the end for me to edit and correct my essays.

Since I was taking the paper-based test, I used pen and notebook each time to practice the essays. If you’re taking the computer-based test, then practice with Notepad and not Microsoft Word, to closely mirror the actual conditions on test day.

Developing and following a GRE study plan
Though it took me a while to build a consistent plan to follow, I eventually settle with one that’s easy to implement.

Once I knew what the GRE entails and how its content is structured, here’s how I spent my days to prepare:

I used the ‘rule of 20’ each day. That is, solve 20 Quantitative, 20 Verbal, and learn 20 new words every week day.

Then, have a separate notebook to note my errors and mistakes. My goal was to not make the same mistake twice. I also spent less time on each problem set than was shown in the text. For example, I tried to spend 30 minutes for a 40-minute question set.

This forced me to work under pressure and still score as high as I could.

It was hard to commit to that schedule at first, especially for the new words. But over time, things got easier.

Then, on weekends, I wrote one issue and one argument AWA essay using the outlines. I then compared the essays with those in the 6.0 level in the Official Guide. Twice a month, I would take a practice test. Then, I would review my mistakes, note my areas of weakness, and work more on those in the following week. Outside of those, I read any dense literature I could find, sometimes using the passages I used to answer questions in Gruber.

Test day experience
The weekend before my GRE test day, I prepared my materials (pencils, erasers, Nigerian international passport, admission ticket, foods for breaks in between test sections, etc.) and got ready for the journey to the test center on Saturday.

If you can help it, travel to a location close to your test center at least a day before your test date… especially if you reside in a different city. I received all my exam materials, started writing, and got the two AWA sections back-to-back.

Although I had practiced a few AWA essays, writing the essays in a live actual exam just felt so different and a little bit tensed. But as I wrote, I was able to ease into the questions, and focus on the task at hand.

There was a 10-minute break. Next, I got Quant, Verbal, Quant, Verbal in that order.

Across all the sections, I noticed ‘strange’ questions, and I made sure to ‘star’ those, move on and come back to them later. This helped me to work through the entire section relatively fast, answer those I could comfortable answer, and then come back to the challenging ones.

For the Quantitative sections, the challenging questions for me were mostly the ‘Multiple Choice Questions, Select One or More Answer Choices,’ two questions in Data Interpretation and a particular word problem.

For the Verbal sections, the passages were more dense than anything I had seen. Plus the answer choices were very hard to prune down. Using Gruber definitely helped, as I was able to grasp a lot of the arcane vocabulary words without thinking twice about their meanings.

So, there you have it…

…My experience taking the GRE test in Nigeria. Hope it helps in your own journey, or bring back memories of you taking your GRE test.

Have you taken the GRE or you’re currently preparing to take the test? How has your experience been so far? Would like to hear from you in the comments below.

Post: https://beyondbsc.com/writing-gre-test-nigeria-my-experience/

Check out more useful articles on MS & PhD graduate school admissions in the U.S.: https://thenaija.us/ms-phd-us/

Cc: Lalasticlala & Mynd44.

otipoju:
Everything you said here is accurate. Nice work

@ otipoju, thanks.

cavendishbaba:
Beautiful!!! Thanks a lot for this..

Thanks for your very kind words. Appreciate it!!

PART TWO

32. Airports outside Nigeria just look more beautiful (like the Hamad International in Doha, Qatar, Dubai International Airport in Dubai, UAE, etc.) , and don’t even compare to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

33. You’d discover a different way of ‘hitting’ on girls here. Often times, you’d need to share a common group or connection with the girl, thus giving you the opportunity, as opposed to stopping a girl on the street to ask for her phone number.

34. You can breathe easy here: Electricity here is stable and there’s Wi-Fi when you need it.

35. It gets really, really cold; and gets really, really hot, depending on what state/city you live in.

36. Your Nigerian friends suddenly realize you left the country and they miss you more!

The grind that comes with being a Nigerian graduate may make you and your friends drift apart, but once friends realize you’d left, they would wish you were back in Nigeria!

37. Americans would find you laugh with a lot of energy than they are used to!

38. Apart from the image of Nigeria being a developing country and of ‘Nigerian princes’, many Americans don’t have a lot of strong opinions about the way and culture of Nigerians

39. You’d need an ID to buy liquor (beers, etc.) from stores or enter a bar. This helps you show that you’re at least 18 or 21 (depending on the state) and legally old enough to consume alcohol.

40. Markets here are more segmented, so shopping is just different. Think Shoprite-style for physical in-store shopping, and a whole lot of online shopping, as it’s so convenient that way

41. I use Remitly to send money to Nigeria, because it’s faster, easier, and cheaper than any alternatives I’ve tried

42. I use Boss Revolution to make cost-effective calls to Nigeria

43. There’s a difference in time zones between Nigerian and America – 7 hours or 6 hours depending on Daylight Saving Time (DST)

44. It’s better to get your healthcare paperwork done in Nigeria, with well-documented paperwork for tDap, HepB, MMR vaccines, etc. because it’s cheaper to do in Nigeria

45. Taxes here are a huge thing – you don’t get to decide to pay or not. In fact, in this part of the world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes (Benjamin Franklin).

The government collects taxes before you see your money in the bank. For most people, they “over collect”, and every year, you get to claim back the excess.

46. Health care here is expensive, and you absolutely need to have health insurance

Especially, as an international student, you absolutely must have health insurance to cover certain hospital bills.

47. The American culture values convenience a lot, and people here would often spend more just to be able to do things conveniently. And oftentimes, technology reduces the cost of convenience, hence why technology has thrived a lot here.

You see this with restaurants, online shopping sites, voice home assistants like Alexa and Google, lodging marketplaces like AirBnB, ride hailing like Uber and Lyft, and food delivery like GrubHub and DoorDash.

48. Baby showers are huge here

Think of baby showers as the naming ceremony for a newborn, only this time, you do it before the baby is born.

Initially, this was a strange concept to me. But, it’s actually quite fun, and it’s tradition here just like naming ceremonies are in Nigeria.

49. The US is really big. Like really big. It’s until you get here and you want to go visit your friend in another state, that you realize you’d need to drive 13 hours, or spend three-figure costs in flight fees.

50. People generally don’t pay with cash. They mostly use credit cards to pay for stuff. Why?

It goes back to that prevalent convenience culture. And the benefits you get from using cards.. such as getting a few extra free dollars, and helping to build your credit history (like GPA for your personal finance here).

51. American foods are unlike what you are used to, and would be unnatural to you, and you would need to intentionally want to get better at eating them

52. Paying for University in Nigeria vs student loans in the US

While students generally pay cash for their tuition and fees in Nigeria universities, it’s common here to take loans from the government and private lenders to pay for your University education, so you can pay them back once you graduate and start making money while you work.

53. Internships are emohasized here

In the US, you don’t simply attend University, take classes and exams, all through.

No, you start looking for internships while you study. One, to gain practical experience in your field. Two, to build relationships and connections, and oftentimes earn some money along with it.

Think of this as the 6-month Industrial Training you do in Nigeria as a Science or Engineering student during your later years in school.

Only, this time, you start very early – like your first or second year – as your chances of getting a full-time job by graduation depends a lot on the kinds of internships you did while in school.

54. Many US foods have a lot of fats, oils, and cheese in them.

55. American “spicy” foods are not at all spicy in the Nigerian context. If someone tells you it’s spicy, be prepared to put in a whole lot more pepper, especially if you enjoyed eating spicy foods back in Nigeria.

56. There’s something called being “politically correct.” Meaning, there are certain issues that you would need to be diplomatic about, due to the likelihood of causing tensions or uneasiness. you simply care about “speaking your mind.” For example, issues surrounding religion, politics, racism, etc.

57. There’s Black and White America – right now, the distinction is so big, and it’s such a hot, racy, tensed and very controversial topic in the U.S.

58. To work here as an international student, you need work sponsorship. It’s simply more than graduating and expecting to land a job. You might excel in all the requirements needed for the job, but you might not get the job because of work sponsorship.

58. Getting a job here takes time. Unless employers come to campus, and they have a lot of job openings, to specifically recruit for your course (mostly for undergraduates).

Other than that, you’ll need to network and connect with professionals in your desired industries, polish your resume and cover letter, and develop those skills Americans value in job candidates. Especially as an international graduate student.

59. You don’t add your pic to your resume in America – ever.

This is part of being as fair as you can. This is to encourage fairness and impartiality on the part of the employers, to assess candidates based on their suitability for the job, and not on their facial appearance.

60. Laws vary a lot by state

The U.S. runs a decentralized government, which means each state has more power to enact and enforce its own rules, so that some rules that apply in one state might not hold in other states. Examples are rules on driving, cut-off age and time requirements for drinking alcohol, marriage, and abortion, etc..

61. Grad school, especially in the US, is hard

Getting your MS or PhD is hard work. Very hard work.

Partly because there’s a lesser emphasis on classes and GPA, and a bigger focus on your research output. That is, you’re constantly assessed by how much useful data your research produces and how many valuable research papers you can produce.

At least, until you get your degree, you’ll experience a lot of low points, because by definition, doing research means you’re trying to accomplish what has not been done before.

So, while you can consult textbooks and research papers already published in your field, it’s expected that you’re constantly trying new things, and to fail a lot of times. And succeed a few times.

But that’s great!

Because those few successes would make it worthwhile, and make the many failures would make the joy of success even taste sweeter.

62. Every US citizen pays taxes for life

If you become a US citizen, you’ll also become a US taxpayer… for life. No matter where you eventually decide to live.

63. What Did I Miss?

What did you learn and what did you wish you knew as part of life in the US – whether you’ve moved to the US to study already, or you’re in the process? Share in the comments below.

PART ONE

1. Be patient while you wait for funding decisions
After I applied and was waiting to hear from the school I wanted on their admission decision, I spent endless hours agonizing and wondering exactly what was going on. I would write countless emails, deleted some of them and not send them, and actually sent many of them. All to ask about the status of my application.

