How accurate is the university rankings? which one is the most objective one? (1 Viewer)

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I've been checking the QS, THE and the Shanghairanking. For each subject I check for each uni the rankings for the uni is always different. For example like for Business and Economics in THE UoN ranks for 151-175 globally where as in QS it is ranked in 400+. I heard that in some rankings universities bribes it to make their rankings higher so I just want to know, how objective is the rankings for each university and which one is the best?

 

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There is no "the best". Each system use different metrics for their rankings. E.g. some ranking systems might place heavier emphasis on research output over say, graduate employability, whereas other ranking systems might place a heavier emphasis on graduate employability over research output.

How biased is the rankings then?

 

[popjin]

How biased is the rankings then?

It's not that rankings are "biased" so to speak, it's just that there is no objective way to rank education. Even between school and faculties, teaching quality and graduate outcomes vary significantly. Because each university teaches a different curriculum, has different research projects, different goals, etc that there is no real way to compare them as an "apples to apples" comparison.

My advice would be to focus on qualitative research rather than quantitative so that you have a better understanding of the culture and aims of each uni so that you can find one which suits you best.

 

[quickoats]

In Australia uni prestige doesn’t really make a difference unless you’re going for like investment banking/top tier law jobs.

Regarding rankings, they’re very subjective and tbh they don’t mean much. Usually they’re heavily weighted towards research output, which doesn’t even matter in undergrad.

The best uni for you is the best uni for you, regardless of its global rank.

Since you considered UoN I’m assuming you live in Newcastle. In that case it might be better to stay in Newcastle and kind of establish yourself there rather than say commuting down to MQ or even all the way to UNSW.

 

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In Australia uni prestige doesn’t really make a difference unless you’re going for like investment banking/top tier law jobs.

Regarding rankings, they’re very subjective and tbh they don’t mean much. Usually they’re heavily weighted towards research output, which doesn’t even matter in undergrad.

The best uni for you is the best uni for you, regardless of its global rank.

Since you considered UoN I’m assuming you live in Newcastle. In that case it might be better to stay in Newcastle and kind of establish yourself there rather than say commuting down to MQ or even all the way to UNSW.

I don't live in Newcastle, I just found out that I'm eligible for the Spotlight Scheme early entry which ends in 18th November because I already did some of my HSC subjects in year 11.

 

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Regarding rankings, they’re very subjective and tbh they don’t mean much. Usually they’re heavily weighted towards research output, which doesn’t even matter in undergrad.

So if I only want to do a bachelor then the rankings doesn't really matter and what only matters is how I'm doing in the uni. Whereas this is not completely the case if I'm planning for Masters or Phd's because it is really researched based right? Which means that if I really care about the "prestige" of the uni it's the best only if I apply for postgraduate.

 

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My advice would be to focus on qualitative research rather than quantitiative so that you have a better understanding of the culture and aims of each uni so that you can find one which suits you best.

Sure, that might be a good idea

 

[Cujo10]

I always found it weird on how Americans focus on college/uni prestige, and what school they go to other than thinking about what degree to choose.

 

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I always found it weird on how Americans focus on college/uni prestige, and what school they go to other than thinking about what degree to choose.

Goes the same for my Chinese friends and families in China

 

[dasfas]

They mean pretty much nothing. It's all subjective. Basically, if other people have heard if your uni, then it's probably alright.

The most important part is the commute, whether you feel like you fit in, and what their strengths are (remember rankings look at overall research output, not even the quality of teaching).

Ultimately, you're gonna get good and crap professors, no matter where you are.

 

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They mean fuckall. It's all subjective. Basically, if other people have heard if your uni, then it's probably alright.

The most important part is the commute, whether you feel like you fit in, and what their strengths are (remember rankings look at overall research output, not even the quality of teaching).

Ultimately, you're gonna get good and crap professors, no matter where you are.

Hmm when I checked the THE ranking I do found that for teaching quality there isn't that much difference between unis so I guess you are right.

 

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I don't see that at all. If anything, I think students here place more emphasis on the school they go to, which is why you frequently see students asking which uni is better for what, not to mention the relentless USYD/UNSW debates. In contrast, I never saw sort of discussion in the US. Also, American UG degrees are much more general, which is why students don't tunnel vision when choosing certain degrees like they do here. Higher degrees like med/law/pharmacy are only offered in grad school, and that's when they place some emphasis on picking better schools (and understandably so).

