UP exam results bring joy, anguish to applicants

It was a busy day at the Office of Admissions on the corner of Kalaw and Quirino streets in the UP Diliman campus in Quezon City. The highly-anticipated list of qualified applicants to the premiere state university was due for release “in the third week of January" and many high school students stayed up late checking the official UPCAT (UP College Admission Test) website. You could taste the tension as people approached the bulletin boards.

Armed with lists of names to check and cellphone cameras to document the desired victories, people inevitably bumped one another in their attempt to get close enough to the list of qualifiers, which had not yet been posted online as of Monday morning. People didn’t seem to mind the lack of personal space, as strangers would look up from the list and smile at each other as if to say, “We’re in the same boat." Jan Bernadas, an instructor at UP Manila, approached the board nervously. "Sana maganda yung babati sakin [I hope good news will greet me]," he said. Bernadas is indeed well-met and he wastes no time capturing the image of his brother's name on the list with his camera. Eufemio Agbayani of Quezon City Science High School said that preparing for this morning’s periodical exam was pushed to the sidelines as there was only one thing on every senior’s mind: Did I make it? Only one of six applicants is admitted to UP Founded in 1908, the University of the Philippines has been the top choice for tertiary education for many Filipinos, across all classes, for financial reasons, among others. Being accepted into UP is no small feat. From approximately sixty thousand applicants annually, only ten thousand or so qualify, based on statistics posted on the university's official website. The UPCAT is a five-hour examination in English and Filipino with subtests on language proficiency, reading comprehension, mathematics, and science. Applicants who take the UPCAT are ranked based on their admission grades which are the combined weighted scores in the UPCAT subtests and the high school weighted average. The top-ranking applicants, based on the quota and cut-off grade set by each campus, will qualify. An article aiming to give its readers an edge in taking the UPCAT lists ten lesser-known facts about the UPCAT. Aspiring Iskos and Iskas undergo an impressive preparation process. Review centers offer packages specifically designed to increase a student’s chances of gaining admission, and many parents gladly pay the fee. Some schools, like Quezon City Science High School, sponsor review sessions for their students. “Nagpamisa pa nga sila sa araw bago mag UPCAT [Some parents even offered masses the day before the test]," Agbayani told GMANews.TV. Another reason for choosing UP is loyalty. Maxene Sta. Maria of Assumption College, Antipolo said that had she not seen her name on the list, she would have been the first of her siblings to not be an Iska. Maxene, after embracing her mother in a tight hug, smiled through her tears. Asked if they could be interviewed, the mother-daughter pair agreed. “Yes, okay, pumasa naman siya," she said, beaming at her daughter. Maxene didn’t qualify for her first choice – Psychology – but will be enrolling in the Family Life and Child Development program. Asked why she was crying although she passed, Maxene laughed and said, “It’s UP!" Maxene’s statement may just sum it up. Many of the students who were crowding around the list would respond to the question “Is this your first choice?" with a quizzical look and a shrug. “Syempre, UP ito eh [Of course, this is UP]," said one of Agbayani’s classmates, who qualified for admission, but was listed as DPWS, which means he had qualified, but would have to find a degree program with an available slot. Agbayani did not qualify for his first choice, Business Administration and Accounting, which is a quota course. However, he will pursue a degree in History, still in UP. Asked if he had alternative plans, he said no. “UP or UP ako," said Agbayani. Asked the same question, Agbayani explained that it was their periodical exam week and were dismissed early. “Makapasa o hindi, hindi rin talaga makakapagconcentrate sa perio [Whether I get into UP or not, I will still be unable to concentrate for the periodical exams]," said Agbayani. “Kasi kung makapasa, masayang masaya ka, kung hindi, hindi ka makapag-aral sa lungkot [Because if you pass, you will be really, really glad but if you fail, you won’t be able to study because of sadness]," he explained. Xientians – what Quezon City Science High School students call themselves – were not the only ones in uniform. Plaid skirts of all shades were visible, as well as khaki and navy blue pants. Two girls in uniform sat a few feet away from the bustling crowd, and looked troubled. When approached, they were hesitant to talk. “Sila na lang po, nagluluksa pa kami eh [Talk to them instead because we are in mourning]," said one girl. Their names were not on the list. Parents join the fray Besides students, parents also made up a big part of the first day crowd. Jibi Delos Angeles, a forty-something UP Psychology graduate himself, sat observing the crowd. “It wasn’t like this when I was here. We’d go straight to AS," he said. Delos Angeles was there with his wife, and they had just spotted their eldest son’s name on the list. “It’s our wedding anniversary today," he said, smiling from ear to ear. “This is such a nice gift, don’t you think?" “The best kind of exposure is here. You can find all kinds of people. Academics is such a small part of education. When you graduate, you realize how little you learned inside the classroom," shared Delos Angeles. But getting a well-rounded education is just only one side of the coin. After all, UP remains among the most affordable universities, even with the recent 300 percent tuition fee increase Agbayani said that if he had not passed the UPCAT, he would go to the “other UP" – referring to the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) in Sta. Mesa, Manila – because it is all his family can afford. In a publicly-posted letter to the Philippine Collegian, Amelia P. Guevara, officer-in-charge of UP and Vice President for Academic Affairs wrote that UP exists to provide the best education possible to the most deserving students, rich or poor. The letter addressed several claims made by the Collegian regarding the declining ratio of public school graduates to private school graduates among UPCAT qualifiers. [See Guevara’s letter here.] Although she admits that public school students allowed to enroll in UP have continued to fall since 2002, this is not due to the tuition fee increase, which was imposed in 2007. The lower passing rate of public school students may be caused by other reasons, such as the deteriorating quality of public school education; a reputation that UP has – fortunately – yet to earn. - RJAB, GMANews.TV