While waiting for a connecting flight yesterday, I passed by a newsstand advertising the U.S. News and World Report, particularly the issue about graduate schools in the U.S. I'd have bought one if they actually had a copy around, but as it is, I'll go hunt for a copy of the magazine when I get back on campus*. Meanwhile, I am browsing the free stuff available online.
Like every other sort of university ranking system out there, the contents of the report is naturally to be taken with a grain of sodium chloride or two. I was expecting something like the Macleans magazine, which ranks Canadian universities annually with an emphasis on undergraduate programs.
Although I only have incomplete information here, what surprises me is that the ranking system is based on the opinions of, well, "upper management". Deans. Senior faculty. Employers. Which is fine for looking at things like the external reputation of the school. But:
What, no students?
Then again, reading the blogs of the many, many graduate students out there, why should I be surprised**?
Incidentally, the "top schools", in both chemistry and math, are the usual suspects***. UC Berkeley. MIT. Caltech. Harvard. Stanford. Princeton. Yale. Bah. Humbug. Of course, lots of other nice schools are listed as well (I won't list them all since that'll just be reproducing the article).
A similar listing of the "top" Canadian universities (for graduate school) will, I suspect, be much shorter: UT. UBC. Maybe UA and UW. Ok, maybe that's not really fair, but I am, needless to say, biased.
Maybe I don't have to buy that magazine, after all. Nothing new, there.
*Which, sadly, will be 15 days later. 15 Days! This is eternity. Or a none-too-subtle hint for me to study physics. Ick.
**To be fair, the opinions of students are hard to "average" as they will vary depending on whose lab the students work in. People like postdocs are a whole different story, as well.
***The list is unordered.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Looking at Grad School Rankings
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I wouldn't put too much faith in the rankings. You're better off looking for departments that are really strong in the kind of research you'd like to do. (Having specific research interests can be a hindrance here--I've had a rough time finding places that do organic electronics well.) Start (literature) stalking specific potential advisors--this can be helpful as it shows you a little more of what you might be getting into!
Ugh. I start applying this fall--might dedicate a CBC post or two to it.
Post a Comment