Are you worried about which schools to pick, especially as your First and Second choice in JAMB this year?

In this guide,

You will see how to choose first and second choice in JAMB and whether to pick a University, Polytechnic or College of Education as your first choice in JAMB.

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ALSO SEE: What To Consider When Choosing an Institution in JAMB

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Take note.

It will be required of you to choose a first, 2nd, 3rd and even 4th choice of institution during your JAMB registration.

And any mistake can cost you your admission or an extra money for correction.

So let’s see how to make your choice of institutions in JAMB as well as which schools to pick.

See how to choose your first and second choice in JAMB

Although.

The 4th choice is fixed and your 3rd choice won’t matter much but your first and second choice in JAMB can make or mar your admission.

See how and what to choose…

1. First choice in JAMB

If you have any Federal School in mind, make sure you pick it here as your first choice in JAMB.

Why?

No federal school will ever accept being your 2nd choice because there are thousands of other candidates that chose them as first choice.

So why would they leave those first choice candidates and accept you that made them 2nd choice?

Therefore,

Pick a Federal University, Federal Polytechnic or College as your first choice.

But if you don’t have any Federal School in mind…

There are many popular State Schools that will also prefer to be your first choice in JAMB.

2. Second choice in JAMB

Let’s put it this way,

First choice in JAMB is your main plan while this second choice of institution is your “backup” plan.

In case you don’t meet the cutoff marks or ‘shakara’ of your first choice institution, you can easily fall back to your 2nd choice for acceptance.

However,

Most of these schools, especially those Universities that accept 2nd choice can be tricky.

As confirmed by a Topper who had once spoken with a JAMB official on this matter, 2nd choice “Universities” may accept you for admission sake but they’d likely change your course to what you least wanted.

So what do you do?

Remember that no federal University accepts this 2nd position.

And avoid State Universities here too, unless you won’t mind them changing your course or you plan to make them your 1st choice later.

To be on the safe side,

Pick a good State Polytechnic or a Private University as your 2nd choice.

3. Third choice in JAMB

Be it Federal, State or even Private, no University considers candidates that chose them as 3rd choice.

Even the State Polytechnics that may accept third choice are very few and can also be tricky.

Your best pick for this 3rd choice in JAMB is a College of Education.

A State College of Education, to be precise because federal schools are usually too proud.

But State Colleges of Education would be satisfied with the mere fact that you even chose them at all.

4. Fourth choice in JAMB

This last spot is always reserved for IEIs — Innovative Enterprise Institutions.

IEIs are the official institutions for learning crafts and vocations. They are well recognised and award National Diplomas (ND) to their graduands.

Still not interested in them?

Well,

Innovative Enterprise Institutions (IEIs) are the only institutions available for your fourth choice in JAMB, so just pick any one to fill in the gap.

Which schools to choose

Normally,

• 1st choice: University
• 2nd choice: Polytechnic
• 3rd choice: College of Education
• 4th choice: Innovative Enterprise

But if a Polytechnic will help your career the most, there is no harm in choosing a good Polytechnic as your first choice in JAMB.

In fact.

You can even pick different Colleges of Education as your first choice, 2nd and 3rd choice if you are targeting a professional teaching career.

Any school can go for any position but just don’t choose one school twice or more — that’s a waste of choice.

And also be sure that the school accepts the position you are picking it for.

Schools and the position they accept

School Type	1st Choice	2nd Choice	3rd Choice
Federal Universities	ALL	NONE	NONE
State Universities	ALL	SOME	NONE
Private Universities	ALL	MANY	NONE
Federal Polytechnics	ALL	NONE	NONE
State Polytechnics	ALL	MANY	NONE
Private Polytechnics	ALL	MANY	SOME
Federal Colleges of Education	ALL	SOME	NONE
State Colleges of Education	ALL	ALL	MANY
Private Colleges of Education	ALL	ALL	MANY

*KEYS

ALL: means that all that School Type will accept that position.

MANY: means that many of that School Type will accept that position.

SOME: means some of that School Type will accept that position.

NONE: means that none of that School Type will accept that position.

Conclusion

Remember.

You can always pay later to change your institution and make any School your first choice in JAMB.

But sometimes, it may be too late.

So if you wish to make the right choice of institutions in JAMB and avoid the extra costs, follow the above guide.

GOOD LUCK.

Do you have something to ask on how to choose first and second choice in JAMB? Comment below and a staff or fellow ACADite will reply you.