Cambridge is the best of the best. The legendary Harvard University in the USA

Source: Personal Money

The fact that the University of Cambridge is one of the oldest and one of the most famous in the world, if not all, then most of us know. Many would consider it an honor to study there, but not everyone is lucky. Graduates of this educational institution are truly lucky and real smart and smart people. Still would! Not everyone can study there. In addition, it became known that Cambridge ousted Harvard itself in the ranking of the best universities in the world, seizing leadership in its own hands. The top three university leaders, in addition to the already mentioned Harvard University, also included another American university - Yale. But Russian higher education institutions were less fortunate. Only one of them got into the rating of the best - Moscow State University.

In the international ranking of universities, Moscow State University. MV Lomonosov was "lucky" to take only 93rd place out of 200 possible. The very first lines went, as you might guess, of course, to the universities of Great Britain and the USA. Strongly unlucky in recent years, German and Dutch institutions of higher education. They did not take high lines in the current ranking among the best. But who knows what will happen in the future. Everything can change. In the meantime, according to experts, the leaders of education will soon be ready to press universities from Canada and Japan.

For those parents who are not constrained by finances and who choose future universities for their schoolchildren in advance, this information will come in handy. To the question - which university is the best in the world and where is the best (if you pull it) should you try to "attach" your child, the QS international university ranking will answer. The main criteria in its compilation are academic reputation, demand from employers, the ratio of the number of students and teachers, as well as citation at the international level. In total, 200 universities were included in the ranking.

According to a study, this time the University of Cambridge managed to break into the lead: for the first time in several years, it was able to take an honorable first place in the QS ranking, the British newspaper The Guardian reports on Thursday. British Cambridge is followed immediately by two American higher education institutions.

Thus, Harvard lost its lead this year in the comparative table of the best universities in the world, and for the first time in the entire seven-year history of the ranking, lost the top spot to Cambridge.

Meanwhile, Harvard, named after the English missionary John Harvard, has become the most popular among 5,000 employers who voted worldwide.

In turn, Cambridge was recognized as the best among 15,000 academics. In addition, the University of Cambridge rightfully ranked first in terms of the number of citations that were taken from its database of academic publications.

Another famous university in the UK - Oxford University - took the 6th line in the ranking. Recall that this is the oldest English-speaking university in the world, as well as the first university in the UK.

The remaining lines in the top ten were occupied by less well-known institutions of higher education in Russia.

The fact that Harvard lost leadership, John O "Leary, an executive member of the QS academic advisory board, explained that the university had previously banned the admission of new personnel. "Cambridge has risen to the top because it has improved its citation. At the same time, Harvard took on more students and imposed a ban on new recruits among academics. This was the reason why the two universities switched places in the ranking."

Meanwhile, a Harvard spokesman said, "Harvard University has always been honored. It is a recognized leader among all institutions of higher education of the highest caliber. However, we also continue to believe that the most important thing is that students choose a college or university, focusing personally on their individual needs. ".

1. "University of Cambridge" UK

2. "Harvard University" USA

3. "Yale University" USA

4. "UCL (University College London)" UK

5. "Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)" USA

6. "University of Oxford" UK

7. "Imperial College London" UK

8. "University of Chicago" USA

9. "California Institute of Technology (Caltech)" USA

10. "Princeton University" USA

Based on these data, we can conclude that the strongest positions in the QS international university ranking today are held by universities in the UK and the USA. The same conclusion suggests itself if we look further - at the first 17 positions of the rating. They are also occupied by English and American institutions of higher education.

Overall, the entire list is dominated by American institutions. They occupy 31 lines among the best in the world university list.

Meanwhile, as the newspaper notes, the fact that the first places in the ranking belong to the universities of Great Britain and the USA is largely due to the large spread of the English language in the world. "British and American universities have an advantage because they are English-speaking. If you publish an article in a language that most researchers do not speak, then you will not be quoted," experts say.

Asian universities are also in a good position now. The QS international university ranking includes 15 universities in Asia, led by the University of Hong Kong, which ranked 23rd.

