Is it better to go to a college that has a high overall ranking or a high course ranking? The two types of colleges that I am applying to are:
Which one should I choose and why?
The overwhelming majority of students change majors at some point in their undergraduate career. Sometimes this just means they switch from aerospace to mechanical engineering while other times it means they went from pre finance to art history. Reasons for this include inadequate high school preparation, methods of teaching vastly different in high school versus college, and lack of knowledge about a particular field of study (quick, describe geophysics and philosophy to me!)
Additionally rankings are bard on research strength, not depth of undergraduate resources. While these are often related (MIT is a superb engineering school at the undergraduate and graduate level), there are plenty of instances where such relationships don’t hold.
At a good school most programs will be rigorous and have a substantial depth of resources for undergraduates. At schools with perhaps one or two strong programs (ex Delaware Valley College’s agriculture majors) it may only be those majors which are excellent. The other programs may be seriously lacking in their depth and/or rigor.
What schools are you considering and for what majors?
I strongly agree with post #1. Moreover – and especially as one progresses through a 40+ year professional career – decisive hiring officials may not know how (and this is only an illustration of my point) New Mexico State’s accounting department is ranked, but they will certainly understand that UT Austin’s aggregate stature is better than, for example, the University of Arizona’s or the University of Florida’s. It is important to realize that accounting, engineering, medical, and MANY other enterprises (both public and private) are frequently not led by accountants, engineers, physicians, etc. – but, rather, by MBAs. Thus, while the first few levels of management may appreciate (to return to the foregoing illustration) NMS’s accounting stature, the top leadership echelons may not.
It depends on how committed you are to your major, and to the specific case you are considering. For example, are you talking about Minnesota-Twin Cities and Brown for Economics or Carnegie Mellon and Dartmouth for Engineering?
If you can share the specifics, it would be easier to share our opinions with you.
I’m deciding between the Chinese University of Hong Kong (ranked 129 in top universities, and below 100 in top engineering universities) and Hong Kong Polytechnic University (ranked below 200 in top universities, and 89th in top engineering schools). Both for Mechanical Engineering.
In the US at least, rankings won’t matter when you’re comparing schools in the 100-200 range. I don’t know how it works in Asia.
Thank you for your comments!