In the previous article we look at 10 major causes of admission failure into Nigeria Universities. A recent survey and statistics show that when these issues are properly addressed, admission chances increase from 20% to 80%. I know you are thinking how can I properly address these problems? Don’t worry this chapter will address that in the most comprehensive way. The ideas shared here are based on survey, statistics, experiment and interview. Problem 1 – Lack of Orientation Solution – Get the Foundation Right If there is anything I have learnt in life, it is that success does not happen by chance. If you are going to succeed in life including academically, you should get the foundation right. How do you do this? One way is to set values for your life and stick to those values. Besides, you should set internal values and follow them. Now back to the issue of lack of admission orientation how can a prospective student get proper orientation to get the foundation right and set values for himself? Orientation should start especially when one is in the final year of secondary school. At that point you should know what you are going to university to study. You should know what you want to become in life. That of course should be the foundation to build on. Then you should have another related course that can serve as an alternative or a second choice should that fail. Right from that time you should start building on that. Apart from the course you want to do, you should also decide on institution and your chances of admission. You can get proper orientation from any of your teacher. You can also get orientation by visiting your prospective institution and inquire from their admission department. You can also visit the website of such institution and call them. If you want to contact these institutions, simply visit their website, go under contact and check their contact number. If you have subscribed to Project SMS UPDATES, we will send the contact number of somebody you can correspond with in your prospective university. You should ask about admission requirement and admission opportunity for people in your area. Fortified with this foundation, you can set value for yourself and decide on how you can build on what you already know to increase your admission chances. Please note that you should know all these before you apply for SSCE, JAMB and Post jamb EXAMS. Remember, information is power to transformation. Many people fail due to lack of information. Problem 2 – Parents Interference with Children Choice Solution – Live on Purpose Parents’ interference with their children choice of institution and course is one of the major causes of admission failure today. As a child, you have your life to live. That fact that your father is a doctor does not mean you too must be a doctor. Everyone has a purpose to fulfill in life. Your greatest challenge however is to know what that purpose is. You need to discover what is it you know how to do best. What is the profession you desire? You should sit down and think. Then write down all the things you know how to do best. Then ask your parents, friends and neighbors to tell you three things you know how to do best. Evaluate their responses and pick one or two that apply to you most. That may form the foundation for you. Without giving in to pressure from your parent or guardian, follow that which you think appeal to you. The reason is because you have the motivation and the willingness. In that case, it will be easier to build on that foundation. If you are preparing for that program it will be easy for you. Don’t be Jack of all trade. Don’t allow your parents to pressure you into what is not your purpose in life. Problem 3 – Inadequate Preparation for JAMB SOLUTION – Invest in Your Mind Although the number of those passing JAMB in recent years has increased, a considerable number of applicants still fail. For one thing, if you don’t score up to 200 you will not be eligible to write post UME in many federal universities. That of course may reduce you to your second choice if it is a state university. So, you will need to brand yourself to pass JAMB. One way to do this is through personal effort. Invest in your mind by reading. For instance, there are past questions in JAMB. Buy them and use them in your personal preparation along with JAMB syllabus. This will help you to know the kind of questions that are usually set in JAMB. Besides, there are extra-moral classes or coaching center for JAMB, why not attend. This kind of self investment will save you time and help you to stay focus. Besides, the knowledge you acquire during this preparation is instrumental to your success during post UME and your first year of admission. Problem 4 – Inadequate Preparation for Post UME Solution – Prepare Yourself Many would-be undergraduate apply for post UME without formal preparation. Surveys show that more than half of the applicants just apply and come in the exam day to write. The result? Failure. The truth is that things don’t work that way. Interestingly some universities made past questions available. What they expect you to do is to analyze this past question and see how you can master the kind of question they set. Apart from using past question for preparation, there are extra- moral classes around your choice university on post UME. I will advice you to attend this. Some of them have first hand information on the kind of questions that are normally set and include it in their curriculum. Even if you can not attend all the classes, you can attend special classes organized few days to the exam. Survey shows that those who do not prepare for post UME hardly make their first choice if at all they make the second choice. If there is anything you have learnt here, don’t leave anything to chance. Prepare for the exam and it shall be well with you. Problem 5 – Missing of Application Deadline and Exam Date Solution – Get Updates Through Project SMS Updates Lack of information has cost many brilliant students admission. Many miss application deadline even when they have their money. Experience of victims show that these persons don’t have any means of getting information from these institutions. Some leave it to chance while others rely on friend and relatives. The truth is that these persons can hardly help you especially when they have important things to do. Many institutions provide updates in newspaper, local media and school bulletin. And if you are not especially interested you will not know of such development. In view of the seriousness of this problem that has cost many time and money, we have role out what we call project SMS updates. For those who are seeking admission, they will use the general entrance level. You will be notified of scholarship opportunity that is available. For more information visit: http:// wwwNigeriaUniversitiesUpdates.com Problem 6 – Failure to Observe Admission Percentage Ratio Solution – Do Your Home Work Today students just apply to any university without considering risk. There are three factors to consider when talking about admission percentage. Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, Jamb registrar identifies these as merit, catchment and educational less developed state with percentage of 45:35:20 respectively. The latter chapter contains universities and their catchment including educational less developed state. So, let us do the mathematics together. Case1 – If you are a brilliant student that means you can pass on merit. Already you have 45% chance of admission. Assuming the university you choose is from your catchment area you have additional 35% chance of admission. If you add that to 45% , you have 80% chance of admission. So, even if you are not from educational less developed states, you have 80% chance of admission. Case 2 – Assuming you are not brilliant, it means you only have 55% chance left. Now if you are not from ELPS, you are left with 35% chance of admission. Due to lack of information, some of these students who have 35% chance of admission will still choose universities that are not in their catchment area. That simply means they have no chance of admission. No wonder many of them fail. The gist is this; determine which of these factors apply to you. Your aim is to maximize the percentage thereby increasing your chance of admission. There is still another problem. We have the 60:40 science/ARTS ratio. You know that in many secondary schools, the numbers of those in science class are less than those in Art class. Now JAMB says, even with their small population universities should take more students from science class. So, don’t be surprise if majority of science students in your class get admission. That is both Arts and commercial students combine will share the remaining 40% after science has taken 60%. So, if you find yourself in Art class, you have to read very well. This is because admission into Art courses will be very competitive especially if you are not from educational less developed sates. Problem 7 – Examination Malpractice Solution – Take Charge of Your Academic Future The society has transferred to the children of our time a culture of success which stems from laziness. The generally accepted slogan “The end justifies the means” is portrayed in society from the point of view that success can be achieved through any available means whether positive or negative. Decide on how you want to prepare for each exam. Set goals for yourself and stick to it. There are three examinations you will pass through before admission will be possible into universities. We have SSCE, JAMB and Post UME. Examination malpractice is common during SSCE and JAMB. So my advise is what is worth doing is worth doing well. If you know you are going to school then invest in yourself. Read, attend classes instead of relying on examination malpractice. It is said that a man is what he knows. Also, life gives back to you what you give to it. Conclusively these 10 major factors have been identified as the major cause of admission failure. I belief the information shared so far can be instrumental to your success. Read them, digest them. If you have any problem, call me for clarification. I want to share your testimony so please follow this information to the letter. One last thing, don’t take failure personal. Learn from your failure. Note that you can fail successfully.