I’m going to spare you another column about Rizal mainly because I need a break myself from reading so much about him. For the last few days, I have been reading on Rizal’s life and works in order to prepare two papers about him for a symposium and conference.
For today’s (Wednesday) column, I thought I would focus on the UP College Admissions Test (UPCAT). I will have to start with an apology. I intended to announce the timelines for UPCAT but last week I was so busy that I missed out completely on the first deadline, which was June 18 for applicants from Metro Manila schools. Fortunately, there is another deadline, June 25, for applicants from schools outside Metro Manila, and its students from these schools that I want to push harder.
There has been a lot of criticism raised against UP for catering mainly to Metro Manila residents, and to the upper class, but this happens in part because students from outside Metro Manila tend to be more reluctant to even try the UPCAT. This applies to both public and private schools, and sometimes it’s the school administrators themselves who discourage the students, telling them they are not bright enough, or that even if they pass it will be expensive to study at UP.
Misconceptions
Let me deal with these misconceptions. First the matter of being “bright.” Many of the students who get into UP are not necessarily the brightest. Many just had more opportunities, both in school and at home, and I want to emphasize the latter environment. Going to an expensive private school doesn’t guarantee you entrance into UP. Some of my best students graduated from public high schools, usually national high schools, which may not have been the best-equipped when compared to private schools but nevertheless had dedicated teachers who stimulated students to think.
The chances of getting into UP also increased for these students because of their supportive home environments, with adults (not necessarily the parents but also grandparents, or a special uncle or aunt) who were always interacting with the students as they grew up.
Many parents spend for UPCAT reviews, but I have to say I have not seen a single scientifically conducted research report to show the reviews made a difference. Many older UP graduates, including myself, never had review classes, simply because they were never offered in the first place. At some point, maybe in the 1970s, some enterprising teachers began these review centers not just for UPCAT but also for entrance exams to Ateneo and La Salle.
I will say though that the review classes probably have some value, mainly by way of boosting the applicants’ self-confidence, built out of some familiarity with the exam process. Ultimately though, the confidence cannot be taught by the review centers alone. If the applicants have supportive teachers and parents or other guardians, they will be more prepared for the entrance exams. This is why I worry about the pressures, including review classes, coming from Tiger Moms, Dads and Teachers.
I am borrowing the term from the Chinese-American (actually originally Chinese-Filipino) writer who made the news in the United States some months back with a book prescribing iron discipline to turn children into achievers. It just doesn’t work: I’ve had them in UP, extremely bright students who were burned out even before they reached UP, and some of them were quite resentful of their parents.
Our school administrators are a key to opening UP’s opportunities to more people. Some years back I visited an excellent high school in Cavite, sponsored by a Catholic religious order with the very best facilities for the poorest children from all over the Philippines. I asked the administrators if they had students who were able to get into UP and they answered that their students weren’t taking the UPCAT, first because they were fearful they wouldn’t pass, and second because they were so poor that they felt they would not be able to afford tuition and living expenses.
I explained UP’s socialized tuition fee system and possibilities of scholarships. That year, more than 20 of their students passed. Sadly, most did not push through because we couldn’t find sponsors for the students’ living expenses, but over the years, the school has been able to get scholarships for those who do pass the UPCAT. I’m glad that the students are at least trying now.
Easier UPCAT?
I wanted to use this last part of my column to talk about the myth of UPCAT exams becoming more and more difficult. This perception comes in part from all the advertisements for review classes, which make the exams seem even more daunting.
Curiously, upper-class Filipino parents also complain that the UPCAT exams are more difficult now because part of the exam is given in Filipino, and so their kids, growing up mainly speaking English, falter in the exams.
I remind the parents we do live in the Philippines that UPCAT aside, it helps if our kids master Filipino.
As for the alleged growing difficulty of the UPCAT, I want to share some information I picked up from old UP catalogues, specifically from 1912 to 1930. During that era, one could enter UP without an entrance exam if they studied in a high school or preparatory school that had been accredited by UP. I was curious what those schools were but unfortunately there was no list in the catalogues.
If you didn’t graduate from an accredited high school, you had to take an entrance exam, actually several exams in different fields, to be graded separately. The subjects were: English (5 units), History (3 units), Economics (1 unit), Latin (4 units), Spanish (2 units), Physical Geography (1 unit), Physics (1 unit), Zoology (1 unit), Botany (1 unit), General Biology (1 unit).
Here’s a glimpse into what was supposed to be covered in particular subject areas. In English, students were tested for composition and grammar and also had to be familiar with “Silas Marner” and the plays of Shakespeare, besides several literary works, the “Gettysburg Address” and Macaulay’s essay on Johnson.
For history, students had to be familiar with Greek and Roman history, Oriental history, early Medieval European history, the rise and fall of the Holy Roman Empire and modern history. Students were also tested on US history, colonial history (history of colonization in ancient and modern times!) and American government.
Math included elementary algebra, plane geometry, solid geometry, plane trigonometry and a review of arithmetic.
For the natural sciences, students had to present their notebooks and laboratory reports, besides taking the written exams. Zoology was one of the most rigorous, with students expected to present “a collection of at least 200 species of insects, representing not less than 12 orders, and of 100 species belonging to other classes than insects.”
The UPCAT today is a long way off from the entrance exams a century ago. I would say it is much simpler, so go for it. Visit upcatonline.up.edu.ph for application forms.
Email: mtan@inquirer.com.ph