Michigan ranks high in all three World rankings

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
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<p>World rankings of universities are highly questionable. They are prone to wild swings from year to year and often focus much on medical and engineering research. However, they are a good gauge for what people around the World think of US universities. the Times Higher Education, a British publications, just released their 2008 rankings. Michigan was ranked at a lowly #38 in the world (#25 in the US) last year and has somehow lept all the way up to #18 in the world (#12 in the US). Of the three major world rankings I am familiar with, the Times is the most suspicious. Stanford is ranked at a suspiciously mediocre (relatively speaking of course) #17 in the World (#11 in the Us) and Cal is ranked at an unforgivable #36 in the US (#17 in the US).</p>

<p>Times</a> Higher Education</p>

<p>The other two major world rankings are Newsweek, which ranks Michigan #11 in the World (#9 among US universities) and the SJTU, which ranks Michigan #21 in the World (#18 among US universities)</p>

<p><a href="http://ucla.nus.edu.sg/NewsweekTop100GlobalUniversities2006.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ucla.nus.edu.sg/NewsweekTop100GlobalUniversities2006.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>[url=<a href="http://www.arwu.org/rank2008/ARWU2008_A(EN).htm%5DARWU2008%5B/url"&gt;http://www.arwu.org/rank2008/ARWU2008_A(EN).htm]ARWU2008[/url&lt;/a&gt;]&lt;/p>

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<p>These rankings are meaningless and inaccurate.</p>

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<p>I agree ProudWolverine. I made it clear that the rankings are inaccurate. Many top schools are fairly ranked, but there are many oddities. However, those rankings are a farily good reflection of the general reputation of universities globaly.</p>

4

<p>Where is Michigan State University ranked in the first website link?</p>

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<p>I think USNWR's rankings are worthless and inaccurate too. So what?</p>

6

<p>Compared to the three world rankings, I believe that the USNWR is more reliable and accurate.</p>

7

<p>I like my this ranking I saw on another board, it's not done professionally, no methodology, but it made the most sense to me, and this is for undergrad:</p>

<p>1 - Harvard
2 - Stanford, MIT
4 - Princeton
5 - Caltech
6 - Yale
7 - U Penn, Columbia
9 - U of Chicago
10 - Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell
13 - Duke
14 - UC Berkeley
15 - John Hopkins
16 - Northwestern
17 - Rice U, Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown, U Michigan
21 - Washington U in St. Louis, UVa
23 - Emory
24 - Tufts
25 - UCLA
26 - U Notre Dame
27 - Vanderbilt
28 - U North Carolina - Chapel Hill
29 - Boston College
30 - USC
31 - NYU
32 - College of William & Mary
33 - U Texas - Austin, U Wisconsin - Madison</p>

8

<p>No offense to people from University of Washington (Seattle), but I had never hardly even heard of the school until Ty Willingham stepped down as football coach the other day. That one ranking putting them at #16 WORLDWISE is ridiculous...Yale at #11 and Penn at #15? I see a bit of a difference in the two types of schools, don't you?</p>

<p>I guess that is just the inherent problem with worldwide rankings...after the first 10 or so, chances are that people in foreign countries will know of certain US schools via sports and news--not so much academic accomplishments.</p>

9

<p>haha wow you have never heard of university of washington! University of Washington is a great school, and fairly underrated by USNWR. If you want to work in tech, there probably aren't many schools better.</p>

10

<p>
[quote]
Compared to the three world rankings, I believe that the USNWR is more reliable and accurate.

[/quote]

They measure different things. For one, USNWR ranks undergraduate programs whereas the others measure the whole university.</p>

11

<p>
[quote]
Cal is ranked at an unforgivable #36 in the US (#17 in the US).

[/quote]

Yeah, I like the Shanghai rankings much better...;)</p>

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<p>ProudWolverine, no ranking, least of which the USNWR, is accurate. They all have their flaws. For example, the Times ranks Stanford and Cal way too low. Newsweek ranks Princeton way too low. The USNWR ranks Michigan and Cal way too low. Shanghai ranks UCSD and UDub a little too high. The Global rankings do not give Brown, Dartmouth and other universities with weak research outputs their due. There just is no prefect system. </p>

<p>Furthermore, as GoBlue aptly points out, the USNWR claims to rank undergraduate programs whereas the other rankings attempt to rank entire universities.</p>

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<p>These global rankings are an absolute sham Alexandre and you know it. Just the fact that Michigan jumped 20 spots in the Times ranking indicates that it is extremely flawed, because the quality of a university doesn't really change that much yearly. All of these global rankings emphasize research output and aren't concerned with the quality of undergraduate education that a student is receiving.</p>

