₦airaland Forum

Congratulations Jumybecks. I understand how you feel right now. Hoping for more good news for those still awaiting decisions.

The amount of bile and hateful comments on this thread has been shocking. A lot of these youths are frustrated and taking out their anger on the OP. I must commend @anitank for showing such maturity in her responses. I am really impressed, your temperament and patience should be a lesson to these lots. I hope you are able to find a solution to this issue.

I also hope these wretched souls will be able to turn their lives around and become better person all round. Their vexation is so palpable I can almost feel it from my phone screen.

Perotti:
Guys and ladies in the US, please which money transfer company has the best rate to send money to Nigeria?

Thanks

I use boxypay.com and their rates of 354 or 355 is the most consistent I have found. There is no hassle and money get to Nigeria account within an hour. I can share my referral code with you. Boxypay.com/ref/72892

DrNueLpureHoney:
Can we digest this topic


How long can you stay without having sex. ??


Matured minds only

You need to include Masturbation especially for Males. So the real question is How long can you stay without having sex or masturbating?

Congratulations to those with admits. Everyone awaiting the good news should keep their hope alive.

What a title. Does anyone has a Mum that was not impregnated by their Dad.

Teedawg:
I saw this external link on Amazon. it looks promising if you need Nigerian kinds of stuff I haven't used their service yet thought i should

https://royacshop.com/

Might be useful for someone but some if their prices are on the high side, $32 for a cartoon of Indomie .
That is the advantage of being in a big city, I can get everything from various African stores and some Asian stores carry Nigerian-like food items at even cheaper prices.

Quoran:
Dear ******* *******:


I just got this from Michigan Tech. I am not understanding. Do this guys think paying for a PhD is a joke? They must really be a stingy school. lol. I actually prefer the style of not granting admission because of lack of funds. I saw an advert from one of their Professors with an available studentship position. I am calling him as soon as it 8-9 am in Michigan. lol

Congratulations on your offers. Do not mind them, they can only try that with international students. Maybe they are hoping you are a Nigerian Prince.

Scholastica16:
That was my point. Some earn as much as $70k a year. Their average salary is $52k/year.

You are right
Pay depends on the placement. Private companies pay more than than Universities. The recommended minimum Post doc payment from NIH for universities in 2017 is $47,484, While this will not make someone rich by any stretch of the imagination, it is enough to live comfortably.

Everything has to be put in perspective, the median US household income is $59,000, So most single Post doc will be making close to more than half of US families in a year. This is in addition to the fact that it is an apprenticeship like medical residents and the pay is comparable but without the $400,000 students loan burden. The pay after Post doc is close to six figures across the board and those in industries hardly ever make less than that.

If someone looking to make quick money and be extremely rich, it is better to start a company (be ready to work for 20h/day at the onset and you will probably still fail) or go to Wall Street.,, and PhD is not advisable. But for someone looking to live a comfortably and steady life, that seeks to have skills that are in demand and transferable the world over, then PhD is one of the best paths to toll.

Finally, It is important to remember where we are all coming from, it is easy to become un appreciative after getting to the US.

smallsuper:
I also got Louisiana State University day before yesterday, official letter not yet out though without funding but I have been able to secure RA from a POI I mentioned in my SOP. Contacting him before applying worked.
#Team Fall 2018. #Yes we can.

Congratulations to you and all others that have been accepted.

What a beautiful and elegant creature.

Scholastica16:
The best way to describe my experience thus far is to say our education in Nigeria is a huge scam. A friend of mine said someone told her that all the VCs in Nigeria should return the tuitions of all the Nigerian students from year 1 to final year and I could not agree more. Just take it that you probably wasted your university years in terms of actual school work. What Nigeria did for us however was to train us on how to cope with stress.

I am still adjusting to the cold, cultural difference and palpable lack of awareness research-wise. All that "I have XX years of research" we used to say, does not measure up. In fact, when you come in, you would realise you were probably only admitted (and funded for those who were) because they wanted diversity. Even the high GPA thing feels like another inflated exercise but let me speak for me alone.

I have no doubt that I would click into gear very soon. For ChE guys, take Hirschfelder's posts like a page from the bible. Everything he has said about the core ChE courses being intermediate Maths-heavy and the research aspect being Chemistry-laden are spot on. I am there now and I can say he is absolutely correct.

