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<p>I am not referring to the rankings but the quality of education provided. From what I’ve heard, at least NUS engineering does seem to provide quite a rigorous education, especially if you aim to do well (i.e. first class honours) and all.</p>
<p>Oh. Engineering. Yup, definitely. :D</p>
<p>How would postponing your start date at Berkeley help you get a Green Card (or reside your UK Citizenship)?</p>
<p>Will you get a family member etc to sponsor you, or is there another way?</p>
<p>The THe QS is very British centric. That is why Schools in Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore do very well. Up till now they ahve not provided a thorough description of their methodology.</p>
<p>@ haydennimo: Yes, it is true that Berkeley and Warwick are lower than NUS on the overall Times ratings. However, like you said, I don’t know if I can take these ratings too seriously or know which part of them to rely on. Here’s why:</p>
<p>Berkeley: Even though it is #32 on the overall THE rankings, it ranks second on the THE rankings for social studies, which is the field I want to go into (and more specifically, I want to do econ). It is second only to Harvard. In fact, if you look at the areas of expertise, Berkeley ranks in the top 5 in every single one of them. Since Berkeley is ranked so highly in its individual fields by THE itself, I am a bit skeptical about why the same source then goes on to give it a rank of 32 overall. In any case, THE has realized that its methodology needs some revising so it is using new measures to calculate the upcoming 2010 rankings.</p>
<p>The same thing applies to the Warwick position. Warwick is #58 on the THE rankings, even though it ranks at #3, after Oxford and Cambridge, on the Guardian Good University Guide which rates the best institutions in the UK. On the UK Economics rankings, Warwick stands at number 4. I understand that being highly ranked in the UK does not mean the same will stand for the world rankings. However, to put this in perspective, not only is Warwick lowly ranked on THE, but LSE ranks at #67 there! That is a bit ridiculous.</p>
<p>So basically, I don’t think I can rely on the THE ratings to judge the quality of universities anymore.</p>
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<p>I have been staying in the UK for the last five consecutive years and I have received my ILR here. In order to get my UK passport now (citizenship), I need to stay here for just one more year. So basically if I can defer my entry to Berkeley by a year, I will get my citizenship. However, if I can’t do that, the only way for me to get my UK passport is by studying abroad my sophomore year (I’m allowed to be out of the UK for a max. of 1 year). The study abroad is unlikely to happen during my sophomore year because the only study abroad courses in the UK are offered during junior year. I’d have to try really hard to get the study abroad my sophomore year, and I’m fine with doing that. But it’s just a matter of chance at that point because I may not actually be able to come back, in which case I would lose my UK citizenship.</p>
<p>Why is UK citizenship so important to you? Do you plan on coming back to live here?</p>
<p>If you cannot defer your Berkeley admissions- just go to Warwick. I think you will be better served. Warwick is as good as it gets. I feel you will regret it if you lose your citizenship for Berkeley.</p>
<p>@fridge, I definitely do not advocate assessment of a school based on its performance in some weird ranking. However, to put your situation into context, the mentality of most Singaporeans is very much centred around rankings. Unless you are Caucasian, the banking industry here is highly competitive. Berkeley and Warwick will definitely open up doors for you. Although Berkeley’s name may be much more recognised in Singapore generally.</p>
<p>^ Yeah I definitely understand what you mean. The banking industry is pretty competitive already and I can see that it would be even more competitive in Singapore. So I guess some people there really do care about those rankings regardless of what we may think of them. And in terms of rankings and name recognition, it seems like Berkeley is the better option, especially if I want to work in Singapore.</p>
<p>@Dionysus: Yeah, I’d like to have the option of coming back to the UK. It’s a great place to live plus my family is still here. However, I have nothing against working in California. In fact, I would prefer to work there because it has great weather, an amazingly friendly atmosphere, and also enough banking opportunities. It’s such a lovely place to live! </p>
<p>Basically the only reason I’m a bit skeptical about going to Berkeley is that I’ve heard it’s really tough for international students, who have just freshly graduated from college, to find a job there in banks. I mean, my dad works in an American bank and even he said that a) they’re hardly hiring people who’ve just finished they’re undergrad degree and b) even if they do hire someone, they will give US citizens preference over international students because they’ve been paying local taxes, which were used to bailout all these banks. So that means that international students are having trouble getting companies in the US to sponsor them to work during the 1 year job-seeking period they’re given.</p>
<p>I have no idea if the situation will improve in the next four years and it’s difficult to tell. But I guess I just want to figure out if it is worth it to take the risk and go to Berkeley.</p>