Good morning all, my visa was approved at the Lagos Consulate this morning at about 9:30am. I am so grateful to God and everyone who has posted their transcripts here, thereby making it easier for other people like me to learn and avoid mistakes.

My interview was for 6:30am but I forgot my passport photograph at home so the CGI team directed me to take passport pictures before I could go for the interview (had to pay 2k). After finger printing, I had spotted a young white guy who was wearing natives and I was hoping I could interview with him because it seemed to me that he would have more empathy compared to the rest (seeing that he liked our culture enough to wear our native �, ....I may have been wrong tho)

Anyway, I was directed to him (my first victory �) and there were 2 families before me and they both got their visas, the second family was a mother and a daughter but he denied the daughter and gave the mother saying that the daughter is an adult, the babe is 25 yrs and she can apply in her own capacity and I thought she wasn't very audible.

So straight to my interview:
Vo: good morning
Me: good morning
Vo: what program are you going for?
Me: Master of Arts in Economics
vo: so what school are you going to?
Me: Western Illinois University
Vo: why this school ?
Me: (I had 5 points I had noted to say, but I got so carried away with the first one that I didn't mention others, I tried to dwell a lot on the first one tho, cos I think it was my strongest point).
During my application process, I noticed that the school has a unique graduate track system. What this means is that, while I will be trained in the fundamentals of graduate level economics, I will have the opportunity to select other courses that align with my goal. I wanted a program whose curriculum was interdisciplinary and Western Illinois is providing this opportunity for me. I wanted a program that would allow me study other entrepreneurial courses besides fundamentals of Economics. Some of the courses I will be taking are Economics of Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial experience and this is because of my role at my place of work where I interact with several business women who are passionate about their businesses but don't know how to go about it. By the time I go for this course, I will be better equipped to serve them.
Vo: where do you work and what's your role ?
( I think he was asking so that he could understand the link between my current role and why I was going for a masters program in Economics )
Me: I currently work in a bank and I manage and coordinate the trainings, capacity building and networking sessions for the women market program in my bank. I also forge partnerships and new alliances to add value to the women we serve. (I quickly tried to link what I currently do at work with my reason for going for masters in Economics). Given my role and because we cater to a large spectrum of women including business women, When I interact with most of these women, I realize that most of them are passionate about their businesses, but don't know much about finance, budgeting, going global, the need to collaborate , they don't even know where to start from. Prior to joining the bank, I already had a career plan to spend 4 years at work, go for a 2 years master program and come back to spend another 4 years before starting my own consulting firm to help business women grow their businesses and go global.
Vo: what is your highest level of education ?
Me: Bachelor in Education, Economics (I stuttered a bit here)
Vo: how many schools did you apply to
Me: 4
Vo: what are the schools?
Me: Western Illinois University, Eastern Illinois University, Montana State University and Virginia State University.
Then he notices something, (apparently, the last time I went for an interview, when I was declined, I had applied to Canadian schools and I had told the lady interviewing me that I applied to Canadian schools. And she quizzed me a lot about applying to Canadian schools, I couldn't convince her as to why I couldn't choose any of the other Canadian schools instead of western Illinois, I am pretty sure she must have noted this on my profile because she didn't seem convinced ). So he asks
Vo: did you apply to any other schools before now?
Me: yes, when I was applying during fall, I applied to 2 Canadian schools, but this time around, I decided to focus my energy on US schools.
Vo: what year did you graduate?
Me: 2010
Vo: what have you been doing since you graduated?
Me: following my graduation, I went for my youth service and after my service I started working with the bank.
Vo: what year was this?
Me:2013, I have been with the bank since 2013.
Vo: who is sponsoring your education?
Me: my dad
Vo: what does he do?
Me: he is an engineer who works with in an engineering firm. His firm provides support services to telecommunications giants like MTN, Huawei Technology. He does a lot of installations, trouble shooting, procurement and vendor supplies.
Vo: do you have your financial documents here?
Me: yes, I do (I reach for the statement and hand it to him)
Vo: (skims the first page) there is no name on this statement
Me: (In my mind, Aaaaaaaaaaaaah, how won't there be a name) there is a name on it then I call out my dad's full name
Vo: oh I see it now , do you have a more recent statement, this statement has been issued since September
Me: oh! I don't have a more recent one right here . This was the one I used for my I 20.
Vo: okay don't worry, have you ever travelled outside Nigeria before ?
Me: yes, I have been to the United Arab Emirate
Vo: what year was this?
Me: 2016
Vo: are you married ?
Me: no
Vo: do you have any kids
Me: No
Vo: where would you be staying?
Me: campus
Vo: okay, I will be approving your visa
Me: ( I thought I was going to go momentarily deaf like I read here, but I didn't ).
I felt as if I was in a dream, I couldn't believe it
So he hands me the white paper and circles a portion and said something about Email and SMS. I was so happy that I told him thank you and have a merry Christmas, he smiled and said you too. Up until I got home, I felt as though I was at lala land.
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My 2 cents:
Pray as if that's all that counts and prepare as if that's all that counts
Read as many transcripts as possible, when I went for my first interview, I wasn't coming to NL but after I was declined and someone sent me past transcripts, I started coming here to read the transcripts and I was able to learn from so many of them.
I kept praying for favor, tried to give more including tithe, woke up at night to pray more and also read far and wide. My watchword was psalm 126:1-3 and indeed when he approved my visa application it felt like a dream.
I pray that God grant other people's heart desires as well.
Now it's time to book flights, get immunizations and prepare.

Good evening everyone, I have been reading the transcripts here and it has been very insightful. I will be having my interview this week, and knowing that you can't be over-prepared, I will appreciate if someone guides me on a mock interview. Thank you.[color=#550000][/color]

Great!, what's the package for Airtel?

@juchy,qhemie,kclub83; I called her and she told me that those that have been invited were shortlisted and also the whole screening was in batches and the next batch would be next year.

@joniboi,innomannia77,haychess;Thank you for the phone number, I really appreciate it. @ haychess,I also don't like trying to pressurise recruiters for an invite but I needed to do this because I received the same mail you guys received stating that somebody from the hr department would contact me soon but when I didn't receive any response and when I noticed that you guys were already receiving invites I felt there was no harm in trying than just keeping quiet and regretting my silence. Thanks again for the encouragement,wishing all of you the best!

Hello Innomania 77, I also applied and they said they would get back to me but am yet to get any response o, pls can you tell me the address at Ikeja where the test will be taking place and a phone number I may call so that I can confirm when I would also be invited.