[Cythreill]

When I was going through my UCAS application in december, I had a tough time choosing between Kent and Essex, they were so closely ranked and for my course (Economics) Essex came out slightly ahead in all tables.

6 Months later, and now the tables are completely different. It went from Essex being slightly ahead in every table; to this.

Times

Kent 13
Essex 20

Guardian

Kent 6
Essex 30

CUG

Kent 15
Essex 30

What do you think of this? Has it happened to you? Even my insurance (Heriot-Watt Watt) is looking like a better option than my firm now.

[cpdavis]

(Original post by Cythreill)
When I was going through my UCAS application in december, I had a tough time choosing between Kent and Essex, they were so closely ranked and for my course (Economics) Essex came out slightly ahead in all tables.

6 Months later, and now the tables are completely different. It went from Essex being slightly ahead in every table; to this.

Times

Kent 13
Essex 20

Guardian

Kent 6
Essex 30

CUG

Kent 15
Essex 30

What do you think of this? Has it happened to you? Even my insurance (Heriot-Watt Watt) is looking like a better option than my firm now.

I personally don't trust the Guardian, however remember that this is one year and Essex is still a really good uni

[kunoichi]

Yes my firm has dropped in the tables considerably, but who cares? After i visited the uni it became clear that for me it was a better choice than the others i visited. Rankings in the tables shouldnt be the only thing you determine your choices on.

[Cythreill]

It isn't. Expenses and satisfaction with campus life is also a consideration. It's just I'm asking about this particular part in this thread.

I have heard the Guardian is a bit untrustworthy compared to the other 2, Heriot Watt was ranked 4th in the country for economics last year, ahead of Durham/Warwick etc.

[Harpoon]

I wouldn't go on rankings if I'm honest. It's whatever uni feels right for you. Keele is ranked about 50 however I wouldn't want to go to a higher ranked Uni if I'm honest. I love my course and I love Keele.

[StacFace]

This is why you don't base your university choices on league tables, you base them on where you think you will enjoy the course, university and local area. They are not set in stone and could change again throughout your degree and again multiple times after your graduation. The positions of universities also vary across different league tables.

I wouldn't know if this has happened with my unis because I thought other factors like whether I actually liked the place were far more important so only looked at them briefly and haven't looked at them since applying. They could have gone lower than London Met or higher than Oxbridge for all I know.

The idea of your insurance now looking better purely because of what the league tables say is ridiculous. Surely you looked at these two universities before selecting them as firm and insurance and thought about where you'd actually prefer to spend 3+ years? If you did and decided you'd prefer Essex then that should still be the case.

[Cythreill]

I have looked at both universities, I attended a couple of open days at one but HW is too far away so I it wasn't feasible. The distance is also obviously a factor and along with a couple of other factors, Heriot-Watt Watt would have to be quite superior academically for me to consider it above Essex.

[edjunkie]

The rankings of universities consider factors which are not relevant to the average under graduate.

Do you still like the course structure, the university vibe and location. That is what matters, the league tables may yoyo around whilst you are completing your degree. But assuming the university is not hit by any academic scandal whilst you are there, it really does not matter. Employers who recruit from particular universities, do not suddenly stop recruiting because of a league table change.

So concentrate on enjoying yourself at university and achieving the best degree possible on graduation.

[DynamicSyngery]

Don't worry about it. If they jump around that much, there's no reason to think that getting into the one that's temporarily on top is going to mean anything when you come to use the degree in >3 years' time.

Ultimately both these universities will be viewed much the same. Decent middle-upper tier, with little distinction between them.

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by Cythreill)
When I was going through my UCAS application in december, I had a tough time choosing between Kent and Essex, they were so closely ranked and for my course (Economics) Essex came out slightly ahead in all tables.

6 Months later, and now the tables are completely different. It went from Essex being slightly ahead in every table; to this.

Times

Kent 13
Essex 20

Guardian

Kent 6
Essex 30

CUG

Kent 15
Essex 30

What do you think of this? Has it happened to you? Even my insurance (Heriot-Watt Watt) is looking like a better option than my firm now.

Rankings don't matter as much as you think, there are some decrepancy's...........so like just research the universities reputation with various employers, etc and how well their graduates do.

[tdkr]

online rankings are so bull****.

**** unis can move up 10 places year to year even ahead of established RG/Red Bricks which is ridiculous

[TheSownRose]

(Original post by tdkr)
online rankings are so bull****.