Good thing is, you are being set-up here to succeed unlike your country. Lecturers will take time to answer questions and make texts readily available for advanced reading. Internet/Wi-Fi sometimes at 300MBPs on hand to aide the learning/research process. You have no excuse to falsify, fabricate or plagiarize any data or material. They take grand exceptions to this and it could get you rusticated in a flash.

I have just added some boring Analytical Chemistry course (Analytical Separations) because my major professor thinks it will help with the impending research we would do together. I hope he is right because the first few classes were in Aramaic and no, I do not speak nor comprehend the ancient language. But I have to learn it which ever way and also Ace it for the sake of the people who think I can.


And Yes, I can.

The end for now.

While I agree with you about the extremely poor state of Nigerian education, saying we are admitted just because of diversity is stretching it a bit. Sure schools will prefer to have a class of international students India, China and students from African countries instead of just Indians and Chinese. However, I think most institutions know that our perceived deficiencies are mainly due to lack of opportunity and a broken system and not lack of ability. That is why they try to select the "best brain" from here and I assure you the selected ones are more than good enough to succeed with adequate resources at our disposal.

With regards to research experience, I personally was not under any illusion because I read papers in my field, I am aware of inadequacy and know that there are a lot of techniques I have to learn because the facilities are not just available in Nigeria. That's one of the things that really spurred my desire to get a foreign education because research in Nigeria is non-existent. But once again, this is an aspect in which I applaud US universities. Most realize we don't have state-of-the-art facilities or exposed avant-garde technique, what they are essentially looking for is someone who understands what research entails. The long hours in the lab, formulating questions and having the perseverance to seek answers to it for months end, hard work, dedication, selflessness, some minimum level of intelligence and perspicacity.

That is what educated folks and universities understand, they know people from supposedly "shithole" countries can excel given the right tools and opportunity.

ProEnergy:
i just must have a dictionary at arms length whenever I'm on this thread uncle time2smile can i please, have you review my SOP? please?

I will see what I can do, but I also advise you to make use of a free SOP review service that I posted sometimes ago.

Yildiz:
Please gurus in the house I need your advice. I intent to apply to UTK for PhD in Data Science and Engineering, I have mailed the coordinator several times and she is helpful but she has so far refused to answer my question regarding the number of applicants they normally have per year. Further search shows that the program is new, it was just started last year. All she keeps telling me is that about 50% of applicants are admitted. My question is, is this course really worth it considering it is a new course, currently the course is not even ranked and how about job prospect after completion.

Data Science is big now and it is going to be bigger in the future, especially machine learning, artificial intelligence and algorithms. Even in the field of biology, Computational biology is becoming massive and we have students getting Biology PhD without even doing any wet lab work. I wouldn't be too caught up with ranking, a PhD will more than equip you to find a job in the United States or even Canada and beyonds. What is more important is the quality of the work you do and how much you learn.

Since you have applied to other schools, at worst I want you to see this as a backup. If you have more than one admission you can make your choice then, but what if this is the only admit you get (I hope other applications are successful too). Don't let the extra 40,000 or so in application expenses discourage you. I can imagine how much effort you have already put in and don't want to say "I wished I had................."

frostsc:
Congrats bro. I was really excited and I'm really happy for you. I decided not to post my own visa experience due to recent events here but I guess I will shortly.


God bless you abundantly and on behalf of everyone you have helped on this forum, we say thank you.

I should have written this earlier but I have been busy. I went through your posts after reading what you wrote about how much this thread has helped you and getting your visa but was disappointed that you didn't share your experience(Except for your GRE and TOEFL). If truly you appreciate this thread, then you should give details about your application process and admission to benefit others. What course are you studying? What is your profile? How many schools did you apply to? What informed your choice of school? How did you get funding? All these information are useful and will definitely help others.

You also mentioned that the sacrifices people make to get funded admission are understated, and this is something I have also alluded to before. I think others will appreciate knowing the hurdles you had to surmount and take lessons from it. You can read the contributions and stories of the 2017 cohort, which scholastica16 is part of, and you will see that although the title of this thread is about having great scores in GRE, it encompasses all other parts of the admission process.

Scholastica16 has almost single-handedly kept this thread alive, we need others to chip in too because he is going to be busy now and might not be able to contribute as much as he might like.

OluDare01:
This is trending on instagram.
I want to solicit for funds in his behalf.
Thank y'all!

This is really deflating. May God grant him total recovery. I will pitch in the little I can.

darkelf:
I can help with that for a little token.

Contact me on 08031376060

What do you mean by a little token? We don't do that here.

