Having a great mind comes with self development and gracefully pursuing success at all cost. We have a scholar in the house whose great mind has pushed him to excellence. Let’s get to meet him.
Welcome to honournaija_blog, can we meet you??
My name is Rupert Ikeh and I am a PhD student at the Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, New York.
Great. What inspired you to seek for scholarship and to study outside Nigeria?
I would say I wanted a change in learning environment. The US is known for housing some of the best institutions in the world. Also, my interest in world class research opportunities led me to apply to study in the US.
Were you rejected?? how did you handle it? share your experience.
Yes actually. I applied to several schools in the USA but got admitted into one eventually. For programs such as mine, I discovered that it was difficult getting into the universities if I don’t get accepted by a potential supervisor first. I felt bad when I got rejections but this didn’t stop me. I told myself that there can only be two outcomes, I don’t get admitted or I get admitted. So since I have tasted the rejections, the only other thing to taste was acceptance, so I kept searching for it, hence why I submitted 7 applications (this doesn’t account for all the cold emails I sent out to so many universities).
How many scholarships did you apply for before hitting the jackpot?
I once applied to Mastercard Foundation Scholarship, another for a program in Russia, then to the US in 2020.
Interesting. Did you feel excited after getting one? Share your experience.Â
Yes, I did. Infact I got my admission late in May of 2021. I had just closed from work when I got the heart lifting email of my admission.
Fascinating. From your experience, what are the needful things to be done before securing a scholarship?
My advises are; get research skills and probably publish paper(s), prepare your CV, get an international passport, get your transcript, get close to potential recommenders. Then you can go on to search for programs online, there are tonnes of them.
Succinct. Any platform that students can get scholarships from? please share.
Yeah. Scholarship-positions.com, you could also use petersons.com (this is good for scouting US programs with funding).
Thank you for the kind information. Studying outside Nigeria, how does it feel?? Stressful, tasking or quite with ease? Share your experience.
It’s interesting. The PhD program is demanding. The US is a lonely place. Get ready to feel the imposter syndrome. But in all, it’s fun.
Wow. What are your words of advice to intending scholarship applicants.??
If you really want it, work hard and you will get it. Ask questions, let people review your essays, and CV. If these are in place, you are good to go.
Wow, I love your clarity sir🌺🌺. Thank you for coming.
Enlightening post. This helps.
Great one!