But universities in Germany and the Netherlands, known in Europe for their high level of education, on the contrary, disappointed the compilers of the ranking. As a result, among the first 50 universities, German and Dutch universities, surprisingly, do not appear.

Well, we will completely disappoint fans of Russian education. Our country is represented in the ranking by Moscow State University. M. V. Lomonosov, who took only 93rd place.

According to the compilers of the ranking, the leading positions in higher education are gradually taken over by Finland, Canada and Japan. "For many years, the UK has been in first place. But now we do not see the former clear advantage," - said the head of the analysts group Andreas Schleicher.

So, dear parents, we advise you to take a closer look, for example, at Canadian and Japanese universities. Who knows, maybe among them you will find the one that suits your offspring for further education outside of Russia the most. Take a closer look at the cost of studying at these universities - most likely, it will not be as high as in the same Cambridge or Harvard. It is no secret that not everyone can afford education in the latter, including financially.

Finally, some interesting information about the leaders-rivals of the current rating.

Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is located in the city of Cambridge in the East of England. It was founded in 1209 by scholars who, fleeing the hostile townspeople from Oxford, migrated to Cambridge. Later, the scientists were taken under the protection of King Henry III.

The University of Cambridge is the second largest university in the UK after Oxford and the fourth largest in the world.

Famous graduates of Cambridge are Byron, Milton, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Charles Babbage.

Among the people, one way or another connected with the University of Cambridge, there are more than 80 Nobel laureates. According to this indicator, it occupies one of the first places among the higher educational institutions of the world.

There are 11,815 students at Cambridge, including 1,257 overseas students. The total number of teaching staff reaches 1,590 people.

The fees as well as the tuition fee for UK and EU students at Cambridge this year is £3,290 across all courses.

Harvard

Harvard University is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. This university is the oldest of the US universities. It was founded in 1636 and named after the first benefactor of John Harvard, a minister and a Cambridge graduate, who bequeathed his library and half of his fortune to this educational institution.

Famous Harvard alumni are John Updike, Barack Obama, John F Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt, Alfred Kinsey, Robert Oppenheimer.

The total number of students at Harvard University is approaching 6,700. Harvard has about 2,100 faculty members and more than 10,000 graduate students.

Harvard's 2009-10 tuition was $33,696.

Last week, the reputation ranking of world universities according to The Times Higher Education magazine was published. Not a single Russian university made it into the top 100. The leaders are Anglo-American universities, which are being overtaken by universities in the Pacific region. This rating is an appendix to the main research of the publication, in which our Moscow State University shares places at the end of the third hundred with the universities of Crete and Brazilian Campinas. This seems to be a wake-up call that requires deep investigation. But our officials think otherwise: it's all about the wrong evaluation criteria. It is worth developing suitable criteria, and the best Russian universities will turn out to be as strong as Harvard and Cambridge.

There are many university rankings. But there are those who are unquestioningly recognized by the world educational community. The famous Academic Ranking of World Universities - ARWU - compiled by the Institute of Higher Education of Shanghai University. Its authors are guided mainly by the scientific results of a particular university, consider the Nobel Prize and Fils medal winners, the number of employees included in the lists of highly cited scientists according to Web of Science, the number of publications indicating the university in Web of Science, as well as the number publications in the journals Nature and Science. According to 2011 data, the only Russian university in the top 100 according to the Shanghai ranking is Lomonosov Moscow State University. It dropped from 74th to 77th position (however, in 2009 Moscow State University was in 78th place). Saint Petersburg State University, as before, occupies 301-400th place (after the hundredth position, the exact place in the ranking is not detailed). There are no other Russian universities in the ranking. In the Shanghai top ten - Harvard, Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Berkeley, Cambridge, California Institute of Technology, Princeton, Columbia University, University of Chicago and Oxford. The best university in Asia - the University of Tokyo - is in 21st place, the best in continental Europe has traditionally been the Swiss Federal School of Technology Zurich, which took 23rd position.

Another world ranking - "Times" - strongly coincides with the Shanghai. It is based, for example, on such indicators as the quality of teaching, research conducted by the university, international reputation. Since 2011, the Times has been conducting a so-called reputation rating based on the opinions of the faculty. This year, 17,554 scientists from 149 countries were surveyed - 31% more than last year. Not a single university of ours has made it into this ranking, not even Moscow State University, which last year ranked 33rd (St Petersburg State University was only in the sixth top ten).

