5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT PUP

1. THE TUITION FEE

In PUP, we have the lowest tuition fee in the Philippines, (I guess). But it is not only about the money that we pay every semester but it is also about the quality of the education you will avail. Despite of the low tuition fee, (which is 12 pesos per unit) most of our colleges were in line with the other top universities.

You will spend more money at eating, hanging out and travelling from your house to the university than the tuition fee itself. If you want to save money, there are a lot of dormitories along Teresa Street. You just need to be determined to find the most convenient rooms and cheapest rents. The cost is from 1000-1500 for bed-space. If you want to be on solitaire, you can rent your own room. The cost is from 3000-5000 exclusive of the water and electricity bills.

2. THE CLASSROOMS

You should not expect an air-conditioned classroom in the main campus. It is indeed a factor when you want to focus more in your lesson. However, in PUP you need to deal with that. If you're an upcoming freshman you should be conditioning yourself to listen from your professors with just one or two electric fans working.

In my point of view, this is one of reasons why PUPians is having good evaluations from their employers. It says that they accept all of the jobs being offered to them (that's according from a previous survey in the College of Science). From the company survey, it shows that PUPians are not picky in terms of doing their responsibilities in the company. PUPians are trained to be patient firstly in the classrooms. They are conditioned in the reality of life. In a typical private university room, you will have a freezing cold room. However, when you step out from the university, the world will not always give you a chilling environment.

In some colleges in the main campus, there are well-ventilated rooms in College of Nutrition, College of Technology, College of Computer Management and College of Tourism. So if you're one of the picky types of students who want to enter a state university, get a course under those colleges.

3. THE IDEOLOGIES

One of my professors in Sociology explained why he called PUP as "the mini Philippines". He told us that in PUP you can see everything that you can observe in the outside world. Including types of people, foods, beliefs of a typical Filipino community.

In 2010, there were several students who threw chairs from the sixth floor of the main campus building. It became a hot potato in media to the point that some companies (that was a rumor) released official announcements that they will not accept students from PUP anymore. (I haven't confirmed that, tho.) It's quite ironic that many students are continuously being hired in those mentioned companies. So I therefore conclude, that it was not true.

In PUP, there is academic freedom, just like in the University of the Philippines. Those two state universities are well known for activism. I'm not a fan of some activist group and I don't have any acquaintances from those groups. But I don't condemned those acts that they do. I believe that if nobody was listening from the administration/ officials of an organization. There will be no voice from the commoners. If there were no students who kept on fighting against the increase of tuition fees even in state universities. It could have been a nightmare for every Filipinos to afford studying in a university.

If there will be no other resorts, activism is the final option.

4. THE STUDENTS

There are three types of students in PUP.

- The Simpleng Tao

- The Burgis

- The Passbyers

The "Simpleng Tao" are those typical students. There is no official uniform in PUP so you all have the rights to wear whatever you want to. Simpleng Tao's are those students who wear backpack, carry books with their hands, wear t-shirts and jeans. They are those students who go to the university because they need to. It's quite hard to recognize the faces of these students. They will just pass by in front of you and at the moment they passed by you will forget their existence.

The Burgis are those students who frequently go to PUP for "pogi and ganda points". They often go to PUP with lots of accessories wearing luxurious headsets, caps, high hills, dresses, long sleeves, with blonde hair, spiky hair (for men), drinking a glass of perfume before leaving from home. They are the types of students that you will really recognize. They are often termed as the "crush ng bayan". They are the famous personalities in social networking sites too.

The Passbyer's are those students who wear flip flops and t-shirt. Sometimes they just wear sandos carrying a piece of paper bag where their things are inside. They literally passed by. You will not think that they are even studying in PUP.  They are in PUP to buy a bottle of vinegar.

5. THE EVENTS

There are a lot of events being held in the campus. One of the highlights of the year is the Foundation day in the month of October. There will be some booths on the both side of the catwalk. (Catwalk is the term used for pathways as you enter the main gate of PUP.) Colleges, organizations and even fraternities establish their own booths. Fraternities have the chance to encourage some students to join their organizations too. It is legal and accredited from the administration of PUP.

During the Foundation Day, they establish the mini-perya inside PUP. There are some rides and game booths near the gate and the university gym. I had tried it so many times but I don't assure you the safeness of the rides because those are the usual equipment rented in plazas and other communities. I recommend every PUPians to try the rides in our campus mini-perya, tho. You will really regret if you didn't even try to engage yourself into these kinds of annual celebrations.

Annually the colleges, departments and even the programs in PUP celebrate their own foundation day. Those are what we call College/ Department/ Program (insert program here) week. You will be lucky if your program/ college / department has their individual celebrations. It is because I will assure you that there will be no classes for those days.

Usually, there are a lot of games like amazing race, there are a lot of pageants, talent search and even amazing race. It will depend upon the activities that will be held. If you're that kind of student who wants to gain more friends, who wants to earn popularity, it's your chance to shine!

The student council oftentimes organizes rock band concerts in the PUP gym. But it is not annually. I think it is just possible if they were able to contact some of their acquaintances from some famous bands.

(In order to know more about PUP, visit our campus' website: https://www.pup.edu.ph/)