<p>oh yeah experience, missed out that most important point haha.</p>
<p>eh yar i agree it's sheer laziness... afterall, 'its' is one character shorter than 'it's'...</p>
<p>I mix up grammar when I'm doing several things at once. But then- you're not my english teacher so I don't really care :p</p>
<p>regarding the rankings of NUS...i used to have a joke with my friends that a large part of the rankings is based on peer review. which of course means that "wow SMU is one of the top three universities of singapore!" then again, we didn't erect billboards on campus or take out a full page newspaper advertisment to highlight notable alumni. =p</p>
<p>btw i think the dual degree programs take in maybe 10 to 20 students a year - the chances of entry are hardly on my side.</p>
<p>fact is however, that an NUS degree for some reason or another is revered by many. my friend was telling me how her colleagues believed that "only lousy students go overseas"...because NUS is of course the premium institute. =) there is nothing about NUS that i absolutely cannot tolerate - i just want a different experience. that said, i don't think NUS will shortchange anyone in terms of academics at the undergraduate level at least.</p>
<p>First up, if you look at most forums frequented by US posters, they just tend to spell stuff like that. I find it rather annoying, but hey, it's a free world.</p>
<p>Here's an example of how rankings can be skewed. I meant skewed as in how it differs hugely from the rankings offered usually as proof of the local universities' superior rankings, not as a matter of personal opinion.
<a href="http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2005/ARWU2005TOP500list.htm%5B/url%5D">http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2005/ARWU2005TOP500list.htm</a>
NUS is rated between being the 101st to the 152nd in the world, and NTU is ranked between 301st to 400th. Universities in the same rank range are ranked alphabetically. Here's a link as to how this particular table ranks the schools.
<a href="http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2005/ARWU2005Methodology.htm%5B/url%5D">http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2005/ARWU2005Methodology.htm</a></p>
<p>Personally, I think studying overseas offers you a brand new perspective. I've already had experience with being overseas for a year or so and certainly wouldn't mind extending that. And besides, who said anything about getting away from NUS? For me, it's more about getting away from Singapore. Not indefinitely of course, but the fresh air will certainly benefit me.</p>
<p>And it's strange that NUS/Straits Times only focuses on the Times Higher Education Ranking and totally ignore the Shanghai Jiaotong University Ranking. Well done NUS!</p>
<p>And also the Times Ranking only evaluates around 500 universities whereas the Shanghai one evaluates around 2000 universities around the world. So which is better?</p>
<p>Well who wouldn't want to emphasize the advantages of their university. NTU has on their website describing that they're once again among the "top 25th percentile, the same group as Harvard, MIT, Cambridge". They convieniently forgot to mention they're 47 places below Harvard :p. I guess any university on that list can say that they're at least among the top 200 universities in the world :p. </p>
<p>It's amazing how universities that aren't normally classified as elite and top-notch such as NUS, NTU, the Australian Universities and many other asia/pacific uni's are using these rankings as a marketing tool. I've seen a mate tell me that he's going to a university thats among the top 100 biotech uni's in the world (Monash Uni). He wasn't too happy when I bowled over laughing.</p>
<p>Hmph. I was considering applying to Monash (Malaysian or Australian campus) for biotech...</p>
<p>haha. Don't get me wrong dizzy- It is indeed a great program but I just found it funny how effective the uni has used it as a marketing tool and for bragging rights.</p>
<p>Hmmm, yeah. I read an article from a magazine about biotech and other uni's in Aussie/NZ area. It was my bio teacher's magazine... He's Australian, too....</p>
<p>TIMES ranking is crappy! It places IIM's of India in world's top 100 Tech Universities...
