Have you ever considered that you can study abroad for your Bachelor’s Degree, Masters Degree or Doctorate/ Post Doctorate programme?
You need a guide on how you can successfully gain admission to study abroad as a Nigerian. Most students who wish to get the opportunity to study abroad, especially in some highly-rated country like the United States of America; do feel that it is a very hard thing to achieve.
As a Nigerian, it is possible to get admission into tertiary institutions even without acquiring the IELTS certification. Due to the cost of writing the IELTS examination, some people who have been trying to secure admission for their undergraduate and postgraduate programmes have been limited.
In this article, I am going to show you ways in which you can follow for you to gain admission successfully and study abroad without all ambiguous protocols.
It is the ignorance of these guides that I will show you in this article that makes people easily give up on their dream to study abroad even when they are already in the process of the applications.
That is not the right thing to do; you do not have to give up just like that. Asking the question, “How do I study abroad?” is a step in the right direction. If you have been trying to study abroad without the IELTS examination, make sure that you carefully read this article to the end and apply what you are going to see therein.
Maybe your thirst to study outside Nigeria have been quenched by the high cost of living and tuition fees that are paid abroad and the stress of passing the IELTS examination, this article will also encourage you to apply again.
There are also schools outside Nigeria where you can successfully study at fewer tuition fees than what you used to think of. The only thing you have to ensure is that you have all documents that are required for the particular Programme that you want to apply for.
Documents Required to Study Abroad
Depending on the course, institution and the programme that you want to apply for, some documents would be required to be presented to the management of the institution.
This will guarantee you full studentship of the institution while fulfilling all other requirements. The following are the documents required for you to gain admission abroad.
1. High School Certificate:
This could be any of the following; WAEC/WASSC, GCE, NECO, NABTEB or any of the equivalent. You would need this most if you are want to go for undergraduate programmes.
2. Bachelors Degree Certificate or Statement of Result.
This is for students who are going for postgraduate programmes; Masters Degree, Doctorates and Post Doctorates. This is to confirm that you have completed at least a degree programme before entering into the Postgraduate programme (s).
3. Academic Transcript(s):
This will show past academic performance in the previous high institutions that you have attended. Also, it would be required from those who want to go for Postgraduate programme.
4. IELTS Result (with Approved Score)
IELTS is the International English Language Testing System. This is proof of your proficiency in the English Language. It is optional to have this before you study abroad and also depends on the institution that you want to apply for.
Based on the guidelines that I want to give you in this article, you will still be given admission successfully even without the IELTS score/certificate.
5. A Valid Statement of Account:
The Institutions that you are applying to study in would want to be sure that their prospective students are capable of paying their Tuition fees even without any assistance like Academic Grants and Scholarships. Of course, you would not like to be stranded while studying abroad for any reason.
6. Valid Travel Documents:
You must have all your travel documents ready before you can be allowed to travel outside Nigeria to study. These include; Visa, International Passport and others as the case may be.
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How You Can Process For the Admission
The first thing about studying abroad is for you to decide within your mind that you are going to study abroad. When you have decided to study abroad, they are very easy guidelines for you to follow to secure admission faster than you could think of.
Those guidelines are what I am going to give you in this section. They are tested and proven to be the fastest way to secure admission abroad. The following are the easiest way to get admission to study abroad.
1. Make Choice of Programmes:
You have to choose a course of study for which you would want to go for. For Prospective postgraduate students, you are to choose the best area of specialisation of your interest before you start processing the admission.
In your choice of Programmes and courses of study, it is very pertinent that you consider areas where you have passion for and where you can perform efficiently in.
2. Search for an Institution:
To secure admission abroad, you have to search for a suitable institution that you are going to study in. This must be a school that meets your test in terms of quality, that is their facilities, and they must be offering the course of study that you have chosen to go for.
In your choice of Institution, you also have to consider languages that are/is used in the area where the school is located. Make sure that you study about every institution that you are going to consider before you choose the institution.
3. Choose One Institution:
After reading through myriads of schools online; their respective programmes offered, courses available, Tuition fees and Facilities available for each of the programmes, then you can settle on choosing the best with your required specifications.
4. Check The Requirements:
When you have chosen a school where you will study, you must proceed to read the academic requirements to study in the institution. As log in to the school official website, you will be referred to a section on the site where you read about the requirements.
You are to read about the general requirements of the institution for a new application, departmental requirements and admission requirements.
Note that requirements for studying abroad are usually institution-specific.
5. Start Your Application:
You start your application by selecting a program according to your choice in No.1above.
6. Contact the School:
Once you start your application, you will be assigned to an advisor who is always willing to attend to you at any time.
Most times, this advisor will be the one to call you on phone to let you know that you have been assigned to him/her and will advise you to always reach out for help through him/her whenever you need assistance on the process of application.
7. Send Your Documents:
After contacting the school through your advisor, they will send you the Request for Document Form. This form is to inform you that the institution would want to have the documents that make you qualify for admission.
For undergraduate students, you will be expected to send your High School Certificate (WAEC/WASSC, GCE, NECO, NABTEB or they equivalent) through your former high School as may be required.
For postgraduate programmes, your Transcript and your degree Certificate would be required. For your transcript, make sure that you apply to your former institution on time.
8. You will have to wait for the school to review your documents and start your admission processes. After this, if you meet the requirement for admission based on the documents sent to them, admission will be given to you immediately.
The school will reply to you with an attachment which is your Admission Letter.
9. Pay Acceptance Fee:
Once you have been given admission, the next thing to do is to pay your acceptance fee. The procedure for payment of the acceptance fee and the amount to be paid will be provided on the school website.
10. Open College Board Account
11. Apply for Academic Grants:
You will only be allowed to make an application for an academic grant if you have been given admission and you have paid an acceptance fee to show that you are serious about the admission.
The grant will be given to you is to support your tuition fees. It might be a completed scholarship or partial depending on the institution’s decision.
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12. Get your i-20 Form to process your F1 Visa:
This is the processing of your travel documents. During this process, you will be required to provide the Statement of Account of your sponsor or your own if you are the one to take care of yourself.
The essence of presenting the statement of account is to confirm that you or your sponsor can take care of your tuition fees even without any external support (s).
13. Once level 12 is approved, you will pick a date for your interview.
If picking the date is becoming difficult for you, make sure that you contact the school immediately.
14. After the interview, your Visa will be stamped
15. Choose a date for your travel
16. When you get to the school, you proceed to finish your documentation.
These are the basic information that you are expected to be aware of about how to study abroad as a Nigerian.
Note that these procedures given in this article might vary depending on the country, Choice of Institutions, Choice of Programmes and courses of study. However, there must be elements of similarities on how you can apply to study abroad in as provided in the article.
If you want to apply to study abroad, you can pick a school ( For example; you can choose to APPLY at The Siena College in the United States of America that you can study without IELTS examination for undergraduate programmes) and try to use the guidelines that given in this article.
For any other questions about How to Study Abroad as a Nigerian, kindly use the comment section below.