Why is TSR so obsessed with uni reputation?

It has been doubt of mine since I joined this forum. Practically every day you see a comment or a post about how X university ranks in terms of prestige. Why is that? Don't tell me it's because employment because that's nonsense (unless you study medicine, dentistry, law and some others). Anyone care to share some hypotheses and speculations?

You got it a bit wrong, it matters less if you study medicine/dentistry, as employment is almost guaranteed anyway. However for a course such as 'Mathematics', which is what I'm applying for, as well as most other courses, having a qualification from a highly reputable university helps a lot when searching for a job in such tough Economic times. I don't particularly understand why you state that the answer 'employment' is nonsense?

Furthermore, if you wanted to find employment abroad, a degree from a world renown university will obviously help a lot.

Finally, for a university to be ranked highly, they must be pretty good; whether its academic rating, employment rating, student support etc. it will obviously be more attractive to prospective students.

I'd always take them with a pinch of salt; they're vaguely helpful to some extent and in some categories. I'd advise picking and choosing which factors to take into account. Student satisfaction is useful, staff:student ratio, and spend on academic/student services. Other factors are pretty useless though. Entry requirements aren't relevant to the quality of education, they're relevant to the quality of education received before you get there, and research quality isn't helpful unless you're a postgraduate (because you won't be doing any complex research as an undergraduate).

It has been doubt of mine since I joined this forum. Practically every day you see a comment or a post about how X university ranks in terms of prestige. Why is that? Don't tell me it's because employment because that's nonsense (unless you study medicine, dentistry, law and some others). Anyone care to share some hypotheses and speculations?

(Some) people on TSR are obsessed with rank because they're students. Students (along with academics and education journalists) are the only groups containing people obsessed with rankings.

I'd always take them with a pinch of salt; they're vaguely helpful to some extent and in some categories. I'd advise picking and choosing which factors to take into account. Student satisfaction is useful, staff:student ratio, and spend on academic/student services. Other factors are pretty useless though. Entry requirements aren't relevant to the quality of education, they're relevant to the quality of education received before you get there, and research quality isn't helpful unless you're a postgraduate (because you won't be doing any complex research as an undergraduate).

You might find a good ranking useful if you're planning on working in academia, or wish to pursue a small percentage of grad schemes which ask for graduates from certain universities. But in reality they have quite limited applications beyond student choice and most employers either don't know or don't care where any particular uni is ranked, they care about the employability of the applicant.

People like you struggle with career prospects in future and wonder why.

All around you, you can see evidence of the successful people ruling you or succeeding in business/career are concentrated on a limited background but yet you insist on saying their background is irrelevant or does not matter.

There is a strong correlation between educational institution and success in the career world:

http://www.nairaland.com/141689/rough-guide-best-most-reputable/9#12446682

A small handful of establishment get a large chunk of the desired. The 80/20 rule.



This is so misinforming it is shocking.

Entry requirements dictates the calibre of people you will study and compete with, the range and depth of topics you will delve in, the pace at which you will study and the calibre of people you will have in your network.

Knowledge is about clusters and network, having the most academically able help maximise and push you in acquisition of knowledge.

That is the reason why you have innovation and progress in places like the West as oppose to Africa. Or places like Oxbridge as oppose to Keele.

The research and teaching capability adds to this network to a lesser extent. Research quality also indicate financial muscle, which dictates the funding available to fund your facilities for your studies.

How can you say those are useless when most people go to university purely to increase their employment and life chances?

What's wrong with universities like Keele? Just because somewhere isn't Oxbridge or Russell group it doesn't instantly devalue the place. Keele itself has some of the best graduate prospects and student satisfaction ratings in the country.
The distinction should be made with grades, as it is during further education (i.e.A,B,C,D,E,U/1st, 2:1, 2:2, 3) then on institution, as studying is to show your abilities now, not your A level results years ago.

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The point with the uni is to get a job you want.

And there was me thinking it was about getting an education. Seriously, this is the only reason you're going to uni?!


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Lol Duh! That is the huge part of it. The bills aren't paying by themselves. At least I am honest, so I don't see where the problem is.

It is great to get an education which I will but ultimate goal of any education is not "getting an education" but getting a good job. The job you want. In order to do so, there are several things a person need to go through, which is an education.

The higher ambitions you have, the harder entry requirements and the more stress and the more sacrifice. But hopefully it will pay back in a good way in the end.

Also, when you have a job, you contribute back to the society. It's the way things work unfortunately.
Personal statements and the interviews are always an act. You try to "sell yourself" in the best way possible. Only on a forum like this is where you actually can recieve an honest reply.

A society can't work properly if people are denied their dreams, but also a society can't work properly if people or students doesn't have a goal with their education, which is to get a good job!

Obviously it's a factor, but there are very few jobs you can't do without a university degree.

I personally have a 'good job', by the TSR definition if not the wider world's, for when I graduate, but I could have got there without doing my degree and saved myself 20 odd grand as a bonus. If all you want is a job how do you do things like choose modules, select a dissertation, push yourself through the all nighters etc.?

WTF is your problem?

Does UK fund me? NO, I spend my own money and my goverments loans to educate myself. I pay a lot more than others regarding fees.

Will I cost UK anything? Nope.

Will I seek job afterwards in a ****ty UK economy? NOPE.

So tell me, WTF is your problem then?

Wanna discuss? Talk to a mirror, lol.

It has been doubt of mine since I joined this forum. Practically every day you see a comment or a post about how X university ranks in terms of prestige. Why is that? Don't tell me it's because employment because that's nonsense (unless you study medicine, dentistry, law and some others). Anyone care to share some hypotheses and speculations?

Students will inform you about the reputation/status of a university because this site is full of students who have seen/been or currently going to the university so they would know which university is better and which one is worth going to especially after increasing tuition fees.

Students will look at the reputation of the university to see if its worth going there to get a decent degree which will get them a decent job. After all they are paying for it.