Choosing the right university can be stressful, and relying solely on rankings may not provide an accurate representation of the undergraduate experience or future employability.
Instead, it is suggested to consider factors such as:
- graduate employability data
- university careers services
- the success stories of graduates from the chosen program
Hear from Melanie about how to make a more informed decision that aligns with personal goals and potential for success.
It's a really stressful time trying to figure out the right university for you. And the process of going through and really deeply researching everywhere that might be right for you can feel like it's time consuming.
And you can be tempted to take the shortcut of just looking at the rankings, or you can get into the thinking that rankings tell you how good a university might be for you.
Well, rankings here in the UK put a fairly heavy weight on the research the university is doing. As well as many other factors that don't actually tell you a lot about what your experience as an undergraduate would be So before you worry about the rankings, think about what it is you want out of your university.
If you're looking at the rankings because you want to know if Employers will respect your degree or if you will be employable at the end of it. Maybe just go look at the bit of data about graduate employability.
But more importantly, go look at the university website and see what their careers service does; see which employers they're engaging with who are coming to campus, see where the people who did the degree you're looking at have gone on to. That will tell you a lot more about it. You also need to think about where you will thrive.
Because just getting into a top ranked university doesn't guarantee you any success.
Certainly with students I've worked with, those who have gone on to universities where they kind of sit comfortably in the top fifty or even twenty five percent of the cohort where they've been able to thrive and achieve. They've been able to build great relationships with their professors.
They've been the one suggested for opportunities and networks that those professors know about. They've had time to develop their CV alongside their studies because they're not struggling. They don't need every minute to just get through.
Those students have often gone on to be much, much more successful than somebody who just manages to graduate at the mid to the bottom of their class but has a brand's name on their diploma.
Most employers aren't looking at the name of your university. They're looking at what you can offer them as a company. They're looking at your CV in total.
Having a brand's name university and all of that other stuff? Absolutely.
But just maybe for you going to a university, because it's the right fit rather than because of the ranking might actually set you up to be a lot more successful.
