3 mistakes that can hinder you from getting admitted to a university this year

Some students have become regular JAMB’s clients every year. They sit for the exam every year, have a relatively high mark, say 260+, yet fail to get admission. They either fail the Post UTME of the school, make one funny mistake or miss the whole year outright. The following year, they brace themselves to write the exam again.

From my experience talking to many students and listening to their plights, I have found out three mistakes they always make while seeking admission to any university.

1. Insistence on a particular course

Now, don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong in being ambitious or chasing a particular course, say medicine and surgery, nursing, law, accounting, and you name it. But, most times, your educational background also matters. If you’re not sufficiently armed with the requisite knowledge, it may take you increasing number of hours, months, or even years, to compete favourably with people who have better educational background or more privileged than you are. You just cannot meet up with their standards. And they don’t need to read as much as you do.

If you find yourself in this situation, you need to go for a less competitive course that’s closely related to your desired course. You need not worry now, the dots will connect when you look backward. There is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary nature of many courses. This means that some courses are connected, or related, in a way, but you may not know now.

ALSO READ

• UNILAG pegs cut-off mark at 200, RSUST, 190 as they commence Post-UTME screening exercise
• UNIPORT, DELSU accept 150 for 2023 Post UTME screening exercise, Edo State University, 140
• Why many students fail to meet the cut-off marks for medicine, nursing and other clinical courses in federal universities

2. Choosing the wrong institution

Before choosing the institution, have you considered its admissions policy? Does the school conduct Post UTME or use O’levels combination with your UTME result? What are your chances of gaining admission to this school? Are they slim or high? Does the school accept all students from all states of the federation like the University of Ibadan or use catchment areas like UNN, OAU, UNILAG, DELSU, UNIPORT, or AAUA etc? Catchment areas mean that preferential treatment is usually given to students who come from the same geopolitical zone where the school is located.

Also, choosing the wrong institution may be your insistence on a particular school while closing your eyes from other schools that can readily accept you. I have seen a student got admission to medicine and surgery with 277 and a student who re-wrote UTME again even when he had 320.

3. Expecting a miracle to happen

There are many things God can do, but there are so many things he wouldn’t do. He’s not a magician. Most times, it is safer to settle for a less competitive course because you know that the odds are stacked against you. If you didn’t do so well in your UTME, you don’t expect to perform a lot better in your Post UTME, or expect a miracle to happen. God doesn’t work that way! The best thing should be to change your course or even your institution. Everything will fall in place later, and it will make much sense to you.

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