All You Need to Know About Admission “Runs” and Scams

A lot of people do confuse educational consultancy services with “admission for money”. Consultants may not give you a 100% guarantee you will be given admission, however, we can give you as much guidance and information needed to ensure your admission process is with less stress. We can offer you book recommendations, tutorials, and other necessary procedural guides. But these days, the black cloth of “admission runs” has been mixed with consultancy – let us review some important questions in the next few paragraphs.

What do You Need to Gain Admission?

You majorly need important information to gain admission, admission for money service is against my personal principle as a person, so, you can’t see me promoting it. I’m a student too, and I paid no one before gaining admission to study a medical course, so, if you’re qualified for admission, why should you pay?!

Basically, the amount you’ll spend on “admission for money” service is enough to get you admitted easily if spent on attending good tutorials, getting right past questions and textbooks and eating good food, having better study time, and good rest. You may not get it at once, but you’ll eventually get it as time goes by.

What’s the essence of gaining that admission with money when you’ll eventually get withdrawn for poor performance in the first year? If you still believe education is the way, do it right, study, pray and pass.

Reasons, why people pay for admission runs to gain admission.

As we all know, gaining admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria is not impossible but unarguably difficult. There are series of exams written before one is eligible for admission, from WAEC, JAMB UTME to Post UTME and one has to perform excellently in all to be given admission. But the competition is usually tough given the number of aspirants applying to various schools across the nation and the limited admission quota available.

We have seen people being denied admission a lot because they did not meet the cut-off or maybe, lack adequate preparation. Some aspirants have written UTME three, four, five or even six times but are not given admission. There is always this desire to be admitted. I was once an aspirant too and I know how depressing it can be to be disqualified after so much sacrifice and effort. Some have attempted suicide because they were not admitted. These have led to people being swayed by fraudsters who give them a false guarantee of admission in exchange for money – popularly refer to as “admission runs”. A person who has tried about five times and thought of giving up, when such a person is given a guarantee, won’t he/she be swayed? Fraudsters have seen that this method has worked over and over again and used it to scam people. We all need to be on alert for people who promise admission. No one can promise you admission except the school itself considers you for admission. We have researched and discovered that this is the most common reason why people pay to gain admission.

Apart from frustration from the prolonged seeking of admission, other reasons are not knowing how the admission process works, or bad admission process by the concerned schools (I mean situations, where students are not being given a level pay ground to contest for the available slots but rather some of these slots are “given out”). However, we believe this only happens in a few cases.

What are the Effects of Paying for Admission Runs to Gain Admission?

The major effect of admission runs is the waste of time and money. Most of those who ask for money in exchange for guaranteed admission are scammers. Note the word “guaranteed”. The tutorial owner or educational consultant you pay to will not guarantee you admission but will guide you toward the best and easiest possible way to gain admission. You end up losing money and even the supposed admission while losing time alongside. That’s a total loss. This alone could make the person give up and lose all hope and attempt suicide. 

Also, it gives room for more malpractice while promoting a bad mentality amongst students. They end up having the urge to run admission as they say, as it may be the way they think they will be able to get what they want. This may also have an effect if the student is one way or the other able to get into the tertiary institution.

Suggested: What Next After JAMB Releases 2022 Official Cut-Off Marks?

How To Identify Admission Scammers

An admission scammer looks for some characteristics in order to gain access to you, you may not have noticed easily, but here are some insights:

A. They use Your Psychology

An admission scammer knows you are in dire need of admission and you believe that gaining admission in Nigeria is not “ojulasan” (not easy peasy, not an easy thing, requires a helping hand) and that you’re ready to do what it takes to gain this admission. Those “what it takes” include:

• Paying for expo/cheating in exams 
• Looking for miracle centers
• Paying for Admission 

The above are like diagnoses, these help them to tailor whatever they want to say to “what you wanted to hear”. So they basically use the way you think against you.

B. They Use your Ignorance

They know you’re not aware they are scammers, that’s the first fact, and if you are, they’ll mix the truth with lies for you. They know you don’t know whether the school you’re applying to has a website, nor have valid information sources, nor do you know about the school’s admission process. They may have their own pre-designed form, put the school logo there, and show it to you to make you believe it. They’ll even be selling forms when the school form has officially closed. These are not speculations, but what we have seen over time.

C. They force to you to make fast unnecessary decisions! 

Yeah, they’ll start using “prompting words” for example:

• Only 10 slots remain and 8 have been taken. 
• The admission form closes tomorrow.
• The admission list will be compiled tonight. 
• Thank God you messaged, I just finished calling the admissions office, and they said they are closing the admissions tomorrow night. Bla bla bla.

They give you conditions that put you in tough state to make decisions you can’t take a second thought on and this makes you forget to do background checks or verification on them. Before you know it, you already deposited into their account. Refundable? No! People who are faceless do not have a refund policy. 

D. The are “NKAs”

Actually, I mean they have “no known address”. You can’t request a video call with them, they have no registered business name, no physical business address, they may have Facebook and WhatsApp groups, no website or have a scam website or phishing links and to top it all, they will have an email similar to the school email. Something like oauife@hotmail.com or admission@xyz.com, when official OAU emails are @oauife.edu.ng not @ hotmail.com.

E. They ask for Money. 

After successfully tasking your mind to see the reason why you have to pay them, and convincing you that they work for the school – they will now ask you for money, ranging from 10-80,000 Naira or more for form and admission runs. That’s not sane you know? 

If you’re not paying at once, at intervals, they’ll call you to stylishly ask for the balance, with some excuses. Eg. “your processing has blocked on the way, we need to pay 20,000 Naira to one man who will make it through, I can even give you his number to confirm from it” – it’s a gang rape, the other person will tell you the same thing. So, watch out for these signs.

These are things that have been happening over the years and we hope they can be eradicated or drastically reduced.

READ ALSO: 3 Ways to Escape From ASUU Strike Forever

Recommendations while dealing online concerning admissions

1. Do Background Checks

If you’re giving anyone your educational services online, make sure you do background checks before sending them your money. Call them and confirm. Also, confirm if the school is still selling application forms. Also try to get in touch with those already in the school. 

2. Step in the right direction. 

Educational Consultants are available online and physically, general or peculiar to each school to assist you with the necessary guidance and information needed to gain admission or plan your admission journey. Location isn’t a barrier, reach out to them. 

Beware of those who requested money to offer you admission placements, exam malpractice or answers, change of UTME, JUPEB, or any results.

When you give your services to online consultants, do ensure your login details and other data were given to you and confirm your access to the school portal. Prepare well for your exams,  get the right books, information, and guidance, and pray for success. 

At admission companion, we’re always available to guide you in your admission journey, we’re your guide to where you want to be.

Do you have a scam story? Have you ever been scammed by admission pullers? Do share your experience with us in the comments section or in private text.

Spread the Love by using the Share buttons to share to your Social Media Platforms.