I want to study in US and Canada. Does
it even make sense?
It depends on what you want in life. Graduate study is not for everybody
but it’s not out of place to continue to self improvement which is what is on
offer in graduate school. US and Canada have more than three thousand universities
with many of them highly ranked and well equipped with modern facilities
lacking in many developing countries. US and Canada education opens doors of
opportunities in terms of job placement after graduation and networking with
people from different parts of the globe. Degrees from these countries are highly
regarded the world over.
What
should be my first step?
The first step is to do a solid research about your interests and schools
that align well with them. A convenient way to start is to Google, “US Universities
+ your course of study” if you are interested in the US. Similar procedure is
applicable to Canadian schools. It will
bring out several schools and you can go through these schools one-by-one. Alternatively,
you can simply click on this link www.braintrack.com
to check universities in US as well as other countries in the world. You can as
well click on these ranking institutions to further explore universities of
interest to you. Once you have a list of universities of interest to you, take
a step further and Google, “name of university + your course of study” to
access the departmental website directly. Then click on graduate studies,
graduate program or prospective students as may be appropriate to acquaint
yourself with department requirements.
What are the requirements for getting into the US and Canadian schools?
Requirements differ from schools to schools and from discipline to
discipline. That’s why it’s extremely important like I stated above to visit
the website of your discipline directly. This is even more necessary as
departmental requirements may be different from that of University or Graduate
School. Some school specify this type of requirement as “Program requirements”.
Generally, the following are required: the major requirements for admission
into US and Canadian schools are the results of your undergraduate degree,
letters of recommendation, transcripts, a Statement of purpose and for most of
the schools (most especially in the US and some schools in Canada), the GRE
(Graduate Record Examination).
Are any of these criteria more important than others?
I would say it depends on the school in consideration. Most schools look
at application individually and in its entirety in which case an excellent
performance in one criterion may compensate for deficiency in other. But generally,
a lot of premium is placed on undergraduate records as well as GRE scores when
funding consideration is under evaluation.
Some schools even place more emphasis on your performance in the GRE
than your undergraduate record. This is because the educational system varies
from one country to another. So the GRE creates an avenue to evaluate students
from diverse educational background and finally helps the admission committee
to evaluate and rank applications to their program. Admission and funding
(scholarships) are given to applicants based on this ranking. Once funding is
exhausted, other applicants are given an alternative to either fund themselves,
or they are denied admission.
What’s funding and will I be considered for one?
Funding in all essential point is the same as scholarship. It’s not a
loan that will be paid back. It’s a grant in form teaching or research assistantship.
In exceptional cases where your application is considered outstanding, you may
be awarded a fellowship in which case you are paid for no duties at all.
Funding given in form of teaching or research assistantship or fellowships consists
of remission of most or all of your tuition, with payment of monthly stipends or salary to you. Your
own part of the deal is to teach undergraduate students (don’t panic, this is
very easy as all training and facility to do this successfully will be provided
for you) some classes especially in your first year. In later years, you work
with a professor helping him or her on a research work while you also work on
your PhD. It’s a win-win as you get paid working on your PhD. This includes
tuition waiver, health insurance and monthly
stipend/salary. In most schools in US, once you are offered admission, it comes
with funding.
I meet all the requirements except GRE. Are there schools in US and Canada that do not
require GRE?
GRE is comparable to JAMB/UME. How? All students that meet the minimum
GPA are qualified but not all can be taken due to limit of what facilities and
funding can support. GRE then becomes more of a yard stick to weed some candidate
out. So the more excellent scores you have on GRE, the brighter your chances of
being admitted. GRE is required by most schools (in US and some in Canada) to
help in admission decisions. However, there are schools that do not require
GRE. As a result, I think these schools receive a lot of applications from all
over the world which makes it highly competitive due to their less stringent
criteria (As regards the GRE). Schools in this category in most cases are also
not well ranked. (Compare schools that do not require JAMB in Nigeria, they may
not be well ranked).
I am not bothered about ranking that much. I understand I can apply to
another school when in US. Do you still encourage me to apply to these schools
without GRE?
I will suggest you write GRE and have ample opportunity of applying to
more than two thousand universities than chasing less than say hundred schools
that do not required GRE. Also, because it does not cost much to apply to these
schools, a lot of applications are received which make admission unnecessarily
tough in a not well ranked university. You may also have a tough time during
your visa interview if you are admitted to this type of school. In all honesty,
I will advise that you write GRE. That does not negate the fact that students
all over the world still come to these universities and then switch to another
in second year.
GRE, GRE and GRE! Please tell me more about it?
The best way to learn about GRE is to visit this website www.gre.org . But I offer the summary here: GRE
(Graduate record examination) is a computer adaptive test taken to get a chance
of gaining admission to US, Australian and Canadian graduate schools. It’s a
useful diagnostic tool in selecting students for funding as well. In all
essential points, it’s more of an aptitude test (most aptitude tests in Nigeria
are more or less GRE questions) which consists of Verbal and Quantitative
sections. A third section testing your writing ability is also included under
the name Analytical Writing. All I have described is meant for General Test.
There is individual subject test in disciplines like Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics
etc, but are not required by most schools. You can read more about the GRE from www.gre.org
Is GRE very hard or tough? Do I have to attend lessons for it?
