The initial impact of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine new admissions policy: Four years of implementation

Abstract

Background: The University of the Philippines College of Medicine (UPCM) revised its admissions policy with the goal of leveling the playing field in the selection of students and ensuring the admission of applicants imbued with the dedication and commitment to serve.

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the initial impact of the newly amended policy on the admissions demographics and academic profile of accepted UPCM students in terms of pre-med courses and colleges, admissions category, Latin honors, pre-med General Weighted Average Grade (GWAG), National Medical Admission Test (NMAT) score, and interview scores, during the four years of its implementation.

Methodology: This descriptive study compared the yearly applications and admissions, annual distributions of pre-med courses, colleges graduated from, admissions category, Latin honors, and yearly averages of premed GWAG, NMATs, and interview scores among the accepted UPCM students and determined the trend of the aforementioned variables, from four years prior to four years after the implementation of the new admissions policy (2013 to 2020).

Results: Four years of the implementation of the revised admissions policy observed a reduction in the number of applications but an increase in the overall admissions, ratio reversal of admissions between UP Diliman graduates and UP Manila graduates with the latter recently dominating the admissions, a drastic fall in the admissions of BS Psychology graduates, while a steady rise in the admissions of BS Public Health and BS Pharmacy graduates. Also observed was the significant decrease in the yearly average GWAG, NMATs, and Latin honors among accepted UPCM students. The yearly average interview scores increased while the profile based on admissions category remained generally unchanged.

Conclusion: These significant changes and impacts were mainly attributed to the adoption and utilization of the Adjustment Factor in the computation of the GWAG.