Tips for UPCAT takers

Around 70,000 students will take the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT) on August 2 and August 3, 2008 (Saturday and Sunday).

Here are some tips that may help takers pass the UPCAT (2009):

1. Think positive and relax. Always think that you can do it

2. Go to the restroom before the exam starts

3. Be sure you have breakfast on exam day

4. Bring a watch so that you can budget your time for the exam

5. Read and follow instructions carefully

6. Answer first the questions you think you know very well and skip the difficult ones. Be sure to get back to them later if you still have time.

7. Make intelligent guesses for questions you really do not know the answer

8. Use the extra time to review your answers

9. Pray and hope for the best


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48 Responses to “Tips for UPCAT takers”

  1. MANAY LOLIT Says:

    pers!

  2. MANAY LOLIT Says:

    mahirap tlga ang makapasa sa upcat…
    bs human bio ang 1st choise ko kaso lagapak…sayang gusto q pa namang maging surgeon someday…pero sabi nga nila wak pilitin ang ayaw – ayaw sakin ng medical course?!

  3. mr.Bean Says:

    kukuha aq d2!.
    sa sunday..6:30 am
    tnx 4 d tips..
    i will keep in mind those tips..
    hehe..

  4. franz Says:

    Greetings, I passed UPCAT about 3 years ago. I am now a 4th year engineering student at UP.

    To tell you the truth, there is no sense in reviewing for UPCAT if you have really low high school grades. Might as well go to some other school.

    If you are really planning to pass UPCAT, there are many factors to consider.

    1. What campus had you picked? Take note that more than 70k are going to take UPCAT and assume 50% of them are going to pick DILIMAN as their first choice campus. And assume you are wishing to go to Diliman as well. Since the number of students who wish to go Diliman is relatively large, then you might opt for Manila, Los Banos or Baguio to increase your chances of passing.

    Many people have the notion that Diliman is the best campus of UP but each campus has its specialities. Take note of the Electrical Engineering department of UPLB.Since 2001, out for 14 board exam, 13 of those were 100% and 1 has 95%.

    2. What course had you picked? Be careful of picking quota courses. These are course who have only a limited number of slots because a lot of students like taking them. Some of them bio. comsci and nursing.

    3. What course had you picked? Again, what course had you picked in the first place. UPCAT is a test designed to measure your intellectual capacity in the course you picked. If you picked engineering, be sure to have high grades in science and math. Even you have zero grades in English and reading comprehension, you will still passed UPCAT.

    3. If you are considered a MINORITY such as an aeta, be sure to get your certification for your municipal hall. The calculation of scores for UPCAT was revised a few years ago. MINORITIES have lower cut off for UPCAT. I assure you. Most of my classmates who belong to minorities got to diliman even they have low grades in HS.

    4. The exam itself. I don’t if the exam is really right minus wrong. I am sure its a hoax. Here is what I remember when I took UPCAT and which is to review,

    MATH- ALGEBRA AND GEOMETRY. I remember there were a lot of ratio and proportion. Like given the height and shadow length of A, find the length of shadow of B given its height. MATH for me is the easiest. NO Calculus and TRIGO.

    SCIENCE- Just critical thinking. NO Memorization.

    ENGLISH – YOU MUST REVIEW reading comprehension. Almost all of the problems deals with this

    RC – patience in reading

    P.S. Bring a wrist watch so that you can manage your time. I was not able to finish ENGLISH because I was not aware of my time.

    Anyway, UPCAT itself is one of the easiest entrance exam. The one that makes it difficult to pass is the thousands who take it every year and there are limited slots. There are about 11k slots. So goodluck!

    If you did not pass, you can opt to any campus to compare if your UPG was in the cut off so that you have a petition. Well thats another story.

  5. GMA sikat Says:

    hehehehe…. maisip pa lang ni pacqia0 kumuha nto…. brain dead na kagad cya…. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA….. mga talents ng GMA-7 mga B0B0! HAHAHAHAHA!

  6. yueb Says:

    hahahah mag te2st aku sa sunday..

    sure d aku pasado :))

    kxe d aku nag aral khit mnsan

  7. raiza lotivo Says:

    thanks sa tips.. tiyak makakatulong ito sa amin na matake ng UP.. hope makapasa ako and kami lahat na matake.. thanks din kay franz. dahil nagbigay siya kung anu ang dapat naming pagtuunan ng pansin.. hehe.. nwei, thanks po sa nagpost nito and sa mga nagcomment!
    ingat po palagi kayo!
    ciao!
    nwei, add me po sa ym. if gusto niyo. bluemirror_124..