But, now that I’ve been through the process, learnt how US grad admissions work, and mentored other people through the process, I can say it’s probably not healthy to be too anxious. Most graduate admission committee members are also professors and lecturers who have classes to take, conferences to attend, presentations to make, proposals to write, and a bunch of other activities not related to research or their field.

Worse still, you can continue to remind them. If you can’t settle, keep sending them emails to remind or inquire. They’ve been there, and would generally understand. Contact them within reason of course. No foul language or desperation. Only make sure it’s to the right person (see; grad prog co-ord, or to your proposed advisor, if you have one already). The best thing you can do for yourself is to put your best foot forward, and stress about submitting the best application possible, and convince yourself that you did the best possible, and work on other things to allow time for decisions to roll in.

2. Speaking the American English
Having gone to schools in Nigeria, you’d think you can interact in the English language with anyone, local or international. But you’ll be shocked.

Coming to America would make you realize how fast Americans speak their English, how you’ll need them to repeat what they said so you can hear, and how they’d ask that you repeat what you said too so they can hear.

It’s easily one of the most frustrating parts of moving to the US, especially if you’ve been raised in Nigeria. But I can tell you that it gets better. Don’t be discouraged. Don’t shy away from native speakers due to this. Keep at it. Watch American shows and YouTube videos without the captions. Build friendships with a few natives at first, so you can get comfortable in such situations.

You’ll probably not be able to ‘remove’ your accent (which is perfectly fine and actually good), but you’ll gradually see yourself being able to hear and talk to American English speakers.

3. Doing research – the lifestyle
The research atmosphere here is more hands-on and not laid back, like you currently see in many schools in Nigeria. There’s always the constant pressure from your professor and competitive urge from your fellow research mates to produce good data and results.

Weekly lab meetings are the norm, and you’re constantly emailing your professor back and forth on your latest research data and any research challenges you’re facing. It can be challenging going through this, week in week out, and being made to feel like you’re lazy. But once you realize how funding works in US grad schools, you’d understand why professors are constantly on your neck – which is because the funding agencies are constantly on their neck too, to deliver results for the money.

And that gives you the motivation and perspective to always be on your toes… which helps you grow in your research career anyway – so win-win both ways.

4. Foods
In your first few months of arriving in the US, the local foods would probably not taste so good… which makes sense, given you’re introducing your taste buds to foreign and new foods.

But don’t be disturbed by this. It’s always a good idea to stick with Nigerian foods for the first few months, and occasionally try an American food that sounds or looks interesting to you.

See if you like the food. Chances are you won’t enjoy the whole thing. But pay attention to the food item you enjoyed. Was it the sauce, avocado, or the bread? Note those items, and build your own American food, using those things to like. Because the good thing about the foods is that you can choose and order the items you want, to make your own special order.

5. And speaking of ordering foods, you should tip when you go out to eat.
Imagine sitting at a Nigerian restaurant to order your favorite amala and ewedu. You sit, place your order, wait for it, eat, pay and then leave. For the most part, it’s pretty much the same in the US.

Except when you are expected to tip after your meal. Meaning, to pay extra (at least an extra 10%) on top of what you paid for the meal. For instance, if your order was $69.70, it’d almost be criminal and immoral for you to leave without tipping the waiter at least $6.97 or more.

This is because restaurant workers don’t get paid very well for all the excellent work they do, and can make up for that by the amount of tips they get. Also, giving tips is also seen as a way to encourage waiters to continue to provide excellent service to customers.

6. Sports/ American football
Football in the United States and Canada has a whole different meaning from what Nigerians or Europeans know as football. You’d wonder how Americans can be so obsessed with the American football, when all they do is run after a ball and take more breaks than usual. But, after spending some time learning the game, I actually got more curious about it, and started learning the various lingo and rules that govern it, and the game started becoming more interesting to me.

7. Loneliness
Watching Hollywood movies in Nigeria and talking to your ‘yankee’ friends have made you believe these people are as outgoing and friendly as Nigerians. Turns out you’re in for a shock. People smile at you, engage in small talk, but that’s it. Everyone has got their cross to bear. You can’t blame them.

You miss the happy atmosphere in Nigeria. You stay on calls to your family and babe(s) and boo(s) back home. Depends on how bad you are. You can’t go knock on your neighbor’s door, so you both can play PES. Or talk about the latest Davido’s track! One of the sweet things about living in Nigeria is the community. That community among family, friends and total strangers (!) for parties, events, owambes, hangouts, etc. You just don’t see that same level of interaction when you move to the US.

8. A different definition of being outgoing and being friendly in America
The American culture values putting yourself out there, and speaking what you think, as opposed to not saying anything. People cherish their rights a lot here, and they would remind you every chance they get as to why they deserve X, Y, and Z.

This disposition also translates to broader sections of the society, including the American workplace and talk shows in the media. You’ll need to ‘tout your own horn’ in order to convince a prospective employer, by speaking very highly of yourself, without trying to be humble. This might be uncomfortable at first for Nigerians, mainly because of the move to a new country, and the reality of having to interact with people that you don’t quite fully understand at first.

But it gets better with time.

9. The 2-second smile
It’s almost a faux pas (a social mistake) for you to lock eyes with someone and not smile at them. If there’s some chance that you’ll be making eye contact with a stranger, just be ready to smile… for 2 seconds, and then go your own way.

Because if you make the eye contact and don’t smile, you run the risk of them thinking you’re mean. And if you do smile, and they don’t, they might start to feel bad... Which is why you want to be prepared to squeeze your cheeks, right and upward for that snappy smile!

10. The small talk
In many, not all US states, it’s expected to engage in what people call ‘small talk’. Which essentially means, a quick conversation about random subjects not related to the real reason you’re meeting with the person.

This is because it’s believed that small talk helps people dissolve those nerves that develop as you newly meet someone or start a conversation, either over the phone or in person. And this happens a lot, from research lab meetings to job interviews… from conference calls to riding in an Uber.

11. You’ll spend all day calling your family back in Nigeria, if you let it happen
Humans tend to stick to what’s familiar. And so, much more than checking in with family and loved ones, maybe weekly, you’ll feel the need to speak to your family all day… everyday… Because you speak the same local language, and they get your jokes.

12. Knocking on your neighbor’s door to check up on them or surprise them
That’s not a thing, you don’t do that. If you’re going to check up on people here, definitely don’t walk or drive the distance to surprise them. You have to plan to check up on them. Weird, I know.

13. Way way more texting than calling.
You gotta text back and forth first. Speaking of planning, you’d want to text them in advance, either to check in with them, or schedule a time to come see them.

Yes, a lot of texts, and fewer calls. Many people have their phones in ‘silent’ mode, and it’s just more comfortable to text than speak on the phone, especially if you identify as an introvert. So, which means you can’t just show up. You need to call in advance and let your host know you’re coming.

14. People cherish quiet here – quiet neighborhoods, quiet apartments, quiets streets
Unlike many Nigerian streets that thrive in being noisy and always have an event/program going on, quiet streets and neighborhoods are a given here.

15. Nigerian (or British) English vs American English
You say “gas”, not “petrol”, you say “truck” not “lorry”, etc. – given the British/American way of speaking many words.

16. You sometimes feel a rush of being an ‘outsider’. Because you have a different skin color from many around you, especially if you live in predominantly white environments

17. You won’t find a lot of young folks around here arguing about football (e.g. Messi v Ronaldo, etc.). Partly because European football is not so big here. Neither will you see young people argue about politics the way we do in Nigeria

18. Coffee and different kinds of tea (green, etc.) are the prevalent drinks here. And not your usual Milo or Bournvita.

19. You would need to be very intentional to get the “Nigerian teas.” That is, actively look for certain physical and online stores that stock the tea products, as the commonly brewed drinks here are coffee, green tea, etc.

20. Sometimes, you wish you were lucky enough to be born in the US

Especially in the early days, as you compare the daily experiences of the average American of your age to what you experienced back in Nigeria

21. Getting around without a car is a huge pain here – especially if you live in many parts of certain US states

You’d need a car in many US states earlier than you thought, and it’s not due to pleasure or “living large”, it’s just a plain necessity in cities with little to no public transportation

22. Getting a car – be prepared for it to take weeks for a used car

And speaking of getting a car, it takes longer than you think. Unless you’re buying from a friend, don’t expect to get a used car in good working conditions by shopping around in a week or two, especially if you’re on a student budget and also want to get the best for your money

23. Nigeria = the same as Africa for many

Many people here equate Nigeria as a country to the whole of the African continent. So, you’ll hear many folks say “you’re from Africa”, rather than “you’re from Nigeria”

24. You suddenly become average – especially in class. This gets more uncomfortable, especially if you’ve been used to doing very well in undergraduate classes.

Most graduate programs emphasize research over classes, and so you will often feel like an imposter and always feel the need to catch up in order to thrive in the program. This is normal and does not in any way signify that you’re unfit for the program.

25. Strange, getting used to asking questions so frequently in classes

A lot of classes actively encourage student participation, and so asking questions and providing answers in classes isn’t just you “showing off”, it’s expected of you, and cast in you in a positive light with the professors and instructors.

26. Good lab equipment are there for you to use

Coming from a Nigerian university with minimal access to laboratory equipment, you’ll appreciate the ease with which you can use many lab equipment like simple beakers, bunsen burners, analyzers, etc.

27. The largely informal nature of many classes vs the format in Nigerian classes

Professors in US grad programs won’t want you to keep using “Sir” to address them, which is simply a reflection of the broader American society. People show respect in many ways, not just in prostrating, kneeling, or saying “sir” or “ma.”

28. There’s a lot of term papers, homework, and just a lot of work that you constantly have to keep doing

Classes and academics here are generally rapid and continuous throughout the semester. You’re constantly being tested and graded, and so you would need to keep tabs on your scores and grades early on in the semester and not wait to ‘blast’ the final exam. Especially since there are no strikes or industrial actions here.

29. The research work here seems to ramp up very quickly, by the 2nd semester, depending on your program

Same goes with the research work. There’s always more work to do. Your research advisor is always interested in getting new data from you, and once you get some preliminary results, you’d need to double down and just keep on working to get more useful results.