Among the leaders are the same Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Stanford, Berkeley University, Oxford, Princeton University; unexpected was the appearance in eighth place of the University of Tokyo (University of Kyoto - in 20th); next comes the University of California, Los Angeles. Rounding out the top ten is Yale University.

Along with the fact that universities in Europe (Switzerland, Germany, Sweden) are traditionally in the top 100 universities according to The Times, there are interesting changes in the Times ranking this year. The third place in terms of the number of universities in the top 100 is shared by Japan and the Netherlands (five universities from each country made it into the top 100). Two Chinese universities, the University of Hong Kong, the national universities of Taiwan and Singapore appeared in the ranking. The offensive of the countries of Southeast Asia is palpable. The Brazilian University of Sao Paulo, the Turkish Middle East Technical University, and two Israeli universities appeared in the 2012 ranking.

There are also inexplicable things. Not the most prestigious in France, the Sorbonne ranks between 71st and 80th, while the famous Ecole Polytechnique, which is part of the Grand Ecole system of super-prestigious universities, trudges at the end of the hundred (between 91st and 100th m place). Other "Grand Ecole" universities did not make it into the rankings at all. In general, there are some mysteries in the Times rating. But that's not what we should be concerned about. And the fact that a drop in the level of higher education in Russia has been recorded. According to experts, Russian universities are the worst in terms of citation of scientific publications and the general level of research. That is, we lose in science.

Our officials strongly disagree to recognize the objectivity of Western ratings. They say that the Times rating is adjusted to the Anglo-American education system (allegedly the universities of Southeast Asia also copy it), and therefore it does not suit us. That the Russian system is traditionally focused on education, while foreign rankings are focused on assessing universities in terms of the research component(here the question arises: why else do you need education to get a diploma)?

In general, according to the logic of functionaries from education, we need our own ratings. Moreover, with such criteria that will certainly bring us to the level of the best Western universities. A member of the State Duma Committee on Education, United Russia Grigory Balykhin, believes that the compilation of university rankings can be called PR to promote their own education system. And that the fact that not a single Russian university was included in the list of prestigious educational institutions compiled by Times Higher Education is not an indicator of the quality of domestic education: “I have seen many different kinds of ratings and I want to note that foreign university ratings often do not take into account specifics." Balykhin, like Minister of Education Andrey Fursenko, believes that it is necessary to develop our own rating system.

In fact, an attempt to create its own global rating was made by the Russian ReitOR agency. In 2007, in the first ranking, Moscow State University took the high 5th place. The criteria by which universities were evaluated seemed to have been deliberately designed in such a way as to prove that Russian universities are no worse, but better than Harvard and Stanford. And they proved (albeit only to us): Harvard, Stanford and Cambridge universities are inferior to Moscow State University in the domestic ranking. And all because the criteria for their evaluation have changed. In the opinion of ReitOR experts, in Western studies, the roll is made in the research activities of universities. They made a bet on the achievements of the university not in the scientific, but in the educational and social sphere(can anyone explain what that means) . Probably because university science is not in our tradition at all. If in the West it is concentrated in universities, then in our country it is in 470 scientific centers of the Russian Academy of Sciences (science is much less in universities).

Among the criteria developed by ReitOR, there are many purely formal ones. This is the number of programs at all levels implemented by the university and the number of students per teacher. Patent inventions registered by the university, performance indicators of the university's supercomputer, the value of the h-index (it shows the productivity of a scientist and the demand for his work) are taken into account. To assess the professional competence of the teaching staff, Russian experts expanded the number of awards, adding several European ones (Abel Prize, Descartes), and our Russian ones.

According to the General Secretary of the Russian Union of Rectors, Olga Kashirina, "the Union of Rectors is holding relevant consultations with the Rectors' Unions of various countries, Russian and international employers, and plans to hold an international conference this autumn, at which new principles of balanced evaluation activities in education will be announced." “I think,” Olga Kashirina said, “that Russia should take the initiative and unite world academic centers that are not fully covered by the Anglo-Saxon ratings. To unite not "against", but "for" - together with them to form more advanced principles and tools for assessing universities that can take into account the nuances of various educational models."