  8. Zweihander Says:

    Madali lang ang entrance exam na ito imo. Kaso malaking factor talaga ang hs grades.

  9. tweedle dee Says:

    i wouldn’t agree with the tip on guessing since UPCAT is right minus wrong.
    well not exactly right minus wrong, but right – (.25)x(wrong)=score

    for ex, if you’d guess 20 items of 100, but got all of the 20 wrong and the other 80 correct, you get a 5 pt deduction from your score, which is 75.

    but if you’d skip perhaps 20 of the 100, and assuming you get the other 80 correct, your score will remain unchanged, better than 75 :D

  10. true friend Says:

    @ tweedle dee

    yeah. u’r right.. it’s better to skip the questions than just guess…

    anyway… just have a little review on algebra, trigo, reading comprehension, and basic science… as far as i can remember, there is filipino and aptitude test included..

    and, ur high school grades really matter!

    - go for BIO!!!

  11. bobs Says:

    hey guys! magtatake na ako ng upcat test sa saturday! 6:30 am. grabe. if-follow ko lahat ng tips na nabasa ko dito. grabe sobrang kinakabahan ako! ano ba ang mga contents ng test? salamat.

  12. canipo with jael Says:

    oh my gosh!! mag tetest na kame… todo review na kame.. imagine, kasabay pa ng periodical exam nmin.. kaka pressure!!! well, UP here we COME.. haha.. ssundin namin lahat ng tips nyo.. thanks a lot.. gosh kakakaba na kakaexcite talaga…

  13. bobs Says:

    hey kasali ba mga genetics? mga stoichiometry? ano mga contents ng science and math?

  14. Mike Arroyo Says:

    @franz — nice share….! kudos!

  15. fattyacid Says:

    lolz pinapayan ninyo ang UP nyang eh…

    wala sa school o university yan…hindi na rin naman papahuli ang ibang schools, colleges and universities.

    nasa ability at personality ang pagiging successful sa buhay…hindi sa kung anong course ang tinapos mo at anong school ka nagtapos.

    believe me.

    ^_^

  16. NeiL Says:

    ISANG TANONG ISANG SAGOT<<<<

    MADALI LNG PO BAH????

    OHHHH NDI!!!!!!!!!!!!????

    ^^

  17. tikya Says:

    wishing ol d best 4 UP ASPIRANTS of alabel national science high school, alabel, sarangani province….GOD BLESS……

  18. KAIKAI Says:

    GMASIKAT…mgtake k rin ng UPCAT? Wag n…nakakahiya….zero k…pareho kau ni manny pacquuiao…har har har

  19. nica Says:

    salamat sa tips.good luck sa lahat! :)

  20. leizel Says:

    hehe..ang test ko po sa UPCAT is sa sat ng 12 30..grabe super na super n pressure..grabe..thank u n rin sa mga tips..heheh..nbuhayan ako!!go go go!!come wat may..

  21. leizel Says:

    mtnong ko lng po..san po b ung institute of physics??
    ako lng kc smin ang dun mg tetest..sana di ako m late..hehe..cum wat may..

  22. dinanatuto Says:

    gma sikat…2loy k take UPCAT? Wag na….mazi-zero k lng…..malaking kahihiyan para sa network nyo

  23. jhei-R Says:

    hindi ko alam kung ano magiging resulta ng pagkuha ko ng exam bukas…
    pero sana madali kong maintindihan yung mga tanong…
    sana naman madadali lang…
    pero sa naririnig ko, mahirap daw, pero ung iba hindi nakatapos pero nakapasa…
    Pray na lang tayo…
    =)

  24. InvertedAxis Says:

    Probably totoo nga ung sinabi nila na di nmn nkadpende sa school ang future mo, PERO sa panahon ngaun, the school where you graduated DOES matter, mhirap mghnap ng trbho kpag di gnun ka kilala ung school mo.
    Anyways, sbi nila madadalian ka lng daw kpg ang 2nd yr and 3rd yr grades mo mataas,
    Hope for the best. GOODLUCK!

  25. RSS Says:

    dali ng UPCAT

    kakatake ko lang kaninang umaga. mahirap lang talaga ung time pressure.

  26. abc Says:

    ano po dadalhin bukas?

  27. echoooong -di Says:

    kaka-take ko lang kanina. kakainis as in! nagbrow-out pa, tumag tuloy exam. panay ako hula. mahulaan ko kaya kung papasa ako? lolz

  28. mr.bean Says:

    madali nga lng tong upcat na toh..
    kaso time pressured tlga..
    pero tpos ko naman..
    pero andami kong likdang sa math..
    hehe..