30. Just getting to understand more the meaning of ‘American citizen’

Contrary to what a Nigerian citizen means, you’ll see the various levels of residency in America. Majority are American citizens (either by birth or naturalization). And then there are immigrants, permanent residents (green card holders), non-immigrants (e.g. you) in various visa categories, DACA recipients, refugees, asylum seekers, visitors, etc.

31. You realize there are very many other types of visa, apart from F-1

And then you start hearing of other visa categories like the F-2 (for your dependents, if you plan to bring your family), B-1, B-2, J-1, J-2, Q-1, M-1, H1B, H-2A, H-2B, H-3, H-4, etc. Like an alphabet soup of visa categories.

Post: https://beyondbsc.com/need-to-know-nigeria-to-us-for-graduate-school/

Check out more useful articles on MS & PhD graduate school admissions in the U.S.: https://thenaija.us/ms-phd-us/

Cc: Lalasticlala & Mynd44.

First off, what is a statement of purpose, and why do you need to write it as a Nigerian graduate applying to US graduate schools?

Let’s define a statement of purpose, in the context of US graduate schools.

What is a Statement of Purpose?
A statement of purpose is an essay that you write to show your level of preparation and interest in doing research work at a school’s graduate program.

Different schools use different names for the statement of purpose. Some call it the “Personal statement”, “SOP”, “Application essay”, “Personal background”, “Application statement”, “Objectives for graduate study”, “Cover letter”, etc.

Whatever name your desired school calls it, one thing is for sure: you stand a much better chance of getting admitted and funded, if you put some thought into writing a top-notch statement of purpose as a Nigerian graduate.

And why is a statement of purpose important?

Here’s why.

From applicant to applicant, your materials start to look and feel the same. GPA… GRE scores… transcripts… letters of recommendation.

Most parts of your application start looking the same to graduate admission committee members, and reading a lot of those applications, especially at a top-tier program, gets really tiring really soon.

Enter the statement of purpose.

But with your statement of purpose, you can break that boredom, and use simple but well-thought out words to convince the reader why you’d make an excellent addition to their program.

Keep in mind also, that this guide teaches you how to write a statement of purpose for US graduate schools that award MS or PhD, and not necessarily for schools that award MBAs or other professional degrees.

Before we move on, it’s a very good idea to have your resume written at this point. Click this link for your guide on writing your resume. That’s because your resume would contain a lot of the items that we’d be mentioning here.

And we would simply be taking them a step further while writing the statement of purpose. So, if you haven’t written your resume yet, use this guide.

Then continue from here, once you’re done writing your resume.

Alright, let’s dive in.

Step #1: Write out your list
Step #2: Tell a story
Step #3: Rewrite and edit
Step #4: Customize for each school

Step #1. Write out your list
The beautiful thing about writing a statement of purpose for US schools is that there are simple steps to follow.

You’re not expected to get creative, or use several big words to convey your point. In fact, you want to avoid getting creative, as often, that means you’re contradicting the main goal of a statement of purpose.

Which is to: To show your level of preparation and interest in doing research work. So, it helps to start by writing a list of items that would be on your final statement of purpose.

The goal of writing this list is two fold: the first is to explain your preparation, and the second is to demonstrate your interest for the desired program. Since various schools or programs might differ on how they want their statement of purpose written, pick a school and use it for this guide.

Afterwards, it’s easier to tweak your original statement to work for the schools, once you’re done with the initial version. So choose a school, and let’s walk through your list for that school.

Let your list include the following:

a) “Statement of Purpose”
b) Your email or other contact information (one line, maximum)
c) The desired degree and school, e.g. Ph.D. in Mathematics at Ohio State University
d) Your career goal that you plan to accomplish once you get the desired degree at that school, e.g. become a professor
e) Your desired one to three research interests applicable to the specific school, e.g. geometry, number theory and algebraic topology
f) Relevant research experience #1, #2, #3
g) Relevant classes #1, #2, #3
h) Relevant industry experience #1, #2, #3
i) Names of two to three professors in the desired program that you’d love to work with for your research

Items f) to i) on this list might require more explanation, so let me explain.

f). Relevant Research Experience #1, #2, #3
The core of your statement of purpose revolves around a body of problems that you plan to solve as you get your graduate degree.

In other words, the main goal of getting a research-based MS or PhD is to solve a relevant research problem. The question then becomes: what qualifies you, over other candidates to be able to solve that research problem?

Why should your reader believe you have a higher chance of solving the problem, more than the next applicant? The answer lies in your level of research preparation: background, skills, and experience.

Therefore, write out all your research experiences, and select the top three research experiences that speak to the research interests you mentioned earlier. If you have your resume at this stage, things become easier to write here.

From your resume, pick each research experience that’s relevant to the research interests you’ve mentioned earlier in No. 5. Then for each one, write the practical research goal, advisor, lab group, research period, research problem, what you did to tackle the research problem and the outcomes of my work, and the ways you’ve applied your research.

Say, for example, you have the following as a research experience from your resume:

Omoege, P.K., Adepoju, J.T., & Tamiloni, U.G. (2018). Effect of language dynamics on developers’ productivity: a theoretical analysis. Programming Tools, 65 (1), 1149-1162.

You’d write:

—

Research experience #1:
Practical research goal:

Improve developer productivity and enhance software robustness and security (Side note: Make sure your goal here is practical, real-life oriented, and not so technical).

Advisor: Prof. U.G. Tamiloni

Lab group: Lagos State University (LASU) Program Modelling Group (That is, the research focus of the lab you did this work in)

Research period: 6 months

Research problem:

The challenge of building dynamic language tools that function well with legacy Objective-C and Perl programs, due to the lack of simple sequential constructs and the presence of buffer overflows and dangling pointers.

(Side note: Be sure to state the research problem in a clear, yet technical way. Ask yourself: Can someone outside of my field understand this research problem, without much effort? If yes, you need to re-write your research problem.

Your statement of purpose would likely be read by experts and world-class professors in your field, so ensure that you’re using all the inside technical jargon particular to your field to describe your research problem.

As an example, unless the reader’s working in my field of research, they’re less likely to make sense of the statement of my research problem. And that’s great, so long as it makes perfect sense to my target readers – graduate professors and admission committee members – in other words, seasoned experts in your field).

What you did to tackle the research problem and the outcomes of your work:

I built an API called Go Flow that helps in the construction of adaptable and robust dynamic analyses for Objective C and Perl programs.

It uses unmodified ARM binaries of programs up to 3 million lines of code, and it outputs extensive language- and machine-level information upon execution.

Note: Go as deep and technical as you can here. The deeper you go, the better.

The ways you’ve applied your research:

One: I have used Go Flow to build two dynamic analysis testing tools. The first, Onelyn, sends real-time detailed packets of data upon run time. The second, Avana, uses software composition analysis to find the origins of sets of related components and libraries by comparing its data with known vulnerabilities for future open-source applications.

Two: My undergraduate (BSc) thesis was written based on Go Flow and the tools built for it.

Three: Our lab used Onelyn to extend two static invariant detectors, Mylen and Ugoe, to analyze large Objective C and Perl programs, and also used Avana to improve Mylen’s performance and the quality of invariant outputs.

Note: If you’ve published your research work in a national or international journal, this is the section to mention it.

—

Of all the work that goes into writing your statement of purpose, writing about your relevant research experiences is by far the hardest.

Which is why you should take the time needed to go deep into the technicalities of what you did, in a way that highlights all the important information your reader wants to see.

Once you’re done with your first research experience, move on to the next one. If you can write more than three research experiences, that’d be great.

But the goal here is to document your key research successes up to this point.

g). Relevant Classes #1, #2, #3
Here, you’ll write about the classes that align with the research experiences you’ve listed above.

Write the related classes you took, the purpose of the classes, research projects and outcomes from those classes.

For instance:

—

Class: Programming Infrastructure course (CSC 3819)

Purpose: Using program analysis to build scalable and secure critical infrastructure for public systems

Research projects and outcomes:

I worked on 2 research projects:

Developed adventure games for Android devices (GAME 4701)
Created a business plan for a clean energy startup with proprietary technology (CSC 4150)
—

h) Relevant Industry Experience #1, #2, #3
If you’ve done industry work related to the research experiences and classes that you’ve listed above, then mention it here.

If not, feel free to skip this section.

i). Names of two to three professors in the desired program that you’d love to work with for your research
Remember back in stage #5 above, you wrote “your desired one to three research interests applicable to the specific school, e.g. geometry, number theory and algebraic topology”:

You’ll build upon step #5 in this step by going further, and finding professors in the desired US school that work in those research interests you mentioned earlier.

Most research programs have several professors working in a specific area, but as you do your due diligence, you’ll likely be more predisposed to some professors’ work more than others.

So, this is where you write those professors’ names alongside their research foci that interest you.

For example:

—

Geometry: Prof. Mark Mathews; Prof. John Buscham

Number theory: Prof. Sarah Miller; Prof. Tim Hahn

Algebraic topology: Prof. Joe Stephen; Prof. Paula Simmons

—

And that sums it up for Step #1 – writing out your list.

The next step is to combine the key aspects of our list together as sentences and paragraphs, by telling a story.

Step #2: Tell a story
Here, all you’d do is combining the different portions of your list from Step #1, starting from your “desired degree and school” to “the names of professors that I would love to work with for my research.”

So yes, all you’re doing here is going from a list of items to strings of sentences.

—

Statement of Purpose

John Adepoju [jadepoju@gmail.com]

My desired degree and school is a Ph.D. degree in Mathematics at The Ohio State University. My career goal is to become a professor of mathematics.

My desired research interests at The Ohio State University’s department of Mathematics are: geometry, number theory and algebraic topology.

For my relevant research experience, my practical research goal was to improve developer productivity and enhance software robustness and security. I worked with Prof. U.G. Tamiloni in the Lagos State University (LASU) Program Modelling Group for 6 months.

The research problem was the challenge of building dynamic language tools that function well with legacy Objective-C and Perl programs, due to the lack of simple sequential constructs and the presence of buffer overflows and dangling pointers.

