PART ONE

As a Nigerian graduate who got into his choice US graduate school with full funding and has helped others do the same, I thought I’d write a guide that focuses on what US graduate schools look for in applications from international applicants, especially Nigerian graduates.

Even if you have already been admitted, this guide would still be helpful to you and you should read it because it explains WHY you have been admitted, what happened “behind the scenes”, and what the schools expect from you throughout the duration of your graduate program.

Put another way, this post shows you how US graduate schools think about admission decisions for international students. Once you understand this perspective, it helps you know what specific things to focus on the marathon that is the application to US graduate schools.

Note that these thoughts focus on research-based graduate degrees (rather than professional-based degrees such as MBA, professional masters degree) such as thesis-based MSc and PhD.

First off, let’s start with a very commonly held view: Your undergraduate GPA is the most important.

This is a general misconception that holds back many Nigerian graduates from applying to US graduate schools.

It also makes many first class graduates become complacent, and not make every single part of their application top-notch and outstanding as it can possibly be.

Many Nigerian graduates with a 2:1 GPA disqualify themselves based on their GPA alone, and decide not to apply to US graduate schools at all. This is a big mistake.

On the flip side, many graduates with top first class graduates only apply to the top 3 US schools in their fields, fold their arms, and endlessly wait to get admission and full funding offers from these schools. This also is a misguided move.

Why?

Because as a research student in a decent US graduate school, you have only one job: to consistently produce quality research work.

That’s right; your single most important job is not to get 100% on all your graduate courses… not to be active on campus… and is definitely not to “be obedient” to your professors and generally be a nice person who always smiles and is courteous.

All of these things are nice to have, but do you want to know the single most important question on the minds of admission committee members, as they review your application?

It’s this: Will this applicant be able to consistently produce quality research work, if admitted?

If you take anything away from this article, let it be those last two paragraphs.

And while your GPA, transcripts, final year project, and good behavior can help you produce excellent research – publish many research papers, present research at conferences, and help others do the same – there are mainly two qualities that signal your potential: one, your past research experience and two, your grit.

Being a Nigerian graduate likely means you won’t have a lot of quality research experience that impress US grad schools, but you can learn to persevere.

Because in graduate school, especially in the US, grit (or perseverance) is the name of the game. You’d fail, get frustrated and annoyed, second-guess yourself, think of quitting (many, many times), and question your intellect.

But you’d also celebrate some few wins, and smile at the joy of breaking new boundaries in your field.

And it’s only by perseverance that you’ll be able to ride those many lows and few highs on your road to getting your PhD or MSc.

So the big takeaway is this: US graduate schools look at a lot more than your undergraduate GPA.

In working with many Nigerian applicants, I have seen a wide range of GPAs. The most essential thing is how well the other parts of your application confirm your GPA (if your GPA is relatively high), or how exceptional the other parts of your GPA trump your GPA (if your GPA is on the low end).

What US Graduate Schools Look for in Applications from Nigerian Graduates
Relatable Research Experience
Educational Achievement (GPA)
High GRE Scores
Persuasive Presentation
Now let’s discuss specifically HOW they look for each quality.

1. Relatable Research Experience
Let me get straight to the point: US graduate schools want you to have quality research experience that they can relate to.

It means they want to see that you have done some quality research, presented at research conferences, and even published research papers.

Especially if you’ve achieved those results with professors that they know (or know of) and in reputable journals that they read.

They like quality research experience with people and research journals that they can relate to, simply because that’s exactly what you’ll be doing all through graduate school.

Which means if you have done it before, you can do it again.

If you’re being paid $30,000 as a first-year graduate student, your main professor is probably coughing out twice that amount in tuition, university and other fees to keep you in the program.

Well, that money comes from government and private sources which your professor has to be accountable for. And so he/she wants to know that shelling out that kind of money to admit and keep you would be worth it.

When your resume shows you’ve published two papers with professors who they know in the field in journals that they read, and spoken at two international conferences, then that won’t be much of a gamble after all.

Please note that many Nigerian graduates get into very good US programs without this kind of research experience.

But I put this point first for two reasons.

One, if you have this sort of research background, don’t hide it.

It would boost the prospects of your application by a very wide margin.

Make your research accomplishments very obvious to see – on your resume, statement of purpose, etc. – and gently remind your recommendation letter writers, so they can write about it in your letters.

You’ve done a lot with the little you have, and you should be proud of it.

Two, a lot of Nigerian graduates erroneously think that since they have a 5.0 GPA and a 170 Quant, 168 Verbal, and 5.5 AWA, that US schools would be falling over one another to admit and fund them.

