By Terry W (Yr 13)
The imminence of senior year has compelled me to start my college research since my next education road trip is to be determined in less than a year’s time. As I evaluated my choices based on institutions’ offering of social science majors, small campus sizes, and a low student-to-professor ratios, I stumbled upon a major attribute highlighted in bold: RANKING.
College rankings, seemingly totalitarian, assumes absolute control over students’ college research; to many students, the associated prestige has been the be-all and end-all factor to where these college applications will end up, ruling other crucial collegiate elements unimportant. Because of ranking, it has undermined the educational value in attending European universities .
Since over 80% of the top universities are located in the USA and UK, many great European and Asian colleges have been left neglected and unheard of. Even though many European and Asian colleges demonstrate the needed collegiate attributes to be ranked high, such as the number of Nobel laureates or distinguished professors, these universities fail to compete with their US and UK counterparts. These ranking discrepancies rest among endowment and language barrier.
Endowment denotes to the aggregation of a college’s assets to achieve both the short and long-term educational missions of the college. For instance, Harvard has an endowment of $50.1 billion while endowment for University of Paris is only $2 billion. The discrepancy in funding could also reflect upon its global recognition. Schools with more funding often have a stronger Alumni network, which maintains the institution's prestige through legacy admissions and thus allowing it dominate the rankings.
The lucrative endowments allow these institutions to make effective funding for their professorship, expanding upon institutional publication across the institutional network. The accrued finance gives these renowned institutions the opportunity to specialize any designated field of knowledge. For instance, MIT and CalTech have been more commonly known as a STEM school while Harvard is renowned for its government programs. As these institutions gain greater prestige from their representation, it raises their exclusivity and
worldwide reputation. This perpetual cycle of prestige attracts greater applications worldwide, reducing their admission rates and increasing their competitiveness. All these effects would check the boxes for a high-ranked university, moving them up the rankings.
Max Weber and Karl Marx, founding fathers of sociology, never attended Harvard or similar. In fact, they attended an university you may have never heard of: University of Berlin. Obviously, I am not saying that you have to follow their paths. But, hopefully, these examples could prevent you from getting too disappointed and broaden your perspectives when you decide for your next educational journey - not solely reliant on rankings.
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