I somehow unfollowed the thread. Waiting for the rest of your post @scholastica16, Great story so far.

Mitchely:
Thank you to all those who contributed to my earlier post when my family were delayed of F2 visa. I reapplied immediately, and picked the earliest available date in January and their was visa approved and just issued.
Special thanks to LagosismyHome and Time2Smile

Wow, Congratulations, I am so happy for you. Was the interview in Lagos or Abuja.

Biggy911:
Hello Time2smile,
I apologise for using those nonsense words at you. I learn every day.

Apologies accepted, no ill feelings man. I didn't set out to call you out or anything, I actually checked your previous posts because I am interested in the F2 visa and wanted to check if you posted somethings about your wife's interview and the process generally so that I can learn one or two things. Take care and have a good one(like the say here).

Time2Smile:
Give back ke. This one is worse than not giving back, rather its a case of nobody should benefit anything from him. The guy actually went back and deleted almost all his pre-visa approval posts. But he is not as smart as he thinks. I don't know who or what is chasing him.

I really wished no one responded to his latest inquiry. He doesn't deserve any help from this forum. Mtcheeew.

Biggy911:
@Time2smile,
Please be careful with lies, it can destroy your life. I have never deleted anything called Visa transcripts and I feel you are just a Liar. I will not say more than that. Just show your proof the comments were Visa Transcripts!!!
@Lagosismyhome,
I have not posted my transcript yet though! but for someone to say I deleted Transcripts for people not to benefit from it is like a devilish attitude of that person looking for destruction in his life by telling lies.

I apologised for not posting yet, and I have a genuine reason to not visit Nairaland until now. I was almost out of status when I reached the US due to lack of funding and that made me become emotionally down. In fact, I almost decided to return to Nigeria until I got funding this January.
So, I was basically in the USA doing my masters and paying from my pocket in Fall. But Thank God I have Funding now. So now my heart is filled with joy and i will drop my Transcripts soon. I hope I can recall the Interview seff

Wow, wow, wow. Let me start by saying I, Time2Smile, does not lie. I said you deleted "almost all your pre-visa approval posts" , and that is definitely TRUE. I never mentioned anything about transcript. That you went and deleted your previous posts about admission inquiries and process is a fact, the reason you did that is what you might want to explain.

Your response says so much about you. I will ignore your curses and expect you to apologize for calling me a lair if you are a man of integrity.

LagosismyHome:
You know me I always have issues with people who take and dont give back..

Give back ke. This one is worse than not giving back, rather its a case of nobody should benefit anything from him. The guy actually went back and deleted almost all his pre-visa approval posts. But he is not as smart as he thinks. I don't know who or what is chasing him.

I really wished no one responded to his latest inquiry. He doesn't deserve any help from this forum. Mtcheeew.

bushlance:
Did that already. My PM isn't for an inquiry.

What is the purpose of the PM? Do you mind stating the reason here?

LagosismyHome:
awwww are you feeling sorry for village people. Lol.... take it easy , how kind of you

Does exist though , just a joke phrase

While you might think it is a joke phrase Ma'am, a lot of Nigerians seem to think there are some kind of "dark forces" always working against them. And most of these forces are directed at them by their village people (euphemism for old, extended family members).

I actually think it is an important discussion, which affects our psyche as a nation, but this is probably not the right thread for this dialogue.

bushlance:
@Time2smile please I PMed you.

Please post your inquiry here. You will likely get better answer than I can provide.

gbaby4live:
All them this village people sha..

Already left my contact details with them and I'm hoping to hear good news from them.

Thanks for the Canada and Mexico option, I really appreciate it.

Yea, my school told me to show up so they can help me process few documents that I'll be using till I hv my new passport in case I didn't see it..

Thank you so much

Yeah, you will certainly need some form of official government issued ID.

I read this village people thing a lot on Nairaland. Does anyone really believe village people made you forget your carry on luggage.
It's so unfair to these poor so called village people. Forgetting your bag has nothing to do with any village people.

You really dropped a ball there and all prospective travelers should be very alert with regards to their luggage and surrounding in general.

Deboadekoya93:
HELLO HOUSE

I am not sure there is anything you can do except to wait for CGI to respond to you and hope that the embassy sorts it out.

