How To Know If A School Has Stopped Admission

After seeing a few lists, being released by her proposed university, Favour contacted me. She was worried that she might not be offered admission eventually. Well, that's possible! That's my focus in "JAMB CAPS Shows “Not Admitted”: Hope Lost?". However, I asked her if the school had stopped offering admissions for the year.

   

How would I possibly know if the school has stopped the admission for a year?

That was her reply.

After doing my homework, from my end, I told her to wait a few more weeks as the school might likely release more lists.

Fovour was not the only candidate in this mess. Hundreds of other admission seekers would equally want to know if they had to wait for more lists after a school has released some lists. Or better still, they might want to know when their schools would close admission for the year.

After all, after the closure of the admission, there are no lists to be expected again. But, when is your own school closing admission? How will you know if it has even already done that?

Let's address this concern in this post.

JAMB Will Yearly Announce the Deadline for Admission Exercise

On a norm, the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), will announce, as part of its year routine, the closing date for the admission. It can be fine to accept this date as the date that schools are expected to round off their admission activities including releasing the lists.

However, experience has shown that this directive is not forcing schools to wait till that date before finalizing their admission activities. Each school can determine how fast or late it will conclude things. While some may close up a few weeks or months before the official JAMB's announced end-date, some may take their time and explore the usual lengthy grace period JAMB has given.

Similarly, we've seen, in the past, years, when some schools even went beyond the JAMB's deadline to offer their students admission. For example, the University of Ilorin, in 2022, didn't conduct its post-UTME until February 2023 (a date that was almost two months after the JAMB deadline). The university didn't admit until around July/August 2023 (this time some universities were already selling post-UTME forms for 2023 candidates.

In short, situations can warrant schools taking time beyond the official JAMB deadline for admission closure. What's important is to have a clear understanding of what is happening in the schools so as not to misunderstand their silence for closure of admission.

Recommended: How to Know If You're Offered Admission

Seeing the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Batch Admission Lists Might Be Misleading

Students and schools love using the terms 1st batch admission lists, 2nd batch admission lists, etc. That worked fine in the past especially when schools were used to release names on papers, on certain online pages, or PDF documents.

Today, most schools, if not all, don't usually release lists on long papers, web pages, or PDF files. Most of them will give admission status on the individual student's portal. By this, the school will activate your portal and let you see if you've been admitted. They do the same on the JAMB portal (JAMB CAPS) where you monitor the progress of your admission until you're offered.

It's nearly impossible to agree or conclude that once you see your name on the JAMB CAPS or school portal, you belong to the first or second batch. In fact, as of that time, some departments, within the same school, might have not offered any of their aspirants the admissions. They do that later. So, which batch will that be?

This is why you don't just accept hook-line-and-sinker that the schools have released all the lists just because you've seen several students, courses, or departments offered. There may still be more lists coming as the school and departments reserve the right to continually offer admission until matriculation.

You May Even Be Transferred To Another Course

It's common among schools e.g. OAU, UI, FUOYE, UNILORIN, UNIBEN, etc., to transfer their students from certain courses (earlier chosen) to others. This may not be general among schools, especially polytechnics. Yet, you can hope for this if you're seeking admission at any university or college of education.

To help you navigate through this, let's look at how this works.

1. If a school decides to transfer you to another course, you will see the notice under the "transfer approval" on your JAMB CAPS.
2. Once (if) transferred, you're to click the "Accept". 
3. After that, you'll be better off changing the earlier course to the new one at the nearest CBT center.
4. After that, check the JAMB CAPS "Admission Status" to know when finally offered the new course.
5. Once offered, accept and print the JAMB admission letter

Matriculation Marks the End of the Admission Year

Officially, as earlier briefed, if your school is set for matriculation (not necessarily resumption), you should be ready to wave "bye" to the admission offer for that year.

Generally, no school would be offering admissions after the matriculation as that marks the the end of admission year or activities. If you're promised to wait till after matriculation, it's more a lie!

Hence, it's still safer to say that if there are rumors or news that more lists will come out, provided the matriculation has not been done, you may need to wait. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

Conclusion

While the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) typically announces a closing date for yearly admission exercises, it's essential to recognize that schools may conclude their admissions at different times, some even extending beyond JAMB's deadline.

The use of terms like 1st, 2nd, or 3rd batch admission lists can be misleading in today's digital age, as admission statuses are now displayed on individual student portals. Schools reserve the right to continue offering admission until matriculation, and some may even transfer students to different courses.

 Once a school holds its matriculation, it typically marks the end of the admission year. Therefore, staying informed and monitoring official announcements is crucial for those awaiting admission decisions.

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