sirRiddy:
So the journey that started on this platform about two years ago was consolidated with a visa approval at the Lagos consulate this morning, the 23rd of May. I would have dropped my transcript earlier but I could not since I am still serving a ban for adding people to the Facebook group justwise warned me against on several occasions. I sincerely apologize and accept responsibility for my actions which were not deliberate.

I left the hotel around 5AM with my dad after a brief shower. I had to leave that early for my appointment at 630AM because I did not bring the right specification of passport from home to the hotel the previous night. I got to the consulate and had to ‘shell out’ 1500 naira for a very terrible photo. After several checks, at least three, we were ushered into the building for the biometrics. The lady who took my data was so nasty and kept shouting instructions at people, myself included. I proceeded to join the queue, I was among the first ten people on the rather long queue. The consulate officers sounded quite convivial. A smart young man with think ‘Igbo’ accent going to the UM College Park for MS in Metallurgy was approved as well as a plumpy lady too. The College Park guy applied to just a school but still got his visa. Another woman with a walking defect who was going to see her son who has been in the US since 2006 was approved too.

It was my turn, window 4, some minutes to 8, white guy with some extra build.
VO: Good morning. Pass me your documents please.
Me: Morning, how you doing today? (With a slight smile)
VO: So tell me about your program
Me: I am going to Kansas State University to pursue a PhD degree in computer science.
VO: What will your course work involve?
Me: I will be taking advanced computer science courses in order to satisfy the breadth requirements that will qualify me to become a doctoral candidate in the first two semesters. I will also take a research preliminary exam to satisfy this condition.
VO: So tell me about your assistantship.
Me: This is one of the most compelling reasons for choosing K-State. I get to tutor undergraduate students a fundamental Computer course during teaching hours, grade scripts and proctor tests which will prepare me for a career in academics.
VO: I will be approving your visa.
He gave me a white paper, circled a location to pick it up and talked about the educationUSA orientation on the 26th of July and gave me a flyer to accompany it.

Profile…GPA: 3.28/4 or 3.64/5, GRE: 316 162Q 154V 4.5AWA TOEFL 107

Special appreciation to my brother and friend (goG), the delectable iya Ibadan (msNas), My big bros (mystiqme), the generous and big-hearted guy(slimmy2005), one of the funniest guy I have met (ojah), lovely guy (bigFrancis21), my amazing colleague (baodium), great guy (walspring) my lovely friends (gunther6, cutemorgan, fortissimo, kennyrony, OjaP, biikeys, gboyegaD, ttmacoy, danjaNinja, horayce, dicapino, ebdib, stolid), for all his humour and lovely jokes(warriboy21), for his efficient administration, though a little Kim Jung Un – like, lol (justwise)

To future applicants:
1. Listen to the gurus. But do your own findings please. If you are planning for next fall, start searching for schools now. Mail professors after you have read their journals and find anything interesting, mail grad students, be proactive and dedicated. Many will not reply you but you will learn a lot during the process.
2. Spread your risks. Ranked, moderate, safe schools. I applied to 8, three good ones and five safe. Be realistic with your ambitions. The expenses pile up real quick and you don’t want to do this thing twice.
3. Study hard for your standardized tests. If you are an engineering student, a 160 should be your target on the quant section of the GRE.
4. Have a LinkedIn account and edit your resume well. Let it suit your application for grad school. Nobody cares if you sold gala in front of Eko hotel. Accentuate your professional skills and experience.
5. Your SOP is the most important. Maybe I am exaggerating, but not too much. After GPA, SOP is the second most important material in my opinion. Let many people read it and critique it.
6. Apply early but do not rush them. I completed all my applications before the end of October last year. If you have 4.0/5.0 and GRE of 320 at least, apply to PhD programs. There is funding priority for students accepted into PhD programs.
7. Be hopeful. If you are religious, hold on to it and be hopeful.
-sirRiddy

bigfrancis21:


Congrats sirRiddy! I never had a bit of doubt one day that you would be denied.

I would like to know that 'Igbo' guy with admission at UM College Park! That's my alma mater!

abid4akin:

Pls house, what's 3.0/5 on the scale of 4.....

profojah2:

Padi Mi Ejanla.. Chief of MBF.. I dey see how you dey dazzle them on the GRE Facebook group.. Nice one bro.. So far you knw sirRiddy, you'd soon know obama, bet me!.lol.. Wish you all the best bro..

@SirRiddy, you no go wash am for me?

Dekins88:
Congrats SirRiddy, truly, this is well deserved.

Cephas0009:
Congratulations SirRiddy, a wonderful brother, m not surprised ur visa was approved. You have labored and sown into pples's life. You deserve it Sir, all d best

battoyyeb:


battoyyeb@yahoo.com
Thanks

bigfrancis21:


Congrats sirRiddy! I never had a bit of doubt one day that you would be denied.

I would like to know that 'Igbo' guy with admission at UM College Park! That's my alma mater!

abid4akin:


Pls house, what's 3.0/5 on the scale of 4.....

sirRiddy:
Thank you nwanne.
I will always be grateful to you for being a great guide and helping me pay my application fees.
I hope to visit the DMV in the future and meet you.

The guy was really smart and articulate with his thick accent.
UMD CP is a great school

bigfrancis21:


It's about the same on the scale of 4. From my experience doing conversions, 3.0/5.0 usually turns out to be between 3.0 to 3.05 over 4.0 after conversion.

DanjaNinja:


Did you already take the GRE? If yes, please share your experience so others can learn from you. As for the Toefl matterials, send me your facebook email address and i would add you to a Toefl group on facebook. You would find all the materials you need there.

