#philsat

I messed up. The entrance exam to that law school is on the 17th and I only registered and started studying on Monday. I don't know if I can expect to pass. Maybe, maybe not.

What I do know is that whatever happens won't hinder my dream. I'm graduating from college soon. Whether I go to that law school or not, I will become a law student. I've dreamed about this for more than a decade and at this point, I won't let anything hinder me. Not when I'm getting so close.

What’s up fam, it’s Emmy!

I’m hoping to start my law school journey next year. I’m only applying to one school, so here’s hoping that it works out cause if it doesn’t hahahAHHAhkillme. I’ve got a lineup of examinations for early next year:

Okay, so, as you can see, I’ll also be studying for the psychometrician board exam. I’ll probably be putting more focus on that in January. I’ll touch bases with the entrance exam/PHILSAT topics for the rest of this month, since... well, it’s really a lot like college entrance exams apparently, minus the heavy sciences. Logic and reasoning are my main opponents here.

Getting my BLEPP reviewer from this girl on Twitter lol if it’s worth it, I’ll leave it here for other parties.

As for my PHILSAT reviewer, I’ll just be using the booklets they provided on the website. If that doesn’t seem enough, I’ll pass by National Bookstore.

Supreme Court declares as unconstitutional LEB memos for law students to pass PhiLSAT

The Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional two Legal Education Board memorandums requiring incoming law students to pass the Philippine Law School Admission Test (Philsat) or the uniform entrance exam for law schools.

In a decision, the high court ruled as unconstitutional for being ultra vires

1. The act and practice of the Legal Education Board of excluding, restricting, and qualifying…

Hi fellow aspiring lawyers! Up to this writing, I still have not decided whether I am ready to pursue law, but I decided to take the Philsat to help in my decision making.

Since 2017, aspiring lawyers are now required to take Philsat or Philippine Law School Admission Test (PhiLSAT). It is a nationwide uniform admission test to be administered under the control and supervision of the Legal Education Board to improve the quality of Legal Education and all those seeking admission to the basic law course. PhiLSAT is a standardized battery of aptitude tests designed to measure academic potential. PhiLSAT is a one-day aptitude test consists of subtests on communications and language proficiency, critical thinking skills, verbal and quantitative reasoning. (http://buksu.edu.ph/?p=3078)  Pursuant to the power of the Legal Education Board (LEB) to prescribe the minimum standards for law admission under Section 7(e) of Republic Act No. 7662, entitled the “Legal Education Reform Act of 1993,” the LEB, under LEB Memorandum Order No. 7 Series of 2016, required the PhiLSAT as a prerequisite for admission to the basic law courses leading to either a Bachelor of Laws or Juris Doctor degree beginning school year 2017 - 2018. (https://www.cem-inc.org.ph/philsat/background-philsat) 

Basically, NMAT= MedStudents PhilSat = LawStudents. 

So this 2018, I gathered my courage and made up my mind about taking the examination. As far as I know, this date (April 8, 2018) will be the 3rd time they will be administering the exam. 

The first time (April 2017) they administered the exam,  a total of 6,575 from the 8,074 examinees passed the first ever Philippine Law School Admission Test (PhilSAT), representing an 81.43% passing rate. (https://www.rappler.com/nation/168966-philsat-2017-results) On the second time, (September 2017)  3,709 (57.76%) out of 6,421 passed ( Legal Education Board). 

Specific information like dates or registration, examinations, coverage, what to expect and the likes can be found here: https://www.cem-inc.org.ph/philsat/ . 

Starting this paragraph, I will talk about my experience. 

I registered for PhilSat online and I think during that time, they temporarily put on hold the registration for exams because we were too many (?). So i waited until the hold was lifted and registered. Testing fee is 1,000.00 with 30 pesos extra charge. (How to pay can be found on your Philsat Identification Card) 

They announced that examination rooms will be posted 2 weeks before exam but I got mine 2-3 days before the exam! I was assigned at UST College of Accountancy Building. 

I hail from Batangas so I don’t want to get puyat by waking up early and travelling 3-4 hrs before the exam because I know that will take a toll on my performance (like being sleepy and hungry) so I opted to find a place near UST and stay the night before to be well rested just before the exam. Good thing I have a very good friend who offered her place for free! (Thanks Dan! Iloveyou!) I was able to get ample sleep for the next day. 