  29. Kayzee Says:

    elo poh…
    4th year student po ako sa
    isang filipino school sa abu dhabi
    plano ko pong mag-take ng upcat
    pero ala po talaga akong idea kung
    anung meron..sabe nila marami daw
    ang chem..?PLEASE HELP ME…
    Gusto ko po talagang pumasa
    please tel me at least ung mga
    dapat pag-aralan…thank you..

  30. louis Says:

    UPCAT was really hard. i mean, with all the time pressure and the content. haha! pero nakaya naman, ok lang. mag matter pala tlga ung grades mo sa highschool ano? aw. sana makapasa talga ako. if you guys are wondering, i just took the UPCAT, aug. 2, 2008, saturday, 6:30 am in the morning.

    sa first, malaki tlga kompyansa ko sa english proficiency kaya naubusan ako ng time, mga 15 items ang hindi ko na asnweran. but, it’s better! kaysa sa iba na nag guess lang pag hindi na nila matapos ang remaining items.

    NOTE: huwag kayong mag guess, or mag “bentot2x”. just leave te item blank if you don’t know the answer, you’ll just make your failing chances higher if you’ll guess.

    pero pag dating ng RC(reading comprehension. take note: it’s really long), dinalian ko na talga kaya natapos ko, hindi ko ginuess ang mga answeran. as in dinalian ko alng tlaga.

    kaya for UPCAT takers, naku, just be prepared, don’t guess, be positive and be calm.
    kaya yan!

  31. Liezel Says:

    mtgal n akong ngbabasa nito…grade 9,highschool student p lng ako sa SHC….madami n akong nbsa…n comment d2….ksi ang plan n tlga ng family ko n sa UP Diliman ako mgaaral…and cyempre…I will give my very best pra makapasa d2…..sa bagay wla nmang mhirap n questions sa taong ngaaral…..pipilitin kong mging valedictorian….ksi Top 1 n ako ngaun….ksi…blita ko…mlaking bgay tlga ang HS grades….Hope nxt year….mkapasa ako….and in the year 2010 UP student n ako…

  32. anonymous Says:

    pano ba kung nakapag-send na ako ng SAT scores tapos nag-UPCAT pa ako… ano ang tatanggapin?

  33. Julius Macalagay Says:

    gosh, bakit ba ngaun ko lang nakita itong website n2..
    well, nagtake din ako ng upcat last aug.2 sa imus pilot elem..
    and mejo madami ang mga nagtake..
    ung iba pa nga nagrereview mga ilang minutes b4 the exam..
    frankly speaking, madali lang ang exam..
    i mean, di sya kagaya ng ine-expect ko..
    even the time that was given to the examiners..
    ok sia.. di masyadong pressure..
    mejo mahirap sa reading compre..
    cuz, sobrang dami ng babasahin..
    ung utak ko parang naiipit sa dami ng kailangan basahin..
    and there were times na nahihilo narin ako sa haba ng exam..
    astigmatism kasi ang eyes ko..
    ok?!! hehe, anyways..
    malapit na ang labasan ng results..
    i think, on the 2nd week of feb..
    i forgot the exact date..
    and im a bit nervous now..
    syempre.. lahat naman ng nagtake ng exam
    wants to pass it db?..
    so, God bless sa ating lahat..

  34. mariel Says:

    magttake ako ng UPCAT.. pero ndi nman ganun kataas ung HS grades ko.. tatanggapin pba ko?? kung halimbawang pumasa nman akO sza entrance exam.. perO mbaba HS grades ko.. mkakapasOk pdin ba ko?? HS AVERAGES KO KC.. 1ST-83.11 2nd-82.44 3rd yr ko-84.. magffOrth yr plang ako.. pano?? papasa pdin ba ko??mtatanggap pdin ba ko??

  35. Aldrain Says:

    Can i ask a question???I was wondering, what if i failed the UPCAT test?? but my grades in my H.S were higher. My average grade when i was a freshman was 91.75, Second year was 95.65 and my 3rd year was about 96.78. Can i really go to UP..please have a well respond?

  36. jan Says:

    lol aldrain papasa ka sa grades mung yan pero depende nlng sa grading system ng skul nyo

    aku ngay mga 1st yr 87 2nd yr 88 3rd yr 89 or something

    mgtatake aku sa august, sna makpagready aku

  37. Aldrain Says:

    just joking………………

  38. Jan Says:

    awts,, may september poh ba na take ng upcat?? d aku pwd august 1 nsa bora kme,, ndi ko nmn pwd cancel yun,, sna may septmber,,
    ^^, ska cla ba tlga magbi2gay ng schedule ng exam?