PS: IIM's offers only Management Studies</p>
<p>IIT is great... it has been ranked 3 or 4 :)</p>
<p>Kjoodles: Perhaps you would want to read this post on a blog!! :p</p>
<p>And yes, just read the Straits Times Forum today. 2 Singaporeans bashed up NUS... Apparently, NUS raises her tuition fees but did not keep up with the academic quality she provides.</p>
<p>frankly, unless you belong to an elite group of universities, you have to market yourself. even if we think the methodology of ranking is skewed, it's still used for bragging rights. i think the shanghai jiao tong rankings appear to be favourable of large research universities (maybe public ones in US) thanks to the great emphasis on nobel winners, which NUS scores a clear zero in. the times ranking has certain ridiculous criteria and the editors have slipped up in certain cases ie. UM scandal. but it is of course, nature to follow the rankings that rate you better. i will claim that i got 10 As...but obviously hide the number of A1s. =p</p>
<p>the fee hike on the other hand made my sister very unhappy too. her fee went up by 500 bucks - and i'm not even sure she goes to NUS anymore. i have no idea why NUS makes medical students pay through their noses when they are on hospital attachments 80% of the time after their second year.</p>
<p>Yep, but dont you think it's pretty unethical for an academic institution to do "selective reporting"??</p>
<p>Actually, marketing's perfectly fine. Most firms use marketing strategies that are skewed to their own benefit. Regardless of its purpose, an academic institution still has to keep the students coming in, and telling students that they rank lower wouldn't quite cut it. And besides, if you're talking about the thousands of universities around the world, top 25 percentile could be the top 500 unis without a hitch. It could even be the top 1000 unis in the world if you toss in every single 2-bit institution that offers a degree. I wouldn't call it unethical, just typical business sleight-of-hand.</p>
<p>I have to agree with jeremy, asia pacific universities suffer on the jiang tao rankings due to the fact there are lesser Nobel prize laureates available coupled with the emphasis on research. However, they don't fare too well on the other scores either. Oddly enough, the best Asian university is Tokyo University at 20. I'm rather surprised at that.</p>
<p>Anyone has a link to the Times ranking? UM scandal? What's that about?</p>
<p>Seems like a rather large number of NUS students are up in arms over the fee hike. Apparently SMU's increased it's fees by 15% as well, the students there however do not seem to have made much fuss about it.</p>
<p>Just remembered something, SMU students aren't upset about the fee increase as it only applies to incoming freshmen. They did however kick up quite a fuss last year when fees were increased. The fees are locked in for the rest of their course, something which NTU and NUS don't practice.</p>
<p>google for times higher education ranking, or if you don't want to sign up, pm me and i'll send you the pdf document. about UM, it was ranked i think 89th in the world last year, but this year dropped to 160-something this year, and apparently a reason for it was because the editors compiled the rankings incorrectly for international students, taking chinese and indian students as internationals.</p>
<p>smu students are not making a fuss because it only applies to incoming students for the 2006 batch. not that nus students are doing anything beyond wearing black...which won't make a single dent in the administration's decision. =p</p>
<p>Fair enough, wearing black's about as useful as RGS' white elephant T-shirts. Well. less actually. It doesn't exactly say much since I'm sure there were people who just happened to be wearing black. Now shocking pink would probably have caught them more attention. Assuming of course, they've got shocking pink items of clothing stashed in their closets.</p>
<p>Yeah, I remembered the SMU detail too late for an edit.</p>
<p>Incidentally is there anyone who actually posts here and wasn't from a JC aside from myself?</p>
<p>Oh well, so did the police issue stern warnings to those wearing blacks like what they did to RGS students? A freer society? Dream on and I am kinda surprised that those SPF overseas scholars each year are sent to top notch schools and yet, they are not able to tolerate any slight dissent.</p>
<p>actually i dun think its the SPFO scholars or even the policemen or superintendents per se who cannot tolerate the slightest dissent. every individual in the police force, or government for that matter, probably knows that we are clamping down so much on public dissent that there's really no freedom of speech to speak of. but no one can, would, or even should, do anything about it, because it is so deeply ingrained in the system that it takes mighty courage for someone to even attempt to change it, and even then, efforts to do so might very well go down in the drain.</p>
<p>I'll assume kenyon's question was rhetorical. Well, as far as I can tell, the NUS students just wore black. Any form of black was acceptable. They didn't have a particular black top. </p>
<p>Freedom of expression within government limits! The Singapore way! </p>
<p>Still, it has its advantages. I can't imagine the ongoing comic riots being allowed to happen here.</p>