Reading the article kinda struck a nerve since I felt that UST was unfairly excluded. This got me so fired up that I wrote a "comment" which in retrospect seems like it could stand alone as an independent article by itself. It wasn't the kid's fault, since I myself used to consider UST just as an alternative to my personal "BIg Two" (UP and ADMU). Fortunately, I think I made the smarter choice which opened my mind and did me a lot better in the long run. So, here it is in its entirety for your reading pleasure. :D
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BrainiaxMD says:
July 21, 2010 at 12:08 am
It is indeed true that most of our graduates end up in these “Big Three” schools, with ADMU and DLSU obviously taking bigger numbers. I’d like to share with you my experiences coming from a “fourth” university. Admittedly not as popular with Xaverians like the three you’ve mentioned, but it is no less in stature as an academic institution. I’m talking about the University of Santo Tomas.
I earned both my pre-med and medical degrees from UST. Situated in the Sampaloc district of Manila, the university is easily accessible via commute as it lies along the path Espana boulevard, one of the main arteries stretching from QC to Manila.
It has a proud and rich history, with the University celebrating it’s quadricentennial (400th) year on 2011.
Now I can’t really give you the lowdown on physical facilities being state of the art or anything, as it’s been quite a while since I graduated, but a lot of infrastructure has been going up during the past few years, with new buildings being erected and brand equipment being brought in. Oh, and there’s also the UST research center, but I digress..
As far as I know, enrollment procedures in UST has been greatly improved to be more efficient that what I encountered before. I won’t expound on specifics since enrollment is just one day every semester and does not necessarily define one’s college life.
I’ll now give a brief rundown on the stuff I feel will be relevant to you guys when you scout around for schools.
UNIFORMS
Yup, read it and weep gentlemen. UST has uniforms for each and every course it has. A far cry from the supposed “freedom” you guys yearn for when you bust out of Xavier, but look on the flipside. Having uniforms mean you won’t be hassled with what to wear to school every day, and won’t be pressured to keep up with fashion trends (although the latter seems to appeal more to the ladies).
COURSES
UST offers a very wide variety of undergraduate courses, like Accountancy, Biology, Business Administration, Education, the different Engineering courses, Legal Management, Physical Therapy, Psychology, Medical Technology, Music, Nursing, Travel Management, just to name a few..
I’ll have to admit that there are some “specialty” courses that UST is better known for (similar what the Computer courses are to DLSU), and that some others are best taken up elsewhere if you can help it. I’m not in a position to talk about all the courses in question, but the pre-med courses are pretty good (especially the pre-professional ones like MedTech or PT). It all boils down to getting the school you prefer that has the course you like.
ENVIRONMENT
UST is nestled in the heart of the busy metropolis. Once inside though, it’s actually quite peaceful and tranquil. It’s also pretty safe, since you’re literally surrounded by four walls with guards monitoring the flow of human traffic streaming through. Although it’s not exactly the huge sprawling campus that characterizes UP or even ADMU, it does not suffer for want of greenery. There are a lot spots to hang out around campus, but I think most people prefer waiting in the classrooms in between classes since most are air-conditioned anyway.
CHANGING CLASSROOMS (?)
In UST, each College/Faculty functions independently of one another, and are housed in their own buildings, which basically contains everything their studentry needs. There’s not much running from building to building here folks. The worst that can happen is that you have to go up to the top floor for laboratory subjects, then rush back down for the next subject’s lecture.
PEOPLE
In my opinion, UST seems to be a kind of “middle ground”, where you have a good mix of people from all walks of life (and not so much of the “crazies”, but that’s just my opinion). This is a far cry from Xavier where most kids are rich, or uber rich. During my time, I’d say most of my classmates were from lower middle class, with a few others coming from either end of the spectrum. The population mix varies from course to course, but generally, it’s a good place to learn how to get along with different kinds of people in a relatively safe environment.
SCHEDULING
No doubt you guys have heard about how in college you’ll be able to fix your class sched as you please. Well in UST, the rules are a little different. For the most part, “Block sections” are implemented, meaning that when you enroll and get assigned to a particular “block” (or section as we’d call it in high school), you’ll be following that particular block’s schedule for the semester. Example: if you’re in 1A-MedTech, you follow your class’ sked and get whatever professors who will be teaching your block’s subjects. In college there were the ones we call “irregulars” who for one reason or another (athletes, guys who failed last sem, etc) must pick their subjects to fix their sched.
FOOD AND ENTERTAINMENT
All around UST you’ll be able to find eateries ranging from your basic carinderia to established fastfood joints like KFC or McDonalds. There are even food options within the campus found within the carpark building fronting the hospital. There’s also a nearby mall (SM San Lazaro) which is a short jeep ride away. For the more adventurous, you could ride the jeep going Taft to hang out at the Robinson’s Place mall there near UP Manila (which, by the way, houses most of their medically-related courses and where some of my XS batchmates took their pre-med).
FLOODING
If there’s one thing UST is infamous for, its probably the flooding. It still does flood OUTSIDE the university from time to time, since the Sampaloc area is basically a converted swampland according to historical records, but the campus itself stays high and dry, occasionally becoming an island amidst the floodwaters when the storms come down really hard. Lately though, there has been much roadwork going on to help alleviate this flooding problem.
Well, that’s my little addendum to your article. Hope this helps you guys in deciding the next step in your education. (Sorry to have made a mini-blog out of this..)
I didn’t include the postgrad stuff( Med school, Law school, Master’s degrees, etc) since that’s an entirely different story altogether. Take things one step at a time.
For more info and specifics, you guys can check out the UST website at http://www.ust.edu.ph
Luceat Lux!
-BrainiaxMD (XS’99)
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