It’s not about luck. I truly deserved it.
It took blood, sweat, time, and money.
“Rejection is not a punishment reserved for the poor.” – Jim Rohn
All praises and adoration belong to Allah.
I went through a lot on this Australia issue.
The Australia Journey – Student Visa
- First admission: Deakin University, 2023.
- After Tinubu was sworn in, the naira devalued terribly.
- My hope of using Form A crashed after paying for a tax clearance certificate (₦120k).
I deferred till Term 3, hoping the naira would rise from the dead, but dead men tell no tales.
The hope of self-funding was gone.
Funding Struggles
I returned to my cold-mail strategy to get funding, but Australia’s pattern is totally different from America.
- Secured three supervisors in May (Griffith University, University of Wollongong, University of Queensland).
- Completed two interviews and was told to proceed with applications.
- But when they realized I didn’t have a Master’s degree or First Class, I was told I couldn’t be admitted for a PhD with HDR scholarship.
- My dream crashed again.
So I returned to the USA, the place I initially ran from.
Finally, I got my full funding offer!
My Stats
- IELTS: Twice (2014, 2021)
- GRE: Once
- Total cold mails sent: 6,215 (2020–2025)
- Total interviews: 5 (3 in USA, including 1 coding interview; 2 in Australia)
- Partial scholarships: 8 (Europe, USA, and Australian universities)
- Admissions without funding: Lost count
- Rejections: Numerous – DAAD, Erasmus, PTDF, Chevening, Commonwealth, African Award by NYU, Knight-Hennessy at Stanford, Schwarzman Scholarship, Khalifa University, King Fahd Scholarship, Qasim University, University of Wollongong Research Award, and many more.
Rejection nearly blinded my eyes .
Most Painful Moment
In 2023, I paid an application fee to the University of Newfoundland, Canada ($130) for an MSc and received a rejection on the third day .
Gratitude
Alhamdulilah for the resilience, perseverance, and consistency.
Every setback prepared me for this victory.
-Culled from a scholarship whatsapp group