Nothing could be further from the truth … US graduate schools don’t want you because you did well in class or you aced the GRE.

The most important thing to US graduate schools is your research experience.

The psychology behind this thinking is that schools know that doing quality research work that gets you published and takes you to conferences is hard. Very hard.

And if you can do it with the resources you have as a Nigerian undergraduate, then chances are you’ll be able to repeat the same feat if you get into their program.

This doesn’t mean that you can never be admitted if you do not have this sort of stellar research background (you can), but they suppose that you’ll go for it, if you really want it.

That you’ll go the extra mile and squeeze the juice out of everything you’ve got.

Which means – refining and fine-tuning your final year project and being able to persuasively talk about it, crafting top-notch resume and statement of purpose that let you shine, and maximally supporting your recommendation letter writers to emphasize your potential to do excellent graduate-level research work).

Also, research work is not something you “force” or continuously motivate someone to do.

You might need to encourage a research student when they are frustrated or not getting the results they want, but there’s generally less hand holding compared to life as an undergraduate.

That is, an applicant who really wants to do research would put in the work and go the extra length, and would likely not need constant motivation to do research, if admitted.

And knowing how much effort someone puts into their resume, statement of purpose, etc. is easier than you think.

2. Educational Achievement (GPA)
US graduate students want to know your GPA. It reflects on how well you did with the theoretical aspects, speaks to your dedication and commitment in the face of challenges, and how you’ve chosen to spend your time as an undergraduate.

As a graduate student, while research takes up a lot of your time, it won’t be the only thing you’d be doing.

Across most US graduate schools, you’d be required to take classes, teach classes, or both.

If you perform poorly in these classes below a specific cut-off, you might be entirely booted out of the program.

So while US graduate schools emphasize research, they also want to know that you can conveniently handle classes, not spend your time studying all day.

That way, neither classes nor research suffers.

Again, while your undergraduate education emphasized classes, and grades, and GPA, your US graduate education goes a step further in focusing on all those, and assessing your progress or otherwise primarily by the research work you produce.

The US graduate education system uses a grading scale of 4.0. Although some schools ask you not to bother, it helps to convert and state your GPA from your Nigerian university (likely on a 5.0 or 7.0) to one on a scale of 4.0.

Although the conversion doesn’t need to be perfect, it helps schools to benchmark and easily compare your GPA with other applicants from schools from other countries and school systems.

Many schools go even further to check the grades on your transcripts in specific courses that they think incoming students should be strong in.

For instance, if you’re applying to engineering programs, schools want to see your grades in engineering classes mostly from your second year till graduation. They want to see that you scored higher in more challenging classes as you climbed higher to your final year.

Most US graduate schools don’t have a definite cut-off GPA, but better believe that many schools use the GPA as a first-round weeder to prune down the number of applications to review, especially if they get a lot of “top-GPA” applications.

So if you have a perfect or very high GPA, don’t be shy to emphasize it on your resume. Make your GPA obvious and put it in context. For instance, “GPA: 4.77/5.00. Top 1% of graduating class”.

And if your GPA is not particularly stellar, still include it on your resume. If you did well in higher-level courses, mention the classes and the grades you got too.

My undergraduate GPA was 4.33/5.0, so not particularly special, but it was good enough for the programs I applied to, when combined with the rest of my application packet...

See below for PART TWO

Post: https://beyondbsc.com/what-us-graduate-schools-look-for-in-nigerian-applicants/

Check out more useful articles on MS & PhD graduate school admissions in the U.S.: https://thenaija.us/ms-phd-us/

Cc: Lalasticlala & Mynd44.

PART TWO

3. High GRE Scores
A lot of US graduate schools want to see your GRE scores for two key reasons.

One, they get applications from students in various school systems and universities across the world. So they need a metric to compare different students from various universities across several countries.

The GRE helps them do that.

Although not always a perfect indicator of who will go on to do well in grad school, the GRE is a standardized test that helps them “level the playing field.”

Two, it helps them gauge your level of preparedness. Take, for instance, an engineering student with a GPA of 4.90+/5.00 but had a 154/170 Quantitative GRE score who’s applying to a top US graduate engineering program.

It’s hard to know the cause for the relatively low Quantitative score, compared to the astronomically high GPA. This makes them wonder how academically rigorous the undergraduate engineering program really is.

Again, there’s no magic cut-off score for your GRE. But this is where I’d encourage you as an applicant to score as high as they possibly can.

