Do University Rankings Really Matter?

I have been hearing more and more about students giving up their dreams since they don’t comply with the university rankings they had chosen at the beginning of their student lives.

Look, I am a student at McGill University, and that’s because, since the early years of my high school life, I was determined to get there and be future McGill alumni.

I am well aware that it’s not in the top-10 universities of the world, and it’s not, generally, the first one in the country of Canada.

What’s even the notion of giving up your dreams about the university that you like the most, provided that it’s not on the ideal thesis that you would love to see it.

Well, guess what: nobody cares.

The future of your job position isn’t to be determined by the university choice, and you will still get the job if you were at a #5 university rather than a top-3 university.

Do University Rankings Matter for Your Ego?

So let’s answer the title question and further discuss the best solution for a future university student, either under or postgraduate.

Do university rankings matter? Yes. But it’s not the end of the world.

The first part in which people are anxious about their university rankings is the image that they give to their entourage, considering their previous efforts to get into a top choice.

Let’s be honest here; it wouldn’t sit right for you to see a student that hasn’t worked as much as you have, getting to a university of a higher number on the list.

In order to answer the question of the title, in this case, University Rankings don’t matter at all. And that’s because you are looking to a future in your university life based on the people’s reactions.

You don’t look at your own needs and wants, but you are looking to go to a particular educational institution only if it’s about surpassing your entourage.

This is where university rankings don’t matter because you will lose yourself, and you feel that although everyone is beneath you (enormous mistake), you sacrifice your happiness for a better statement on your CV.

Don’t get me wrong; having an ego can sometimes be significant and can get you through many objects when you need to have a strong personality that is driven by confidence, aspect, and a trusting relationship with your inner self.

But the idea of having an unchecked ego-driven by the lust of being happy when you are better than others, rather than when you are doing what you want, is problematic and highly connected with the University Rankings.

A #1 student in the class will not apply to Yale University just so he can make fun of the other students and feel better when it comes to rest applying to a smaller one, but will apply to a top-10 university when he intends to be the best version of himself and take a significant challenge just so he can become better as a student and as a person.

You tell me that you are ok with jeopardizing the best and most important academic years of your life for what other people think. This is a big no when choosing the university that most people will know rather than the one you always aspired to go to and have wanted to be a part of since the beginning of your preparation.

If you are happy with the university that you chose, there shouldn’t be a voice from your entourage stating that you made the wrong choice since it’s in some sense “not good enough.” There’s only one time you should hear the voices of people who have unrealistic assumptions about your future, which is only when you want to be miserable.

I would never change my current university to choose someone who doesn’t think the same way I think, and that’s because education should be fun. I am happy whenever September and January come around since this is where I want to be when the semester starts, and additionally, I want to go each day to study.

I am not saying to apply to universities like Oxford and Harvard but do it because you are passionate about it; it was a long-lasting dream of yours, and you would enjoy every day in it.

Don’t go because you think you aren’t good enough to do something you love, which might apply less pressure.

Do University Rankings Matter? : Departments and Parameters

The first parameter is the department in which you are going to study. Many universities in Canada have a great variety of rankings in terms of the liberal, the humanitarian, and the arts sections. Still, when it comes to engineering, computer science, Information Technology (IT), accounting, nursing, medicine, and most other healthcare-related degrees, there’s no difference.

In simpler words, it’s different to get a degree in philosophy from a top-10 university than it would be to get it from a top-50 university. Still, a degree in the mechanical engineering sector not only wouldn’t be that different, but it wouldn’t matter in the future or a potential job application.

In addition to that, one would be aware that the ranking institutions have been using the data they have to create the annual lists, but this isn’t limited to respond to the average student like you. In other words, there are many dimensions and many other parameters that you haven’t even recognized yet, and I am sure they didn’t even cross your mind.

Let’s suppose that you aren’t a person with a huge ego, and you have solved the issue discussed earlier. One of the parameters that are being included in the analysis is academic reputation. Honestly, if you love what you are doing, why take into account a high-ranking university because it’s well-known but might not be what you had in your mind for your specific program.

