Top Universities Discussion

[Prezbucky]

In reading Michener's "The Covenant", I've noticed that he mentions a university in Stellenbosch (South Africa) several times. In fact, one of the main characters of the last quarter of this saga becomes the first of his family to pursue higher education, and he does so at this school in Stellenbosch.

What are the best schools in the world, whether by reputation or by real teaching greatness or both?

Having only been to two universities in my life, obviously most of my ideas are based on reputation... on hype.

In the US:
Harvard
Yale
Princeton (The Big Three in the US)

In England:
Oxford
Cambridge

Others in Europe:
Leiden
Sorbonne
Siena(?)

Obviously this list is pitiful. What are some other great schools?

Alan, I've read that you matriculated at Oxford. Michener mentions different schools within Oxford:

Balliol
Christ Church
Oriel

Which of these did you attend, or did you go to another one?

Finally, probably many in the US think of Oxford as the top school in the world. But is it the best in Britain? How do Oxford and Cambridge compare?

My undergraduate degree was taken from the U of Wisconsin, an excellent school in its own right -- home to countless genius professors and something like 13 Nobel Prize winners.
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[NinaZara]

The best university in Japan is Tokyo University. Only geniuses go there. But some say it's Kyoto University. I'm not sure. One thing for sure, if we go to top university here in Japan, it's easier to find a job.

[Prezbucky]

Another thing:

Both Tokyo and Kyoto have exactly the same letters in them. hehe
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[NinaZara]

The "to" part is different in Kanji though. 東京-Tokyo,　京都-Kyouto.

Just out of curiosity, would an American go to universities other than their own? (To study something that is already offered in America, that is. Obviously if he is to study Japanese, he probably goes to Japanese university) Because I have always thought that when we go oversea to study, it is not just about getting a degree, but to learn something about the culture.

[Prezbucky]

A prestigious option for the best and brightest here is to become a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford.

Some top students go to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford (etc.)

Some go to other private schools (Duke, Northwestern, MIT, University of Chicago... or smaller private schools like Wellesley, Smith, Sewanee, Vassar)

Still others go to state schools (there are some excellent state schools: Cal-Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan, Virginia, Wisconsin, North Carolina to name several).

...and some students go to the service academies for college:

United States Military Academy (Army)
United States Naval Academy
United States Air force Academy
----

Here's a rough list of the top major universities in the US, based on academic reputation:

Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Stanford
MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Cal-Tech (California Institute of Technology)
Brown
University of Chicago
Columbia
Cornell
Dartmouth
Pennsylvania
Cal-Berkeley
Duke
Northwestern
New York University (NYU)
Georgetown
Rice
Michigan
Virginia
UCLA
Wisconsin
Vanderbilt
North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Notre Dame
Wake Forest
Illinois
Georgia Tech
Texas
Cal-Davis
Purdue
Minnesota
Arizona State

I don't know under which circumstances an American student would go to another country to study, aside from the case of the Rhodes Scholar.

Maybe someone would be sent -- by his company -- to Japan for business school if that company wanted this person to become their Japanese liaison.
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[NinaZara]

Well, I guess that is one of the differences between a developed country and a third world country.

[Prezbucky]

which part, the "train liaisons in foreign countries" part?
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[NinaZara]

No, I was just saying there is nothing you can learn from a third world country that you cannot learn in your own country.

[Prezbucky]

i don't know about that... there's probably a lot one could learn by spending time in a third-world area

perspective, for one thing

charity

etc.
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[Alan]

Hi Tom,

To answer your question, I did get my degree from Oxford. After taking the scholarship exams I was offered a place at both Oriel College and Balliol College and plumped for Balliol. The two universities (Oxford and Cambridge) have so called sister college relationships and I got my teaching diploma at St. John's, Cambridge, which is the sister college of Balliol.

Alan
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[Ginevra]

Have you ever heard about "Erasmus project" ?
Erasmus, acronym of European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students, gives the possibility to develop students exchanges.
Therefore, you may study in a foreign university in the European Community area for 3 up to 12 months.

[Prezbucky]

Alan

Thanks!

Michener hints that Balliol is "better" than Oriel. Is that the case?
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[Alan]

Hi Tom,

'Better' is a matter of personal opinion. If you look at the statistics Balliol seems to get the highest grades in Finals among the other colleges. What you can say is that it has a high academic reputation. Oriel has a high reputation also but in terms of scale has a more 'friendly' atmosphere because it is smaller than Balliol. Incidentally I gather from the College magazine that arrived on my doormat yesterday that an anonymous donor has just given Balliol an initial grant of £300,000 to 'as they say' pump prime the development of the Modern Languages section. And that sum is just the first donation, others will follow.

Alan
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[Prezbucky]

Nice!

And thanks for the explanation. I very nearly used "more prestigious" rather than "better"... but "better" is more vague and I wanted you to be as expansive/descriptive as possible. hehe
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[NinaZara]

What about Trinity College of Dublin and University College Cork? Which has the better reputation? Anybody here went there?