It depends on your ability. In general, science students tend to do well
in the quantitative section and not so well in verbal and reverse is the case
for art students. But science students who read widely will also find the
verbal section very easy as well. Based on my experience, GRE is very simple
and cannot in all honesty be described as very hard. For instance, the
quantitative section is comparable to senior secondary school mathematics. What’s
key is your time management skills. That’s not to say GRE is also very simple,
if it is so, every dumb student will be in US. It’s just like aptitude test, if
you prepare well, you will smile at the end of the whole show. A lot of good
textbooks are available to help students prepare and excel in this exam. But for
copyright issue, I would have uploaded some here. But you can send me an email
if you want some. (I don’t request for money from people).You can write the GRE
on any working day throughout the year. Once you are ready, you can schedule
your exam date yourself and go take the exam on the scheduled date. You do not
need to go to an institute for lessons on the GRE. All you need are good study
materials that will help in adequate preparation for the exam.
When should I write the GRE?
I will advocate you write GRE such that you have ample time to deliberate
on schools to apply to or not. I will suggest you take the exams latest by September
so you have one or two months before application deadline. Application deadline
to most schools in US and Canada is 15th December each year for fall
semester.
How do I register for the exam? Where can I take the exam in Nigeria as
well?
Due to
fraud and scam issues, GRE do not allow Nigerians to register online which is
easiest way to register anyway. Any card that bears Nigerian address may not be
allowed. The best way to do it is to look for a FRIEND in US
or UK to help you. S/he will
just register on your behalf for the day you want to write the exam and the
confirmation page for the registration will be sent to your email
automatically. A print out of the confirmation page is needed for you
to be permitted into the exam. By Friend, I mean someone you
can trust. Otherwise, if you use fraudulent card to register, GRE will seize
your results. You can also contact some centers in Nigeria. Expectedly, these
centers will charge more (more than the required $190) to make a little profit.
The key word is to use a genuine outfit so as not to have your results seized. Also note that a means of
identification in form of an international passport is needed for you to be
admitted into the exam. You can check all the requirements by clicking on
this link http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/test_day/.
The exam can be taken at First Logic, No 30 Oba
Akran Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria. There are also centers at First Logic in
Abuja, Nigeria.
You’ve said a lot about GRE but not one word on TOEFL. Do I also need to write TOEFL?
It
depends on which school you are considering as a lot of school will grant you
waivers while some will insist on having your TOEFL scores despite the fact
that you are from Nigeria, an Anglophone country. The best way is to mail the
graduate coordinator of your prospective department and intimate him or her
that you have been taught in English in all educational institutions you’ve
passed through and politely request for a waiver. I am sure many schools will
oblige you. If your dream school requires and insists on having your TOEFL
scores, then you have no choice that to write the exam. You can read more on
Toefl including registration, test format on www.toefl.org
I learnt most successful applicants have 2:1 and above. What’s my fate
with 2:2? Do I stand a chance of getting admitted and funded?
The truth of the matter is a First Class may be
rejected while a 2:2 offered admission. A lot depends on packaging and working
with a good guidance during the application process. You need to know how to
write a good statement of purpose, what to be written in your recommendation
and statements to avoid in your application. That can make a lot of difference.
(I intend to post a number of articles on this in future). The reality is I
have a couple of friends with 2:2 from even state universities in Nigeria who
are studying in US with full funding. Generally, a CGPA of 3.0 on a US scale of
4.0 is required. That corresponds to 3.75 out of 5.0 and 5.25 out of 7.0 (if
you graduated from the University of Ibadan). If your CGPA is slightly lower
than this, I suggest you use WES evaluation to boost it. A Nigerian 3.4 (out of
5.0) has been evaluated to be equivalent to US 3.0 out of 4. Good guidance can
really point out some stuff to you. You can read more on WES by clicking www.wes.org.
What most school requires is a CGPA of 3.0 on a US
scale of 4. This guy had a 3.4 out of a scale of 5.0 from one of the Nigerian
Universities which is a 2:2 and it is directly equivalent to less than 3.0 on
the US scale of 4.
Very insightful. U just made my day. Pls your email isn't stated. Thanks
ReplyDeleteThank you for this insightful info, i wish to study in canada or the US. Pls is it possible to find a straight doctorate programme from a first degree? If it is, pls kindly help me with information on this. My email is true2linc@yahoo.com.
ReplyDeleteBest regards.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteGRE exam is a requirement for admission in such programs i.e. Masters, PhD etc. But no where in the world..., they use it to grade your PhD or your working during PhD.
ReplyDeletegre verbal sample questions
Writing is such a hectic task, you need a study or a guideline to write better. I really appreciate your work.Great work.
ReplyDeletegraduate school admission
Fellowship will be the launching pad to the rest of your career, and as such, fellowship personal statements should focus on the future as opposed to what you have already accomplished.
ReplyDeleteSo now do we have to write GRE or only GRE subject test (Math) or both if we want to join a grad college or they are all just moot now ?
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This is a very good article, thanks so much for the information. However, I graduate with 3.09 on a 5.0 scale and wish to further my study in Canada or Australia, can you assist me with study material on the GRE exams. My email address is adenusi.kehinde@yahoo.com Thanks
ReplyDeleteInteresting to see how this will shape up in the future. At the moment, most people applying to B-school with the GRE are those who are also using their GRE scores to apply to specialized master's programs in other business areas
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