The travail of many secondary school leavers in Nigeria begins the day they receive their O’level results and UTME scores. Why is this so? They can’t gain admission into university despite their relatively good results.
In Nigeria, we all know that the ultimate aim of having good results is to use it to gain admission to the university of one’s choice.
Now it isn’t about your O’level or JAMB score, but the sufficiency of the results, i.e., can the result be enough to get you admitted into the course of your choice? This question requires an urgent answer that will help all candidates.
The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has instituted a policy that the criteria to be used by universities in Nigeria for admission should be 50% JAMB result and 50% Post-UTME. It is on this note that each university in Nigeria will determine the departmental cut-off mark based on the combination of the JAMB score and the Post-UTME score.
Many universities do conduct PUTME while some only conduct screening exercises for candidates based on their WAEC results.
Before I move on, it is important you know that some courses are more competitive than the other like Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Law, Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Economics, and Accounting.
Perhaps you want to study any of the courses mentioned above in Nigerian Universities; you need to tighten your belt to face the competition. You must do your best to have at least five O’level credits in required subjects which must be between (A1-B3), score 270 and above in JAMB, and if your choice university does conduct PUTME screening test; score nothing less than 75% and above. This advice is given to avoid stories that touch the heart.
For you to have peace of mind and to avoid lobbying for admission, you must strive for your name to come out in the merit admission list of the University of your Choice.
Note: the above advice is also applicable to candidates who desire to study in the polytechnic and Colleges of Education in Nigeria.
It is no longer news that our population is increasing yearly and there haven’t been many efforts from the government to curb it. Because of this, the number of candidates registering for JAMB and jostling for admission is on the increase every year. And the unfortunate scene is that our institutions aren’t well equipped to accommodate this number. Hence, the competition is high and has led to many candidates being denied admission.
- Research the mode of admission of four to five universities of your choice and know their cut-off mark before you choose any of them in JAMB
- Choose the one that is less competitive
- Project what you can score in UTME (be realistic about it)
- Based on your projection, select a course that is of interest, not competitive, and matches up with what you can score in UTME.
Warning: Beware of fraudsters you promise an upgrade of your JAMB score and can help you with admission for a certain amount. If you can study enough, be strategic, and trust God, your name will appear on the merit admission list for your desired course.
