DOST Scholarship Exam Tips and

Strategies
Posted on July 16, 2010 by admin
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The government’s Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Science
Education Institute (SEI) believe in developing the human capacity for greatness.  That’s
pretty much why a scholarship bearing their names exists—to give the scientists and
engineers of tomorrow a chance to prove their mettle to the country and to themselves.
Like all students in need of financial aid, though, these pupils must first go through a test to
prove that they merit such assistance in the first place.  If you’re one of these academic
hopefuls, then read on.
The Exam Coverage
Word has it that the overall test lies in the easy to medium range on the spectrum of
difficulty, yet certain test items may cause problems to test takers depending on the latter’s
aptitude for the different subjects.  This is partly because the DOST Scholarship takes the
scope of your run-of-the-mill entrance test and expands upon it.
The test itself is divided into two major sections.  the Intellective part and the Non-
Intellective part.  The former involves your familiar high school mathematics, science,
English and then some, only in greater detail.  In this test, they are known as quantitative
ability, scientific ability and linguistic ability, respectively.
The technical/mechanical ability and working memory sections are two portions that are a
little different from the rest.  The former gives you several mechanical steps in a series and
asks you to find or calculate the result; the latter works like one of those experiments where
an image is quickly flashed before your eyes and you’re supposed to recognize and identify
it.
The Non-Intellective section will assess your analytical and problem-solving skills in a
different way.  For example, the test will present passages written in a certain theoretical
language and you’ll have to infer, evaluate, and draw conclusions from them.
Stock Knowledge or Stuck Knowledge?
If you’ve been diligent with your studies throughout your high school years, chances are you
already have what you’ll need for the exam knowledge-wise.  That’s right:  super confident
applicants may draw from their stock knowledge alone to best the DOST Scholarship
entrance exam.
If you’re feeling a wee bit unconfident, however, a little extra reviewing will help you a great
deal.  Some test takers have spoken of difficult questions in the scientific and quantitative
ability sections; others have reported seeing nosebleed-inducing words in the linguistic ability
part.  Identify which problem areas you’ll need to work on beforehand and prepare
accordingly.
What You’ll Need
One thing you will definitely need beforehand is a good night’s sleep.  The exam is easily
four hours’ worth of pure brain work, and any all nighters on your part will negatively affect
your performance.
Encouragement is another thing you’ll need in generous amounts.  There’s something
potentially intimidating about seeing several hundred other applicants vying for a scholarship
slot, yet don’t let that discourage you.  Pray, do your part in preparing, and the Lord will do
His.  The old saying still rings true:  altitude determines altitude.
In summary:  treat the DOST Scholarship entrance exam as you would any other entrance
exam (with all seriousness, competence and time consciousness) and you can—and will
succeed.

It’s vs. Its

Its is the possessive form of “it”:
The car lost its wheel.

It’s is the contraction of two words, either “it is” or “it has”:
It’s a shame that the words are so similar.

When to Use Its vs. It’s

The word its is the possessive form of the pronoun it, and it is generally used to show
ownership (for example, you would use “the dog wagged its tail” to show that the tail belongs
to the dog).
The word it’s is a contraction that stands in for “it is” or “it has” and is generally used to
shorten a phrase (for example, in the sentence “It is a windy day,” the contraction “it’s” can
be used in place of “it is”: “It’s a windy day”).
Examples of It’s vs. Its
The food had lost its flavor.

(In this sentence, the flavor belonged to the food, so the possessive “its” is called for.)
It’s clear that this book is going to be very meaningful to me.

(In this sentence, the words “it” and “is” are combined to make a contraction.)
It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?

(In this sentence, the words “it” and “has” are combined to make a contraction.)
How to Remember the Difference
Since apostrophes often indicate possessives in other circumstances, it can be hard to
memorize the exception represented by “its vs. it’s”!
An easy way to remember the difference is to try replacing the “its/it’s” in question with “it
is.” If the phrase or sentence still makes sense, then you know that you can use “it’s.” If the
sentence doesn’t make sense with “it is” as a replacement, then you know you should use
“its” instead.
Theory Into Practice: Which Is Which?
Is the underlined word correct? See if you can tell.
The bicycle nearly slipped it’s chain.

Wrong: This example shows possession and should be “its.”

That silver has entirely lost it’s shine.

Wrong: This example shows possession and should be “its.”

High wind speeds caused that tower to sway on its base.

Right: This example shows possession and is correct.

It’s not always possible to fall asleep quickly.

Right: This example shows a contraction of the words “it is” and is correct.
It’s been easier for me to learn a language when I am with native speakers.

Right: This example shows a contraction of the words “it has” and is correct.