Olga Kashirina believes that it is important that a world-recognized Center for Expertise of Academic Processes appear in Russia, which, among other things, would be involved in evaluating various educational models.

Wait and see. As they say, you can’t praise yourself, all day long - as if spat upon.

Cambridge topped the ranking for the first time in seven years, and Ukrainian universities are not even in the top 500.

Photo 1 of 10: Top 10 Universities in the World© wikipedia.org

Cambridge university in the UK won the annual ranking of world universities - QS World University Rankings.

This university is an old rival of Oxford. According to legend, the town of Cambridge was founded by scientists who left Oxford after a student killed a local resident there.

For the first time in seven years, an American Harvard University. It is located in the town of Cambridge, a suburb of Boston.

Many American presidents graduated from Harvard, such as Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Robert Kennedy, Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt. Celebrities such as Benazir Bhutto, Gertrude Stein, Natalie Portman, Bill Gates, Ban Ki-moon and even the Unabomber terrorist Ted Kaczynski also studied here.

Ranked third Yale university in the USA. Most of all, he is known for his liberal arts education, but technical sciences are taught here no less well. Yale's motto ("Light and Truth") is imprinted on the coat of arms in two languages ​​- Hebrew and Latin.

Fourth place for University College London(UCL). Britain's first secular university. 21 of his graduates and lecturers received the Nobel Prize.

On the fifth line - the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT), which is located near Harvard, in Boston.

came in sixth place. One of the oldest universities in Europe was founded in 1117. Women began to be admitted to Oxford only in the 20th century. There is a huge staff of teachers due to the practice of "tutoring": each student is personally looked after by a specialist.

Seventh in the ranking -. His business school has an unpleasant history. Businessman Gary Tanaka donated 27 million pounds for its construction. In gratitude, the business school was named after the patron. But Tanaka was recently jailed for six years for fraud. The name of the business school had to be changed.

He took the eighth position. It is a private university founded in 1890 by John Rockefeller. 79 Nobel laureates studied and taught there.

On the ninth line - California Institute of Technology, abbreviated as Caltech. The Caltech Lab launches most of NASA's spacecraft. Studying at Caltech is considered harder than anywhere else.

Princeton University took tenth place. Princeton became one of the most respected American universities after it was headed by President Woodrow Wilson.

In total this year, American universities got more than 30 places in the top hundred.

Universities of Eastern Europe

There are five Russian universities in the QS ranking. At the same time, Moscow State University (Moscow State University) even got into the Top 100 - it is in 93rd place. The ranking also includes St. Petersburg State University (210th), Novosibirsk (375), Tomsk and the Higher School of Economics (in the last hundred).

Also in the last hundred - Eurasian National University. Gumilyov, which is located in Kazakhstan.

Of the Czech universities in the ranking, there are two: Charles University (267th place) and the Czech Technical University (in the last hundred), both of them are located in Prague. In Hungary, Eötvös Lorand University and the University of Szeged are recognized as the best. Polish universities are ranked 303rd (Jagiellonian University) and 364th (Warsaw).

But Ukrainian universities are not mentioned at all in the list of the top 500 universities. that the reason for this is a huge number of universities in the country (there are now 862 of them).

Many Ukrainian rectors agree that up to 200, while universities should not exceed 50. Instead, you should pay attention to the quality of education.

15,000 professors and 5,000 employers take part in the research on which the rating is based. Here are its features. For example, if employers traditionally vote for Harvard, then Cambridge is more valued in the academic environment.

In order to assign a particular position to a higher educational institution, the rating commission must evaluate the quality of scientific work, the employment of graduates and the educational standards of the university.

In addition, the number of students from other countries of the world, the quantitative composition of faculties, as well as the citation index of scientific papers are taken into account. The latter indicator gives a serious advantage to English-speaking universities.

