Before or during your grad school application, search for opportunities, using this keyword MS and PHD assistantship in *your field* using google, yahoo, bing etc is a great step ahead in getting a good match and getting funded. They have associations and forums they post these vacancies

Yea. It's always better to mail the department to confirm beforehand.

One school i applied to said the candidate must have recieved 16 credits from an English-speaking country. I got a mail from them that Nigeria is not recognized as one so i should take the test.

EmanA1928:


This is not necessarily correct. Some schools will exempt one from english language tests if you possess a masters degree from the UK. always check the departmental website or university website if in doubt. Eg, university of mississippi and university of wisconsin will exempt one from IELTS/TOEFL if you have a masters degree from the UK.

If you draw negative conclusion about someone on this forum, why not keep it to yourself. If you haven't met the person before, how do you confirm your thoughts?

vikings809:


He's the proud type. I don't see any issue with it actually. NL is a faceless forum.

drhopeful:
You go dey pose, you go dey denge denge, no nwa. Hmmmmmm.... After all the complaints ehn.... you just go murder GRE and TOEFL. Dia ris God oh. In my next world, I go sabi book like you. Congrats man! The patient dog surely eats the fattest bone!

My head is swelling. But the same argument can be made about you . Thanks Dr.

andradaeze:


Really, about making a good teacher? Thanks for the compliment. That is kind of you. As for my TOEFL, I scored 109(R28 W28 L29 S24). I was a bit disappointed with my speaking score because I had to change some schools who required higher speaking scores. Lol. I was not about to take chances with obtaining GA positions.

That your 26 score makes too much sense. All the best in your application.

Only a difference of 3 (composite wise) and besides your Speaking score is good. I would have still applied to the 26-minimum schools if I were you. But I understand how you did not want to take any risks. Hopefully the hardest part will be selecting which school's offer is the best of the lot.

seeker88:

You're welcome boss! In my next word, I want to sabi book like u
Thanks for asking. Yea, I got a response from the grad coordinator few hours after sending him d email. Here's his response:

Dear Seeker88,
You can upload your transcript as unofficial copy. This will allow the process to go forward and you may be admitted conditionally if you satisfy GPA and GRE requirements. The condition will be removed when the University receives your official transcript at a later, - reasonable time.

However, I still got another mail yesterday from the Office of Graduate Admission saying that my application is incomplete and cannot be forwarded to my graduate department. So I'm still confused

Maybe I should show d grad coordinator a copy of d email from d office of graduate admission

Actually, you should instead show the office of graduate admissions the Graduate Coordinator's email to you. That's what I mean.

goodemma20:
OGreene is simply ashamed of his scores

No need to revisit the issue. We have moved on from it. I can understand if someone is "ashamed" of his score. I was ashamed of my first score and I did not post until I wrote my second. In hindsight, if I had posted, people would have advised me to start my applications then and it could have been vital. I wanted to apply to the University of Florida for example but the application deadline happened to be on the very same day I rewrote the GRE.

If I had any issues with the afore-mentioned it was his defensive attitude. If he had simply said "guys, I am not proud of my scores so I don't feel comfy posting it....but here is how Q went and V went etc. I advise anyone trying to write the GRE to wait for X, Y and so on" I am sure it would have come out better.

Anyways, moving on....

tescoman90:
pace university newyork stonybrook university university of illinois springfield kent state university california state university

You're most welcome.

Scholastica16:


No need to revisit the issue. We have moved on from it. I can understand if someone is "ashamed" of his score. I was ashamed of my first score and I did not post until I wrote my second. In hindsight, if I had posted, people would have advised me to start my applications then and it could have been vital. I wanted to apply to the University of Florida for example but the application deadline happened to be on the very same day I rewrote the GRE.

If I had any issues with the afore-mentioned it was his defensive attitude. If he had simply said "guys, I am not proud of my scores so I don't feel comfy posting it....but here is how Q went and V went etc. I advise anyone trying to write the GRE to wait for X, Y and so on" I am sure it would have come out better.

Anyways, moving on....

I even thought I was the first person to comment on it...not knowing the issue has already been thrashed

It's actually good to be open and just share, people can gain a lot from that.

I wasn't happy with my scores as well because my practice test scores were higher but I neglected the easy things.

Data interpretation sets dealt with me, I missed everything, lost balance during the test. Many people have learnt from my mistake and even my not too good score has given me one admission.

You have a recent idea of the test, it would be better if you could just guide someone or make people see the test the way you now see it. Won't that give you joy?

Just keep it that simple, if it were you that owned that magoosh account and you didn't have a food score like now, I'm sure you won't give it out. And it's not your story that would make or Mar some people's success.

Scholastica16:


Wash me small but not with detergent baba. Even your GRE repeat wey you say you no too dey happy with still pass my improvement. LOL. Na me suppose dey envy you. The importance of AWA and Speaking score are exaggerated when one compares how large the composites are to them.