Do high school students in the US tend to prefer school like the Ivy Leagues or NYU than other unis despite what degree they get into?

 

[jazz519]

I wouldn't go to a uni based on the ranking it's not a very good metric to base what you will get out of the uni as a student. As an example of why it doesn't matter, UNSW ranks highly but tbh it's not that great in terms of overall uni experience. The lecturers are really good and helpful but you can probably find this at most universities. The thing that kills the experience for me is the trimesters, as in a science based degree it's actually so demanding because of the amount of work you have for labs, the content seems so crammed because there is less weeks and there is barely any break between one semester and the next so you don't really feel rested and honestly takes the fun out of learning as it's just full on all the time. However, my experience is different from other people in different degrees such as business degrees who have said that they are okay with the trimesters and it hasn't changed the workload that much.

So this example illustrates to you that the ranking isn't important. What you should be doing is asking people who go to a uni you are interested in and doing a similar degree what their experience has been like. This will give you a better gauge for what will be best for you

 

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I wouldn't go to a uni based on the ranking it's not a very good metric to base what you will get out of the uni as a student. As an example of why it doesn't matter, UNSW ranks highly but tbh it's not that great in terms of overall uni experience. The lecturers are really good and helpful but you can probably find this at most universities. The thing that kills the experience for me is the trimesters, as in a science based degree it's actually so demanding because of the amount of work you have for labs, the content seems so crammed because there is less weeks and there is barely any break between one semester and the next so you don't really feel rested and honestly takes the fun out of learning as it's just full on all the time. However, my experience is different from other people in different degrees such as business degrees who have said that they are okay with the trimesters and it hasn't changed the workload that much.

So this example illustrates to you that the ranking isn't important. What you should be doing is asking people who go to a uni you are interested in and doing a similar degree what their experience has been like. This will give you a better gauge for what will be best for you

True, however my problem is that I couldn't find anyone who is doing the degrees that I think I might choose from the early entry offer, (I mean, maybe Social Science and Psychological Science is really unpopular) so my only "source of information" is only the rankings and what its said on the website of the bachelors. But really even on the websites they just put on the rankings and so it doesn't really give me a way better picture rather than the "rankings"

 

[jazz519]

True, however my problem is that I couldn't find anyone who is doing the degrees that I think I might choose from the early entry offer, (I mean, maybe Social Science and Psychological Science is really unpopular) so my only "source of information" is only the rankings and what its said on the website of the bachelors. But really even on the websites they just put on the rankings and so it doesn't really give me a way better picture rather than the "rankings"

Have a look on reddit. Lots of unis have reddit pages and you can ask on there about the degree and some people doing the degree can probably reply to you

Other than that unis have like open days or information days that you could go to

 

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Have a look on reddit. Lots of unis have reddit pages and you can ask on there about the degree and some people doing the degree can probably reply to you

Other than that unis have like open days or information days that you could go to

Just one question, not that I still care about prestigious but why are there so many people saying that WSU is bad?

 

[quickoats]

Just one question, not that I still care about prestigious but why are there so many people saying that WSU is bad?

It always gets a bad rap since it's in the West and has lower atar cutoffs than the 'prestigious unis'. All unis will have their 'good' and 'bad' parts no matter where you go. Unless you hear it from a current/past WSU student, I would ignore what people from other unis say. I go to MQ and although it gets memed a bit, I've been very satisfied with the teaching and experience.

If WSU has the course you want to do, then there's not an issue with going there. Don't do something that you don't really want to do elsewhere just for the prestige e.g. if you want to be a physio, go to WSU rather than going to USyd sport science with the intent of transferring into physio.

 

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It always gets a bad rap since it's in the West

That's stereotype isn't it?

 

[jazz519]

Just one question, not that I still care about prestigious but why are there so many people saying that WSU is bad?

Well commonly the ATAR cut offs there are lower and they give out a lot of early entry things, so people think it's a worse uni because it is easier to get into. I can't really comment on the facilities and if they are good as I haven't been there. Maybe that statement is kind of true in terms of the quality of your peers will be lower as the ATAR cut offs are lower but I would assume that the academics are still good. So you kind of have to balance it against all the travel time and stuff, as if you live in the west WSU is pretty close but UNSW and USYD can take like 1-2 hours to get to for most people.

 

[SylviaB]

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