I did the following to tackle the research problem and to achieve the ensuing outcomes of my work. I built an API called Go Flow that helps in the construction of adaptable and robust dynamic analyses for Objective C and Perl programs. It uses unmodified ARM binaries of programs up to 3 million lines of code, and it outputs extensive language- and machine-level information upon execution.

I’ve applied my research in the following ways. One: I have used Go Flow to build two dynamic analysis testing tools. The first, Onelyn, sends real-time detailed packets of data upon run time. The second, Avana, uses software composition analysis to find the origins of sets of related components and libraries by comparing its data with known vulnerabilities for future open-source applications.

Two: My undergraduate (BSc) thesis was written based on Go Flow and the tools built for it. And three: Our lab used Onelyn to extend two static invariant detectors, Mylen and Ugoe, to analyze large Objective C and Perl programs, and also used Avana to improve Mylen’s performance and the quality of invariant outputs.

A relevant class that I took was the Programming Infrastructure course (CSC 3819). The purpose of the course was to use program analysis to build scalable and secure critical infrastructure for public systems. I worked on 2 research projects. One, I developed adventure games for Android devices (GAME 4701) and two, I created a business plan for a clean energy startup with proprietary technology (CS 4150).

The names of two to three professors at Ohio State University (Department of Mathematics) that I would love to work with for my research are: Prof. Mark Mathews and Prof. John Buscham (geometry), Prof. Sarah Miller and Prof. Tim Hahn (number theory), and Prof. Joe Stephen; Prof. Paula Simmons (algebraic topology).

—

Step #3: Rewrite and edit
Once you’ve combined each separate section into a body of paragraphs to tell a story, the next step is to revise and edit your work.

Acclaimed author, Patricia Fuller once said:

Writing without revising is the literary equivalent of waltzing gaily out of the house in your underwear.

In other words, you’ve prepared the essential bones of the dinner.

It’s now time to add the flesh and cut off the fat to make a healthy and delicious meal.

How do you do that?

Start by reading through the ‘Story’ document that you now have.

Read it out loud… yes, read it so you can hear it.

Take note of sentences that make no literary sense and add words as you see fit.

That way, you can catch poorly worded sentences and make them smooth.

The goal here is to make complete, meaningful sentences out of your story.

-If you have access to a proofreading tool like Grammarly, use that to review your work and consider making the suggested corrections
-Share your work with a writer friend or a friend who enjoys reading or writing literature. Ask for feedback and suggestions on how to make the ‘story’ better
-Take a break and come back with a fresher pair of eyes to review and edit
-Fix any typos, grammar mistakes and poor word choices
-As you go through iterations of editing and revising your work, your statement of purpose starts getting better and looking more refined.

Now, it has all the technical content that a professor in your field would want to read as part of an application. Even more, it’s well written and composed.

To round up this section, you can add a sentence (right at the start) that gives a holistic view of how you see the impact of your research work in the world as an opening paragraph.

For example, if I was working on a research on renewable energy, I might add this as the first paragraph of my statement of purpose:

As a Nigerian national, I have observed that electricity distribution from the power grid has been the bane of stable electricity supply in Nigeria. Only one in four Nigerians is connected to the weak energy

grid, and of those that are, only a small minority get up to four hours of power supply a day. To achieve steady electricity, there is a dire need to replace the frail power infrastructure with modular biofuel energy plants powered by the over 32 million tons of waste generated annually in Nigeria.

Your entire document stays the same. You’re only adding this to give the reader a look inside your perspective of how you see your research shaping the world. Right before you get into the technical aspects of your statement of purpose.

Step #4: Customize for each school
At this point, you’ve handled the most important portions of writing your statement of purpose for US graduate schools as a Nigerian graduate.

All that’s left is to use your list of schools to re-edit and fine tune your statement of purpose to fit the requirements of each school that you’d be applying to. Everything you edit here would be based on the requirements of the department and the names and research interests available in that program.

Some examples of portions you’re likely to change here are:

-Desired degree and school
-Research interests (for each school, write the research interests exactly the way they’ve described them on their website or information materials)
-Names of professors and their corresponding research interests
-Specific research centers in the department that you’re interested in
-Top or pioneering research areas they’re known for that you’re excited about
-Any other information as required by the school

Once you’re done at this stage, refine your new statement of purpose so that it speaks perfectly to the requirements of each school. This is important.

Again: for each school, review your statement of purpose all over again and ensure that it has been flawlessly written for that specific school. Writing your statement of purpose works wonders for your journey up to this point.

It’s an exercise that helps you capture the essence of your undergraduate experience, as you look to the future of your career steps beyond your BSc degree. Your statement of purpose should tell a complete story, more than your target reader can sniff out from your resume.

So every effort you put into writing a stellar statement of purpose will bring you closer to those much desired admission and funding offers at your desired US graduate schools.

Download your Statement of Purpose template: https://beyondbsc.com/write-statement-of-purpose/

Post: https://beyondbsc.com/write-statement-of-purpose/

Check out more useful articles on MS & PhD graduate school admissions in the U.S.: https://thenaija.us/ms-phd-us/

Cc: Lalasticlala & Mynd44.

If you want to learn how to write a top-notch resume that gets you admission and funding offers as a Nigerian graduate in your applications to US graduate schools, you’ve come to the right place.

#1. Your Name and Contact Information
Before a reader spends time by going deep into your resume, he/she wants to know a little bit about you. Not a full long story, but simply your name, address, phone and work email.

So how do you go about writing this on your resume?

First, let’s choose some good font options.

It’s best practice to stick to a 12-point font size using any of the following fonts in Microsoft Word (MS Word): Calibri, Cambria, Constantia, Corbel, Franklin Gothic, Georgia, Helvetica or Times New Roman.

Quick note: In this post, we’ll be writing a sample resume for an imaginary Nigerian graduate, John Adepoju, who completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Lagos State University (LASU).

John is currently on his NYSC program, and plans to go on to a US graduate school for a PhD in Computer Science.

#2. Education
Up next is the ‘Education’ section.

US Graduate school resume - Education section of resume - Nigerian graduate
The dates here are from September (09), 2016 to June (06), 2020.

You don’t need to add too much information here, just because it’ll look overwhelming and the reader might gloss over a key piece of information.

More importantly, you should have your GPA at the top under your ‘Education’ section. Eve if you think it’s low, don’t hide it. If your reader can’t see your GPA, they might think:

a) your GPA is so bad, you didn’t want to put it (which doesn’t bode well for your application), or

b) you just plainly forgot to put your GPA (in which case, they might be questioning if you often miss key information and don’t pay attention to key details.

So bottom line, put your GPA and the total GPA scale.

If you made a remarkable achievement related to your undergraduate education, you can put it here too. Examples of this include:

“Top 1% of graduating class.”
“Best Graduating Student in the Faculty of Science (1 out of 437 students).”
“Best Undergraduate Thesis Award (top 1% of undergraduate students).”
Just don’t stuff it with too many words or use more than one line.

Leave out your secondary school education, unless you achieved something truly world-class or international while in secondary school.

Okay, you’ve introduced yourself and touched on your undergraduate education background. Now it’s time to focus on your research output and experiences.

#3 Your Final Year Project
Still under your ‘Education’ section, add your final year thesis or project by listing the topic of your thesis and major professor who supervised your work.

Although we’ll be going deeper into your research achievements in the next three sections, if the major success you’ve achieved as a researcher is your final year thesis, definitely include it under the undergraduate portion of your ‘Education’ section.

As we go on, you’ll be able to expand more on the details of the thesis under your ‘Research Experience.’

That said, the next three sections (#3, #4 and #5) will be focused on your research background and how far you’ve developed it up until now.

First, we’ll talk about the research publications that you’ve produced. Then, move on to the research conferences you’ve presented in and round it up with the specific research experience you’ve gained as an undergraduate.

The next three sections are, by far, the most important sections of your resume, if your goal is to get into research-based MS and PhD programs in the US.

And contrary to what you might think, you probably have more research experience than you think.

But first, let’s start with publications, which are arguably the toughest type of research products to have.

#4. Publications
Although your final year thesis describes the output of your research, it doesn’t count as a research publication.

Here’s why.

A research publication is a research work that has been peer-reviewed and published in an academic journal.

“Peer-reviewed” means experts in your discipline, apart from you and the team that did the research, have examined the research work and deem it fit to be published in a journal related to your research.

If you have research publications that have undergone this process, this is the part of your resume where you put those publications.

There are different format styles out there on how to cite your publications in your resume. Some of them are the APA, MLA, Chicago Manual of Style, IEEE Style, etc.

Take a look at this website for more information on the various citing and format styles.

For this resume, we’ll be using the APA style. That is:

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number (issue number), pages.

Each field has its own accepted formatting styles, so feel free to find out the style for your discipline.

Once we add those publications to the resume, it looks like this:

US Graduate school resume - Publications - Nigerian graduate
Take, for instance, the first publication:

Omoege, P.K., Adepoju, J.T., and Tamiloni, U.G. were the three authors of this publication
Since this is John Adepoju’s resume, his name is in bold letters
The paper was published in 2018
The title of the paper is: “Effect of language dynamics on developers’ productivity: a theoretical analysis.”
The name of the peer-reviewed journal is Programming Tools of volume number 65, issue number 1
The paper ran from pages 1149 to 1162 in the journal.

#5. Conferences
Next, add the list of conferences where your research has been featured (either as the presenter/lead author or featured author).

#6. Research Experience
If you’ve not been able to publish peer-reviewed research papers or presented at research conferences, then this is your chance to remedy the situation.

To be clear, this section (Research Experience) is no substitute for the last two sections (Publications and Conferences).

Therefore, if you’re coming up short on the last two sections, then you want to use this section of your resume show graduate admission committees that you can do research.

I definitely did not have any published paper nor had I presented at any conferences prior to applying to US schools, yet I focused particularly on this section to outline my research experiences.

This, alongside other parts of my application, helped ensure that I got accepted into my choice school with funding.

So what activities count as research experience?

Here are some of them:

-Your final year project
-Short-term research projects with your professors
-Self-directed research projects

How do you talk about each of these on your graduate school resume?

