High school grades required again to qualify for USTET

THE OFFICE for Admissions (OFAD) has again asked applicants to submit their high school grades after “temporarily” removing the requirement in 2010.

Next academic year, the University will consider applicants based on their UST entrance test results (60 percent) and high school academic performance (40 percent), said Admissions Director Marie Ann Vargas.

“We will be requiring from the applicants [their] average in English, Math, and Science for [their] first, second, and third years, and then overall, we are giving the grades [a weight of] 40 percent,” she said in an interview with the Varsitarian.

The late OFAD Director Micheline Zonia Manalastas decided in 2010 to temporarily shelve the requirement of high school grades, saying it was “not a fair basis” for accepting applicants.

Vargas, however, said high school grades must also be considered since not all applicants can do well in written examinations, although they are academically competent.

“We believe that performance in high school also plays a very important role in determining whether the student will succeed in college or not,” she said. “Some may not be so cognitively or intellectually blessed, but because they are so persevering and hardworking, you will notice that their high school grades are so good. We do not like to lose this kind of students.”

Schools have different grading systems but grades will serve as indicators of how the applicant will perform in academics.

“Iba-iba ang grading systems. May mga schools na letters ang sa kanila or qualitative output [so we will inform them] to give us a possible equivalent,” she said.

This requirement will discourage high school students with low grades, said Journalism freshman Hannah Rhocellhynnia Cruz.

“It will just discourage those who have not performed well with their academics during high school but are looking forward to go to universities where they may possibly excel,” Cruz told the Varsitarian.

But Medical Technology freshman Celine Kate Balin said this could motivate applicants to perform well to prove their worth to the University.

“Kailangan nila ng good study habits para mapatunayan nila sa sarili nila at sa UST na worthy silang maging Thomasians,” she said in an interview.

The grades must be certified by the principal’s office or the registrar’s office of the high school, with the school’s official seal.

To improve the admission process, another survey was added to the application form to gather data about the applicants.

Vargas said innovations should be made to adapt to the advancing admission strategies of other universities and colleges.

“You can never be complacent in this kind of competition even if UST is already well-known in most places. We have to always be on the go because other schools are always on the go,” she said.

The admissions office launched an official website last January to attract more applicants. The website provides information on the University’s degree programs, annual activities, achievements, and scholarship grants.

This year, there will also be new materials in the UST entrance test but basic learning areas, English, Math, Science, and Intellectual Quotient, will still be covered.

Application for the next academic year started last July 1 and will last until Nov. 23.

There will be three testing dates in UST: August 25, Sept. 29 and Nov. 24. Applicants may also take the exam in provincial testing centers.