University Rankings

[RedRedRose]

What do university rankings actually mean in real terms? A better education, cultural capital, a combination of the two?

I am working towards: (i) all universities are involved in knowledge transfer, but some are clearly more able to do this better than others—assets, human resources etc., but (ii) "better universities" can be more selective, choose candidates who are better predisposed to achievement (initial education background etc.) therefore the process is cyclical and primarily based on their student intake.

Can urban talk me through how you should judge two comparative programmes or awards from two different institutions?

 

[redsquirrel]

Can urban talk me through how you should judge two comparative programmes or awards from two different institutions?

Throw the rankings in the bin where they belong and consider the factors relevant to you. Try to talk to some current/former students (and staff) if you can

 

[Santino]

University Wankings more like

 

[platinumsage]

Usually they're based on just a handful of metrics such as how many librarians the university has per book, or what proportion of graduates bother to fill in a survey about their temporary job at Aldi.

 

[Favelado]

University Wankings more like

This is so childish it cracked me up.

 

[Santino]

This is so childish it cracked me up.

Sadly not even my work: https://twitter.com/UWankings

 

[RedRedRose]

Throw the rankings in the bin where they belong and consider the factors relevant to you. Try to talk to some current/former students (and staff) if you can

Agreed. They are bollocks, and I can give anecdotal evidence to back this up. The problem is rankings are not going away anytime soon, and have massive ramifications in perpetuating privileges and accessing jobs. What does that amount to?

If you prefer, I can ask this question another way: let’s say you want to further study, what factors would make you pay more for one degree over the same degree at another university?

 

[Pickman's model]

Agreed. They are bollocks, and I can give anecdotal evidence to back this up. The problem is rankings are not going away anytime soon, and have massive ramifications in perpetuating privileges and accessing jobs. What does that amount to?

If you prefer, I can ask this question another way: let’s say you want to further study, what factors would make you pay more for one degree over the same degree at another university?

the teaching staff. for example, if i was interested in gentrification i'd want to study where eg tim butler or loretta lees were teaching or in the case of surveillance studies where david murakami wood was. and the quality of the library, which is the one department in a college or university which all students have to use.

 

[redsquirrel]

If you prefer, I can ask this question another way: let’s say you want to further study, what factors would make you pay more for one degree over the same degree at another university?

Is this a practical concern or a theoretical one? I'm most asking to be pedantic but IME there are very few UK universities that are not charging full whack for courses*. AFAIK the HEIs in West Yorkshire charge the full £9000, so price - at least in that way - is not really a factor (though accommodation costs will differ).

My advice would be to make use of open days (yes they are artificial but will hopefully give you some idea of what the institution can give), talk to people and see what your practical things they have to offer. Are you working a part time job then you want to have a good well set timetable. How are travel links to/from campus? What are online activities? What are teaching hours? What is their record of pastoral support?


*may be a few undercut by a couple of hundred quid.

 

[Funky_monks]

As far as I'm aware, rankings are mostly based on the NSS

 

[Pickman's model]

As far as I'm aware, rankings are mostly based on the NSS

which is really stupid as there are quite a few institutions where postgraduates outnumber undergraduates.

and as we all know only undergraduates are eligible to complete the nss

 

[muscovyduck]

if someone was asking me advice on how to pick somewhere.

I could write an essay but basically, act like how you'd act if you were trying to size up a workplace or buying a house. Vague answers are red flags. Any concrete answers you get, ask two or three diferent people and see if they give you the same one. Then check on their website if this matches with their policies.

Ignore their star-pupil case studies and try and figure out where the rest of the students end up (and if they end up there because of the uni or off their own backs / due to privilege).

If you can't find an SU rep or similar that has anything negative to say about the uni walk away because it means something's really really wrong.

Student satisfaction surveys don't tell the whole story and graduate employment figures tell you nothing. In particular sometimes people are loyal to their course but hated the uni / vice versa but these surveys can't really account for that.

Also worth having a scan of social media to see what students/grads are saying in pseudononymous form - although don't take this as the be all and end all.

Fees will be roughly the same at each uni but check what their bursaries/grants are as it shows where their priorties lie.

Don't get led by their logic when they start saying "x means y". A small course doesn't neccessarily mean you'll get more support for example, in fact often it means you get less, but small courses always claim they give you more support.

At the moment best test is asking about how they dealt with the pandemic. Does it sound like they took decisive action or did they leave it to the students to figure out for themselves? Did they publish anything questionable online about it?

See if you can find out the grades for the course. If it's pretty evenly split between 1st / 2:1 / 2:2 / 3rds something's wrong.

I think they now have to release figures about how people from different economic backgrounds do on the course but I'm not sure what the deal is there

 

[Aladdin]

Universities get ranked on numbers of fronts.

Universities continue to be evaluated according to the following six metrics:

1. Academic Reputation
2. Employer Reputation
3. Faculty/Student Ratio
4. Citations per faculty
5. International Faculty Ratio
6. International Student Ratio

There are other tick boxes. Think of it like a 5 star hotel. A hotel wont get 5 stars unless it has a swimming pool.

There are specific boxes to tick to get a university rank.

Now if you ask "how do I know which uni is best FOR ME?" That's a different question. And will depend on your course choice and interests.

QS World University Rankings methodology: Using rankings to start your university search

The 20th edition of the QS World University Rankings features 1,500 institutions across 104 locations and is the only ranking of its kind to emphasise employability and sustainability. This year, we've implemented our largest-ever methodological enhancement, introducing three new metrics...

www.topuniversities.com

"The rankings are based on a methodology which assesses each university on six indicators including its academic and employer reputations, research impact and more."

 

[chilango]

Big differences in factors to consider between UG Vs PG. Mature student or 18 yo etc.

Rankings are waaaay down the list most of the time.

In 5 (?) separate Uni choices/applications I've made rankings have never, ever, been a factor.

 

[chilango]

Basically, for me at least, you can boil it down to:
1. The course. Are the modules what I want to study? Is it the right qualification? Are there staff members whose academic interests match mine?
2. Location. Is the Uni in a place I can either get to, live in, or access remotely. So I chose UGs on the basis of where I wanted to live. and my PGs on where I was already living.