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Oxford, Cambridge, MIT, Stanford and Ivy League universities are the best universities in the world that have been in the first lines of international rankings for many years. According to statistics, only 5-7% of applicants eventually become their students. Among the graduates of these universities are well-known politicians, successful businessmen and Nobel laureates, but what should a Russian student do in order to at least enter a coveted foreign university? Marina Runovich for the Snob portal.

"Mom, I want to go to Harvard." Who is expected at the best universities in the world

One year of undergraduate studies at a leading foreign university will cost an average of about $50,000, not including accommodation and various fees. True, some students receive scholarships that cover part or all of their tuition costs, but applications for them can only be submitted after receiving a letter of acceptance from the university. To help applicants understand all the intricacies of admission, the Itek company organizes the international exhibition UNIS FAIR 2018 - the best universities in the world, which will be held on February 10: representatives of more than 80 top foreign universities will come there. We tell you what steps you need to take to get closer to your dream university.

What you need to know: through the thorns to the "Ivy"

Admission to top universities is a time-consuming task, which requires a long process of working on academic subjects, English language level and personal qualities, which requires approximately 2-4 years of intensive preparation. But there is good news: Russian high school students can enter the first year of undergraduate studies at any US university with a certificate of secondary (complete) general education - American universities accept Russians on an equal basis with other applicants. This means that everyone who graduated from high school in Russia, one way or another, has the opportunity to apply for a place at MIT, Stanford and the legendary Ivy, which includes Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Brown, Pennsylvania and Columbia Universities, as well as Dartmouth College.

In order to enter an American university, an applicant must speak English at the Upper-Intermediate level and above. The average score for the TOEFL format exam should not be lower than 80 points, but the Ivy League, MIT or Stanford will require approximately 105-110 points out of 120 possible. In addition to checking the language level for undergraduate studies in the United States, you must pass the SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) - an academic assessment test in mathematics, writing, reading and text analysis. Its analogue ACT (American College Testing) is somewhat different in format: it is based on the material that is studied in American schools. In particular, there is a block with tasks in the natural sciences waiting for the applicant, and it is worth familiarizing yourself with the structure of these tests in advance in order to choose the one that best suits the applicant.

The UK will force you to play by completely different rules: Oxford and Cambridge with a certificate from a Russian school are not accepted. To get a diploma that meets the standards, you need to complete one of the two-year programs - A-level or International Baccalaureate (IB). Moreover, for each direction in British universities there are additional exams - different specialties involve different tests, different training and different deadlines.

Documents: creativity in bureaucracy

If the applicant has already chosen which university he wants to study at, he needs to fill out various forms for remote application for admission. The main service in America that makes the task easier is the Common Application (CA): this is a single online questionnaire for all universities where grades, personal data, family information, information about awards and extracurricular achievements are entered. To apply to the UK, you should use the similar UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) system.

Top foreign universities evaluate applicants comprehensively: they care not only for the exam score, but also for everything that the applicant indicates in the questionnaire. For example, the activities section: they want to know what the person has ever been involved in. Sports, music, theater, volunteering or something else: filling out paperwork is the time to show your versatility. However, you should not go too far: “The more you show and tell the university, the greater the chance that you will be accepted” is a common but erroneous opinion. If an applicant skates, takes piano lessons, once won an Olympiad in chemistry and writes poetry, too wide a range of his interests can play a negative role in the decision of the commission. To help understand what a future student is really worth and how deeply he is passionate about the desired specialty, a motivation letter helps the commission.

Motivational letter: the most important essay

A motivation letter is a one to one and a half page essay (approximately 600 words) in which the applicant makes it clear to the university what he can achieve and what he has already achieved within the chosen field. One basic letter is uploaded to the online questionnaire along with other data, but for each university it is necessary to prepare a new, unique text that will distinguish the applicant from thousands of rivals. The golden rules are: avoid clichés and ambiguous topics, try to be direct and sincere about yourself, give up romantic notions about the future of education, and clearly state your desired goals.

