The UPCAT is daunting for two reasons: (a) first, the statistical probability of being included in the list of passers is highly discouraging, given the hundreds of thousands of takers fighting tooth and nail to get in to UP; and (b) the UPCAT itself is a battery of rigorous exams designed to measure one's intellectual aptitude and mental sharpness drawn from a series of subjects ranging from calculus to reading arcane literary selections in Filipino. Verily, for many UPCAT takers, the culmination of the annual affair is a bloodbath of sorts.
Consider the following figures: In 2015 alone, about 87,000 students took the UPCAT across various testing centers in the Philippines. This figure dipped in 2016 due to the implementation of the K-12 program. In 2017, the online applications surged to 103,091. This year in 2018, the UP Admissions Office reached a record number of applicants totalling more or less 160,000.
On average, only 15-17% of UPCAT takers end up passing the highly competitive exams -- the lowest admission rate among all major universities in the Philippines. This year in 2018, owing to the sheer volume of applicants, UPCAT becomes even more competitive, with only about 8-10% of takers expected to make the cut.
THE PREFERRED CHOICE
Why is the University of the Philippines (UP) the preferred choice for college among many of graduating Filipino senior high school students?
There are three main reasons for this preference: (a) quality of education, (b) vibrant life in any of UP's campuses, and (c) free tuition.
There is no doubt that UP is the leading tertiary academic institution in the Philippines. This can be easily seen by the fact that the UP System (including Diliman, Los Banos, Manila, Cebu, Mindanao, Open University, Clark, Miag-ao, Baguio) has the most number of CHED Centers of Excellence, notably UP Diliman. By and large, this can be attributed to UP's roster of faculty, many of whom count as some of the best, if not the best, in their respective fields.
In terms of performance in licensure and board exams, UP holds the prestige of being a perennial top performing university, with countless topnotchers to boot.
In politics, public service, law, and economics, many of UP's graduates end up occupying vital positions. The same holds true in cultural, literary, and artistic scenes, where artists and cultural workers from UP lead the way.
It's no wonder then that in terms of international prominence, UP consistently ranks as the best in the Philippines and one of the best in Asia and the world.
STUDENT LIFE
It is said that the student population of UP is a microcosm of Philippine society. The population is so diverse, you'll meet all sorts of people in the campus. From the sons and daughters of politicians and industry titans to teen-age geniuses to children of farmers and jeepney drivers to underground rebels to atheists to Jesus freaks to beauty queens to award-winning writers to star athletes to hardcore feminists to chauvinists to K-pop fanatics to social activists willing to go to prison or even die for their beliefs, everyone has a place in UP.
Additionally, there are literally hundreds of student organizations catering to every spectrum of interests of the student body, so one is bound to find a group of people sharing the same interests, no matter how obscure or esoteric.
Indeed, for most UP students, college life in the UP campus is a transformative experience.
FREE TUITION
Another major draw to UP is the fact that as a state university, it is included in the Quality Tertiary Education Act of 2017, which prescribes free tuition for all state colleges and universities. Imagine studying at the top university in the country at zero cost. UP students literally pay nothing -- not even for miscellaneous fees.
These are the reasons why, despite the seemingly insurmountable odds of acing the UPCAT, many graduating senior high school students and their parents remain undeterred in gearing up for UPCAT. After all, UPCAT affords all takers an even playing field: it doesn't matter if you graduated class valedictorian or the goat of your high school class, you can take the UPCAT regardless.
The UPCAT is typically the first college entrance test to be administered, so in a way it serves as a gauge of how well-prepared you are in taking these sort of tests down the line.
This series serves as a guide on how you should prepare for the UPCAT -- as well as other college entrance tests such as the University of Santo Tomas Entrance Test or USTET, Ateneo College Entrance Test or ACET, and the De La Salle University College Entrance Test or DLSU-CET -- before, during, and after the exam itself.
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Here's the complete PREPARING FOR THE UPCAT series in brief: