2009 University Rankings - U of Calgary soars up the list

[Ozy_Flame]

I completely agree about the comparison factors, and how they're not the best measure.

I'm in the Military and Strategic Studies program at the U of C, and if we were ranked against other schools, I'm almost certain we (U of C) would be top 10 or 15 in the world.

University rankings should be taken with a grain of salt; it's what you get out of it and how you apply yourself. Most employers could care less if you went to U of C or U of A; they want a qualified applicant not an alumni

And if all an employer was looking for was an alumni, that would be a very sorry state of affairs.

[Phanuthier]

Oh as for the list and some of the comments above, Harvard is a very good school, not just reputation. I tend to be more industry and real world biased then academics, but Princeton seems a little too theoretical (not saying they are not a good school, just not my taste). I know there is a large faction out there that doesn't like to bring in MIT students the same reason they might not like Waterloo students.

To me, as far as North American universities go, and I don't know how they go about these rankings. Stanford is the best. All things considered (academics to personal development and social skills) Stanford seems to pump up the largest number of quality innovation then any other university. Berkeley, though I've met quite a few dumb ass's (i.e. I have lots of UofA and UofC friends who I'd consider are better) is a pretty good school. For a public school, its sort of weird to see a large group of very intelligent students, and 10% of them you just have to wonder how they past Darwin's school. Nevertheless, even between its university a few miles west, they have a lot more quality people coming out then UCSF.

Some random comments.

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

And if all an employer was looking for was an alumni, that would be a very sorry state of affairs.

ADDITION : actually, employers do really look at where you went to school and some particularly target alumni. The biggest example of this are American MBA's, you see a large difference in networking opportunities in Stanfords GSB or Berkeley's Wharton then the rest.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Oh as for the list and some of the comments above, Harvard is a very good school, not just reputation. I tend to be more industry and real world biased then academics, but Princeton seems a little too theoretical (not saying they are not a good school, just not my taste). I know there is a large faction out there that doesn't like to bring in MIT students the same reason they might not like Waterloo students.

To me, as far as North American universities go, and I don't know how they go about these rankings. Stanford is the best. All things considered (academics to personal development and social skills) Stanford seems to pump up the largest number of quality innovation then any other university. Berkeley, though I've met quite a few dumb ass's (i.e. I have lots of UofA and UofC friends who I'd consider are better) is a pretty good school. For a public school, its sort of weird to see a large group of very intelligent students, and 10% of them you just have to wonder how they past Darwin's school. Nevertheless, even between its university a few miles west, they have a lot more quality people coming out then UCSF.

Some random comments.


ADDITION : actually, employers do really look at where you went to school and some particularly target alumni. The biggest example of this are American MBA's, you see a large difference in networking opportunities in Stanfords GSB or Berkeley's Wharton then the rest.

Alumni connections and pipelines become much more pronounced at the graduate level, it's not as much of an issue when undergrad degrees are involved (Although some employers certainly favor their alums). Specialized degrees are probably different, I don't have one of those though so I really don't know for sure.

There's also regional biases, as you've demonstrated. Stanford and Berkley are without a doubt great schools, but I'm sure if you were typing from an office in Boston or NYC you'd be talking about Harvard, MIT, or Columbia. It's not that either is wrong, people are just naturally going to lean towards that with which they are more familiar. Even among the truly elite schools a grad from a west coast school can often find themselves behind grads from east schools, or vice versa, simply because the employer has a regional bias.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by valo403

Alumni connections and pipelines become much more pronounced at the graduate level, it's not as much of an issue when undergrad degrees are involved (Although some employers certainly favor their alums). Specialized degrees are probably different, I don't have one of those though so I really don't know for sure.

I think if you end up in some big name school, you usually end up pursuing a graduate level of some sort and at some time in the the next 5-10 years.

Originally Posted by valo403

There's also regional biases, as you've demonstrated. Stanford and Berkley are without a doubt great schools, but I'm sure if you were typing from an office in Boston or NYC you'd be talking about Harvard, MIT, or Columbia. It's not that either is wrong, people are just naturally going to lean towards that with which they are more familiar. Even among the truly elite schools a grad from a west coast school can often find themselves behind grads from east schools, or vice versa, simply because the employer has a regional bias.

I actually noticed a lot of partnership between East-West universities. For instance, Berkeley-Columbia seem to have strong ties such as their MBA program. I noticed a lot of Harvard connections as well, as well as Cornell, Purdue and Madison. For those West going East, I seem to notice it being more financial, though area probably makes my opinion bias.

