Tips on Taking UPCAT

Oblation

The University of the Phlippines holds its entrance examinations August every year. This year, it will be on August 7 to August 8 on various exam centers all over the country.

UPCAT (University of the Philippines College Admission Test) usually consists of four parts - English, Filipino, Math and Science. Questions may be written in Tagalog or in English. It's a right minus wrong examination; only a quarter of the total mistaken items will be deducted from your total score.

Here are a few tips and things to ponder before taking the exam:

1. Review the basics, especially geometry for Mathematics.

2. Prepare to encounter ideas from the activists.

3. Eat bananas before taking the exam. Studies show that bananas improve score by a small percentage.

4. Bring along a bottle of water in the examination room. Don't bring snacks. It will just cut your time answering problems, and might make you feel bloated and uncomfortable. So better be satiated before you sit and shade those circles.

5. Though the exam is 'right minus wrong', never miss an item. Points to be deducted will just be a quarter of the total mistakes; which means one correct guess is worth four wrong guesses. 

6. Flex your butt. You'll be sitting for six hours.

Photo by Mark Sherwin Bayanito