For instance, if your professor’s research focuses on bio fuels and alternative energy, you can use the Bio fuel and Alternative Energy Group. This serves as a way to help your reader understand the central research theme of the lab where you worked.

It also distinguishes your research lab and work from those of other students in the same department.

-Short-term research projects with your professors
Apart from your final year project, you can also take initiative and ask to work with your professors on a research project that they’re working on.

To use this approach, you’d need to be proactive and not wait for the professor to choose you or contact you for the research.

Simply identify a few professors in your department whose research sound interesting to you. Then, send each one an email to schedule a time/appointment for you to visit them in their office to talk about their research, and how you can possibly help.

Most professors will be willing to take you on, but if you don’t get a yes right away, don’t give up. Keep asking. More importantly, demonstrate to the professors that you’re actually very serious and passionate about their research, and that you’re reliable to work with.

This is very important. No professor wants to get his hopes up about a student who wanted to work with them so much. And then, when the actual work starts and challenges come, the student gets discouraged and just flatly absconds or start doing sloppy work.

This kind of research experience helps you develop the kind of thick skin that comes with doing research work, as opposed to taking classes for higher grades. It also helps you form a more closer bond with the professor. You never know what future opportunities may open up for you this way – for instance, the professor might end being the one to highly recommend your excellent work ethic and research prowess for that much needed Letter of Recommendation.

You want to take a similar approach. Start contacting professors and working on these types of projects, starting from your second year in university.

If you can gain experiences every year for the next three or four years till you graduate, you’d have learnt a lot, gained more research experience and have a lot more to talk about when it’s time to apply to US graduate schools.

-Self-directed research projects
Another way to gain valuable research experience is to personally develop new ways to tackle the problems in your field. It’s easier to do this in some fields (e.g. some aspects of computer science, physical chemistry, etc.) than others.

But if you can, try working on this. You might come up with a research idea and team up with two or three peers to work on it.

It might also be helpful to have a professor serve as an occasional research advisor – to help you get unstuck when you run into challenges. It might be more challenging to gain some valuable experience from this, as it’s easier to get discouraged during the early parts of the process.

But if you can push past those stages and come up with a decent research output, you’d have learnt a lot about yourself and the research from the adventure.

Among these three areas (your final-year project, short term research projects with your professors, and self-directed research projects), five or six research projects is definitely doable.

Would it be easy? No.

Can it be done? Yes.

Other areas where you can gain research experience
If you’d like to know of more ways to gain that coveted research experience, here are some other ways to do it:

-Class-based research projects
Research projects during the holidays
Research internships
Research-based projects during your industrial training (SWEP, SIWES, etc.)

#7. Skills
What relevant skills have you developed throughout the course of your undergraduate education?

These include the specific skills you gained from:

-Your research projects
-Your classes and class projects
-Your personal projects
-Teaching others
-Campus leadership
-General life skills

Each field has specific skills that matter more than others, and so, you’d be the best judge of the kinds of valuable skills you can use to market your candidacy to graduate school admission committees.

That said, there are certain skills that will set you apart as the world inches closer to new and disruptive technologies, ideas and ways of innovation.

For instance, persuasive writing, public speaking, project management and coding (regardless of your field) are some of the rare and valuable skills that you’d want to start developing.

As you brainstorm on what to write for this section, ask yourself:

-What personal or class projects have I completed due to my coding skills?
-What relevant skills have I gained from my classes?
-Have I helped a professor teach an undergraduate class as a teaching assistant?
-Have I built a personal project using one or more programming languages?
-Have I led my class, department or university as a student leader in any capacity?
-In what ways have I intentionally pursued my interests, e.g. cycling, graphic design, running, starting a business, marketing, Excel, etc.)

An efficient way to learn these skills is to use the project-based learning approach.

That is, don’t spend six months or a year on learning all there’s to know about, for instance, Adobe Illustrator.

Rather, pick a project that would demand that you know Adobe Illustrator. Examples are creating a vector radiator artwork, an info graphic, or illustrating a pineapple. See this website for more inspiration on possible projects you can do with Adobe Illustrator.

Then, spend time on that one project to do the best job you can possibly do. Take hand-written notes on what you’re learning, creating a mini-tutorial for you to refer to in the future. Once you’re done, that’s your first project in your portfolio. Pick your next project. Do the same.

The more projects you work on, the more excited you become about starting a new one – the more you learn and build up your skill set.

#8. Work Experience

This is the section where you put all experience (paid or unpaid) that are not research-related.

Examples include your:

-National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) work experience
-Industry experience
-Internships
-Personal projects or side businesses

If you’re currently working, feel free to add both your present work and NYSC experience to this section. Note: Your NYSC experience is not required for US graduate school admissions. But if you can go for your NYSC, you should go.

Living in a new city, and possibly a new state, for a whole year teaches you things you won’t necessarily learn in a standard academic setting, either in Nigeria or the US.

And seeing the standard of education in some parts of the country would put things into perspective. You’d realize although you might not have had everything you wanted in your undergraduate education, some Nigerian students have it worse.

More so, you can pick up a new languages, eat new foods, and meet interesting people who don’t necessarily have your level of education, but are remarkably exceptional and talented humans.

#9. Awards

Here, create a list of your awards, and select the most impressive of those.

Think of:

-Graduation or convocation awards (at the levels of your university, faculty, and/or department)
-Research fellowships or funding
-Scholarships
-Prestigious national, state or regional qualifying competitions

Since your readers may not be familiar with the top awards, scholarships or fellowships in Nigeria, make sure you qualify each award. For example, “Best graduating student in the Faculty of Agriculture (1 out of 355 students).”

#10. References
This section will contain your list of professional references.

Often, this list would consist of professors who know you well and can speak to your top-notch drive, ambition and initiative with a potential to do excellent research.

The people you can list here might include:

-Your professor for your final year research project
-The professors you’ve worked with on research projects
-The ideal situation here is to have three professors that can speak very well to your stellar research abilities.

If you’re unable to find professors for all three places in your resume, then you can put an industry professional who knows you well and can attest to your drive and go-getter attitude towards work.

Proofread and Polish
Once you’ve gotten to this point, take a break. Let your resume sit for a day or two. This will help you clear your mind and easily notice any mistakes or errors in your resume, when you come back to it.

Return to the resume, this time, reading through each line for errors in grammar, semantics, or syntax. Put yourself in the shows of a reader who has only 5 seconds to decide on your resume – to keep or to trash.

Then be ruthless in what you cut out. Remove dull, lifeless words. Convey your point in fewer words. Leave enough white space between sections for easy scanning and readability. Then get your professors, mentor or experienced friend to take a look.

Start writing your resume
Yes, this article goes deep into each section of your graduate school resume. It shows you how to start writing your resume as a:

-Nigerian undergraduate, preparing to graduate
-Nigerian graduate, currently on NYSC
-Nigerian graduate, presently working, or
-Nigerian MSc graduate, looking at options for a PhD

But you’d need to actually start writing in order to get the real benefit out of this guide.

That way, you can craft a resume that gets you admitted with funding at your chosen US graduate schools.

Download Graduate School Resume template: https://beyondbsc.com/write-resume-nigerian-graduates/

Post: https://beyondbsc.com/write-resume-nigerian-graduates/

Check out more useful articles on MS & PhD graduate school admissions in the U.S.: https://thenaija.us/ms-phd-us/

Cc: Lalasticlala & Mynd44.

To apply to US graduate schools (for your MS & PhD), you’ll need copies of several documents and materials to submit to the various programs you’re applying to.

1. Your Nigerian International Passport
The first document you need is your Nigerian international passport issued by the Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS). The international passport would be your required identification for taking tests in Nigeria and traveling overseas as a Nigerian citizen.

2. Your University Certificate(s)
You’ll need to show proof that you went to a university and graduated (or in the process of graduating), and so once you graduate, ensure that you request for your certificate from your University to give them time for processing and delivery. If you attended multiple higher education institutions, e.g. for your BSc and MSc degrees, and now going to US for your grad school, you’ll need to request those additional certificates as well.

3. Your Transcripts
Your transcripts show your grades in the classes you took while in the University, semester GPAs, cumulative GPA, degree awarded, and class of degree. US grad schools need these as a part of their decision-making framework to decide your fit for their program. At this stage, you’re already rounding up your program or graduated already, and so there might not be much you can change as regards your GPA at this point.

Like your certificate, you’ll need to request for your transcripts for all higher education degrees completed (e.g. BSc, MS, etc.), ideally from the office of the Registrar or the office designated with such duty by your school.

4. Your Resume
Next, you’ll need to prepare a top-notch resume/CV that you’ll use to apply to US grad school programs. Since resumes in the US system are a little different from other countries, you’d want to first prepare a draft of your resume. And then rewrite it in a way that speaks to the qualities that US grad schools look for in their successful applicants.

Major sections in your resume should include:
-Your biographical information: Name and contact details
-Your educational background with accomplishments succinctly written
-Related work experience
-Related research experience
-Relevant skills
-Hobbies and interests

5. Your Statement of Purpose
Also known as your Personal Statement, a statement of purpose is an essay that goes beyond your resume to convince admission committees at US grad schools of your fit for their program.

Key sections in your statement of purpose include:
-Your story as it relates to the research theme of the grad program that you’re applying to
-Your career goals
-Your research interests
-Relevant education and career experience that position you well for your desired program
-Potential faculty/research areas you’re interested in
-Conclusion

6. Your LinkedIn Profile
As you transition from a Nigerian citizen to a traveling scholar, you’ll need to work on developing a better professional online image. What better way than to have a clean, clutter-free, and well-written LinkedIn profile?

So, you’ll be using notes from your resume and personal statement to write your LinkedIn profile that speaks to your strengths as a potential researcher and well-rounded professional.

7. Your Final-Year Project
Whether you’re in the process of defending your final-year project or you already defended, you’ll be asked about your research experience at some point. And a strong factor that can work in your favor is being able to coherently speak about your final-year project in a way that captivates and engages the listener.

So here, you’ll need to work on an “elevator pitch” for your final-year research project. In other words, if you had 60 seconds to present what you did for your final-year research thesis, what would you say?

