<p>Absolutely, the academic communites in Asia are well aware of the UC system.</p>
<p>World University Rankings </p>
<p>A list compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University which is now widely quoted as a measure in the academic world.</p>
<p>Shanghai Jiao Tong's top 50 universities 2005 (last year's ranking in brackets):</p>
<p>1 (1) Harvard University USA
2 (3) University Cambridge UK
3 (2) Stanford University USA
4 (4) University California - Berkeley USA *****
5 (5) Massachusetts Inst Tech (MIT) USA
6 (6) California Inst Tech USA
7 (9) Columbia University USA
8 (7) Princeton University USA
9 (10) University Chicago USA
10 (8) University of Oxford UK
11 (11) Yale University USA
12 (12) Cornell University USA
13 (13) University California - San Diego USA *******
14 (16) University California - Los Angeles USA *******
15 (15) University Pennsylvania USA
16 (18) University Wisconsin - Madison USA
17 (20) University Washington - Seattle USA
18 (17) University California - San Francisco USA *******
19 (22) Johns Hopkins University USA
20 (14) Tokyo University Asia/Pac
21 (19) University Michigan - Ann Arbor USA
22 (21) Kyoto University Asia/Pac
23 (23) Imperial Coll London UK
24 (24) University Toronto USA
25 (25) University Illinois - Urbana Champaign USA
26 (25) University Coll London UK
27 (27) Swiss Fed Inst Tech - Zurich Switzerland
28 (28) Washington University - St. Louis USA
29 (32) New York University USA
30 (29) Rockefeller University USA
31 (30) Northwestern University USA
32 (31) Duke University USA
32 (33) University Minnesota - Twin Cities USA
34 (35) University California - Santa Barbara USA ********
35 (34) University Colorado - Boulder USA
36 (40) University Texas - Austin USA
37 (36) University British Columbia Canada
38 (36) University Texas Southwestern Med Center USA
39 (43) Pennsylvania State University - University Park USA
39 (38) Vanderbilt University USA
41 (42) University California - Davis USA *******
41 (39) University Utrecht Netherlands
43 (44) Rutgers State University - New Brunswick USA
43 (48) University Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh USA
45 (46) Karolinska Inst Stockholm Sweden
46 (41) University Paris 06 Europe
47 (55) University California - Irvine USA ******
47 (47) University Edinburgh Europe
47 (57) University Maryland - Coll Park USA</p>
<p>Sorry but "Shanghai Jiao Tong's top 50 universities 2005 " is fairly irrelevant. Spoke to a few professors about this list- and it is not a good gauge.</p>
<p>It also doesnt take a rocket scientist to see the silliness. U of Penn at 15 followed by U of Wisconsin at 16???</p>
<p>it is actually very well respected overseas, especially in parts of asia. just because you find it somewhat irrelevent where you live or are located does not meen that other areas of the world do. I dont agree with everything the times higher has in their college ranking, but in europe, especially great britain, it is very relevant.</p>
<p>Okay, so I live abroad. Feel free to discount my opinion all you like, however, as I'm sure that many will.</p>
<p>Berkeley and UCLA both have a fair amount of international name recognition. I've met few people abroad who haven't heard of at least one of the two. </p>
<p>In Japan, amongst the well-educated, UCs garner a fair amount of recognition. While many haven't necessarily heard of the individual campus, the name カリフォルニア大学 (University of California) is almost instantly recognized. I live in a relative backwater, and I'd say that at least 60-70% of people here have at least a passing knowledge of the University of California system.</p>
<p>UCLA gets a lot of "cool!" while Berkeley gets a lot of "wow, you're smart!" Even UC San Diego (when I mention my grad plans) gets the occasional "sugoi!"</p>
<p>But in the end, I've come to realize that it really doesn't matter. Even in the East Coast, there are those who don't recognize the UCs as top tier (I've been told that both Berkeley and UCLA were pretenders to the throne, so to speak), since privates are more prevalent. So what? Furthermore, who the hell cares what a Japanese rice grower thinks of my UCLA degree? I don't.</p>
<p>"just curious, but do ppl (esp outside of the US..in asian countries,etc) actually know what the UC system is?" </p>
<p>la_demolition</p>
<p>Above quote is taken from the original post. The ranking I posted was not offered for assessment of validity. It simply illustrates, in response to the OP, that there is an awareness of the UC system outside the US.</p>
<p>Well, considering that two of my friends in the program in my city alone are Asian-American, I'd have to say no. I know plenty of Asians in the program.</p>
<p>international name recognition shouldn't really matter. If you find some provincial farmer guy in New Guinea and ask him if he knows about Harvard, he won't know what you're talking about. But just becaue he doens't know, doesn't make the education there less great. What difference does it make if someone has heard of your school or not. They aren't reaping the benefits of a great education- you are.</p>
<p>Well, while what you're saying is true, these considerations matter to some people, especially those planning on leaving the united states for a time or permanently.</p>
<p>yeah i know prestige does not matter in the long run, but really..it does matters to some extent doesnt it? otherwise we wouldnt be stressing about college applications, acceptances, where to attend college, etc.</p>