Solutions To Common Challenges Students Face When Preparing Or Writing UTME
The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is the one behind the conduct of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for applicants who want to gain admission into any tertiary institution in Nigeria. Students are always afraid of this exam as they know that failure to have a good score can undermine their admission chances and also make them stay an extra year at home. The validity of the result is one year. There is nothing like if I failed to secure admission this year; I will use the result next year. Because of this, the mindset of every student is “I must pass” However, the failure rate for this exam is high. Due to the failure rate, the stakeholders in education decisively brought down the cut-off mark from 200. During my time, if you scored below 200, you already knew that you would re-write the exam, but now you can still gain admission with 190 or even 180.
So, in this article, I will discuss some of the common challenges and provide solutions that I believe will help anyone who wants to pass the exam.
Procrastination
The first time that I wrote JAMB, I had 193. I was shocked because I was one of the best students in my school and I already had my results when I was in SS2. It wasn’t very comfortable because I couldn’t believe what I saw. However, I noticed that I started preparing some days for the exam. I can even say over-confidence ruined my chances of scoring high. I thought UTME would be an easy ride for me, so I didn’t prepare until a week before the exam. This is a common story of most students who scored below 200. One thing I am sure of is that you can’t start preparing 4-5 months before the exam and not cross 200.
I understood the principle of early preparation when I wrote the exam the second time. I started preparing months before the exams. I took my preparation to another level by ensuring my jotting materials were with me anywhere I went. So, I was fully prepared for the exam, and I had 232 on my second attempt.
To overcome procrastination, set achievable goals, eliminate distraction, and study with partners that you hold each other accountable. To set achievable goals, you can dedicate 1 hour daily to reading the required resources for UTME. This means in a week, you would have spent 7 hours studying. If you are consistent with the schedule, you will be amazed at what you would have covered before the exam.
Another thing that helped me then was that I have a group of friends who will study together. One crucial thing we used to do is to ask questions from one another. The moment they asked me a question, and I was unable to answer, it means that I needed to read up on that aspect.
Inability to understand complex Subjects
This challenge is common among science students. Some students need better mathematics, physics, and chemistry background. And if it is not properly addressed, you won’t be able to perform well in JAMB. For example, someone who wants to study engineering must write Use of English, Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics. Each of these subjects carries 100 marks. If you are weak in these 3 subjects, you may not be able to score well.
One crucial step you should take to overcome this challenge is to seek for help early. This might mean getting a private tutor. The work of your tutor is to make you understand the basic concepts of these subjects. Once you understand the concepts, solving related problems becomes easy. In addition, practice regularly. I suggest that you lay your hand on as many past questions as possible and start solving them. Once you come across difficult questions, check textbooks for clues or go on YouTube or Google and search for how you can solve the question. There are so many good materials online that can assist your learning.
Misinterpretation of Questions
This is a common challenge during the exam, and it is often caused by exam anxiety. When you are in the testing centre, and you allow fear, you may start misinterpreting the questions. This happened to me when I wrote the GRE. Questions that should normally be a work-over were missed because I misinterpreted them, which dropped my score in the quant section.
The solution to this challenge is to be calm throughout the exam. Fear might come, but don’t entertain it. If possible, read every question twice before attempting to solve it. However, it would help if you were fast with it as you don’t have all the time on your side.
Exam Anxiety
It occurs when there is an apprehension about taking the exam. This can happen regardless of your preparation. Some of the causes include fear of the exam, negative experiences, and lack of preparation. For instance, if you have written UTME before and you fail or don’t meet the cut-off mark and you need to re-write it, you may experience exam anxiety when writing the exam again. The fear of failure might trigger an increased heartbeat. Once you notice that you are feeling nervous or uneasy about the exam, you need to watch it, as it may affect your performance negatively.
One way to tackle this challenge is to practice meditation. Meditate on success and see yourself as successful in the exam. You need to train your mind to think and see possibilities. The more you strengthen your mind, the more confident you will be. Also, take the JAMB mock exam. The mock exam will help you build confidence and get used to the pressure.
Poor test-taking skill
Two common problems under this challenge include spending too much time on one question and guessing without strategy. During JAMB CBT, some students don’t know how to manage time. They spend too much time answering one question and have insufficient time to answer others. In most cases, the simple questions are the ones they would not be able to answer due to insufficient time.
The solution is to allocate time for each question and be religious about it. If you have 40 minutes to answer 40 questions, it is wise to allot 50 seconds for each question, and once the 50 seconds have elapsed on a particular question, move to the next question.
Guessing randomly without a strategy is a recipe for failure. You may encounter questions that you don’t know the answer. The effective strategy has always been to use the elimination method. This is done by eliminating the obviously wrong answer to narrow down your choices. Let’s say you have eliminated two obviously wrong answers, the probability of getting the correct answer becomes 50% because you are now left with two options.