Get familiar with the nuances of the test, find good study materials, have a study plan, quit distractions and study hard.

Come to think of it.

At this point, your research experience and GPA are pretty much set in stone, and there’s little to nothing you can do to change those.

But your GRE score is still very much within your control at this point.

So, do everything within your power to score as high as you possibly can across all the sections – Quantitative Reasoning (QR), Verbal Reasoning (VR), and Analytical Writing (AWA).

You’d be glad you did.

I’ve seen cases of applicants whose TOEFL requirement was waived because they scored high enough on the AWA section of the GRE.

4. Persuasive Presentation
If you’re smart and hard working (high GPA and GRE scores), but can’t convince the school why they should admit you, then you stand a lower chance of getting in.

Even with exceptional research experience, top GPA and exceptional GRE scores, you still need to be able to present those achievements in a way that makes the school want to admit you.

This presentation comes in mostly two forms – written and verbal; but more importantly, written.

In a more direct form, you’d be doing a lot of writing in graduate school, and so many parts of your application where you need to write – resume, statement of purpose, emails, etc. are several ways to boost your chances or crush them.

You want to be able to follow instructions from each school, write and edit application materials so that they reflect you in the best possible light, and demonstrate that you understand what US grad admission committees are looking for.

Here are some examples of how to persuasively present your application in a way that significantly increases your chances of admission and funding:

- Start early. The application timelines set by US graduate schools are not just arbitrarily set – they tend to align with the timelines for when US professors receive money from their funding sources; so plan ahead and start the process for getting your documents early enough (international passport, transcripts, certificates, etc.), so that you don’t miss key deadlines.

- Emphasize your research experiences. Across your application materials, focus on the impactful research projects you did throughout your undergraduate journey, and hone in on the lessons you learnt from them.

- Focus on what really matters. Don’t spend valuable space in your resume or statement of purpose on your classes and grades, leadership experience or people skills. One line or two is usually enough for these.

- Treat your final year project as an asset. Because it is an asset. Re-read your final year project, so you can present it as a research case study in your application materials.

- Spend time choosing the right programs for your profile. The biggest challenge you face as you apply as an international student from Nigeria is “unfamiliarity.” Because US graduate schools tend to be unfamiliar with your grading system, classes, grades, academic rigor, and maybe professors. One way to compensate for this is to select schools (tier 1, tier 2, tier 3…) specific to your department and the strength of your application packet.

- You’re doing more than simply applying – you’re marketing yourself. So make sure every document in your application packet tells a story that shows you’d be an excellent fit for the schools you’re applying to.

- Follow best practices and resources for writing resumes for US graduate school applications. Some of those practices include: keep your resume succinct (one to two pages), clearly show your educational background (especially university and colleges you attended) and test scores, only include your secondary school if your achievements from there would help amplify your story on why you’d make a great fit to the graduate program.

- Use bullet points and numbers to quantify your accomplishments. Not fluff or filler words. Cut out of the fat or flowery words that do not technically buttress your points.

- Proofread. Spend time reviewing every part of your application for errors, mistakes, or omissions.

- Understand your readers before you write. Use language and phrases that they will understand. Don’t assume they know what ‘NYSC’ or ‘6-month IT’ mean. Clearly and concisely explain those terms.

In summary, getting admitted into a quality US graduate program with desirable funding works a lot like a tripod stand.

The three legs (or the three P’s) of the tripod stand are:

Your Profile. This includes your achievements and stats – for instance, GPA, GRE scores, and research experience, That is, those things you can control.

Your Presentation. This focuses on how you present those accomplishments – through your Resume, Statement of Purpose, and to some extent, Letters of Recommendation – in a way that shows that you understand how US graduate admissions work – which is still something you can very much control.

The Program. That is, the specific graduate program and the different factors that determine who and how many students they admit. Some of these factors include:

-The amount of available funding
-The maximum number of (international) students they can admit
-Available laboratory space
-Available research areas
-Availability of professors to serve as mentors in your desired research areas.

Of the three legs, the Program is the most challenging for you to control.

Apart from carefully choosing the schools you apply to and reaching out to potential professors you’d like to work with, there isn’t much you can do here. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that you can now intensely focus on working on your Profile and Presentation, to overcompensate for the third leg of the tripod. Double down on those two, and you’d have enormously increased your chances of getting that much-coveted admission and funding offers.

Post: https://beyondbsc.com/what-us-graduate-schools-look-for-in-nigerian-applicants/

Check out more useful articles on MS & PhD graduate school admissions in the U.S.: https://thenaija.us/ms-phd-us/

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