Rankings? (1 Viewer)

[Chris Jenson]

Australia National University is ranked no. 1 in Austrlaia, right? On TIME magarzine (2006) its ranked around 15 in world where sydney is ranked around 35. So why are the UAI requirements so different, i mean to do a normal science degree at Sydeny the UAI is 83 wheres ay ANU its 75..?

 

[turtleface]

Most rankings are based on a variety of factors with a large, large weighting on research output.

UAI is determined by supply and demand.

I'm no econometrician but unless you are into doing a PhD etc. the two things I have mentioned are unlikely to have a causal relationship

I mean...can you be stuffed moving to Canberra because ANU's staff have better research output? Its been well documented from anecdotal evidence that research output and quality of teaching are not correlated.

 

[xoa]

I know that in the United States, students and employers closely follow the ranking or "prestige" of a university. But in Australia, students usually don't choose their university this way. I've noticed that there usually isn't much difference in UAI for similar courses between different universities. Even in the "best" universities, it's easy to qualify for a plain arts degree; but if you want to get into a pharmacy or optometry course you need a very good UAI, even for the "worst" ranked universities.

 

[Krieg]

The UAI's just reflect supply and demand. The A.C.T is going to have less students finishing year 12 and getting UAI's than most other areas of Australia yet I'd assume the ANU has about has many places to offer as any other university. A lot of people obviously conclude that the costs don't outweigh the benefits or can't be bothered moving to Canberra.

Obviously the rankings aren't the be all and end all, but if ANU staff are producing more from their research from other university staff then you have to conclude that either they are just smarter, or the university has better facilities etc...

Going for a job overseas, the rankings will play more of a role. If an employer has never heard of your uni and looks it up and notices its top 20 in the world then you are going to have a better shot at the job.

Also the thing about courses like optometry is that they generally have a lot of vacancies at less prestigious universities, someone who doesn't know what they want to do or missed out on the course they wanted isn't going to say "oh look i can try get into optometry i'll do that", where as they might do something like arts.

 

[xoa]

Also the thing about courses like optometry is that they generally have a lot of vacancies at less prestigious universities, someone who doesn't know what they want to do or missed out on the course they wanted isn't going to say "oh look i can try get into optometry i'll do that", where as they might do something like arts.

I originally wanted to study optometry @ QUT, a uni which definitely isn't prestigious, but I was refused because it needed a UAI of 99. My UAI of 96 wasn't enough to get into pharmacy either

 

[watatank]

Australia National University is ranked no. 1 in Austrlaia, right? On TIME magarzine (2006) its ranked around 15 in world where sydney is ranked around 35. So why are the UAI requirements so different, i mean to do a normal science degree at Sydeny the UAI is 83 wheres ay ANU its 75..?

No one wants to study at ANU thats why. And besides the ranks are based on postgrad and research rather than undergrad stuff, which is more likely to affect you.

 

[neo o]

The previous posters in this thread are wrong. UAIs for most courses at the ANU are determined arbitrarily and NOT by supply and demand. This year the UAI for economics, commerce, science & arts was set to 75 in around August of 2006

Science is a research based degree. Even assuming that previous posts are accurate and that the quality of a universities research doesn't necessarily lead to better undergraduate programs, I'd personally prefer to study under some of the best academics in Australia and study at one of the best resourced science faculties in the country if I was doing a PhD, a masters, honors or even a PhB (ANU's equivalent of advanced science) in science.

 

[circusmind]

No one wants to study at ANU thats why.

:wave:

 

[Nebuchanezzar]

I know that in the United States, students and employers closely follow the ranking or "prestige" of a university. But in Australia, students usually don't choose their university this way. I've noticed that there usually isn't much difference in UAI for similar courses between different universities. Even in the "best" universities, it's easy to qualify for a plain arts degree; but if you want to get into a pharmacy or optometry course you need a very good UAI, even for the "worst" ranked universities.

I disagree. The difference between arts at UWS and arts at Sydney is around about 10 or so UAI points, is it not? That seems to indicate that a lot more people pick Sydney than they do UWS.

 

[Nobody Listened]

If I lived closer I'd love to go to ANU or something like that.

 

[UnIqUe_PrInCeSs]

it's because ANU is located in a shit area.

I would have gone there too if I lived close >.<

 

[xoa]

I disagree. The difference between arts at UWS and arts at Sydney is around about 10 or so UAI points, is it not? That seems to indicate that a lot more people pick Sydney than they do UWS.

Maybe so, but a 10 UAI point difference isn't so much, considering that the "rank" difference is enormous. Sydney is ranked 35th in the world, ranking better than some Ivy League colleges; UWS doesn't even make it into the top 500. If our students utilised rankings like the American do, the UAI for Sydney would be like 95, and UWS would be in the low 60s.

 

[poppop]

i guess we domestics aren't convinced enough to go all the way to Canberra to study. (unless you are there) Hence the low popularity/uai cut-off despite it being supposed to be ranked first. I guess it really doesn't matter... considering that's how its been for many many years.l

 

[fleepbasding]

Maybe so, but a 10 UAI point difference isn't so much, considering that the "rank" difference is enormous. Sydney is ranked 35th in the world, ranking better than some Ivy League colleges; UWS doesn't even make it into the top 500. If our students utilised rankings like the American do, the UAI for Sydney would be like 95, and UWS would be in the low 60s.

Though the difference in entry requirements for a straight Arts degree is not that considerable, consider the generally very high Sydney Uni Arts UAI requirements. Like Arts (Adv) (Hon), Arts (Phyc), Liberal Studies (Adv)/(Int), B Arts (Languages), B Arts (Media and Communications)... all in the 98+ range. I'm not saying this is attributable to the Unis ranking, but yeah.

And regarding ANU's cutoffs not reflecting supply and demand... really? because a couple of years back most courses, like Arts (85 cutoff) had high cutoffs, and in 2007 most courses had vacancies and the cutoff was 75 for Arts, and most courses recorded comparable drops. Why would a Uni set cutoffs 6 months before they can gague the popularity of the course and quality of candidature?