[Ozy_Flame]

Sorry Phanutier, what I meant was employers who hire on undergraduate alumni. Really, when compared to a Masters or Doctorate, the undergrad level is glorified high school and usually offers a general degree.

Graduate level candidates - those I can see employers being picky about.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Sorry Phanutier, what I meant was employers who hire on undergraduate alumni. Really, when compared to a Masters or Doctorate, the undergrad level is glorified high school and usually offers a general degree.

Graduate level candidates - those I can see employers being picky about.

Fair enough. I know either you or Muta were talking about doing an MBA in at USDS or UCSB or something like that, thought you 2 would want to know.

[Red_Baron]

#40 in the world for UBC. Lends well to my personal opinion that I am of above average intelligence

[Addick]

Originally Posted by Freeway

Canadian schools:
20. McGill University [1821]
29. University of Toronto [1827]
40. University of British Columbia [1906/1915]
59. University of Alberta [1908]
107. University of Montreal [1878]
113. University of Waterloo [1957]
118. Queen's University [1841]
143. McMaster University [1887]
149. University of Calgary [1966]
151. University of Western Ontario [1878]
196. Simon Fraser University [1965]

So the U of C is 8th.

Just thought it would be interesting to add the date when each University was established.

[Hustle]

Originally Posted by Red_Baron

#40 in the world for UBC. Lends well to my personal opinion that I am of above average intelligence

I think the only thing holding our ranking back is that UBC is overrun with Canuck fans. Clearly they are lowering the IQ of the campus

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Hustle

I think the only thing holding our ranking back is that UBC is overrun with Canuck fans. Clearly they are lowering the IQ of the campus

Canucks fans goto BCIT. hehe

UBC campus is pretty impressive though.

[Berger_4_]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

It's Augustana man! You aren't even on main campus!

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by Hustle

I think the only thing holding our ranking back is that UBC is overrun with Canuck fans. Clearly they are lowering the IQ of the campus

I actually had one of my profs talk about the rankings today in class

UBC gets a super low score on international staff, which is really kinda stupid, because you could have a bunch of amazing staff from Canada or a bunch of idiot international staff members, and you get a higher score

U of T was only ahead of UBC because of the international staff score

so UBC is still #2 in Canada to me

[FiftyBelow]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

I actually had one of my profs talk about the rankings today in class

UBC gets a super low score on international staff, which is really kinda stupid, because you could have a bunch of amazing staff from Canada or a bunch of idiot international staff members, and you get a higher score

U of T was only ahead of UBC because of the international staff score

so UBC is still #2 in Canada to me

hahaha yeah, my prof was joking around about that today in class. He was like "wait a minute, because I'm Canadian I don't contribute enough to the faculty? Maybe I should I go to Australia where I'm considered international and contributing."

[looooob]

phew at least I have 2 top 60 diplomas hanging on my wall

[troutman]

UWO is first in beauties!

[valo403]

Originally Posted by looooob

phew at least I have 2 top 60 diplomas hanging on my wall

I don't think it counts if they're someone else's

[Red_Baron]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

Canucks fans goto BCIT. hehe

UBC campus is pretty impressive though.

I'm not even sure they made it to BCIT, most of them dropped out in back in Daycare, they weren't ready for elementary!

[Muta]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Fair enough. I know either you or Muta were talking about doing an MBA in at USDS or UCSB or something like that, thought you 2 would want to know.

Still going to do it! My lazy ass hasn't done the GMAT yet, I'm too busy with work these days to really study significantly (it's more of a sign of engaging work though, otherwise I'd be more inclined to study better). It's down to SDSU, U. of Oregon or Columbia.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Sorry Phanutier, what I meant was employers who hire on undergraduate alumni. Really, when compared to a Masters or Doctorate, the undergrad level is glorified high school and usually offers a general degree.

Graduate level candidates - those I can see employers being picky about.

From my experiences I've found that most people are more concerned about who you did your grad work with, not the institution. I'm sure it's different for course-based grad degrees but for a thesis/research degree that seems to be the trend.

Edit: They also care about your publication track record. Publish a few quality articles in good journals and you'll write you own ticket. The name of the institution might make it easier to get published but in the end quality work is quality work.

[jammies]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

I'm in the Military and Strategic Studies program at the U of C, and if we were ranked against other schools, I'm almost certain we (U of C) would be top 10 or 15 in the world.

You can get a degree in this?! I know it's completely unrelated to the discussion at hand, but I would be so all over this if I could work it financially.