Today I will be talking about things you must consider before choosing a course to study in Nigeria. Choosing a course is one thing and choosing a profitable course is another, I have witnessed many cases whereby Student regret having applied for a particular course. Mind you, I am not undermining any course whatsoever but rather setting out criteria  I think your course must and should be able meet up with. Choosing a good course to study could be sometimes one of the most difficult thing to do.

Why Does Choosing A Good Course Matter.

A lot of student end up making the statement with the local slangs saying “Watin you study for University no matter“, my dear it does, you don’t expect an Engineer to be working in a hospital as a Medical Doctor without a license or a doctor working in a law firm without a license either, though i could say that the course you end up studying those not completely define you but it only depends on what you decide to integrated into, so if you plan on working with your certificate i would advice you take these considerations to heart.

Things to Consider Before Choosing a Course to study in Nigeria 

1.  Nigeria Today: It is the hope of every undergraduate student to get employed immediately they graduate but it does not always end up that way knowing fully well the rate of unemployment in the country,  before choosing a specific course to study you should first consider how easy it would be for you to be employed either by the Government or by multinational. I would advise you choose a course that would give you the opportunity/skill of establishing your self therefore not been dependent of anybody.

Try to remember that a university is not a job training  centre. Despite the overwhelming pressure today to think about your degree in terms of future employment, don’t let that overwhelm your decision-making (or that of your parents!). It is perfectly understandable that you will want to draw a tight connection between your degree and future employment. But there are reasons why you should keep an open mind.

The world of work is changing rapidly. Many of the jobs that will be available when you graduate haven’t even been invented yet. Young people today are likely to go through five to seven major career changes over their lifetime. And this means a narrow, vocationally focused degree will not necessarily set you up best for the future.

2. How competitive the Course is: Applying for a competitive course reduces your chance of being admitted to a particular university

let’s take for example a school like Uniben with over 76, 000 student applicant with 26, 000 applying for medicine that can only take up to 100 student, it becomes difficult for a student to be admitted into such department because of the competitive nature of the course

Note: I am not saying should not apply your desired course because it is competitive, No! not at all, all I am saying is that you should know your academic strength because the competitive your cause the more effort you have to put to ensure you meet all requirement for that course.

3. Consider Your Interest: It is important to have a high interest for the undergraduate degree program or course you are considering to study. To survive the degree program is serious business which requires an utmost commitment. Most of the programs and courses take at least four years, which means you must be prepared to commit time and money for your education.

By visiting the college or university website you will be able to see all the courses offered and the minimum entry requirement. To help get rid of the confusion you can visit any career guidance office (though very few in Nigeria) to help you sort out the confusion or better still do an intense study on your flairs, likes and dislikes as well as personality traits to find out where you best fit into in the labour market. Interest is paramount when it comes to choosing a Bachelor’s degree program course to study. You need to be clear about the reasons why you would want to enroll for a particular program and apply for a particular course.

This will grant you the opportunity to take up a course that helps you get the desired career. When you have an interest in taking up a particular course, such as a Bachelor of Nursing, or Bachelor of Arts, the challenges posed by the course will not be much of a problem. You will be ready to handle each challenge until you have completed the course and

4. Academic Strength: Knowing your Academic Strength is an Important step to choosing your study course, student are expected to involve themselves with things they are good at, take for example a student loves engineering but yet hate physics and mathematics, it becomes quite difficult for such to pass Jamb when he/she is not good at those subject earlier mentioned even if he or she would be able to scale through it will still very difficult for such to perform well after been admitted.

5. What You Want: Regardless of the above point mentioned the most important is centered on what you want

Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal – a commitment to excellence – that will enable you to attain the success you seek.

If you are sure of what you want  then i would advise you work fervently for it. Working for what you want is important. If you do not you will be working for what you don’t want. You reap what you sow. If you do not put in the work then you will not get anything. Hard work and dedication is what takes you from the bottom to the top.