7 Important Tips for Registering for JAMB | 2023 JAMB Registration

Success in JAMB and eventually securing admission into the university begins from JAMB Registration. So many students refuse to do their due diligence before registering for JAMB. Some register for courses and later begin to wonder whether they’ll be able to cope with that course if they eventually gained the admission. Some other students register for courses without knowing the correct JAMB subject combination. Failure had already begun for a student that does not take time to do his due diligence before registering for JAMB. Hard truth, right?

Some students register for courses and choose universities that do not offer those courses or have not had those courses accredited. Some students just fill in their registration forms without doing adequate research about what they want with respect to the best and most viable options. As silly as some of these mistakes sound, some of us have previously fallen victim of these mistakes and they have cost us our one-time admission into the university. As Henry Ford rightly said, “Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.” In this case, getting ready for JAMB success begins with a successful registration.

Important Tips for Registering for JAMB

To help you properly complete your registration and prepare the required information, let’s look at a few important and helpful tips to pay attention to before you register for JAMB.

Tip 1: Do your due diligence.

Before you register for JAMB this year, ensure that you are very well-informed about your natural gifts, talents and abilities because if you wish to succeed in life in the future, you will need to choose a course that tallies with your personality traits, flairs, skills, academic abilities, temperamental dispositions, likes and dislikes. Naturally born engineers start from childhood to try to create new things from damaged or dismantled ones. Good accountants should be naturally meticulous and detail-oriented especially money-wise. Great doctors are naturally moved by the health predicaments of others and seek ways in which they can help them. Psychologists are great listeners and love to observe social phenomena deeply. Architects tend to have great artistic ability and talent. These are just a few instances. Chances are you have some flairs for some particular activities more than others. 

Carry out a thorough research about yourself, ask friends and family that know you very well, seek the advice of secondary school teachers and counselors, career experts and people that have made it in that field you want to venture in. You don’t want to ignore your childhood patterns because they hold the clues you need to figure out the best fit for you. Don’t think the time you take in doing this is a waste. You will be very glad you did in the future. Don’t allow yourself to first enter school and begin to regret your choices. As you seek the counsel of others, you must also realize that you are the one that must make the decision after you must have acquired adequate knowledge about yourself. After all, it is your own future that is at stake. 

One caveat: You also want to research about the future prospects of the courses with regards to employment opportunities and career options. You want to strike a balance between what you have flair for and what will eventually help you earn a living in the future. 

Tip 2: Be careful in selection of course choices.

After you must have done a thorough and quick research about yourself, you can now proceed to select your course and register for it. This selection should be done with care and with consideration of your personality and abilities. As has been touched on in the previous tip, another consideration you need to make has to do with the relevance of the course in the world today and in the world tomorrow. You need to ask yourself questions such as: Will the course still be relevant in the next ten years from now or would it have become obsolete and somewhat outdated? What education or skill should I get and what line of work do I need to be in to best position myself for the coming decade? What will the labor market be like in the year 2025?

We’ve tried to earlier explain the fact that the world as we know it today is changing. The world is going digital and electronic. Globalization is has quickly turned the world into a global village with the rapid progress of the Internet and telecommunications. In the USA, so many people are getting degrees and taking classes online and it is being suspected that the need for classroom teachers will decline drastically as a result as more educators start to create content to be consumed online. Paper books are rapidly becoming in less demand with the proliferation of e-books. Nigeria is equally developing and following the trend of globalization.

When choosing your course of study, don’t just sheepishly go after the so-called “popular and professional” courses (Medicine and Surgery, Economics, Accounting, Law, Pharmacy, Mechanical, Civil and Electrical/Electronic Engineering). One reason is that you will be competing with thousands upon thousands of candidates for admission here. Another reason is that other courses are coming up that are becoming in higher demand and that will increase in demand before you even come out of the university. An example of such courses are Computer Science and Software Engineering.

This is not to say that you should not choose the former professional courses if that’s where your flairs and interests point you to. After all, these courses have been popular for many years for good reasons. They are bedrock professions in any advanced society and they will always be needed as long as humans need healthcare, administration and cities keep developing. However, in many parts of the world today, unless you specialize further, you may not even find good jobs after having read some of these courses. An example of a previously popular course that is gradually losing its fame is Oil and Gas Engineering because the world is trying to go “greener” by adopting renewable energy. You need to preempt into the future while selecting your course of study. Again, if you are very interested in the courses that most popular now, do not be discouraged. However, you must thread with caution.