  39. Aldrain Says:

    aug lng to!!!

  40. EWAN Says:

    SOZ 1st YR AV KO 79 2nd YR 82 3rd YR 86.7 HAHAHAAAH 90% SURE DI AKO PASADO!!!!!!

  41. bingo148 Says:

    ta3 nmn.,.ang average grades q sa HS 1st:81..,2nd:80:3rd:83…..,ano ttnggapin pba aq kht mkapsa aq ng UPCAT?sna nmn tnggapin aq..plssssssss..i’ll do my best tlaga grabehh….btw gudluck sa lhat ng mgttake ngaung august 2009.always believe in urself,stay calm,don’t rush things,pray,and ask for help from god..but only god can make a tree..lolz,.
    P.S.
    kung wlang ngbbntay sa inyo grab the opporunity to be a giraffe..jowks^_^.

    GOD BLESS….

  42. Aldrain Says:

    san ba ung institute of economics, dun sna aq mag tatake ng exam eh! ^_^

  43. wency Says:

    shemai sa augst 1, 2009 6:30 in the morning wahha
    carry ko kya ang test my golly msyado ko bsy sa
    school ang dming pnpgawa kya di na ko mkpgreview

    sna mkpsa sa diliman wla nmang quota un kinuha ko weh
    mdmi na ko nabsa sa mga tips

    share ko lng

    sa math-karamihan sa mddling tnong ay nsa hulian ng questionaire.more on algebra dito kun bga puro basics lng kya basa basa lng tau

    English(RC and Language)- if the story is very long, just read the questions frst and then look for d answers in the story

    Science- last year ksi mdmi un questions gen sci and about biology….some said that questions about chemistry and physics were jst minimal

    3 days b4 d UPCAT pamper urself.(go to malls,magpaspa kau,bsta ang mahalaga RELAX)

    i know that we cn do it!bsta don’t be so nervous during d test.if the course is really for u it will be urs!!!!!!!!!!!!!and lastly ask 4 some guidance frm GOD.
    dat’s all

  44. Jazmine Says:

    I am also going to take the UPCAT this Sunday, August 2 2009. Well, I am a little nervous and… you know, doubtful. UP is a very prestigious university not only in our country but also in the world. It’s part of the top 500 universities all over the planet. I don’t really know if I’ll pass nor fail. It’s still your choice. If you studied well, just believe in yourself. You’ll do great. God is with you!

    To all my fellow UPCAT takers on Sunday. May God bless you. We’ll pass. We’ll pass. Just believe that you will be accepted in UP. It’s all in your hands. Now make your family proud and study and pray and… smile! :D

    You’ll do great. :D

  45. Rienzi Says:

    I really wish na sana mkpasa ako sa upcat, 6:30, saturday, aug.1, ‘09….
    grabe sobrang wala na ako sa sarili!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    sabi nila LAHAT NG HINDI NANINIWALA SA DIOS, PAGDATING NG UPCAT AY MAGBABAGO NA ANG LAHAT…
    wala lng, hehehehe =)
    ——————————–olongapo, mabuhay—————

  46. Kim Says:

    Haha.
    Test na sa Sabado.
    Kaya yan. :D
    Tngn lang nten mhrp pero hndi. :D

    LEt’s go.
    wee.
    Cmula saturday.
    Taga UP na tayo. hahaha

  47. Paulene Seth Says:

    I will also take UPCAT before my birthday,. August 01 is my exam day.. 12:30 PM, MATH BUILDING,. txt nio ko if pareho tayo?.. hehe.. Need ko friends eh.. Baka maligaw ako :D mabait ako.. promise! Let`s pRay na makapasa tayo :) GODBLESS US.

  48. roland mendoza Says:

    omg what if yung grades ko ay 82,82,86 respectively sa year ko sa high school
    tapos dun sa math 9 ang blanks ko dahil di ko tapos tapos i find it easy dun sa RC kasi 20 minutes natapos agad ako haha pero hirap ng math kagigil di ko tlga natapos natagalan ako sa mga questions na puro formula grrr ok lang yung language just practice on your vocabulary at grammar at yung science naman more on bio, genetics at chemical properties, earth science at konting gravity pull sa pphysics gud luck guys kaya natin toh waaa bagsak na ako

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