How to Ace the Ruth Titilayo Educational Foundation (RTEF) Scholarship Aptitude Test

Hello there. If you are reading this, I have to tell you congratulations for making it to this stage of the Ruth Titilayo Educational Foundation (RTEF) Scholarship. Without doubt, this is a very competitive scholarship and to be at this stage is no small feat. As a previous awardee, I can vividly remember that during my set, we were 6000+ who applied for this scholarship. 64 of us made it to the aptitude test stage, and out of that number, only 32 made it to interview stage and even lesser number got awarded. I am not saying this to scare you, just to let you know that you should be really proud of your achievement thus far. However, your journey to clinching this scholarship is far from over and this article will go over all you need to know to prepare for the aptitude test.

Preparing for the Aptitude Test:

The first thing you need to bear in mind when preparing for this test is that you should read to score the highest not just to pass. The reason I say this is because the scholarship shortlists people from the aptitude test stage to the interview stage by making use of elimination by standard deviation. Meaning that if you score falls below the average mark, you may likely not make it to the next stage. To put it into perspective, if the test is 40 marks and the standard deviation of the scores is 25 marks, it means everybody who scores 25 marks and below will be screened out because a large number of candidates scored above the 25 mark.

I believe this will bring about the next question in your mind; ‘So how do I ace this test?’ Well, to ace this test, you first have to be aware of what to expect.

What to expect:

1. Word Problems:

One thing you can be sure to see in your aptitude test are a lot of word problems. The questions are actually set to be fair to students in all faculties, whether science, art of commercial. However, make no mistake, the questions will test how well you can think and how fast as well. The questions you would get in math would revolve around ratio, proportion, percentages, and geometry. prepare accordingly. You can make use of AI to prepare you in regards to these topics or consult past questions like those from MTN scholarships, GRE, GMAT or NNPC.

2. Logic and Reasoning

A section of questions you will come across in the aptitude test will be ones which would test your logical reasoning. Take for example this question below:

“Every time I wear my red socks, my team wins.” This is an example of:

a) Causal reasoning

b) Correlation mistaken for causation

c) Deductive logic

d) Valid syllogism

Those are the kind of questions to expect. Again you could practice by making use of AI to train you on these kind of questions.

3. Grammar

Another aspect of the RTEF aptitude test will be to test your grammar. Kindly brace yourself for A level grammar tests. Familiarize with as much big words as you can as well as synonyms and antonyms for a lot of words as you will find them very useful. Kindly note that comprehension questions will be part of the questions you will come across so kindly prepare yourself to be able to read fast and answer as quickly as possible. This is so as the comprehension passages are likely to be very lengthy designed to consume as much as your time as possible before you get down to answering the questions. So a strategy I always suggest is to first read the questions and then look for the answers to the questions in the passage. This saves you a lot of time you would use in reading the whole passage before going down to read the questions and looking up to find the answers again.

4. Quantitative Reasoning (For candidates in secondary school)

For candidates in secondary schools, it is advised you cast your mind back to the quantitative reasoning questions you solved back in primary school as there is a very high chance that you would meet these questions in your test. Practice effectively, time yourself and make sure that you are able to achieve both speed and precision in your test.

Things to avoid in your test:

1. Examination Malpractice: as true with every other exam, examination malpractice is hugely frowned upon by RTEF. The aptitude test will be heavily proctored with features like full screen mode, screen monitoring, and tab switch monitoring implemented. If found guilty of malpractice, your exam will be ended immediately and you will automatically be disqualified from the scholarship. Refuse the thought of cheating. The exams are really something you can handle. YOU DO NOT NEED TO CHEAT!!! Beat your chest 3 times and repeat after me; I WILL NOT CHEAT!!!
2. Using an unreliable network: I will honestly advice you against using a network which you do not trust to take this test. Reason being that the test is dependent on your bandwidth being available and steady throughout the duration of this test. Hence, any fluctuation in network performance will affect your test progress and possibly halt your test, robbing you of precious minutes in your test or worse, leading to the end of your scholarship journey. Have a backup network readily available as well to prevent any surprises.
3. Using a faulty phone or a phone which always receive calls: In my experience, I will always advice making use of a laptop for the purpose of this test. Reason being that, most laptops have a good enough processor and RAM to handle the process of the test seamlessly as opposed to phones which due to low RAM (e.g 1GB RAM) could result in multiple hitches in your test like bringing out the dreaded ‘Android is not responding’ message. In addition to this, it is a known fact that calls on phones disrupts data connections for the period of the call and as I earlier mentioned, the need for a seamless connection throughout the entire period of the test can really not be overemphasized. So please prepare accordingly to avoid such problems.
4. Coming late to your test: The aptitude test for the RTEF scholarships are given by a limited access duration. Your test would only be available to be taken for an hour after which access will be closed. Hence, any minute missed in your test before you log in is a minute less you have to attempt your questions. I would advice being settled and ready to take your test at least 10-15 minutes before the test commences. This gives you the chance to stay on top on your situation and go into your exam with a clear and prepared mind.

With these tips, I am sure you are absolutely on your way to crush your test. Remember to prepare accordingly and really hard to make the top of the list, show up on time, and also avoid whatever will disqualify you or hamper your chances of making it to the next stage of the scholarship. Another article will be posted on the website on how to crush the interview. In the mean time, if you have any question, make sure to leave them in the comment box below and I will be sure to respond to each accordingly. Cheers and Good luck!!!