8 Steps to Prepare Adequately for 2018 JAMB UTME – Recommended for JAMBites

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Examinations for candidates seeking admission into the university have since posed serious challenges to students. JAMB has gradually become the most feared name in the education sector of Nigeria and preparing for the examination is something that demands a lot of time, commitment, discipline, and hard work.

I have never seen anyone perform outstandingly in JAMB or in any other thing worthwhile without putting together these three things apart from those that engage in examination malpractice which is something that is usually regretted in a thousand and one ways in the future.

Let us discuss eight straight-forward steps you can take to prepare yourself for JAMB. As easy to mention as these steps are, I must say that the simplicity ends there, in practice, they are actually difficult but are very practical steps that every outstanding student I’ve ever met practiced in their own way to overcome JAMB in their time.

Step 1: Ensure you know the JAMB score you need and decide on the score you want.

You must make sure you find out the average score you need in JAMB with your subject combination to nail your desired course in the institution you want.

This average score can be deduced from the minimum normal cut-off mark for JAMB that will qualify for post-UTME for that course and in the institution as well as the previous cut-off marks set by the institution that will qualify you for admission by merit. As you read this now, make your research and write that average score down. This will help you know the minimum mark you should work towards.

After you must have done that, the next thing is to decide on the score you want. The score you want should be different from what you need, actually it should be higher. The problem of many students is that they don’t even know the score they need talk less of the score they should want to work towards while preparing for JAMB.

These students after writing JAMB then begin to make this research after which they now start praying to God to give them that score. God does not bless those kinds of efforts. Some students still do not even find out the needed score or cut-off mark until their result is out. I understand that sometimes JAMB and various schools change their cut-off marks sometimes depending on the general performance of students but you can always make a safe assumption to work with from previous cut-off marks.

Setting a higher target is a principle in line with the saying that says “you should shoot for the stars, for you never know, you may land on the moon”. When you set a high and reasonable target – what I mean by reasonable is achievable; some students set targets of ‘398’ which is quite unreasonable – you’ll most likely get something very close to it, if not exactly.

A target above 300 is high enough to spur you to action. Once you have fixed your target score, distribute it to your four subjects according to your strengths. For instance:

My target score for JAMB: 315

Use of English: 75

Mathematics: 80

Physics: 85

Chemistry: 75

Step 2: Create a study plan and reading time table.

It is one thing to set a target and it’s another thing to map out a plan to implement and reach it. I will get ‘315’ in JAMB is easier said than done. A study plan is therefore an organized schedule that a student creates that outlines study time and learning goals. Creating a study plan and a reading time table not only helps you become more organized, but it holds you accountable for your own learning outcomes and the achievement of your goal or target.

Every student will develop a different study plan; there is no correct study plan for everyone. When creating your personalized study plan, you will need to do some self-evaluation of your current schedule and time management. Find days when you have fewer personal commitments when you can squeeze more study time – while doing this, remember that you need to put in as much time as you desire to see results).

Remember, each student studies differently, so the amount of time you need to study will differ from the time others devote to studying. Also, some students find that studying at night or at early hours of the morning is better for them than during the day. Work according to your system.

Determine why you are studying – which in this case is to reach a JAMB score target – and develop a plan that can help you achieve your goal. Take into consideration previous performances (that is if you have written JAMB before) and how you prepared in those occasions. You need to also anticipate subjects that will take more time to prepare for than the others.

Lastly, create a study plan that is reasonable. Although you must set aside enough time in your schedule dedicated to your studies, blocking off five hours with no break will set you up for failure. You can spend less time studying if you do it correctly. For a detailed look at how to make a personalized study plan, explore the step-by-step instructions below.

Three steps to create your study plan:

1. Create a time chart of your current activities – Creating a time chart will allow you to see how you spend your time from day to day. Take notes about your daily activities. Record things like when you wake up, sleep, do chores, work, go out and if you’re in school, how much time you spend in school daily.

Once you have done this, check for free time available for studying and it should be up to at least three hours especially as JAMB is fast approaching, if not you will need to re-organize your daily activities and create more time for studying.

2. Develop a schedule and reading time table – Now that you have determined available days and times for studying, the next thing is to develop a schedule. It is best to have a schedule written down so you won’t forget it. Seeing it written down can make it seem more important.

You need to know subjects that will require more time to study, especially if they are your weak points. Your schedule and reading time table will highly depend on the amount of time you have left. If you are reading this and you have maybe three months left, then maybe you will need to put in more than five hours daily for work. Please be sincere to yourself here and put in as much time as is necessary.

One hour a day is simply self-deceit and will lead you nowhere. Let your plan be very definite; for example, if you have 30 chapters of a textbook to study and 15 years of past questions to tackle and you need to finish it in a month, then you may need to read a chapter a day and solve 1 year of past questions every two days. Remember to have breaks in between long hours of study in order to prevent feeling overwhelmed.

3. Stick to your study plan – A study plan works best if it is followed on a consistent basis. Some days may not go according to plan but it should always be for reasons beyond your control. Otherwise, you need to be disciplined enough to remember that your future and the future of others depending on you or that will depend on you in the future are at stake.

So, stick to your plan. You can use incentives such as eating after you’ve been able to read for three hours without getting up from your chair. You may also need to deprive yourself of some sleep at night because you can easily regain lost sleep after JAMB.