Also, if you have tried getting admission to study more competitive courses before and failed, then you can try this time around to select a related course in a related faculty or possibly the same faculty. Try going for a course that has less traffic and fewer number of candidates vying for the limited slots. Eventually, after getting admitted, you might be able to apply for a change of course or department while in school if you do well in your first year. For instance, you can choose Metallurgical and Materials Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering, University of Nigeria and then later apply for change of course to Mechanical Engineering after you must have gotten admission and performed well in 100 level. This will highly boost your chances of getting admission.

Tip 3: Take into consideration catchment areas of schools.

A catchment area is an area from which a school takes most of its students. Every university in the world, not just in Nigeria – as some of us might believe – has some catchment areas from which it take most of its students, even though our understanding of catchment areas may seem to be mostly founded upon the “indigene and non-indigene” mindset. What this means is that a university in the south-east region will most likely take more students from host communities or states around where it is situated before other students are considered.

As you register for JAMB, it is advisable that you go for universities whose catchment areas you fall within. Hope that makes sense! You can check out some universities and their catchment areas before you make your choice. You chances for admission in those areas will be higher than in any other place. Also, as a note of suggestion and not that we doubt your potential and ability in any way, perhaps your circumstances may require that you avoid some competitive universities. However, take this suggestion with a grain of salt because at the end of the day, what matters is what you believe and how much effort you are willing to make to be outstanding. Nothing stops you from securing your admission into any of the notable universities. It’s all comes down to you and how hard you’re willing to work.

Tip 4: Know the basic requirements of the institution and of the course.

Knowing the basic requirements of the institution includes finding out their cut-off marks for various courses and O’level requirements. Some institutions such as University of Ilorin require a cut off of 220+ for professional courses. Other universities like University of Ibadan and University of Lagos will require that your O’level results be ready and that you don’t have any awaiting results before you sit for their post-UTME. You will then need to ensure that you have complete O’level results for your chosen courses if you seek admission into such universities.

Knowing the basic requirements of the course entails that you be well aware of the subject combination before you register for JAMB. This and other requirements can be obtained from JAMB brochure. So many students are always in a hurry even when this is an issue that has a lot to do with their future and as a result, they forget to get the necessary information that will prevent frustration in the future. Please, find out all the basic requirements on time to prevent disappointment in the future. You can make use of this online JAMB Brochure to get acquainted with the requirements for your desired course(s) and school(s) of choice. You can also quickly search for your course under this list of JAMB subject combinations to quickly find the required subjects and specific requirements. The official JAMB brochure is also available on the JAMB platform.

Tip 5: Verify the accreditation status of the course.

It is also very important that you verify the accreditation status of the course(s) you want to apply for in your chosen institution(s) before you submit your JAMB application. Some universities offer courses that have not been approved by the National Universities Commission (NUC). Although, most universities make sure they get their courses accredited by NUC, some fledgling tertiary institutions might be offering courses that are to be officially and legally recognized by the NUC. You won’t get valuable or accepted certificates for such unaccredited courses. For instance, Medicine and Surgery has not been approved in some state and private universities. You can easily find accreditation status of courses and ascertain courses that have been approved by NUC for various universities via the NUC website or you can also view download this PDF document containing the accreditation status of various undergraduate programmes.

Tip 6: Ensure you register on time.

In our article on the sins prospective JAMB candidates should not commit, you will notice this is the first one to avoid. As mentioned in that article, if you create your JAMB profile late or do not start your JAMB registration process on time, you will reduce the time you have to correct any errors or mistakes if the need arises and if allowance is provided. Also, as the JAMB registration deadline draws near, the JAMB website or portal is likely to slow down due to traffic coming from various candidates in a hurry to complete their registration. This could make things difficult and stressful for you.

JAMB usually gives about three to four weeks for prospective candidates to register. It is very important to thoroughly read the JAMB registration guidelines. Candidates are advised in their own interest to carry out their JAMB registration at JAMB accredited CBT centres nation-wide and JAMB offices only.

Tip 7: Ensure you check all fields properly.

Finally, before your application is submitted, make sure you check all fields properly such as your passport, your names, course choices, institutions, finger prints and so on because you may very likely not have another opportunity to change those details and they will be verified before you’re admitted. Don’t allow the CBT centre personnel to rush you. He or she might feel overwhelmed by the work but you need to remind them that if there is a mistake, you will find yourself coming back to meet them again.

Also, ensure your registration is done at a credible centre to avoid future problems. Use the list of JAMB registration centres to find a centre nearest to you. It is better to do your JAMB registration at a location that you can always easily go back to should the need arise. It is also advisable to purchase the registration e-PINS at any of the locations allowed to sell them. Check the JAMB registration guidelines for this information.

All in all, if you do things right, you will have more than enough time left to focus on revising for the exam as it draws nearer. Overall, JAMB is an experience you don’t want to have more than once in your lifetime as it can be very stressful. So, do it well once and for all!

All the best!