Friday, October 8, 2010

“Does the ranking of a university matter?”


Here is one of the most asked questions from a graduate applicant
“Does the ranking of a university matter?”
Of course, it does. The question should be ‘how much’?
Should one sacrifice one’s a year or two in the hope that he can get into a better university later? Is it worth to study in a university which has a ranking more than 100?
Indeed this is an interesting as well as a complicate question which needs to take into account many possible factors and depends on the circumstances one is applying in, like the current applicant has to take into account the going recession impact too.
I would like to see your views on this and also raise your questions as this is very important to choose your university and the deadlines for the applications are approaching. After your comments I will try to summarize and discuss the pros and cons of the issue while building up the idea based on your questions and comments.

4 comments:

  1. My GRE range is 1240-1410....is it gud enuff for an economics phd if i want to apply widin top 25-30 universities??...i expect to get financial assistance 2!!

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  2. GRE is one of the criteria that determines the chances of admission and for top 25-30 universities, GRE is only a criteria for elimination. Even a 1600 GRE score does not guarantee admission into top 25 universities. More than GRE, the recommendation letters, the previous institutions attended and performance there, any indication of research capability are the ones that matter most. Since I don't know your background I can't probably make any exact comments.
    However it's strongly recommended not to restrict your application to only top 30 universities.

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  3. I rushed into the GRE without preparing properly and left with a quantitative score of just 690 and verbal 450. I have a 3.91 GPA in economics, 3.88 cumulative, and in the top 10% of my small liberal arts college class. I earned A's in every math and economics course (only B's in a couple general business classes). My letters of recommendation are strong in the sense that my teachers feel I'm qualified, but I don't feel my teachers are renown in the field. I have had a research internship, and will be completing an undergrad thesis before I graduate but after the application process. I'm debating working for a year, studying for an extremely long time and doing well on the GRE or settling for a lower tier school that I'm not thrilled about. What tier school would actually except me? I don't plan on becoming a professor, and have been leaning towards a Master's degree and working at a consulting firm or government agency. Does the program ranking matter as much for non-academic work? Thank you for any reply. Your blog has been very helpful.

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  4. Your quant score is essentially below the average in general and if you are international student then it's even more of a concern. Working for an year and retaking GRE might be a good idea. Certainly, it would be very difficult for you to get admission in a good economics department. Program ranking itself is not much of an importance than the fact that you get a better peer group and more renowned teachers at a higher ranked program.

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