One way to present your pitch is by using the “Problem-Ideas-Method-Outcomes-Further work” or the PIMOF approach.

That is:

-What was the problem you set out to solve?
-What ideas did you brainstorm to solve the problem?
-What was the idea you selected, why, and what method did you settle on to use?
-What were the outcomes you obtained?
-If you had more time, what further work would you embark on?

Post: https://thenaija.us/ms-phd-us-documents/

Check out more useful articles on MS & PhD graduate school admissions in the U.S.: https://thenaija.us/ms-phd-us/

Cc: Lalasticlala & Mynd44.

merieam16:
Woow..very insightful buh didnt read it sha

Lol thanks, but why not...

Judybash93:
Very insightful

Thanks a lot.

potent5:
Detailed post.

Thank you.

Jedalord:
Very informative,thanks

Thanks for reading, and for your kind words.

BasseyNS:
Oh...

... Yeah

PART TWO

3. High GRE Scores
A lot of US graduate schools want to see your GRE scores for two key reasons.

One, they get applications from students in various school systems and universities across the world. So they need a metric to compare different students from various universities across several countries.

The GRE helps them do that.

Although not always a perfect indicator of who will go on to do well in grad school, the GRE is a standardized test that helps them “level the playing field.”

Two, it helps them gauge your level of preparedness. Take, for instance, an engineering student with a GPA of 4.90+/5.00 but had a 154/170 Quantitative GRE score who’s applying to a top US graduate engineering program.

It’s hard to know the cause for the relatively low Quantitative score, compared to the astronomically high GPA. This makes them wonder how academically rigorous the undergraduate engineering program really is.

Again, there’s no magic cut-off score for your GRE. But this is where I’d encourage you as an applicant to score as high as they possibly can.

Get familiar with the nuances of the test, find good study materials, have a study plan, quit distractions and study hard.

Come to think of it.

At this point, your research experience and GPA are pretty much set in stone, and there’s little to nothing you can do to change those.

But your GRE score is still very much within your control at this point.

So, do everything within your power to score as high as you possibly can across all the sections – Quantitative Reasoning (QR), Verbal Reasoning (VR), and Analytical Writing (AWA).

You’d be glad you did.

I’ve seen cases of applicants whose TOEFL requirement was waived because they scored high enough on the AWA section of the GRE.

4. Persuasive Presentation
If you’re smart and hard working (high GPA and GRE scores), but can’t convince the school why they should admit you, then you stand a lower chance of getting in.

Even with exceptional research experience, top GPA and exceptional GRE scores, you still need to be able to present those achievements in a way that makes the school want to admit you.

This presentation comes in mostly two forms – written and verbal; but more importantly, written.

In a more direct form, you’d be doing a lot of writing in graduate school, and so many parts of your application where you need to write – resume, statement of purpose, emails, etc. are several ways to boost your chances or crush them.

You want to be able to follow instructions from each school, write and edit application materials so that they reflect you in the best possible light, and demonstrate that you understand what US grad admission committees are looking for.

Here are some examples of how to persuasively present your application in a way that significantly increases your chances of admission and funding:

- Start early. The application timelines set by US graduate schools are not just arbitrarily set – they tend to align with the timelines for when US professors receive money from their funding sources; so plan ahead and start the process for getting your documents early enough (international passport, transcripts, certificates, etc.), so that you don’t miss key deadlines.

- Emphasize your research experiences. Across your application materials, focus on the impactful research projects you did throughout your undergraduate journey, and hone in on the lessons you learnt from them.

- Focus on what really matters. Don’t spend valuable space in your resume or statement of purpose on your classes and grades, leadership experience or people skills. One line or two is usually enough for these.

- Treat your final year project as an asset. Because it is an asset. Re-read your final year project, so you can present it as a research case study in your application materials.

- Spend time choosing the right programs for your profile. The biggest challenge you face as you apply as an international student from Nigeria is “unfamiliarity.” Because US graduate schools tend to be unfamiliar with your grading system, classes, grades, academic rigor, and maybe professors. One way to compensate for this is to select schools (tier 1, tier 2, tier 3…) specific to your department and the strength of your application packet.

- You’re doing more than simply applying – you’re marketing yourself. So make sure every document in your application packet tells a story that shows you’d be an excellent fit for the schools you’re applying to.

- Follow best practices and resources for writing resumes for US graduate school applications. Some of those practices include: keep your resume succinct (one to two pages), clearly show your educational background (especially university and colleges you attended) and test scores, only include your secondary school if your achievements from there would help amplify your story on why you’d make a great fit to the graduate program.

- Use bullet points and numbers to quantify your accomplishments. Not fluff or filler words. Cut out of the fat or flowery words that do not technically buttress your points.

- Proofread. Spend time reviewing every part of your application for errors, mistakes, or omissions.

- Understand your readers before you write. Use language and phrases that they will understand. Don’t assume they know what ‘NYSC’ or ‘6-month IT’ mean. Clearly and concisely explain those terms.

In summary, getting admitted into a quality US graduate program with desirable funding works a lot like a tripod stand.

The three legs (or the three P’s) of the tripod stand are:

Your Profile. This includes your achievements and stats – for instance, GPA, GRE scores, and research experience, That is, those things you can control.

Your Presentation. This focuses on how you present those accomplishments – through your Resume, Statement of Purpose, and to some extent, Letters of Recommendation – in a way that shows that you understand how US graduate admissions work – which is still something you can very much control.

The Program. That is, the specific graduate program and the different factors that determine who and how many students they admit. Some of these factors include:

-The amount of available funding
-The maximum number of (international) students they can admit
-Available laboratory space
-Available research areas
-Availability of professors to serve as mentors in your desired research areas.

Of the three legs, the Program is the most challenging for you to control.

Apart from carefully choosing the schools you apply to and reaching out to potential professors you’d like to work with, there isn’t much you can do here. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that you can now intensely focus on working on your Profile and Presentation, to overcompensate for the third leg of the tripod. Double down on those two, and you’d have enormously increased your chances of getting that much-coveted admission and funding offers.

Post: https://beyondbsc.com/what-us-graduate-schools-look-for-in-nigerian-applicants/

Check out more useful articles on MS & PhD graduate school admissions in the U.S.: https://thenaija.us/ms-phd-us/

PART ONE

As a Nigerian graduate who got into his choice US graduate school with full funding and has helped others do the same, I thought I’d write a guide that focuses on what US graduate schools look for in applications from international applicants, especially Nigerian graduates.

Even if you have already been admitted, this guide would still be helpful to you and you should read it because it explains WHY you have been admitted, what happened “behind the scenes”, and what the schools expect from you throughout the duration of your graduate program.

Put another way, this post shows you how US graduate schools think about admission decisions for international students. Once you understand this perspective, it helps you know what specific things to focus on the marathon that is the application to US graduate schools.

Note that these thoughts focus on research-based graduate degrees (rather than professional-based degrees such as MBA, professional masters degree) such as thesis-based MSc and PhD.

First off, let’s start with a very commonly held view: Your undergraduate GPA is the most important.

This is a general misconception that holds back many Nigerian graduates from applying to US graduate schools.

It also makes many first class graduates become complacent, and not make every single part of their application top-notch and outstanding as it can possibly be.

Many Nigerian graduates with a 2:1 GPA disqualify themselves based on their GPA alone, and decide not to apply to US graduate schools at all. This is a big mistake.

On the flip side, many graduates with top first class graduates only apply to the top 3 US schools in their fields, fold their arms, and endlessly wait to get admission and full funding offers from these schools. This also is a misguided move.

Why?

Because as a research student in a decent US graduate school, you have only one job: to consistently produce quality research work.

That’s right; your single most important job is not to get 100% on all your graduate courses… not to be active on campus… and is definitely not to “be obedient” to your professors and generally be a nice person who always smiles and is courteous.

All of these things are nice to have, but do you want to know the single most important question on the minds of admission committee members, as they review your application?

It’s this: Will this applicant be able to consistently produce quality research work, if admitted?

If you take anything away from this article, let it be those last two paragraphs.

And while your GPA, transcripts, final year project, and good behavior can help you produce excellent research – publish many research papers, present research at conferences, and help others do the same – there are mainly two qualities that signal your potential: one, your past research experience and two, your grit.

Being a Nigerian graduate likely means you won’t have a lot of quality research experience that impress US grad schools, but you can learn to persevere.

Because in graduate school, especially in the US, grit (or perseverance) is the name of the game. You’d fail, get frustrated and annoyed, second-guess yourself, think of quitting (many, many times), and question your intellect.

But you’d also celebrate some few wins, and smile at the joy of breaking new boundaries in your field.

And it’s only by perseverance that you’ll be able to ride those many lows and few highs on your road to getting your PhD or MSc.

So the big takeaway is this: US graduate schools look at a lot more than your undergraduate GPA.

In working with many Nigerian applicants, I have seen a wide range of GPAs. The most essential thing is how well the other parts of your application confirm your GPA (if your GPA is relatively high), or how exceptional the other parts of your GPA trump your GPA (if your GPA is on the low end).

What US Graduate Schools Look for in Applications from Nigerian Graduates
Relatable Research Experience
Educational Achievement (GPA)
High GRE Scores
Persuasive Presentation
Now let’s discuss specifically HOW they look for each quality.

1. Relatable Research Experience
Let me get straight to the point: US graduate schools want you to have quality research experience that they can relate to.

It means they want to see that you have done some quality research, presented at research conferences, and even published research papers.

Especially if you’ve achieved those results with professors that they know (or know of) and in reputable journals that they read.

They like quality research experience with people and research journals that they can relate to, simply because that’s exactly what you’ll be doing all through graduate school.

Which means if you have done it before, you can do it again.

If you’re being paid $30,000 as a first-year graduate student, your main professor is probably coughing out twice that amount in tuition, university and other fees to keep you in the program.

Well, that money comes from government and private sources which your professor has to be accountable for. And so he/she wants to know that shelling out that kind of money to admit and keep you would be worth it.

