Dear Jarus

The article, POSTGRADUATE STUDIES ABROAD – 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW, written by one of your contributors, Tope Ajetunmobi, is a good write-up.

Please I want to ask if it is possible to get a PhD scholarship abroad with a B.Sc of 2.2 and M.Sc (a PhD grade) both from Nigerian University. And does age has anything to do with the selection process?

John

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I passed this to Tope, the writer of the original article:

Tope Ajetunmobi

“Tope is a petroleum engineering graduate of Imperial College, London, United Kingdom, and a first class chemical engineering graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria”

Hi John,

Your best option will be America or Canada for scholarships as the selection criterion is not purely based on academics but a combination of factors- GRE/GMAT, SOP(statement of purpose), research topic plus experience, funding from supervisor, extra curricular  activities and references. However I must warn you that you might be required to redo an MSc abroad before proceeding for a PHD. If given this option, please accept it, will make you much more rounded. I personally know people with 2-2 who were granted scholarships/graduate assistanship in the US/Canada so do not panic 🙂

The UK is much tougher if you do not have good academic grades so getting a scholarship might be much quite challenging.

It will also be worth you trying some local Nigerian scholarships like PTDF, state government scholarship (I know Lagos and Kwara states used to grant scholarships), NLNG and multinationals although some require you to have a 2-1 at minimum.

Concerning age, to the best of my knowledge, I am not aware of age being a factor.  Some of my lecturers in uni had their PHDs when they were in their 40s. I don’t  recall ever writing my date of birth in any application. Just like in job applications here in the UK, a job applicant is not requested to state his age unlike in Nigerian banks where an applicant above 25 years will be automatically disqualified.

Hope this helps? Feel free to get back if you have any further questions.

Cheers

Tope