UPCAT review vs cet review: which one is for you?

It’s wise to look for reviewers since it helps your chances of getting accepted to an excellent school. However, not all reviews are created equal. What’s the difference between an UPCAT review and a CET review?

UPCAT definition
UPCAT (also known as the University of the Philippines College Admission Test) is the entrance test that allows students to get qualified for the University of the Philippines. 

CET definition
CET (short for College Entrance Test) is a broader in scope as it refers to any admittance test for a post-secondary institution. It generally includes UPCAT, DCAT, ACET, USTET or more. It serves to gauge your ability in multiple areas, such as language, math, and analytical skills.

Preparing for UPCAT

To prepare for the UPCAT, you'll have to study for a comprehensive test that is divided into 4 main parts: Language Proficiency, Science, Mathematics, and Reading Comprehension.

Since UP is a prestigious school, not to mention you'll become a scholar, several students are aiming to get admitted every year— this also means that there are lots of review centers as well as PDF reviewers online that can provide lessons related to UPCAT. 

Preparing for CET

Preparing for a CET means you’d want to allot some time to studying core high school subjects and making sure you have a strong understanding of them. If there’s a specific school you’re aiming for, it would be ideal if you can find a review program that caters specifically for that university or college. This program can help to try to learn the topics typically featured in their entrance test. Because of the sheer number of applicants, UPCAT Review is the most popular and common study program for a specific university. It is not practical however to to enroll in a review program for every university you are considering to go to. Time and financial considerations makes this not an ideal option. This is where CET review not comes in. If you plan to take entrance tests on several schools, it would be better to look for a CET review program instead.

Conclusion

Be wary of review centers that claim that their UPCAT review program is also suitable for all other college entrance tests. A true UPCAT Review should be focused on getting admitted to UP. If an UPCAT review program also focuses on other universities as well, it loses its novelty and becomes a CET review program. 

Even a CET Review should not cover all entrance exams to ALL Philippine universities, as there are too many. A good CET review program can be designed to optimize passing to some key schools. Since it is not advisable to put too many schools in a single program, some CET review programs compromise by focusing on the big 4.

It is not advisable to enroll in a program that claims to cover all university entrance exams as it simply means that the program is too generic to give you a real advantage when you take the entrance exams.