Her place is walking distance (less than 5 minutes!!!!) from the building where I will take the exam. (Yasss!) Anything can be worn during the exam and I think I am the only one in a pair of shorts. haha! Just dress comfortably. Reminder: be prepared for the changes in temperature coz airconditioners are unpredictable. they can be working or they aren’t. (hehehe) 

It started to rain a little bit so I brought an umbrella. The weather is gloomy that day that I worried for my ganap on the evening! You will be asked to fall in line upon entering the building so the watchers can check your valid ID and examination pass. 

It was stipulated that you cannot bring anything aside from the listed on the pass so the only thing EXTRA with me are food (just a 500 mL water and a bar of dark chocolate), my umbrella and car key. I didn't even have money! Little did I know that anything is allowed as long as it fits the clear envelope. Still, I did not see anyone with backpacks. 

It was a little past 7 when the watcher assigned in our room called our names and guided us to our assigned seats. So before the entering the examination room, I already peed, ate breakfast, and continuously prayed. 

Just like any other exams, we were briefed and warned. The envelopes were put on the left side of the room. (So mobile phones are there too.) This is where I realized my mistake. I am a college graduate already, so I brought with me my original TOR. Little did I know (again) that they will take it and never return it! So my advice, just bring a CERTIFIED TRUE COPY of required docs. 

Yay to the most awaited part! the examination proper! It as 200-item aptitude exam and we (in the future, you) have 4 hours to finish it. With proper time management, you can do it. (Wear your watch!!!!)  The examination will test your foundations way back in highschool. So if you are an HS student reading this, I advice that you strengthen them. If you are a college student, brush them up.

I will only give you description of the exams because we have sworn an oath not discuss them in specific details. But I will try to remember and describe them for you. For me, the difficulty of exams are as follows: (easiest- hardest)

1. COMMUNICATIONS AND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY. I am a wide reader and I believe that I am quite good in english (hahaha). This covers grammar, vocabulary, idioms and punctuations. 

2. QUANTITATIVE REASONING and CRITICAL THINKING. These parts are the challenging ones. QR is math with patterns. You have to recognize the underlying patterns in the sequences. You only need the basic mathematical operations (+, -, x, ÷) and SPEED. They also have graphs but I suggest that you observe them and analyze carefully and fast. Some questions might ask you to compute very long processes but you only have to look. Data sufficiency is the one I answered last because they take much of my time. Hehe. But it is recognizing what you need and what you don’t. My tip is read the main problem, think of the solution, then look at the given statements if they fit. voila! you have your answer! For critical thinking, drawing the relationships help! 

3. VERBAL REASONING. I took this last. I found this the hardest because it involves very long passages. They also test your basic english but most of all comprehension. You have to draw conclusions BASED ON THE PASSAGES. The trick here is some passages are against the norm (with a different perspective) so you must disregard what you know and focus on what the passage says- ONLY. 

My woe about the exam is you cannot fold the scratch paper which is attached to the answer sheet. :( It is a folded paper type wherein the pages 3 and 4 are your scratch papers. I filled my page 3 so computing on page 4 and shifting to page 2 is quite laborious for klutz like me. The answer sheet is like a short bond paper and the armchair fits this size only.

When i was done with LP and reviewed my answers, I realized that it will take too much of my time if I did the same process for my succeeding subtests. So what I did is just put a light mark on my unsure answers and unanswered questions for later and shade completely on my sure ones. 

I was done (but with some unsure answers) with 30 minutes to spare so I used it wisely.

You cannot leave the room until the 4 hours is up so do the best that you can. Take your water in sips so you will not have the urge to pee. 

Results will be out in 21 days and I am nervous!!!! 

Almost everything I did recently was low-key in preparation for law school. Nanay ko lang ata may alam.

Well, siya lang naman kasi ang certain about it. Hahahaha. So I made drastic changes recently in the past year without outright telling people these were all for law school. Parang dots and now with this admission, the dots can be connected and my path now makes a bit of sense.

I specifically targeted Alabang as my new workplace because of San Beda – Alabang.

I moved out of my godfather/cousin’s home in order to focus for what lies ahead.

I bought a Kaplan GMAT prep book to prepare me for law school admission exams and PhiLSAT.

I became a part of Toastmasters

I used to make promotional materials for Toastmasters but I told TM people in August, I had to stop. (Well, because I think I shouldn’t overstep the VP PR role)

I stopped planning ganaps with people. I used to even go to QC to meet up with friends. Sry frnds. I even stopped even entertaining thoughts about dating. (also, nobody’s asking..anymore hahaha it’s okay, sasaktan lang kita. whut)

I took the PhiLSAT and passed.