<p>USNWR is definitely the most reliable ranking out there for undergraduate institutions. It's not without fault but putting it on the same level as the Times through the excuse that "hey no system is perfect" is a giant mischaracterization. I don't see how Michigan and Cal are ranked too low by USNWR. Based on the quality of students they attract and the amount of resources they are able to offer to their enrolled students, Michigan is a top 25 school at best and Cal is perhaps a top 20 school. No one in the world would regard either of these schools as being top 10.</p>

<p>I wouldn't be surprised if the Times ranks Michigan #1 globally next year because it has no credibility whatsoever.</p>

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<p>ring<em>of</em>fire, I perfectly agree that the Times is not credible. Of the three global rankings, it is the least credible...and that's saying a lot because the other two rankings are not that credible either. I clearly state that in original post above. </p>

<p>However, I think the USNWR is no more credible. At least the global rankings tell you something about the reputation of universities abroad. I think it is a great resource for international students who wish to work internationally after graduation. The USNWR does not do much other than manipulate data to sell magazines. It truly is one of the most misleading ranking I have ever seen.</p>

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<p>Isn't a college choice more of a personal decision? Some are better for others. It seems kind of pointless for any ranking system to be developed in the first place.</p>

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<p>Oh come on, these global rankings are complete hogwash. They emphasize research purely and don't take into account the academic experience these schools provide and their educational reputation. At least USNWR employs a consistent methodology that doesn't allow wild jumps in the rankings from year to year. You won't see Michigan in the top 15 anytime soon, just like you won't see Stanford outside the top 15 in the near future.</p>

<p>The only statistic in the USNWR that might be a little shady is Alumni Giving, although I think its existence is justifiable because it's really hard to measure alumni satisfaction otherwise. The other factors like SAT/ACT scores, S/F ratios, class sizes, peer assessment, graduation rates etc. makes perfect sense for a magazine to consider that is dedicated to measuring UNDERGRADUATE QUALITY.</p>

17

<p>Duke is ranked too high.</p>

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<p>Ring<em>of</em>fire, you are entitled to your opinion and I am entitled to mine. I think the USNWR is unreliable. </p>

<p>In the case of SAT/ACT: 1) It does not make allowances for superscoring and 2) it does not verify whether a school reports admitted stats vs enrolled stats.</p>

<p>In the case of financial resources: 1) it does not consider public university financial data vs private university financial data.</p>

<p>In the case of faculty resources: 1) it does not distinguish between teaching faculty and non-teaching faculty (that complete blurs student to faculty ratios) and 2) it does not differentiate between classes under 20 students andclasses under 25 students or classes under 30 students. Roughly 75% of Michigan classes and 80% of Cal classes have fewer than 30 students, as opposed to 80%-85% at all top private universities. </p>

<p>For the above reasons, I have never really trusted statistical data, nor do I think statistics can truly capture the quality of a university. Gerhard Casper, Stanford University president back in the 90s, said it best:</p>

<p>"I am extremely skeptical that the quality of a university - any more than the quality of a magazine - can be measured statistically. However, even if it can, the producers of the U.S. News rankings remain far from discovering the method. Let me offer as prima facie evidence two great public universities: the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and the University of California-Berkeley. These clearly are among the very best universities in America - one could make a strong argument for either in the top half-dozen. Yet, in the last three years, the U.S. News formula has assigned them ranks that lead many readers to infer that they are second rate: Michigan 21-24-24, and Berkeley 23-26-27."</p>

<p>Criticism</a> of College Rankings - September 23, 1996</p>

<p>Doctor Casper's concerns are shared by most educated people when it comes to university rankings that rely too much on statistical data.</p>

<p>Any educated person will tell you that Michigan and Cal are among the top 15 universities in the US. Many would argue that they are among the top half dozen. Most of Academe thinks so, as the Peer Assessment score clearly indicates. In terms of what the corporate world thinks, my experience as a senior HR professional and consultant over the last 10 years (at some of the most global and respected firms) have shown me that Michigan and Cal are even more respected by the private sector than they are by academe...and that's saying a lot.</p>

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<p>"Any educated person will tell you that Michigan and Cal are among the top 15 universities in the US. Many would argue that they are among the top half dozen."</p>

<p>Hmm I'm not sure about this one Alexandre, remember there are many other universties out there that are at least as excellent as Michigan. It's just really hard to list the top 15 universities. Berkeley maybe one of the top 15 since it's the best public school in the nation but I highly doubt that Michigan is listed among them.</p>

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<p>ProudWolverine. Most people on CC always seem to forget that Michigan is more than a excellent undergraduate university. It is a phenomenal research and graduate school as well. I hate these stupid rating systems for that main reason. When push comes to shove, graduate schools and programs are what make a university truly great, famous, and respected worldwide. You think many people in Asia and Europe know much about Emory, WSTL, Vanderbilt, and Brown, to name just a few places?</p>