For the first time in history, St Andrews outranks Oxbridge
1–10 of 73 posts
Re: For the first time in history, St Andrews outranks Oxbridge
#2Whenever a rankings table comes out with a result like this it probably succeeds in selling some papers, but it also diminishes the esteem of the rankings table
I'm sure that St Andrews is a brilliant college. But very few in academia would say its as brilliant as Oxbridge
Re: For the first time in history, St Andrews outranks Oxbridge
#3Due to student satisfaction.
It should be noted that Scottish students don't pay (significant) tuition fees.
Re: For the first time in history, St Andrews outranks Oxbridge
#4Whenever a rankings table comes out with a result like this it probably succeeds in selling some papers, but it also diminishes the esteem of the rankings table I'm sure that St Andrews is a brilliant college. But very few in academia would say its as brilliant as Oxbridge
Mind you, these are not colleges, these are universities. Colleges are not as highly esteemed in the UK.
Re: For the first time in history, St Andrews outranks Oxbridge
#5Whenever a rankings table comes out with a result like this it probably succeeds in selling some papers, but it also diminishes the esteem of the rankings table I'm sure that St Andrews is a brilliant college. But very few in academia would say its as brilliant as Oxbridge
Except the students who went there I guess.
Re: For the first time in history, St Andrews outranks Oxbridge
#6Due to student satisfaction. It should be noted that Scottish students don't pay (significant) tuition fees.
Only if you're Scottish though, if you're English, Welsh, or Northern Irish you still have to pay full fees.
Re: For the first time in history, St Andrews outranks Oxbridge
#7Whenever a rankings table comes out with a result like this it probably succeeds in selling some papers, but it also diminishes the esteem of the rankings table I'm sure that St Andrews is a brilliant college. But very few in academia would say its as brilliant as Oxbridge
Mind you, these are not colleges, these are universities. Colleges are not as highly esteemed in the UK.
They're basically a different thing in the UK, I think. At the risk of stereotyping, they're where you go to get vocational qualifications (further, as opposed to higher, education).
Re: For the first time in history, St Andrews outranks Oxbridge
#8Whenever a rankings table comes out with a result like this it probably succeeds in selling some papers, but it also diminishes the esteem of the rankings table I'm sure that St Andrews is a brilliant college. But very few in academia would say its as brilliant as Oxbridge
Mind you, these are not colleges, these are universities. Colleges are not as highly esteemed in the UK.
Imperial College London has a pretty good rep, no? Even when compared to most universities in the UK?
Re: For the first time in history, St Andrews outranks Oxbridge
#9Due to student satisfaction. It should be noted that Scottish students don't pay (significant) tuition fees.
Only if you're Scottish though, if you're English, Welsh, or Northern Irish you still have to pay full fees.
Good point, but with 30% of the students there from Scotland (more than three times the UK population average), I'm guessing it's a factor in satisfaction ratings.
Re: For the first time in history, St Andrews outranks Oxbridge
#10As a student I used to obsess over university rankings, but I realize now that most of them are massively gamed. My alma mater, the UPMC (Université Pierre et Marie Curie) e.g. merged with other universities in Paris to form the Sorbonne University, mostly to move up in the worldwide ranking. So, it's still largely the same university with the same funding and the same chairs, but since it's bundled up in a larger package it now gets some extra vanity points.
IMHO, as a PhD student, what really matters is not how well your university is ranked but how well your research group is organized and how much the people there support you. I know students who went to do their PhDs in the groups of nobel prize winners because of the associated fame, only to find out that they're not very "hungry" anymore (in the sense that they're already at the top of their fame and not always eager to pursue new risky and innovative research) and are often so busy that they could only speak with them for a few hours over the entire duration of their PhD. So my advice is to go to a group with people that are still "hungry" and that actually have time to coach you.