THE UNIVERSITY is expecting about 40,000 admission applications for Academic Year (AY) 2023 to 2024 as it is set to conduct the UST Entrance Test (USTET) for the first time amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Office for Admissions (OFAD) said on Tuesday.
In an interview with the Varsitarian, OFAD Director Assoc. Prof. Imelda Dakis said the University would not limit the number of applicants for the USTET despite the pandemic.
“We cannot discriminate. Kahit sino puwedeng mag-apply, so we cannot limit the number of applicants. But the number of students to be admitted […] will always be dependent on the available slots per program that will depend on the academic unit,” Dakis said.
Forty thousand is the usual number of applications the University receives yearly.
Dakis said the number of applications remained consistent despite the University’s earlier shift to the UST Admission Rating (USTAR) amid the pandemic.
The University received 48,411 UST Admission Rating applications for AY 2021 to 2022, of which 7,772 college freshmen and 3,054 Grade 11 students were offered admission to the University.
“We were really surprised […] the [USTET and USTAR] figures were really about the same …it did not matter whether it’s USTAR or USTET, the applicants who really wanted to come here would really apply,” Dakis said.
The University opened the application portal for the USTET on Monday, Sept. 5, and in the first hour received 1,000 student applications.
USTET dates, testing centers
The USTET will be conducted at the main Sampaloc campus on the following dates:
College
- Oct. 23, 2022
- Dec. 4, 2022
- Jan. 22, 2023
LEAPMed
- Oct. 23, 2022
- Dec. 4, 2022
Senior High School
- Oct. 23, 2022
- Dec. 11, 2022
- Jan. 22, 2023
In an “information session” held on Tuesday at the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building, admissions officials said UST would administer the USTET in 25 provincial testing centers in Luzon, five testing centers in the Visayas, and four testing centers in Mindanao.
The USTET will be administered in Nueva Vizcaya, Tarlac, and Leyte on Oct. 1 and in Cabanatuan, Bacolod, and Dagupan on Oct. 2. Other provincial testing centers and dates have yet to be announced.
The admissions office will also open testing centers in Doha, Qatar; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Manama, Bahrain; and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Vaccinated and unvaccinated applicants will be allowed to take the exam.
Suspected Covid-19 positive examinees and those exhibiting symptoms on their exam date will be isolated and brought home. They may coordinate with the OFAD for the rescheduling of their exam.
The University could also postpone the test dates should a surge in Covid-19 cases occur in Metro Manila and other testing centers where the examination will be held, the UST Health Service said.
“If ever there will be a surge in the Covid cases, we will be depending on the announcement from the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) and the national government, and this will affect the dates of USTET,” Dr. Christina de Leon, a representative of UST Health Service, said.
“We will follow whatever they will be implementing at that time,” de Leon added.
OFAD Assistant Director Assoc. Prof. Ryan Cayubit said the health protocols to be implemented in the Sampaloc campus would also be implemented in other testing centers.
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