BTW what's your major and did you reapply to the same schools?

I can live with the AW score, but that 20 in speaking is too low; I'm hoping the other sections count in my favour.
Major is EE applied to different schools this time around.

Do you guys get notifications for the posts here? Just wondering how the lot of you active followers get to see virtually everything posted here.

Anyways, I posted my scores way back like three weeks ago. I've applied to the schools and I'm currently waiting for feedbacks. My own question is, do you think I should initiate correspondence with any of the faculty members whose research work dovetails with mine?

I feel it might enhance my chances of being considered for admission but, I'm also scared it might hurt them.

And yeah, Time2Smile, like somebody suggested, the best shot you have at getting your recommenders to respond to their emails, is to get to where they are and help them with it. I was shuttling between Lagos and Ibadan to get mine done. You might want to employ these tips for yours;

1. Get down to their office with your fully charged laptop
2. Draft a copy of the recommendation letter for them
3. Make sure your hotspot works pretty fine

All the best.

towbaynah:

You're most welcom e.

thankz

towbaynah:
Do you guys get notifications for the posts here? Just wondering how the lot of you active followers get to see virtually everything posted here.

Anyways, I posted my scores way back like three weeks ago. I've applied to the schools and I'm currently waiting for feedbacks. My own question is, do you think I should initiate correspondence with any of the faculty members whose research work dovetails with mine?

I feel it might enhance my chances of being considered for admission but, I'm also scared it might hurt them.

And yeah, Time2Smile, like somebody suggested, the best shot you have at getting your recommenders to respond to their emails, is to get to where they are and help them with it. I was shuttling between Lagos and Ibadan to get mine done. You might want to employ these tips for yours;

1. Get down to their office with your fully charged laptop
2. Draft a copy of the recommendation letter for them
3. Make sure your hotspot works pretty fine

All the best.

Nairaland doesn't notify me of new posts or mentions, I just come here anytime I want to touch base with my roots, always soothing. Generally, schools would want you to direct all of your inquires to the admissions committee and not the faculty members, so you might see some of them explicitly telling you not to contact those lecturers.

But, if you feel you've deep interests in a Prof's research group, send them a short and quick email, hinting briefly about your background, and focusing more on your perspective of his research works. You might gently add a PS that you've applied, and would be interested to wok with him. Bottom line, is don't put him under any pressure to get you into his lab. And don't set your expectations too high; if the adcomms thinks your app is good, you'll be admitted, when you'll get to choose which lab you wanna go.

So, I'll say send the mails, even though there's every chance they don't reply. Or if they would.

Cheers!

Thanks to everyone for their contributions.. I took the toefl test on the 7th of this month, though I didn't discover this thread on time but I was able to build my confidence and kill the fear that I couldn't pass the toefl test..

My score: R21 L24 S24 W25 - T94

I only practiced well during my tutorial which lasted about 2weeks, I was too busy chasing money I didn't have time to practice well. About a week to the test, I tried to practice more but NEPA & PC won't let me be great. I practiced writing once.. I was too shy to practice the speaking section and did listening a number of times.. I practiced reading most because from day1, I knew I would have issues with it, so I paid more attention to it.

Material I used was Barron's prep software

Test day: I got to the test center (JKK) very early, saw people with big big textbooks, fear catch me.. To ease my fear, I started surfing the Internet for last minute tips, then I stumbled on a site that had videos by ETS (inside the toefl) these videos I believe, really helped me coz I got an insight of how the test is graded. The video gives examples of test answers that got high scores. I used the format to answer my questions and alhamdulillah, I'm glad I saw the video.

My conclusion: it's not only about how long you practice but also using the right materials and getting the right information about the test.. I used just barron for my practice and I can you that the reading section is a veeerry different from the actual test.. This got me unaware and I lost my balance and confidence for a while during the test.

My advice: get differ materials to practice, don't choose a date that's too far as you may get tired of practicing at some point. Read books or watch videos by ETS (they are the organisers of the test, they know more about it than any one). Kill the fear and be confident that you can do it! Above all, don't stop praying!

Alhamdulillah for this thread and the person that created,the people that have contributed selflessly to the success of this group and the followers. May God bless you all..

This is my little way of showing my appreciation! This is not my real account, I had to create this to send this message (for personal reasons)..
I've not registered for GRE yet, I hope to do it this week!

BintBello:
Thanks to everyone for their contributions.. I took the toefl test on the 7th of this month, though I didn't discover this thread on time but I was able to build my confidence and kill the fear that I couldn't pass the toefl test..

My score: R21 L24 S24 W25 - T94

I only practiced well during my tutorial which lasted about 2weeks, I was too busy chasing money I didn't have time to practice well. About a week to the test, I tried to practice more but NEPA & PC won't let me be great. I practiced writing once.. I was too shy to practice the speaking section and did listening a number of times.. I practiced reading most because from day1, I knew I would have issues with it, so I paid more attention to it.

