University Vs University Vs University

[ChemSiddiqui]

Hi all,

 

I am trying to find out which University is the most desired university to enter! Unbaised choice will be most appreciated:

 

Oxford university

 

Cambridge Univeristy

 

Imperial College London

 

Harvard University

 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

 

Princeton University

 

Yale University

 

and

 

Stanford University.

 

Good day!

[thedarkshade]

I just love Harvard. Even the name is cool! I dream one to be sitting in one of the lecturing classes!

[PhDP]

MIT and McGill, for the culture as much as the quality of education.

[ChemSiddiqui]

My go is Oxford, Just love everything about (although I did get rejected by them when I applied for Undergraduate Chemistry course, They don't know what they have missed, ha ha!). Imperial will be my choice next because I hope to sit in one of their lecture rooms in October this years!

[thedarkshade]

edit: but where's Berkly anyway?

[the tree]

It depends on what you want from it I guess, a lot of people seem to think that Oxford is better for student life even though Cambridge is an amazing place generally. MIT would be my dream uni I guess although that's largely just because it's so high profile so I've read a lot about what comes out of there.

[Realitycheck]

Definitely MIT.

[Klaynos]

Depends what you want, my personal choice is none of the above...

EXON

[CDarwin]

That list is a tad arbitrary, but I suppose any list would be. You should consider Duke or Vanderbilt. Get yourself some southern-fried learnin' .

 

I voted Oxford. No particular reason other than abstract Anglophilia.

[john5746]

I chose Stanford, because they have the best American football team on that list.

[ecoli]

edit: but where's Berkly anyway?

 

You probably mean UC Berkeley. It's in California.

There is a Berkeley college on the east coast. I believe it's music school in pennsylvania.

[thedarkshade]

Sweet enough ecoli but I was referring to "why the heck isn't it on the list?"!!!

[Sisyphus]

That really depends on what you're looking for. Your experience at MIT would be enormously different than your experience at Oxford, but you really can't say one is objectively better than the other. That particular list is pretty random. Those aren't "the best" for any particular goal or education philosophy, so it seems like you don't know what you want. (For example, if you're looking at hard sciences, where is Cal Tech? Etc.) They are, however, probably the biggest name-recognition schools. Is that what you're looking for?

 

Also, those are really all large, graduate-centric universities. There are a dozen or so small liberal arts colleges that are just as prestigious (in academic circles, if not for man-on-the-street wow factor) and in my opinion offer a superior undergraduate experience.

[ecoli]

 

Also, those are really all large, graduate-centric universities. There are a dozen or so small liberal arts colleges that are just as prestigious (in academic circles, if not for man-on-the-street wow factor) and in my opinion offer a superior undergraduate experience.

 

and get more bang for your buck at that.

[DrDNA]

It depends on the field and whom you are trying to impress (eg, average Joe/Jane or a Nobel Prize winner in Physics?)

[ChemSiddiqui]

Those aren't "the best" for any particular goal or education philosophy, so it seems like you don't know what you want. (For example, if you're looking at hard sciences, where is Cal Tech? Etc.) They are, however, probably the biggest name-recognition schools. Is that what you're looking for?

 

Also, those are really all large, graduate-centric universities. There are a dozen or so small liberal arts colleges that are just as prestigious (in academic circles, if not for man-on-the-street wow factor) and in my opinion offer a superior undergraduate experience.

 

No, Statistically they are THE best universities in the world, no matter what (apart from one personal opinion ofcourse!). I think the departments are more funded in the universities I have listed to be voted than other small schools which will ultimately disadvantage anyone who ends up there than the listed universities. I applied to Leeds and Manchester and UCL for that matter, but I chose Imperial and UCL because their Chemistry department is rated the best (atleast in the UK level with Oxford and Cambridge)!

[Royston]

From that list, Princeton, plus I really like the idea behind the new Princeton Centre for Theoretical Physics...

 

http://www.pctp.princeton.edu/pctp/

http://www.pctp.princeton.edu/pctp/PCTPintroduction.htm

[thedarkshade]

If I was offered a scholarship by any of the above universities, hell I wouldn't say no!

 

They're all top rated man:cool:!

[CDarwin]

I don't know that say, Stanford, is any better than somewhere like Duke or Case Western Reserve, or even a lot of public schools. UNC Chapel Hill, for example. And those are all big research schools. You could have just as good or better an experience at a small school.

[5614]

Of course that's a list of the best unis.

 

For what subject!? Also where do you plan to work and in what aspect?

 

I would vote Cambridge over Oxford (except in some circumstances; like if you wanted to do a pure physics degree - Cambridge would have you Natural Sciences and then specialist in physics, whereas Oxford has a straight physics course).

 

Also if you want a scientific education but are considering banking or finance as a career then Imperial College London, with it's contacts and location is probably the best choice.

 

In this year's Times Higher Education Supplement world league table the top ten were:

 

1 Harvard University (US)

2 University of Cambridge (UK)

= University of Oxford (UK)

= Yale University (US)

5 Imperial College London (UK)

6 Princeton University (US)

7 California Institute of Technology (US)

= University of Chicago (US)

9 University College London (UK)

10 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)

 

All I can say is that any of them are awesome, so you need to look at other categories. Course specifics, if you visit do you like it, location, finance(?), career prospects etc. etc.

[thedarkshade]

Jonathan is purely right when mentions finance. Sometimes that's a bid barrier to go through, although every penny for any of the above unis is absolutely worth it!

[Psycho]

How do you even define desirable, it is a subjective concept, then there is the fact you haven't even said what course you are aspiring to take, which means any results to the poll are rather meaningless.

[thedarkshade]

How do you even define desirable, it is a subjective concept, then there is the fact you haven't even said what course you are aspiring to take, which means any results to the poll are rather meaningless.

I think ChemSiddqui meant this on a more generalized aspect!

[ChemSiddiqui]

I think ChemSiddqui meant this on a more generalized aspect!

 

Definatley True. Its just that I wanted to know which university would people like to go to, nothing exhuastive!

[Eureko]

Why there´s only British and American Universities? Why there´s no one from other countries?

I guess we are much under all these... This stinks.