Skip to main content
UNISORT
UNISORT
THE BATTLE FOR MANILA /// UAAP RIVALRIES INTENSIFY /// TUITION HIKES LOOMING /// CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER

Which One's For You?

THE BIG FOUR

“The Schools Everyone Compares Themselves To”

Blue EaglesGreen ArchersFighting MaroonsGrowling Tigers
Feature Analysis

The Decision Dimensions

1. Academic Challenge

The Big 4 test your limits in distinct ways. You must decide whether you prefer intellectual depth, high-speed efficiency, total independence, or sheer endurance.

  • ADMU (Reflexive Depth): Education is anchored in a Liberal Arts “gauntlet”. You are required to take extensive Philosophy and Theology courses that culminate in oral exams.
  • DLSU (Trimestral Velocity): The academic year is a “sprint” divided into three 14-week terms. With zero room for procrastination, the challenge is elite time management.
  • UP (Independent Survival): UP prioritizes “filtering” over nurturing. You are expected to bridge vast knowledge gaps through independent study; professors act as facilitators.
  • UST (Volume & Traditional Pedagogy): The approach is volume-heavy and traditional, often involving 7 AM to 7 PM schedules. The curriculum is laser-focused on licensure exam preparation.

2. Cost & Financial Reality

Financial accessibility varies wildly, with an increasing “inversion” of class demographics across the four schools.

UP: FREE
UST: ~140k
ADMU: ~200k
DLSU: ~250k

3. Support Systems

How much “hand-holding” do you need to thrive?

  • ADMU: Leads in cura personalis, offering accessible mental health services.
  • DLSU: Provides “efficiency as a form of care” with organized systems.
  • UP: Characterized by “systemic abandonment”. Navigate bureaucratic chaos on your own.
  • UST: Often described as having a repressive administration (OSA), forcing students to rely on peers.

The Team Rosters

UP FIGHTING MAROONS:
UP FIGHT!

Defining Trait: The Culture of Critical Survival

You'll love it if... you are fiercely independent, value academic freedom over comfort, and want to be surrounded by radical diversity.

You'll struggle if... you need efficient systems, want a guaranteed four-year graduation, or cannot handle “beautiful decay”.

Signature Experience: The “Prerog”

ADMU BLUE EAGLES:
ONE BIG FIGHT!

Defining Trait: The Jesuit Philosopher-King

You'll love it if... you want holistic formation, love debating humanities, and value a supportive “bubble” environment.

You'll struggle if... you want a purely technical education, are a staunch religious skeptic, or feel alienated by “conyo” gatekeeping.

Signature Experience: The “Orals”

DLSU GREEN ARCHERS:
ANIMO LA SALLE!

Defining Trait: The Corporate Forge

You'll love it if... you want a fast-paced, pragmatic environment, value professional networking, and enjoy a “work hard, play hard” lifestyle.

You'll struggle if... you are a slow learner who needs time to digest concepts, or if you find “conyo” social stratification alienating.

Signature Experience: “Happy Thursday”

UST GROWLING TIGERS:
GO USTE!

Defining Trait: The Resilient Soldier

You'll love it if... you want a grounded community, thrive in block sections, and want the best food scene in the Big 4.

You'll struggle if... you hate uniforms, can't stand a volume-heavy workload, or value administrative transparency.

Signature Experience: Paskuhan

What is the Big 4?

Welcome to the “Big 4” ecosystem—the four universities in Metro Manila that serve as the primary architects of the Philippine social strata. The University of the Philippines (UP), Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), De La Salle University (DLSU), and the University of Santo Tomas (UST) are more than just schools; they are gatekeepers of cultural capital and the nation's premier training grounds for leadership. While their rivalries are most visible during the UAAP season, the true distinctions lie in their “hidden curriculums”—the unwritten rules of survival and the fundamentally different ways they transform students.

How to Choose?

  • 1.Financial: Can you handle 80-90k tuition (ADMU/DLSU) or need free (UP)?
  • 2.Structure: Thrive under cura personalis (ADMU) or chaos (UP)?
  • 3.Tempo: Prefer 14-week sprints (DLSU) or volume endurance (UST)?
  • 4.Vibe: Comfortable in “Conyo” hegemony or “Kanal” humor?
  • 4.Politics: Can you handle daily activism (UP) or prefer institutionalized/safe advocacy (DLSU/ADMU/UST)?

Stereotype Watch

“ADMU = Rich Conyo?”TRUE-ISH

Elite culture dominates, but 18% are scholars navigating invisible divides.

“DLSU = Party School?”TRUE

“Happy Thursday” is legendary, but Engineering/CS have high academic mortality rates.

“UP = Activists?”TRUE

Center of radical thought, but facing a “Burgis Invasion” (luxury cars in parking lots).

“UST = Conservative?”TRUE

Admin is traditional, but the student body is rebellious (e.g. TomasinoWeb controversy).

Common Myths

  • “UP students always get delayed”Normalized battle scar, often due to systemic enlistment failures (CRS) rather than incompetence.
  • “You need to be rich for ADMU/DLSU”Both have ~20% scholar population. Lifestyle costs are high, but middle-class students “code-switch” to survive.
  • “UST is apolitical”Students are active but suppressed by admin. Activism focuses on internal rights and Catholic social teachings.
  • “DLSU is easier than other Big 4 schools”Trimestral velocity creates unique brutality—what takes a semester elsewhere compresses into 14 weeks. CCS has higher mortality rates than most STEM programs.
  • “All Lasallians speak conyo naturally”Only students from exclusive feeder schools (LSGH, Zobel) speak it natively. The rest code-switch or fake it, and try-hards get mocked ruthlessly.
  • “UP is full of NPA/communist militants”Most students are apolitical or moderate left. Red-tagging creates safety fears, but hardcore activists are a vocal minority, not the majority.

NO WRONG CHOICE.

“There is no 'best' school, only the school that is best for YOU. The Big 4 are all premier institutions, and graduating from any of them carries immense weight in the professional world.”

Go get 'em, Future Isko, Blue Eagle, Archer, or Thomasian.