When your resume shows you’ve published two papers with professors who they know in the field in journals that they read, and spoken at two international conferences, then that won’t be much of a gamble after all.

Please note that many Nigerian graduates get into very good US programs without this kind of research experience.

But I put this point first for two reasons.

One, if you have this sort of research background, don’t hide it.

It would boost the prospects of your application by a very wide margin.

Make your research accomplishments very obvious to see – on your resume, statement of purpose, etc. – and gently remind your recommendation letter writers, so they can write about it in your letters.

You’ve done a lot with the little you have, and you should be proud of it.

Two, a lot of Nigerian graduates erroneously think that since they have a 5.0 GPA and a 170 Quant, 168 Verbal, and 5.5 AWA, that US schools would be falling over one another to admit and fund them.

Nothing could be further from the truth … US graduate schools don’t want you because you did well in class or you aced the GRE.

The most important thing to US graduate schools is your research experience.

The psychology behind this thinking is that schools know that doing quality research work that gets you published and takes you to conferences is hard. Very hard.

And if you can do it with the resources you have as a Nigerian undergraduate, then chances are you’ll be able to repeat the same feat if you get into their program.

This doesn’t mean that you can never be admitted if you do not have this sort of stellar research background (you can), but they suppose that you’ll go for it, if you really want it.

That you’ll go the extra mile and squeeze the juice out of everything you’ve got.

Which means – refining and fine-tuning your final year project and being able to persuasively talk about it, crafting top-notch resume and statement of purpose that let you shine, and maximally supporting your recommendation letter writers to emphasize your potential to do excellent graduate-level research work).

Also, research work is not something you “force” or continuously motivate someone to do.

You might need to encourage a research student when they are frustrated or not getting the results they want, but there’s generally less hand holding compared to life as an undergraduate.

That is, an applicant who really wants to do research would put in the work and go the extra length, and would likely not need constant motivation to do research, if admitted.

And knowing how much effort someone puts into their resume, statement of purpose, etc. is easier than you think.

2. Educational Achievement (GPA)
US graduate students want to know your GPA. It reflects on how well you did with the theoretical aspects, speaks to your dedication and commitment in the face of challenges, and how you’ve chosen to spend your time as an undergraduate.

As a graduate student, while research takes up a lot of your time, it won’t be the only thing you’d be doing.

Across most US graduate schools, you’d be required to take classes, teach classes, or both.

If you perform poorly in these classes below a specific cut-off, you might be entirely booted out of the program.

So while US graduate schools emphasize research, they also want to know that you can conveniently handle classes, not spend your time studying all day.

That way, neither classes nor research suffers.

Again, while your undergraduate education emphasized classes, and grades, and GPA, your US graduate education goes a step further in focusing on all those, and assessing your progress or otherwise primarily by the research work you produce.

The US graduate education system uses a grading scale of 4.0. Although some schools ask you not to bother, it helps to convert and state your GPA from your Nigerian university (likely on a 5.0 or 7.0) to one on a scale of 4.0.

Although the conversion doesn’t need to be perfect, it helps schools to benchmark and easily compare your GPA with other applicants from schools from other countries and school systems.

Many schools go even further to check the grades on your transcripts in specific courses that they think incoming students should be strong in.

For instance, if you’re applying to engineering programs, schools want to see your grades in engineering classes mostly from your second year till graduation. They want to see that you scored higher in more challenging classes as you climbed higher to your final year.

Most US graduate schools don’t have a definite cut-off GPA, but better believe that many schools use the GPA as a first-round weeder to prune down the number of applications to review, especially if they get a lot of “top-GPA” applications.

So if you have a perfect or very high GPA, don’t be shy to emphasize it on your resume. Make your GPA obvious and put it in context. For instance, “GPA: 4.77/5.00. Top 1% of graduating class”.

And if your GPA is not particularly stellar, still include it on your resume. If you did well in higher-level courses, mention the classes and the grades you got too.

My undergraduate GPA was 4.33/5.0, so not particularly special, but it was good enough for the programs I applied to, when combined with the rest of my application packet...

See below for PART TWO

Post: https://beyondbsc.com/what-us-graduate-schools-look-for-in-nigerian-applicants/

Check out more useful articles on MS & PhD graduate school admissions in the U.S.: https://thenaija.us/ms-phd-us/

Cc: Lalasticlala & Mynd44.

Before we start, here are three key reasons on why you need to put together and follow a well-crafted plan as you apply to US graduate schools.

One, US graduate schools have specific dates by which they want applications submitted, and even more, they expect applicants who want to be funded to submit their applications by even earlier dates.

Two, from your perspective, as you prepare to apply, there are several moving parts at any given point. In fact, here’s an ultimate guide that outlines 12 steps to follow to apply to US graduate schools. In short, you’re more likely to be concurrently juggling two to three activities at once, so you can turn in outstanding application packets while also meeting your application deadlines.

Smartly planning your graduate school applications becomes even more critical if you have other commitments apart from applying – you just had a baby, have a family, have a day job, are rounding up your undergraduate education, or in your NYSC service year.

Three, planning your graduate school applications helps you develop a clear and focused mindset. Each application cycle takes about a year or more from planning to accepting admission offers.

So, it’s very easy to feel down or discouraged at some point in the process. You might suddenly feel these waves of emotions that you’re not moving fast enough, that all of your efforts might be for nothing, and trying to go to the US for your graduate school was one big mistake after all.

But if you have a month-by-month plan that shows you what you’ve done, what you’re currently doing, and what lies ahead that you still need to do – it puts things into perspective, helps you achieve small but critical wins, and boosts your motivation to keep pushing for more successes that lie ahead.

Now that you know why you need to create a plan and stick to it, here are templates you can use to help you craft your own plan.

But first, few things to note as you use these templates:

- Most US graduate schools take the majority of their new students in the fall semester (August in some schools, September in some others), lesser students in the Spring (January) and very few students in the Summer (May/June) semester.

So, these templates will be based on the semesters that you aim to start – one for fall and the other for spring.

- These templates are a general plan of actions, and specific events will vary based on the individual, school, and life situations. are supposed. So, feel free to customize the templates as you see fit, in a way that aligns with your specific goals and situation.

Go through the template before deciding on what to do first. For example, you might decide to ask your professors for letters of recommendation early on, even before taking the GRE, etc.

Alright, here are the templates:

FALL 2022 START DATE

If you plan to start graduate school in your desired US school say, for instance, by Fall (August/September) 2022, here’s a sample plan that you can follow:

January to April 2021:
Get clarity on your professional goals
Use relevant resources (thenaija.us, professors, mentors, professionals)

January to April 2021:
Start processing your international passport

January to April 2021:
Request official documents from your Nigerian university
Certificate(s)
Transcripts

January to April 2021:
Review your final-year thesis
Prepare an elevator pitch
Be able to convincingly discuss what you did

January to April 2021:
Write and get feedback on application materials
Resume
Statement of purpose

April to July 2021:
Register for required standardized tests (GRE, TOEFL, IELTS, etc.)
Pick a date
Register on the website for the test

April to July 2021:
Prepare for your tests (e.g. GRE) (3 months)
Learn more about the GRE test
Take a GRE practice test
Get the right study materials
Take coaching classes, if necessary
Create a workable study plan
Consistently follow your study plan

July to October 2021:
Take the GRE test
If you’re not happy with your score, sign up to take the GRE test again

January to October 2021
Reach out to your professors for letters of recommendation
Give them necessary application materials so they can write excellent letters for you

January to October 2021
Look at funding options

January to October 2021:
Build relationships, ask questions and select your desired graduate schools
Finalize your list of schools
Contact professors and staff in schools to build relationships and get answers to your questions
Reach out to staff and past/present students in schools
Research alumni and their successes
Dig deeper on funding options
Create your short list of schools
Polish your application materials (statement of purpose, resume, etc.) to better reflect the new details you learnt from the schools

October to December 2021:
Apply to selected schools
Complete applications for each school
Send application fees
Get confirmations that your applications have been received
Keep track of the decision dates
Confirm that your recommendations have been sent
Prepare for admission interviews if your schools require one

January to April 2022:
Decide on your school
Get admission decisions
Compare admission offers
Decide on what school to attend

April to July 2022:
Get your form I-20
Go for visa interview
Get your international passport stamped with US visa
Thank your recommendation writers, letting them know about your plans

July 2022:
Plan your travel
Buy your flight tickets
Get temporary housing at your new school
Arrange for travel to your school/temporary housing
Say farewell to family and friends
Pack your luggage
Prepare for departure

August/September 2022:
Enroll at your US graduate school.

SPRING 2023 START DATE

Warning!

Planning your applications and enrollment for the fall semester is your BEST best.

Even though I enrolled at my graduate school in the spring semester, this was not my intention. I didn’t plan it.

I got a funding opportunity that was hard to pass on at my desired US graduate program, and I had all my documents ready to go, so I thought: why not.

Notice how my decision to enroll in the spring boiled down to funding. And that’s why you should strive to enroll in the fall semester.

Mainly because in the fall semester, you have more funding options and more professors are willing to take on new students for research and teaching duties (since fall is the start of the academic year).

Not only that, your school would admit more local and international students in the fall than during the spring (so you have more peers to start building relationships with).

