Hello,
Please find below, description for the procedure in obtaining and
applying to graduate school in the US with scholarship/Full
funding.
1. Orientation Session attendance at the United States
Embassy/Consulate.
This is the website of the US Embassy Education Advising
Center where I met lots of people
:https://educationusanigeria.org/ They are located in VI, Lagos or
Abuja where they organize free orientation services, every
Wednesday, 10 am, prompt. Upon attendance of any of their
orientation sessions on any given Wednesday, you receive
detailed information on the requirements for US admissions, how
to apply, where to apply and how to secure full scholarships. It is
not compulsory for everyone to attend this, but it is the best place
to receive direct information on the procedure. and You can ask
questions. It is open to the public at the time listed above. And it
involves direct information from the USA govt officials.
2. US Graduate school admission general overview.
Scholarships/Funding: In the US, many Universities offer
scholarships to international applicants in one of two ways:
a. They offer what is called a TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIP
(TA) and then waive your tuition.
b. They offer what is called a RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIP
(RA) and then waive your tuition. Funding is relatively/almost
common for PhD if you're admitted but funded Masters are not
common and often have to mean the masters is the research type
(MSc) not the Professional (1-year) types. Still very rare but the
links I attached below from msinus.com may help in identifying
universities which provide funding at the Masters level if that is
your ultimate goal. Note that many schools don't require a masters
degree to offer a PhD admission.
If you have a TA, that means you have to support the lecturers in
teaching undergraduates. If you have an RA, instead of teaching,
you work with a professor in his/her laboratory as a research
assistant helping out with research. In any of both cases, they
waive off your tuition (You wont pay school fees) and they would
also pay you a monthly salary so that you can use to feed and live
till you finish. If interested in any professor's work, send him/her
an email.
In order to apply for graduate schools in the United States and to
land these kind of scholarships/funding, the following is usually
required,
I. Identify a list of Universities in the US that have what you want
to study.
II. Check out the dept which you want to apply for in these
schools and note their requirements and Cut Offs.
III. Many US Universities usually require you to write the GRE.
It is Maths and English. Although it is a little hard but with a lot
of practice you get good score. If you want to get good
scholarships from US universities, you need to score well in this
exam. It is over 340. and anything less than 300 is usually
regarded as low (This strongly depends on your course and
the US school). An Engineering student should aim at a minimum
of 310. You can always rewrite the exam.
IV. The exam is taken in Nigeria. You have to register online
at ets.org. It costs about ($205). I know it is a lot and so you
should only register and take it if you have practiced well and are
convinced you can score really high. Once you score well, the
benefits of investing your money to pass the exam would
outweigh the inconvenience.
V. Some may require you to write the TOEFL.
VI. You must upload reference letters from your lecturers.
VII. You would be asked to fill some questions and write a long
essay about yourself and why you want to study at XYZ
university called the "Statement of Purpose" (SOP).
On a general note, start learning any computer programming
language. It's always good to get familiar with it before coming
to the US. It expands opportunities for employment after your
studies.