Another drawback is that with the sole focus on the university rankings, you aren’t giving attention to smaller institutions that might have been very active in some departments and might have invested money on the education but not on the image or parameters such as employability advertisement.

This is generally one of the most significant drawbacks because the ranking institutions don’t consider factors such as the practical experience of the researchers and the executives of every university institution, which stems from the weight of the name that the top-10 universities have.

Any investment by smaller universities to focus on the school will not be regarded, and students will continue to value the rankings concerning the university’s name.

Do University Rankings Matter? : Positive Takeaways from Evaluation

The solution, nonetheless, doesn’t lie on the exact opposite notion of paying great attention to the ranking institutions’ lists. The solution isn’t to pay attention to the rankings.

After all, the lists can provide you with great help to understand the university, the gravity of your application, and factors such as employability and the level you need to attain.

One thing is for sure: University Rankings Matter when it comes to personal capabilities, and that’s because the type and the number of the students that have been accepted are taken into excellent account, and this is an accurate measure of finding the average student.

You already know that the average student of Harvard is different from another more local university student.

After having multiple articles on the importance of grades for university life and how they can affect your application, I can understand that university rankings can help you.

Should you wish to apply to a big university in the future, university rankings enable you to understand what you need to do and how much progress you have to make to receive the letter of offer from your first choice institution.

And actually, let’s face it (without looking down to smaller universities): most of the time, highest-rank universities have better resources and facilities. Not only because they attract so much money from the international tuition fees or other donations, but they are also the desired place for researchers, tutors, and influential individuals.

The approach of always choosing “the best of the best” isn’t only applied to the future students but also the future professors and tutors.

Do University Rankings Matter? : Employability and Financial Resources

Let me be honest here. The future work environment and your ability to generate revenue once you are finished with the academics are based on two parameters.

The first one is about the other people’s approach towards you concerning university rankings, and the second one is about your approach to your future based on the university rankings. Please let me explain.

The approach of the other people will change. I wouldn’t want to lie to you, but there’s a difference in the workforce between a student with a good GPA from a local university and a Harvard graduate.

This is no disrespect to the people of lower-ranked universities.

And I also totally think that this attitude of the HR consultants and administrators must change and take into account other factors that might have been crucial in understanding the students’ choice, such as the revenue of their families.

Nonetheless, do I think that it will change: Absolutely not.

Whether good or bad, having a diploma from a top-10 university in your bio gives you a significant advantage from the get-go.

Nevertheless, you can change the form of decisions you will make, and please do, if the university you are choosing has taken into account the rankings only for future financial freedom and money.

Please pay attention. You will never have money if you aren’t a hard worker, literate financially, and aware of your opportunities. I don’t care if you have studied in the best university in the world or one of the most mediocre ones. Many skilled workers, such as a plumber, electrician, machinist, etc., do not even require a university degree pay better than many people who have university degrees.

I have seen writers making more than 10,000 a month in my writing sector and didn’t even complete their first year in university. University won’t get you the money. University will allow you to attain a good job.

After that point, you will have to continue the hard work. Suppose you have worked hard for most of your high school and academic years. In that case, you will have certainly developed the skill of perseverance and commitment, regardless of the university you have graduated from.

Everything is subjective in the academic world when it comes to university rankings. I hear them, and I completely understand where they are coming from, but this doesn’t hinder my growth as a person in the academic environment I have chosen to be a part of and spend the rest of my four years there.

You won’t be happy, have potential, maintain a good future job, and don’t regret your university years if you always listen to others and show that you are better than everyone else and always pay attention to your ego.

You will have a great future job, with an enormous potential for more money and joyful life, if you choose the direction of your academic years according to what makes you happy, which will bring the development of valuable skills such as hard work, dedication, patience, and perseverance.

Make the best out of the university rankings’ evaluations, search the factors they consider, understand how they value the institutions, and, most importantly, do your research. This is crucial in getting the best out of the positive points of the ranking lists and actually disregarding the factors that aren’t important based on what you want to attain.