If you said yes to any of the questions above then you should read this before you enroll in a review center.

What are UPCAT Review Centers?

A few decades ago, College Entrance Test Review Centers or UPCAT Review Centers were practically non-existent. This is primarily the reason why your parents, uncles, aunts, family friends, teachers and the like who are above 30 would often say:

“I didn’t need a review center before, self-study is all you need.”

“It’s mostly stock knowledge.”

“They (review centers) only give you confidence, nothing more.”

But the same way that the internet has changed education, the effect of review centers have also changed.

So what exactly are UPCAT Review Centers?

The recent explosion of College Entrance Test Reviews or UPCAT Review Centers have some people scratching their heads.

In a nutshell an UPCAT Review Center is a tutorial center that specializes in helping students improve their chances of qualifying to prestigious universities here in the Philippines.

In a review center, students are guided on the relevant materials to study, familiarized with entrance exams, given mock exams and tips how to answer them effectively.

This guided review results in a more efficient use of time for the student. All this to improve the chances of a student to qualify for the university of their choice.

High School vs. Review Center

A colleague of mine once summarized the difference of a review center and a high school. He said “High Schools teaches you in 4 years (this was before K-12) all the information you’ll need to start college, a review center will guide you in 1 month which lessons in high school you need remember to qualify for college.”

High Schools teaches you in 4 years (this was before K-12) all the information you’ll need to start college, a review center will guide you in 1 month which lessons in high school you need remember to qualify for college.

Essentially, a review center is focused on how students will pass their entrance test and qualify for college.

On the other hand, a high school equips students with knowledge for college and life in general.

Is it required to enroll in a review center?

Several students and parents have been asking us whether UP requires students to enroll in a review center.

The answer is NO.

Students are not required to enroll in any UPCAT review center before they can take the test. In addition, UP does not and will not endorse any review center for that matter.

I need to mention this because some students are under the impression that they won’t be allowed to take the UPCAT if they don’t review. There is no truth to this.

We encourage students to study for the UPCAT like what they do for their other exams. However, unlike regular exams in school, they have to consider that college entrance tests like the UPCAT is a major test that needs extra attention and preparation.

A review center would facilitate proper preparation in terms of content and technique.

If enrolling in a review center is not required, do I need to enroll in one?

The choice is up to you.

You may study on your own and do the preparation yourself. I have seen students make it to their dream college without enrolling in review centers. Some of them reviewed on their own online.

On the other side of the story, I have also seen students whom I believe could have made it, but didn’t, because he/she didn’t get proper guidance that a review center can give.

We found out that students who enrolled in a comprehensive review program have higher chances of passing the test.

Our data in Review Masters reveals that the review program increases the chances of passing by about 2 to 3 times. (This is our own data and is not representative of all review centers.)

So do you need to enroll in a review center? If you want higher chances, I think the choice is apparent.

If you are a student, I invite you to look into our Student’s Guide page.

If you are a parent, you might want to look into our Parents’ Guide page.

Stay tuned for the next article in this series… What to Look For in a Review Center.

The post UPCAT Review Centers: What They Are and Do You Need To Enroll In One appeared first on Review Masters.

“How is the UPCAT computed?”

“When will the results be released?”

“I missed the UPCAT last August, is there another UPCAT this year?” (a recent question and the answer is “NO”)

While most of the answers to these questions are readily available at the UPCAT website, plenty of students still prefer to ask them anyway. There is, however, a new question that is being asked only this school year both by students and schools alike:

“MAY UPCAT BA THIS YEAR?” (Is there an UPCAT this year 2015?)

Why is the answer to this question both important, and as of the moment… uncertain?

THE FACTS

K-12 was implemented in the Philippines in 2012, 3rd year High School students are now Grade 9.

In 2011, DepEd allowed private schools to calibrate their grade levels during the K-12 transition. Schools who took the program now have Grade 11 students instead of Grade 9 for most other schools. This means that the grade 11 students will be graduating in March 2016. The exact numbers are vague but could be as high as 10,000 or more.

If so, there will be students who will finish their K-12 program next year.

Some students will already graduate.

And they have to go to college.

However, most students who are already part of the K-12 program will not graduate yet. Isn’t it odd to have students of the same batch/class who will graduate ahead of their batchmates while the others tackle the K-12?

THE QUESTION:

For the sake of analysis, discussion or a simple thought exercise… Let’s try to tackle the series of questions below. The first series is we assume there is no UPCAT in 2015, the second series, we assume there is an UPCAT in 2015.

SET 1: May UPCAT ba this year? “NO”

• What will private school graduates which had calibration do after they graduate in 2016? Where will they study for college if there is no UPCAT in 2015?
• UP qualifiers from the Middle East and the US will not have a regular freshman batch they will join, and since their numbers are so few, will UP still accept them for their programs?
• Will UP deny these students the chance to study in UP despite being part of the transition and pilot program of the DepEd K-12?

SET 2: May UPCAT ba this year? “YES”

• Who will be allowed to take the UPCAT?
• Will schools that were part of the transition be allowed to accept students this late so that the students can be eligible for the UPCAT?
• K-12 was designed to fill in gaps in education and give our graduates competitiveness and competence in the workplace and global scale. However, Top Tier High Schools such as the Philippine Science High School, public science high schools and private school honor graduates are already more than competent and competitive after 4 years of high school. Will the K-12 Law penalize these students and not allow them to take the UPCAT or any other college entrance exams when they finish grade 10?
• Will UP allow grade 10 students take the UPCAT?

For an in-depth discussion on these questions, download the free report:

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We would like to hear your take on this. Feel free to write on the comments below.

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