Material I used was Barron's prep software

Test day: I got to the test center (JKK) very early, saw people with big big textbooks, fear catch me.. To ease my fear, I started surfing the Internet for last minute tips, then I stumbled on a site that had videos by ETS (inside the toefl) these videos I believe, really helped me coz I got an insight of how the test is graded. The video gives examples of test answers that got high scores. I used the format to answer my questions and alhamdulillah, I'm glad I saw the video.

My conclusion: it's not only about how long you practice but also using the right materials and getting the right information about the test.. I used just barron for my practice and I can you that the reading section is a veeerry different from the actual test.. This got me unaware and I lost my balance and confidence for a while during the test.

My advice: get differ materials to practice, don't choose a date that's too far as you may get tired of practicing at some point. Read books or watch videos by ETS (they are the organisers of the test, they know more about it than any one). Kill the fear and be confident that you can do it! Above all, don't stop praying!

Alhamdulillah for this thread and the person that created,the people that have contributed selflessly to the success of this group and the followers. May God bless you all..

This is my little way of showing my appreciation! This is not my real account, I had to create this to send this message (for personal reasons)..
I've not registered for GRE yet, I hope to do it this week!

Go ahead n success is surely yours........

tescoman90:

Go ahead n success is surely yours........

Thank you

Bintbello
Thanks for sharing your experience and all the best in the GRE.
Happyday nice work sir.

sirRiddy:
Bintbello
Thanks for sharing your experience and all the best in the GRE.
Happyday nice work sir.

I'm always loyal, my oga.

happyday:


Hmmmmmm! Finally, another confirmation!

@happyday. Hmmmmm
I see you!

Scholastica16:


Only a difference of 3 (composite wise) and besides your Speaking score is good. I would have still applied to the 26-minimum schools if I were you. But I understand how you did not want to take any risks. Hopefully the hardest part will be selecting which school's offer is the best of the lot.

happyday suggested that too. Maybe, I am not just a good risk taker, .
I hope for the best,dear. Thank you.

Amen, thanks dear. He has been so helpful, very much so. I'm really hoping all the efforts pay off.

Scholastica16:


Thanks dear. I pray so for your too. I hope the recommendations that guy gave you look promising.

Its good things have been dealt with amicably.

Also you shouldnt be too quick to conclude about who would give out his/her account password or not. Go easy with the generalisation. Thanks.

Will your card allow for $205 payment?

The third parties are cheaper. Esp BY MAFIT

decode:
[color=#990000][/color]Pls can I pay directly on the ETS website with my debit card? I don't want to go through all these third parties.

Toakins:
Hi guys, My TOEFL was released yesterday.

R-25, S-24, W-28, L-30. Total-107.

Many thanks to you all for your contributions most especially @time2smile, the noteful videos you recommended were very helpful. I also practised with the Official guide, Barron and kaplan.

Congrats. Every Nigerian graduate should ace TOEFL though, I mean we have been taught in English from day 1.

you wish...with our igbotic and amala accent

uzolexis:


Congrats. Every Nigerian graduate should ace TOEFL though, I mean we have been taught in English from day 1.

Scholastica16:


Actually, you should instead show the office of graduate admissions the Graduate Coordinator's email to you. That's what I mean.

Thanks a lot boss, I will act accordingly.

sirRiddy:
you wish...with our igbotic and amala accent

Maybe our accents are unique. But that's what you get from so called non native speakers. Seriously though Nigerians string better looking sentences than the average native speaker.

I honestly don't know how Jamaica happens to be classified as a native speaking country while Nigeria isn't

sirRiddy:
you wish...with our igbotic and amala accent

you know accent does not matter in TOEFL right Everyone has an accent even native English speaking people have different accents.

dossylvanus:


Maybe our accents are unique. But that's what you get from so called non native speakers. Seriously though Nigerians string better looking sentences than the average native speaker.

I honestly don't know how Jamaica happens to be classified as a native speaking country while Nigeria isn't

Even native English speakers have different accents. Australian accent is different from American, or Irish or British. Even within native English countries accents vary from place to place. TOEFL does not care about your accent.

dossylvanus:


Maybe our accents are unique. But that's what you get from so called non native speakers. Seriously though Nigerians string better looking sentences than the average native speaker.

[/b]I honestly don't know how Jamaica happens to be classified as a native speaking country while Nigeria isn't[b]

Same I thought until I became more active on Nairaland. Truth is: We don't write and speak proper English. I read a thread sometime ago where the Chinese were looking for English teachers in Africa and listed Ghana, Kenya and either Zimbabwe or South Africa as the countries where prospective teachers should be chosen from.


That said, this GRE, is it only for entry into schools in the US? Can someone use it (GRE) for non-US schools (say Singapore, Japan or South Korea)?

Thanks.