The task of the selection committee is to try to predict those who will change the world in the future through the past achievements of applicants. Often, those who are not afraid to express their personal opinion on important issues that are widely discussed in society (or, on the contrary, are hushed up - all the more worth emphasizing their own interest and indifference) get a coveted place at the university. In your letter, the applicant should show that he is already focusing on a topic: for example, the environmental problems of his native region. If he has been studying ecology for many years, has experience in running an environmental project, has created some kind of local conservation community, or is working on his own research, this will serve as evidence of his motivation.

For the past few years, Ivy League schools, Oxford and Cambridge have been sifting through their students' social media accounts. Not only the most recent publications are important, but also the entire history of the page. The purpose of such an investigation is not only to get a general idea of ​​​​a possible student, but also to compare the facts from the motivation letter with his real biography. The applicant should think about removing everything from the accounts that can somehow discredit him, and pay attention to who he is friends with, in which groups he is a member, how he builds communication with other users and what he shares with subscribers.

Interview: Describe this tea bag

After the acceptance of documents is completed, the commission carefully considers all applications. Those who are lucky enough to pass the first selection will most often have an interview in the interview format, and the main thing for an applicant at this stage is to be able to tell why it is important for him to study here.

Top universities have a long or even centuries of history, so understanding their individual differences and traditions will be an advantage for the applicant. There is an opinion that Americans from the Ivy League love sports, and MIT and Stanford note the creativity of students: when entering these universities, you should definitely tell something about your own sports or creative achievements. In addition, the applicant needs to know in advance which courses are available, for example, only at Princeton, and which teachers are of interest to him: a good knowledge of the internal life of the university will serve as additional proof that the choice was made consciously.

Preparing for an interview is very scrupulous, but questions may not only relate to the academic aspects of the chosen field. Here are some examples of what different universities have puzzled students of past years: "Do you think Hamlet is crazy?" (English literature), "How big is the cloud?" (geography), “How many zeros are in a hundred?” (mathematics), "Describe this tea bag" (sociology). Any university wants to find out not only the level of the applicant, but also how he is able to think and reason.

Everyone has a chance

It is believed that it is worth preparing for admission to top foreign universities almost from elementary school, and parents all the time need to nurture a genius who manages to show high results both in the classroom and in additional classes. But if an applicant is an eighth-grader or even a tenth-grader who dreams of studying abroad, and there are still not enough fives in the journal, it's okay: he still has time to improve his knowledge. The notable path traveled by applicants in recent school years may even play into his hands: the university will certainly note his ability to grow quickly and learn new things. On February 10, within the framework of the international exhibition "UNIS FAIR 2018 - the best universities in the world", a seminar "How to enter Stanford, MIT, Ivy League universities?" Whelan, an expert in preparing for admission to top US universities.

Harvard and Stanford are considered to be the most prestigious business schools in the world. Here you can take the best MBA programs abroad.

A solid one is just one of the stages of entering the business school of your dreams. So how do you determine which program is best for you?

The results of the analysis of MBA curricula

Foreign researchers have analyzed the MBA curricula, rankings, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of education in each of the universities and came to the following conclusions.

• It will be more interesting to study at Harvard for those students who wish to gain knowledge in the field of economics and business; at Stanford, for liberal arts students.
• At Harvard, students are given more time to study on their own. At Stanford, the level of interaction between students and teachers is higher.
• Stanford is located in the heart of Silicon Valley, within driving distance of the world's largest companies. Harvard is located in Boston - one of the most attractive cities in America.
• The MBA program at both Harvard and Stanford is 2 years. However, there are some differences in the programs themselves.
• Case studies, case studies, and team projects are widely used at Harvard Business School. Students take part in the analysis of specific situations and solving real problems in the field of economics and business.
• Stanford students gain knowledge and practical experience, usually by working for a few weeks in a firm or by participating in an exchange program with Tsinghua University in China (the STEP program). The Stanford curriculum is considered more flexible. At Harvard, the learning process itself is considered more intense.
• Harvard graduates tend to work in the finance and consulting industries; Stanford graduates are in the industries of industry, finance, and technology.

So what to choose?

Whether you're going to Harvard or Stanford, a good one will get you there.

In terms of prestige, they both have a good reputation. In both schools you will be surrounded by really interesting people. So it's not about the best school, but about which school is right for you.