History of Excel Review Center
Excel Review Center was founded in 1991 at V. Gullas Street in downtown Cebu City and started operations with only 12 reviewees. One year later, Excel produced its first board topnotcher, Engr. Glenn Paul Go (10th Placer) from the University of San Carlos. In the following year, it published its first reviewer, the ECE Licensure Guidebook. In that same year, it became the largest ECE review center outside Metro Manila.
In 1995, Excel became the first review center to use a computer program to simulate the now-computerized licensure exams.
It opened a branch in Manila in 1996. In the two board exams that year, it produced two first-placers, Engr. John Lamberte of the University of San Carlos and Engr. Edwin Medicielo of the University of the East. In that year alone, Excel produced a total of 33 topnotchers in the two board exams. With its Manila branch now open, Excel became the largest ECE review center in the country.
It set another milestone in April 1997 by becoming the first and only review center to completely sweep the Top 10 places in the ECE board exams. The following year, it produced its 100th board topnotcher.
As the new millennium turned, it continued its unmatched performance by once again producing two first-placers in the two ECE board exams. In the same year, it offered EE review for the first time and immediately produced its first three EE board topnotchers.
In 2001, it repeated its feat achieved in 1997 by sweeping the Top 10 places again in the ECE board exams. In the November examinations, it set yet another milestone, this time by becoming the first and only review center to sweep the Top 20 places. This unparalleled achievement was repeated in 2002 ECE board exams.
In 2004, it went online by launching its website, www.excelreviewcenter.com. In 2005, it produced its 20th first-placer, Engr. Elvin Ivan Uy of the De La Salle University. In the same year, it received three national awards as the Most Outstanding Review Center of the Philippines and received another two national awards the following year.
It took another step forward in 2006 when it registered itself as a corporation, Excel First Review and Training Center, Inc. The following year, an even bigger step was taken when it became the first and only engineering review center in the country to undergo and successfully passed all the stringent requirements and standards set for review centers by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and was granted permit numbers 16 and 25 in accordance with Executive Order No. 566.
In 2009, it started the construction of its new home – a 5-storey building in the heart of Cebu City. The building is complete with amenities and a 2-storey dormitory for its reviewees. It is the first and only engineering review center to own and operate on its own building.
Excel moved to its new headquarters in 2010, just in time for its 20th Anniversary. Two years later, Excel opened branches in Baguio and Davao.
Throughout this decade, Excel collaborated with a long list of colleges and universities such as Mapua University, Malayan Colleges of Laguna, University of St. La Salle, University of Cebu, FEU Institute of Technology, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Jose Rizal University, among others, in their undergraduate review courses.
In 2017, in partnership with IECEP UAE, Excel became the first engineering review center in the country to conduct review classes in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. This partnership continued in the succeeding years and became the blueprint for other international partnerships and collaborations with IECEP Qatar, IECEP KSA, IECEP Bahrain, IECEP Kuwait, and IIEE UAE.
In 2020, Excel launched its own online learning management system, Excel Online. It is the most complete and comprehensive online learning platform for ECE and REE review.
The following year, Excel celebrated it’s 30th Anniversary by launching Alterguru Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Excel Review Center. Alterguru is the first online learning platform for Filipino students and board reviewees that is made purely by Filipino teachers.
As of the writing of this handbook, it has produced 41 ECE FIRST PLACERS, 21 ECT FIRST PLACERS, 671 ECE BOARD TOPNOTCHERS, 101 ECT TOPNOTHCERS, MORE THAN 40,000 BOARD PASSERS IN ECE, ECT, AND REE, and has published over 20 review books. It is also the only engineering review center to have SWEPT THE TOP 10 PLACES FOR 7 TIMES and TOP 20 PLACES FOR 2 TIMES.