Now, the template for the spring semester:

If you plan to start graduate school in your desired US school say, for instance, by Spring (January) 2022, here’s a sample plan that you can follow:

December 2020 to March 2021:
Get clarity on your professional goals
Use resources (TheNaija.us, professors, mentors, professionals)

December 2020 to March 2021:
Start processing your international passport

December 2020 to March 2021:
Request official documents from your Nigerian university
Certificate(s)
Transcripts

December 2020 to March 2021:
Review your final-year thesis
Prepare an elevator pitch
Be able to convincingly discuss what you did

December 2020 to March 2021:
Write and get feedback on application materials
Resume
Statement of purpose

March to June 2021:
Register for required tests (GRE, TOEFL, IELTS, etc.)
Pick a date
Register on the website for the test

March to June 2021:
Prepare for your tests (e.g. GRE) (3 months)
Learn more about the GRE test
Take a GRE practice test
Get the right study materials
Take coaching classes, if necessary
Create a workable study plan
Consistently follow your study plan

June to September 2021:
Take the GRE test

June to September 2021:
Reach out to your professors for letters of recommendation
Give them necessary application materials so they can write excellent letters for you

June to September 2021:
Look at funding options

June to September 2021:
Build relationships, ask questions and select your desired graduate schools
Finalize your list of schools
Contact professors and staff in schools to build relationships and get answers to your questions
Reach out to staff and past/present students in schools
Research alumni and their successes
Dig deeper on funding options
Create your list of schools
Polish your application materials (statement of purpose, resume, etc.) to better reflect the new details you learnt from the schools

June to September 2021:
Apply to selected schools
Complete applications for each school
Send application fees
Get confirmations that your applications have been received
Keep track of the decision dates
Confirm that your recommendations have been sent
Prepare for admission interviews if your schools require one

June to September 2021:
Decide on your school
Get admission decisions
Compare admission offers
Decide on what school to attend

September to December 2021:
Get your form I-20
Go for visa interview
Get your international passport stamped with US visa
Thank your recommendation writers, letting them know about your plans

December 2021:
Plan your travel
Buy your flight tickets
Get temporary housing at your new school
Arrange for travel to your school/temporary housing
Say farewell to family and friends
Pack your luggage
Prepare for departure

January 2022:
Enroll at your US graduate school.

Conclusion

For the fall semester, which you should try to aim for, most US schools accept applications from last October to early December (check your specific schools to be sure). Therefore, while some schools have rolling admissions (that is, applications are evaluated as they’re submitted), other schools have cut-off deadlines for their admissions.

Whichever method of admission your potential schools use, these plans would give you ample time to apply with everything needed from you.

Also, having these plans in place will help you easily contact the schools to fix any last-minute hiccup such as a lost transcript, replace a recommender, or confirm that your GRE scores have been sent to all the necessary departments. A lot of the work that goes into your graduate school applications happens very early on – as far back as a year before you enroll at your school.

It will require a lot from you, but by starting early and working with these application timelines, you give yourself an edge to ease the burden of applying to US graduate schools and completing other projects in your life.

So, use these plans in a way that speaks to your specific situation – if you’re still in the university, you just graduated, you already graduated and have started working…

… if you’re studying in the UK or elsewhere, you’re in your NYSC year or will soon pass out of NYSC, or you’re even rounding up your MSc. studies in a Nigeria university or elsewhere.

How about you?

When do you plan to start the process of applying to U.S. grad schools to get your Masters' or PhD?

Post: https://thenaija.us/ms-phd-us-basics/

Check out more useful articles on MS & PhD graduate school admissions in the U.S.: https://thenaija.us/ms-phd-us/

Cc: Lalasticlala & Mynd44.

In Nigerian schools, you have 2 semesters – Harmattan and Rain, with summer holidays in between. And depending on the Nigerian university you went to, each school semester could be 3 months or more.

For US universities, things are a little different.

For US schools, the academic calendar is still split into two – Fall and Spring. Each semester runs for about 4 months each, with the Summer semester (also for about 4 months) in between both semesters.

As an example, for the academic year 2020/2021, the Fall semester starts sometime in August/September 2020 (depending on the school) and runs till December 2020, while the accompanying Spring semester runs from January 2021 to May 2021.

And the Summer 2021 semester runs from early May 2021 to late August/early September 2021 (again, depending on the school).

And the cycle goes on like that.

Ideally, US schools admit students for all 3 semesters: Fall, Spring, and Summer.

HOWEVER, most US graduate programs admit the majority of their international students in the Fall, and take in fewer students in the Spring, with little or no admission going on in the Summer.

There are several reasons for this (which we won’t get to here), but it’s good enough to know that:

You’d want to target the Fall semester to get admitted, especially if you’d like to get funding from the school.

There are a few cases of international students getting admission and funding offers for the Spring semester (case in points, yours truly – I got my admission and funding offers for the Spring), but those cases are very few and far between.

Also, admissions at a lot of US graduate schools run through a year.

Which means, if you plan to start studying at your desired school by Fall (August) 2021, you’d need to:

Start your application process before/by January 2020; and
Apply to your desired schools by August 2020-December 2020/January 2021.

To Do:
- Decide when you plan to graduate from your Nigerian university and complete your NYSC service year
- Use that information to decide what time you’ll be ready to start grad school in the US (ideally, a year from now)

Note: Going to or completing your NYSC service is not a requirement for admissions or funding for US graduate schools.

Post: https://thenaija.us/ms-phd-us-basics/

Check out more useful articles on MS & PhD graduate school admissions in the U.S.: https://thenaija.us/ms-phd-us/

Cc: Lalasticlala & Mynd44.

So true - our habits make us. Poor habits lead to poor lifestyle.

First of all, what is a U.S. graduate school?

In the context of the US education system and for the purpose of this guide, a graduate school (or grad school) is a school that awards advanced academic degrees like master’s degrees (MSc., MA, etc.) and doctoral degrees (PhD).

Most times, you’d need to have completed an undergraduate degree (e.g. BSc.) before you can start graduate school.

In U.S. graduate schools, some commonly used terms include:

Tests, also known as Exams; Faculty, also known as Professor; Program, also known as Department.

Here are common terms or words used in the context of admissions and study for US undergraduate and graduate studies:

1. Application timeline: The time between your intent to pursue graduate studies till you submit your applications.

2. College: Generally means the same thing as a university.

3. CPT: Curricular Practical Training (CPT) is a required internship program offered by participating employers to students to satisfy the requirements of the students’ curriculum. CPT is similar to OPT, except that you typically qualify for CPT while you’re a student.

4. Diploma: Means the same as a “certificate.” This is issued to prove the successful completion of a course of study.

5. Documents: The various materials required from you to be submitted for admission.

6. F-1 Visa: It allows you to enter the US as an academic student.

7. Faculty: Means the same as the body of professors or the teaching staff. For instance, “our engineering faculty are the best in the country.” In Nigeria, “faculty” generally means a university division comprising various subject areas.

8. Fall: One of three semesters in the US higher education calendar. It typically runs from late August to mid December of the following year. The other semesters are spring and summer. Most US schools admit the majority of their new students in the fall semester.

9. Fellowship: A short-term opportunity provided to students by various sources that may include money, mentorship, internship, etc. – all as an opportunity for professional development.

10. Financial Aid: Money made available to students in US institutions of higher education from various sources.

11. Form I-20: A document issued to you, a student on F visa status, by your school to provide additional information on your F visa status. You need a Form I-20 in order to study in the US. Another name for the Form I-20 is the “Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status.”

12. Graduate Assistantship: A student employment opportunity in a department or school for graduate students. Students who get graduate assistantships are known as graduate assistants (GA). You are expected to work for a certain number of hours per week and in return, you typically do not pay tuition and also get some monthly salary.

13. Graduate School: Commonly known as postgraduate school in Nigeria. Graduate school is a post bachelor institution that awards degrees beyond the BSc. Examples of such degrees are MSc, MA, PhD.

14. High school: Means the same thing as a secondary school.

15. Higher ed: In full, means higher education. Higher education is the education provided beyond the secondary school level.

16. Internship: The opportunity given by employers to current students (undergraduates and graduates) to spend a specific time at their companies. The goal is to build connections, learn more and gain professional experience about the employer’s company and industry.

17. Letter of Recommendation: A letter written by a respected professor or industry professional to add extra merit or weight to the other parts of your application.

18. OPT: Optional Practical Training (OPT) is the time during which international students in the US with F-1 visa status are permitted by the US government (through the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services – USCIS) to gain practical experience in their field of studies.

19. Paperwork: Official written documents such as letters, time sheets, reports, etc.

20. Port of Entry (POE): Usually an international airport in the US. This is your initial entry point into the US, where you present yourself to border officials to be assessed on whether you should be allowed into the US.

21. Program: Means the same thing as a department. For instance, “the environmental engineering department or program.”

22. Research Assistantship: A form of graduate assistantship in which the work you do is academic research.

23. SEVIS Receipt: This is your proof of payment for the fee you need to pay before you appear for your visa interview. Without your SEVIS fee receipt, you won’t be allowed to interview and you won’t be issued a visa. You must bring this to your visa interview, alongside your I-20 and other documents.

24. Spring: One of three semesters in the US higher education calendar. It typically runs from early January to early May of the same year. The other semesters are fall and summer. Compared to the fall, fewer students are admitted in the spring.

25. Staff: Refers to the administrative staff of the university like the registrar, bursar, and secretary, etc.

26. Standardized test: Standardized test is an exam that is conducted in a consistent or “standard” way. In other words, the conditions under which students take the exam are fairly the same, so that some students are not at a disadvantage compared to the others. Such conditions are: difficulty of the questions, time allowed, scoring procedures, etc. Examples of standardized tests for US schools are the GRE, TOEFL, IELTS, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, etc. Most standardized tests are usually taken multiple times a year. For example, you can take the GRE once every 21 days, up to five times in a year.

27. Statement of Purpose: An essay, part of your application materials, that tells schools about your background, experiences, interests, and future goals. Depending on the school or department, some call it the “Personal statement”, “SOP”, “Application essay”, “Personal background”, “Objectives for graduate study”, “Cover letter”, etc.

28. Summer: One of three semesters in the US higher education calendar. The summer semester is the shortest of the three semesters. It typically runs from late May to late July of the same year. The other semesters are fall and summer. Very few students are admitted in the summer.

29. Teaching Assistantship: A form of graduate assistantship in which the work you do is to teach students (typically undergraduates).

30. Transcripts: Your certified record from your university showing courses attempted, grades scored, and cumulative grade point average (CGPA).

31. Visa Officer (VO): The person who interviews you on the day of your visa interview at the US Embassy or Consulate.

How about you? What other terms used in U.S. grad school admissions have you come across?

Post: https://beyondbsc.com/glossary-2/

Check out more useful articles on MS & PhD graduate school admissions in the U.S.: https://thenaija.us/ms-phd-us/

Cc: Lalasticlala & Mynd44.

Interesting ideas - definitely. Thanks for sharing!