Costs of the timing of UPCAT results

April 12, 2018 - 2:24 PM
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Incoming freshmen college students were worried over the timing of the release of the UPCAT results, which will come after the registration deadlines of other major universities. (Art by Uela Badayos)

A perceived “delay” in the release of University of the Philippines’ College Admission Test results prompted applicants to complain that the wait was costing them as much as P10,000 because of the need to pay reservations fees in other universities.

The UP Office of Admissions had previously announced that the results would be out March to April but the test-takers were airing their concerns on social media by the first week of April as other universities proceeded with their enrollment schedules.

In a statement posted on the official UP website, Vice President for Public Affairs Jose Dalisay Jr. said that “there’s no delay” and “that the results will be released sometime in March or April given the very large number of applicants.”

The admissions test for the country’s premier university was administered in October 2017 with around 80,000 graduates of senior high school taking the test.

Following the slew of online criticisms, UP Board of Regents member Frederick Mikhail “Spocky” Farolan fired back on Facebook where he cursed at and called the students “ingrates”

In response to the many concerns raised by applicants, UP announced on its website that it would finally release the results on April 30, 2018.

Costly reservation fees

Reservation fees are required by schools to ensure an applicant’s slot once the enrollment period begins. This tends to be higher for private universities.

Most of them have already started to require students to settle fees for the upcoming school year.

De La Salle Univesity started on April 4 with a reservation fee of P10,000. According to their website, checks are not honored.

Ateneo de Manila University started on February 15 with a reservation fee of P10,000. Its  website states they have two phases before a student gets and official reservation: pre-confirmation, February 15 to March 16, and confirmation, April 2 to 20.

Meanwhile, University of Santo Tomas started on March 5 with a reservation fee of P5,000. it has already closed their reservation period on March 16.

These three universities have non-refundable reservation fees. However, if the students decide to enroll in the mentioned universities, it would be credited to their tuition fees. — Art by Uela Badayos

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect the Dalisay statement that there was no delay in the release of the results.