Please note that typing in all uppercase letters is a bad online etiquette and is synonymous with shouting.

femi312:
Pearl93, Honestly even if you get your visa now, this advice up there is a very good one. You can still defer to source for funding and plan well interms of funds.Trust me you dont want to come to the US and be stranded because of money. You could also apply to some better schools than tamuc within this period to get funding with admision. However if your source of funds wont mess up when you get to the US, then its fine. Pardon my doubting thomas spirit, maybe if you guys were married I would have been more convinced that he is going to foot the whole bills.I know of blood brothers just like your case, the younger one got to US with the hope and agreement that the elder one will pay his bills, story started when time to pay came.The decision is yours to make.

I will add my voice to this. Just defer your admission to Fall to sort out the funding situation. At this moment, you don't have any notable source of income and you are at the mercy of your "boyfriend", whom you can't even mention at the embassy. Being stranded here without and out of status is not funny. Being a lady even makes you more vulnerable. This boyfriend is going to pay just doesn't sound right to me.

Please, defer your current admission and then search and apply to other schools towards Fall semester. Explore funding options in TAMUC and the other schools you will apply to. The US will still be there in August, you will only miss a semester which is Max of 4 months.

Aphrodite007:
Hi,

@Ezeigbo1ofImo @time2smile and anyone that can help.

Wow I had no idea that STEM students could get a PhD Scholarship in America, I’m utterly impressed by that! I can so relate to the pain of paying for studies while everyone is on a scholarship- We were 6 in class and I was the only one that paid a tuition, it was so painful!

I have been silently considering a PhD in the US mostly Cos my field of computing (cultural computing/user studies) is more acknowledged in the US than the UK.

So do you guys think someone with a 2.2 and merit (BSc & MSc respectively) would be considered for a scholarship. That BSc result makes me not even bother with scholarships at all, and I was honestly preparing to pay the PhD tuition until I saw your comments. God bless you guys plenty.

Funding for STEM PhD in the US works mostly this way: You will be given a tuition waiver and also a stipend that covers your living expenses in exchange for pursuing a PhD and working as a Teaching or Research Assistant. Heck, some schools even throw in health insurance and conference travelling allowance in too.
I don't know much about your sub-field of computing but your MSc, especially from a foreign university, should help mitigate any drawback of your BSc. GPA. Graduate admission is holistic and other parts of the application such as GRE, letters of recommendation, research experience are also considered.

In no particular order, these are the things you will need to give yourself a good chance:
1. Write GRE; A score above 320 is preferable, with at least 160 in Quant.
2. TOEFL. : Might not need this because your MSc if from the UK, but I will still advise you to write it and a score of at least 100 and 26 in the speaking section is desirable.
3. Get glowing Letters of recommendations from your former research supervisor and Professors.
4. Write a statement of purpose (SOP) addressing why you want to obtain a PhD and tailored to each school you are applying to.
5. Search for schools offering your course and that fit your profile. You don't want to be too ambitious, at the same time you shouldn't settle for mediocre schools.
6. Contact Professors in your area of research and mail them about your interest in joining their lab.
7. When all is said and done, you want to apply to at least 4 schools to spread your risk and improve your chances.

An exposition can be made about each of the different points above. This is just an overview. There is a need for you to research and learn how to accomplish each of these tasks. Therefore, make "Google" your friend. The resources are out there but you need to put the work in, find them and utilize them.

peacefull:
Happy New Year!

Thank you for wrote to me.

1st, I really wanna loving each other and make good relationship.

2nd,I wanna know about truth.

3rd, I just wanna know about Nigeria and Nigerian culture.

So, you want to know the truth. How do you think you can know the truth.?
You mentioned that you want to see the truth in your own eyes. He will not bring you to Nigeria and I don't think it is good for you to come to Nigeria for now.

EZEIGBO1OFIMO:
I don't even want to imagine the stress of quals, thesis selection, long lab hours and frustration now coupled with running around for money ... lot's of public schools won't even admit if they know that those federal and state $$$ won't be enough for funding doctoral candidates.

imperiouxx:
Orisirisi, someone planning to pay for a PhD program out of pocket? A STEM PhD which is government and NGO funded. He just about to cheat himself. Why cant he wait till funding becomes available next semester?

Yeah, one of the criteria for admission of PhD student in most programs is the availability of funding. The truth is STEM PhD is a full-time job and more, where is even the time or energy to run around for money?

To all prospective students reading this or will come across this in perpetuity, never ever pay for a STEM PhD out of pocket. The few that are not funded by their institutions are sponsored by NGOs or their countries. I just hope he gets funding upon arrival because the tuition for a semester can't be less than $15,000. Just imagine what he can do with that amount.