Lastly, some students find it helpful to find a study partner. Studying with a friend also preparing for JAMB allows for collaboration and discussion. When creating your study plan, check with other friends to determine if you can coordinate study sessions. However, if you tend to socialize more than study when you are around others, stick to an independent study plan. If you do choose to study with a partner, choose someone with whom you are likely to stay on task.

Step 3: Start your reading now.

If you’re in SS 1 or 2 and you are reading this article now, then I must say that you are very fortunate. It is very advisable that you create a plan, even if it is thirty minutes daily for JAMB and start as soon as possible, if you do, you will be smiling when others are breaking their heads trying to prepare months to the exam.

If you are months away from the exam, it does not matter much because you still have a great chance; but you must begin now to study with a working plan as I have described in step two. If you have just few weeks left, then what you need to do is to start this very moment to focus on going through as many credible past questions as you can, you still have a good chance.

Recommended: How to Learn: Important Ideas to Help You Become Better at Learning

Step 4: Go through at least ten recent years of past questions to get patterns.

To study effectively, you need to know the patterns used by JAMB to set questions. First and foremost, we all know that JAMB questions are usually objective and the way you read for objective type questions is not the same way you read for theory or subjective type.

Even though it’s easier to prepare for objective than the others because you can always easily infer the answer from the given options, you still need to know the common patterns they use to set their questions. For instance, if for the past ten or so years, they have set more of questions involving calculation than theory in a subject like Physics or Chemistry, this will give you a clue as to where more of your focus should be.

Step 5: Use exam focus textbooks to study according to the syllabus.

This step is also very important to take note of because so many students study haphazardly. They give excuses such as: “JAMB syllabus is just too big, I’m sure they set everything”, but that’s a big lie. Every exam has a focus; there are always things the examiners expect and assume that if you know, then you must know some other things related to it. For instance, if you know how to cook stew, then you must at least know what tomatoes, pepper and other such ingredients are.

An examiner then just needs to ask you to describe how stew is cooked and he has asked a number of questions together in one. After all, it’s just fifty questions they set apart from in English. Using exam focus textbooks – there are a lot of good ones – study with your results from the research on the patterns they have used in past questions according to their syllabus. That is the rule in one sentence.

Recommended: Comprehensive UTME eSyllabus For All Subjects

Step 6: Solve at least twenty years of past questions yourself at least twice.

Of course, this will require time but if you can do this after studying according their syllabus even more than twice, you will not regret it. Remember, as I have said earlier, your study plan all depends on how much time you have left to the examination day and how much time you are willing to give on each of those remaining days to adequate study. JAMB has been conducting this examination since the 1970s and they have surely run out of questions; all they can do is to keep rearranging past questions to make them look new.

The problem with a lot of candidates is that they study about five recent years of past questions and they are satisfied. You hold the key to success in your own hands. Use a credible JAMB Q & A for this, but do not depend solely on the answers given by the authors of the Q & A, still do your research using your textbooks on the questions you are not sure for yourself about.

Step 7: Practice at least one time test daily two weeks to the exam.

What I mean by a time test is a similar test to JAMB in which you will give yourself the amount of time JAMB usually gives or less if you want to work on your speed. At least two weeks to the exam – if possible more than that – begin practicing these time tests after which you will mark yourself or ask someone around to help you do that. This is where a credible and original Q & A will be helpful. This will help you work on speed before the real exam situation.

Pick a previous year and solve the past questions for that year for your four subject combination (or you can mix different years) according to a time limit similar to the three and half hours JAMB usually gives. It should be preferably years you have not gone through in step 6.

You should be disciplined enough not to look at the answers while solving them and if you will be tempted, maybe you should the past questions JAMB normally gives in soft copy that has not been solved. Of course, you should know that it is self-deceit to copy the already solved answers.

Step 8: Mentally write the exam before the main exam.

Many people usually do not like this kind of steps especially if they are very practical people. But playing the scene of the exam in your mind, seeing yourself going into the exam center confident and well-prepared as well as seeing yourself coming out happy and satisfied with how well you answered the questions helps you develop confidence and deal with tension as the exams approach.

On each occasion you do this, the best way to is to find a quiet place, preferably a place you stay in a lying position without sleeping of, close your eyes and begin to act the whole experience the way you want it to happen on the exam day from entering the exam center to collecting the papers, writing the exams and leaving the center after the exams. Play it in your mind until you begin to feel and believe the success in reality. This is a universal principle called the Law of Attraction.

Additional Tips:

1. Prepare very adequately for the Use of English paper.

The Use of English paper is one paper that you can finish in the shortest possible time and that is not the only advantage. Another reason you should get very much ready for Use of English is that JAMB uses it to bring students down by setting tricky questions. Use of English is very simple and is an easy and fast place to bag good marks if you know what you are doing but you need to prepare adequately for it and master its rules. A good textbook for it is the New Oxford Secondary English Course.

Recommended: English for UTME Tutorial on Test of Orals

2. Learn to read primarily to learn and acquire knowledge.

Reading just to pass an examination and get a good score is one of the greatest killers of the potential of students. Even though wanting to pass JAMB and score high so that you gain admission into the university is a good goal, it is not a good enough reason to read especially if you want to maximize your potential.

When you read with the primary aim of learning something new and acquiring new knowledge, you will discover that you will develop more interest in what you are reading and ‘interest’ is one of the things that strengthen the chemical links and bonds between the neural traces of that subject in your brain. Memories are just neural traces in the brain that get stronger and become easier to remember with application of interest, strong emotion, repetition and revision.