How to choose a university abroad, which university is good?

Young people who turn their eyes and direction abroad, are faced with completely different questions after this big decision.

“Which country should I go to?” and “Which university should I study at?”

Individuals who go abroad for a more qualified higher education naturally prefer the highest ranked universities they can go to. When choosing a university abroad, Turkish students mostly look at the academic ranking of the university. Choosing the right university among thousands of universities in the world is not really a task to be done by examining one by one.

To determine your target country and university, you should create a final study list of up to 50 universities. You should reach your detailed study list by first reducing this list to 35 and then simplifying it to 20 universities. Afterwards, it will be more possible and appropriate to examine these universities one by one and enter into a multi-faceted research.

A systematic is needed to create a healthy list. Considering the presence of international students, which is 5.6 million in the world today and is expected to reach 8 million in 2025, and the international education traffic, official performance measurement platforms have been established where universities will be listed and announced in various criteria, which will do this in a transparent and objective way.

We often hear the words “1st University in the World”, “Best University Globally” or “Number 1 in the World”. But how do we know that said university is really the best in the world? Who will decide if this university is good, and how will it be evaluated when ranking the university? Not only that, sometimes you wonder why universities are on different platforms, in different ranks. These are the questions that come to the minds of many students and parents…

Although these platforms make different rankings due to the differences in the measurement criteria they set, the major platforms that have a voice in the world should be evaluated together while making the university decision, and the universities that catch the optimum in their ranking should be prioritized.

So what are the most trusted "University Ranking Platforms" in the world?
⁃ ARWU / Academic Ranking of World Universities
⁃ QS / World University Ranking
⁃ THE / Times Higher Education World University Rankings

In this article, we will examine the most widely accepted, most influential and well-structured global university ranking platforms in the world. We will talk about the methodologies they use and the importance of ranking criteria.
(ARWU) World Universities Academic Ranking Platform
ARWU, the first and oldest global ranking system in the world, is also known as the "Shanghai Ranking". ARWU first published its rankings in June 2003 and placed it on the annual period. This platform has rigorous evaluation criteria that universities must meet in order to be ranked high.
ARWU Methodology
The ARWU System is two-stage.
The first step is primarily the selection of universities to be included in the ranking. At this stage, universities;

- Nobel Prize winner
- Receiving the Field Medal
- Having Highly Cited Researchers
- Having publications on Nature or Science
- Significant publications (registered by the Scientific Citation Index (SCIE) and Social Scientific Citation Index (SSCI))

is sought. Thus, in this context, more than 1800 universities are evaluated and the best 1000 are published. In the second stage, universities are ranked in 4 main objective criteria. These;

- Education Quality (10)
- Faculty Quality (40%)
- Research Outcomes (40%)
- Academic Performance per Person (10%)

The ARWU Platform heavily emphasizes research performance. This shows that universities will rank higher if they do a lot of high-quality research. If you are focused on doing research at the university, it would be useful to consider the ARWU system when choosing an educational institution.

(QS) World University Ranking Platform

In the past, the ranking platform, called “Quacquarelli Symonds” or (QS) for short, worked in collaboration with another ranking platform known as “Times Higher Education” or (THE) for short. In 2009, both platforms decided to part ways. While QS continues with its current ranking methodology, THE has announced that it will establish a new system. QS started announcing their rankings on an annual basis, as did ARWU.

QS Methodology

QS ranking is based on 4 basic criteria. These are “Teaching”, “Research”, “Employability” and “Internationalization”.

In order to be the subject of measurement, universities are expected to provide both undergraduate and graduate education and to operate in at least two of the five basic sciences. These basic sciences; art and Humanities, Engineering and Technology, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Life Sciences and Medicine. To measure the performance of universities, these 4 main criteria are measured using 6 simple performance indicators. The weights of these indicators are as follows;

- Academic Reputation 40%
- Employer Reputation 10%
- Faculty/Student Ratio 20%
- Citations per Faculty 20%
- International Faculty Ratio 5%
- International Student Ratio is 5%

Using a highly subjective method for QS University rankings, it evaluates data from surveys of over 130,000 individuals. However, in addition to this, QS also publishes many specific rankings in special branches such as “Life Sciences & Medicine”, “Natural Sciences” and “Arts & Humanities”. Not only that, QS measures the graduate job placement performance of universities and directs students to universities preferred by employers for postgraduate recruitment. From this point of view, if you want to evaluate a university according to a specific department or in terms of job placement performance, the QS World Ranking System can be a guide for you.

(THE)Times Higher Education World University Ranking Platform

THE Platform is based in London. It was founded by Canadian media conglomerate Thomson Reuters, after splitting its business associations with QS, to conduct university rankings. This platform puts special emphasis on the care they take in obtaining the data to be used in the ranking system in a rigorous and transparent manner.

THE Methodology

THE World University Ranking System measures using 13 sub-performance indicators grouped in 5 main categories. Institutions are not included in the ranking if they do not provide undergraduate education or if their research output is below a certain level. The 5 main categories and their weights are as follows;
- Teaching 30%
- Research 30%
- R&D Citations 30%
- International Outlook 7.5%
- Industrial Revenue 2.5%

THE universities base their evaluations on citations, a manipulative metric. But the 2020 rankings have shown that reliance on this data is objective. This platform also publishes rankings that evaluate universities in compliance with the "United Nations Sustainable Development Goals". For this reason, it would be beneficial for students who prefer to study at an environmentally sensitive university to consider this methodology.

In our next article, we will make rankings and comparisons of world and Turkish universities on these platforms.

References;
-QS World University Rankings – Methodology By Craig O, Updated December 20, 2021
-World University Ranking Methodologies Compared By Laura Bridgestock, Updated April 19, 2021