**** unis can move up 10 places year to year even ahead of established RG/Red Bricks which is ridiculous

Because nothing could possibly be better than an RG or red brick uni.

[tdkr]

(Original post by TheSownRose)
Because nothing could possibly be better than an RG or red brick uni.

haha no i understand what you're saying, but that for example unis such as Surrey (which i'm not saying are bad) can be placed 10 places ahead of unis such as Manchester/Sheffield/Leeds/QMUL year to year which makes me think that league tables are unreliable to an extent. again, i may be wrong, RG unis may truly be lacking in quality each year but i think that is highly unlikely

[+ polarity -]

Your life is over.

[tdkr]

(Original post by + polarity -)
Your life is over.

was that directed at me?

[viksta1000]

rankings shmankings

[clad in armour]

can't believe people still genuinely care about online rankings from newspapers, I don't know their methods but they can't be scientific

[viksta1000]

just to prove how corrupt, misleading and blatantly inconsistent university league tables are (esp The Guardian), look at this

in the UK, my uni (King's College London) is apparently 'ranked' 30th according to the Guardian, implying that there are 29 superior universities in the UK

In the world rankings, The Guardian ranks kings as 71st, so surely the other 29 universities that ranked higher than King's in the UK would be ranked higher in the world too right?...wrong...out of the 29 universities that are ranked higher than KCL in the UK, only 7 are ranked higher in world rankings...and universities like bristol and leeds that rank higher in UK rankings are infact lower in world rankings

Now look at other comparisons for KCL
The Times: 22nd in the UK; 15th in Europe; 77th in the World
Times higher education rankings: 7th in the UK; 56th in the world
Sunday Times; 17th in the UK; 24th in the World
QS: 6th in the UK; 27th in the world
Complete University Guide: 16th in the UK
Academic Ranking of World Universities: 9th in the UK; 63rd in the World

so as you can see, there's a whole load of inconsistency, second-guessing, sticking your finger in the air and writing down the number that comes into your head when it comes to ranking universities...so don't worry

[TheSownRose]

(Original post by tdkr)
haha no i understand what you're saying, but that for example unis such as Surrey (which i'm not saying are bad) can be placed 10 places ahead of unis such as Manchester/Sheffield/Leeds/QMUL year to year which makes me think that league tables are unreliable to an extent. again, i may be wrong, RG unis may truly be lacking in quality each year but i think that is highly unlikely

Being in the RG says nothing about university quality for an undergraduate degree, though - it just means they do a lot of research. It's very debatable how useful that is to an undergraduate. Some people argue it is, the students are going to be exposed to the latest information and studies.

That is a valid point, but I tend to prefer the opposite arguments, namely: undergraduates are unlikely to be getting involved in the research (there are some exceptions - I've assisted a couple of my lecturers in various research projects - but by and large, the undergraduate involvement is limited), students can also get exposed to the latest studies by lecturers who are reading new papers themselves and taking that material to lectures, and good researchers are not necessarily good lecturers ... and really, good teaching is what undergraduates need.

Personally, I see no reason why Surrey shouldn't rank alongside or do better than the likes of Leeds and Sheffield.

However, I think we can both agree that the league tables aren't something you should worry about when firming/insuring universities, and that the ability of a single university to move 10 places in a year (and probably go the other way next year) says more about the table than the university.

[tdkr]

(Original post by viksta1000)
just to prove how corrupt, misleading and blatantly inconsistent university league tables are (esp The Guardian), look at this

in the UK, my uni (King's College London is apparently 'ranked' 30th according to the Guardian), implying that there are 29 superior universities in the UK

In the world rankings, The Guardian ranks kings as 71st, so surely the other 29 universities that ranked higher than King's in the UK would be ranked higher in the world too right?...wrong...out of the 29 universities that are ranked higher than KCL in the UK, only 7 are ranked higher in world rankings...and universities like bristol and leeds that rank higher in UK rankings are infact lower in world rankings

Now look at other comparisons for KCL
The Times: 22nd in the UK; 15th in Europe; 77th in the World
Times higher education rankings: 7th in the UK; 56th in the world
Sunday Times; 17th in the UK; 24th in the World
QS: 6th in the UK; 27th in the world
Complete University Guide: 16th in the UK
Academic Ranking of World Universities: 9th in the UK; 63rd in the World

so as you can see, there's a hold load of inconsistency, second-guessing, sticking your finger in the air and writing down the number that comes into your head when it comes to ranking universities...so don't worry

This was a GOD answer.


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