Admission Consultancy
Personally, i am not fond of admission consultants because i had a terrible experience with one. Most consultants, i say "most", dont actually care about you. They care about one thing - Profits. You might not know this but most consultants have profit sharing deals with certain universities. They get a cut for every student they send to a particular university. Meaning when you approach a consultant, they would most likely recommend a school that is not in your best interest. In my situation, the agent made it seem like i could only get admitted to 3 universities. This would have not been a bad idea if those schools offered my major and area of concentration. She tried to influence me to change my intended major cos according to her, those were my only options. This is simply "NOT TRUE" as there are thousands of schools in the US and if you search diligently, you would find a school that fits your requirements. You can do this. I did it. SirRiddy did it. And many more persons too numerous to mention did it as well.

In essence, if you must use a consultant and can afford it, be clear about your requirements and accept nothing less. But if you are like me - curious, money conscious and just loves doing things on your own, roll up your sleeves and find a school on your own. Its not that difficult and as an added advantage, you would learn and understand how the american education system works. To help you, I would post a school search guide before the end of the week.

DanjaNinja:

sirRiddy:
So the journey that started on this platform about two years ago was consolidated with a visa approval at the Lagos consulate this morning, the 23rd of May. I would have dropped my transcript earlier but I could not since I am still serving a ban for adding people to the Facebook group justwise warned me against on several occasions. I sincerely apologize and accept responsibility for my actions which were not deliberate.

I left the hotel around 5AM with my dad after a brief shower. I had to leave that early for my appointment at 630AM because I did not bring the right specification of passport from home to the hotel the previous night. I got to the consulate and had to ‘shell out’ 1500 naira for a very terrible photo. After several checks, at least three, we were ushered into the building for the biometrics. The lady who took my data was so nasty and kept shouting instructions at people, myself included. I proceeded to join the queue, I was among the first ten people on the rather long queue. The consulate officers sounded quite convivial. A smart young man with think ‘Igbo’ accent going to the UM College Park for MS in Metallurgy was approved as well as a plumpy lady too. The College Park guy applied to just a school but still got his visa. Another woman with a walking defect who was going to see her son who has been in the US since 2006 was approved too.

It was my turn, window 4, some minutes to 8, white guy with some extra build.
VO: Good morning. Pass me your documents please.
Me: Morning, how you doing today? (With a slight smile)
VO: So tell me about your program
Me: I am going to Kansas State University to pursue a PhD degree in computer science.
VO: What will your course work involve?
Me: I will be taking advanced computer science courses in order to satisfy the breadth requirements that will qualify me to become a doctoral candidate in the first two semesters. I will also take a research preliminary exam to satisfy this condition.
VO: So tell me about your assistantship.
Me: This is one of the most compelling reasons for choosing K-State. I get to tutor undergraduate students a fundamental Computer course during teaching hours, grade scripts and proctor tests which will prepare me for a career in academics.
VO: I will be approving your visa.
He gave me a white paper, circled a location to pick it up and talked about the educationUSA orientation on the 26th of July and gave me a flyer to accompany it.

Profile…GPA: 3.28/4 or 3.64/5, GRE: 316 162Q 154V 4.5AWA TOEFL 107

Special appreciation to my brother and friend (goG), the delectable iya Ibadan (msNas), My big bros (mystiqme), the generous and big-hearted guy(slimmy2005), one of the funniest guy I have met (ojah), lovely guy (bigFrancis21), my amazing colleague (baodium), great guy (walspring) my lovely friends (gunther6, cutemorgan, fortissimo, kennyrony, OjaP, biikeys, gboyegaD, ttmacoy, danjaNinja, horayce, dicapino, ebdib, stolid), for all his humour and lovely jokes(warriboy21), for his efficient administration, though a little Kim Jung Un – like, lol (justwise)

To future applicants:
1. Listen to the gurus. But do your own findings please. If you are planning for next fall, start searching for schools now. Mail professors after you have read their journals and find anything interesting, mail grad students, be proactive and dedicated. Many will not reply you but you will learn a lot during the process.
2. Spread your risks. Ranked, moderate, safe schools. I applied to 8, three good ones and five safe. Be realistic with your ambitions. The expenses pile up real quick and you don’t want to do this thing twice.
3. Study hard for your standardized tests. If you are an engineering student, a 160 should be your target on the quant section of the GRE.
4. Have a LinkedIn account and edit your resume well. Let it suit your application for grad school. Nobody cares if you sold gala in front of Eko hotel. Accentuate your professional skills and experience.
5. Your SOP is the most important. Maybe I am exaggerating, but not too much. After GPA, SOP is the second most important material in my opinion. Let many people read it and critique it.
6. Apply early but do not rush them. I completed all my applications before the end of October last year. If you have 4.0/5.0 and GRE of 320 at least, apply to PhD programs. There is funding priority for students accepted into PhD programs.
7. Be hopeful. If you are religious, hold on to it and be hopeful.
-sirRiddy

layez:

Add me to the toefl fb grp boss
olaonisamuel@gmail.com

DanjaNinja:
Today is indeed a blessed day. I give thanks to God for granting SirRiddy, my brother, a friend and a truly selfless person his visa today. SirRiddy, this is the beginning of many good things to come in your life. I pray the arms of laughter, happiness and unlimited success continue to hold you as you embark on this new phase of your life. God bless you abundantly my brother.

Sir danja d guru! Pls I need toefl and gre materials. I intend to wirite the exams dis year but I dnt have materials. Please help me. I thank you for all your effort. Oluwa bless u