In June 1872, Jose went to Manila and took the entrance exam at San Juan de Letran.

But when he went back to Manila, his father who wants him to study in Letran changed his mind and decided to enrol him to Ateneo instead. It was formerly the Escuela Pia (or Charity School of Manila), whose name was changed to Ateneo Municipal, which later became Ateneo de Manila. When the Jesuits returned to Manila in 1859, the government placed it under their supervision. At first, the college registrar of Ateneo, Fr. Magin Fernando was hesitant to admit Jose for two reasons: (1) he was late for registration and (2) he looked to be frail and sickly. But through the help of Xeres Burgos, Jose was admitted at the Ateneo. Jose was the first in the family to adopt the surname Rizal to avoid any association to the martyred Fr. Jose Burgos. Jose was called an externo or a living-out student. He lived in a house outside Intramuros. The house was owned by Titay who owed the Mercado family P300. The style of education given by the Jesuits gave emphasis to character building by rigid discipline and religious instruction. Also, it stimulated the intellectual capacity of the students by healthy competition. Students were divided into two groups: (1) Romans consisting the internos (boarders) and (2) Carthaginians composed of the externos (non-boarders). The empires had ranks: best student was the emperor, 2. the tribune, 3. the decurion, 4. the centurion, and 5. the standard bearer. Aside from the rank in each group, they fought for supremacy in the class, with the red banner for the Romans and blue for the Carthaginians. Upon losing, the banner will be placed on different parts of the room defending on their number of wins and on the sixth defeat, the banner will be changed with a figure of a donkey. On Rizals first day of class in June, he heard Mass at the college chapel. Then he went to his class. He remembered his first professor, Fr. Jose Bech. As a newcomer, Rizal was placed at the bottom of the class under the Carthaginians since he was non-boarder or externo. Being ridiculed from his classmates because of having crude knowledge of Spanish made him studied hard. He convinced his father to buy a whole set of Historia Universal (Universal History) by Cesar Cantu. He became a lover of books, both fiction and nonfiction. Among his favorite books were the Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas and Travels to the Philippines by the German scientist Feodor Jagor. During vacant time, he took private lessons on Spanish in Santa Isabel College. In time, he became the emperor of the Carthaginians. But during the 2nd sem of 1st year, he wasnt able to maintain his academic supremacy because he resented some remarks of his professor. Likewise, the imprisonment of his mother affected his academic performance. At the beginning of his second year, he moved inside Intramuros into the house of his new landlady Doa Pepay. During his 2nd sem of 2nd year, he was able to regain the title of emperor and received a gold medal. By the time her mother was set free, he was already in Manila for his third year. He only got one medal in Latin as his Spanish classmate beat him in speaking Spanish. On June 14, 1875, Rizal became an interno in the Ateneo. One of his professors was Fr. Francisco Sanchez, a great educator and scholar who inspired him to study harder and write poetry. He obtained the highest grades in all subjects and graduated at the head of his class. His grades were all sobresaliente or excellent. On Mar. 23, 1877, he received the degree of B.S. Arts with honors. The other aspects of Rizal in the Ateneo. The painter and sculptorRizal studied painting under the famous Spanish painter, Augustin Saez and sculpture under Romualdo de Jesus, noted Filipino sculptor. He impressed his professors by carving the image of Blessed Virgin Mary on a piece of Batikuling. Also one of his professors, Fr. Lleonart requested him to carve an image of Sacred Heart. A devout catholicRizal was an active member, later secretary, of a religious society, the Marian Congregation. Two of his poems were about Jesus and Mary: (1) Al Nio Jesus (To the Child Jesus) and (2) A la Virgen Maria (To the Virgin Mary) A lover of the arts and the sciencesRizal was also a member of the Academy of Spanish Literature and the Academy of Natural Sciences. The first romantic episodeRizals days just after leaving Ateneo had his first romance. He was 16 years old when he was attracted to Segunda Katigbak, a 14-year-old Batanguea from Lipa. Segunda was the sister of his friend Mariano. He came to know more about Segunda every time he visited to La Concordia College, where his sister Olimpia was a boarding student. Olimpia was a close friend of Segunda. It was apparent that he and Segunda loved each other but the romance did not bloom because she was engaged to her townmate, Arturo Luz.