QS Asian University Ranking for 2012 - Did UP participate? There are only 3 made it

[lneliouchiora]

talaga? I don't believe that. Do you think those students from science hs especially Pisay na required ang graduates na science-related course ang kunin sa college would even trust/believe that stupid ranking? Ano sapalagay mo/niyo, magpiPhilo sila sa ADMU or magaAccountancy sa DLSU dahil these 2 universities are on that list? I'm not saying that these 2 schools are mediocre in science undergrad courses, what I'm just trying to imply is that no ranking could ever remove the mentality that UP will always be the premier university of our country no matter what. If ever man na madaig(consistently) nga ang UP, ano sapalagay mo/niyo ang mangyayari? like for example, ADMU na ang 1st, DLSU 2nd, at 3rd ang UP, dba it would be better if ADMU will be the/a national university na dahil sila na ang on top? Parang magiging ganito, yung ADMU magiging the Ateneo of the Philippines tapos yung UP magiging University de Ateneo na? That sounds absurd.

btw, im an incoming 4th yr student and a prospective UPCAT taker this year. I'm just trying to share my opinions, medyo nahurt at nagambala lang kasi ako like many others na rin siguro(na nakakaalam nito) lalo na yung mahihirap and kagaya kong Promdi na malaman na ang dream school namin ay wala (na) sa listahang ito.

*No offense to the Ateneans and also to the La Sallians. At least somehow, you made yourselves proud by being part of those top universities this time (only) .

I know. I tried googling "what is the best university in the Philippines?" and guess what the result is. Its still UPD that dominates the search results. What can you say now? It can't be denied that these schools are indeed great on their own specialties. Its just, UP, as the premier and national university of our country is in general, the best, will always be the best no matter what. I suggest that these "top" universities should form an elite consortium just like the Ivy League so that its not just UP or ADMU that can make the RP rose through the ranks... If we have this Ivy League of our own, I think students from these universities will soon fully respect each other just like equals. That is what the the white triangle in our flag stands for, right?

WTF are you smoking?!

[paenggoy]

It's better to use several criteria given in these rankings and make them standards instead of looking at the results of such rankings. PH schools that reach such a standard should be identified. For example,

- one million volumes in the main library, with those given in syllabi published no later than ten years ago

- at least 75 pct of faculty with PhDs

- the equivalent of second-tier ratings for SAT, TOEFL or IELTS, etc., for incoming undergrads, or the equivalent of an IB or AP

- ave. class size not exceeding 20

- a certain percentage passing board exams or a certain ave. grade for international exams for graduates

- ratios for computers, lab equipment, etc., to students

- at most four classes workload per term for all full-time profs, with funding to deload one subject to publish one journal article a term or a monograph after two; similar funding for a full two-term deload to publish a book or major report

- funding for student and faculty exchange programs

- curriculum follows something like the Bologna accord, e.g., three years of majors, most of it not lectures, with a thesis, board exam, or major project for the fourth year

etc. Additional criteria and numbers are debatable and can be adjusted. The important thing is that one becomes aware of the lack of quality of tertiary ed in PH.

For example, one government report points out that only around 6 pct of PH college and university (including graduate school) faculty have PhDs and only around 25 pct have master's degrees. The local requirement is a master's degree.

More important, only three or four PH schools make it to these rankings, which is a very low number for a country that has one the largest college populations in the world.

How would the average PH college or university student or graduate do given international standards. Can signs of that be seen in PH primary and secondary student performance in previous TIMSS?

[Dacs]

Whether we like it or not, these rankings, in one way or another, have implicit value. Take it in a perspective: imagine you're a prospective exchange student from Brunei or Cambodia. You know nothing about Philippine universities. So, the natural thing for you to do is to ask the question, "what is the best university in the Philippines?" If you search the net, this ranking will definitely come up. I know this is quite simplistic, but I hope you get the picture. Same thing will probably happen to prospective visiting professors, researchers, etc.

I was about to reply on your opinion until I read the one in bold.

It is simplistic. I don't think any level-headed person who is seriously planning to get involved in the Philippine Academe would use a single metric to gauge our universities' performance relative to each other.

And let's get real people. Alam naman natin kung saan nakatayo ang UP.

Sa Diliman

Wake me up when UP starts to perform poorly in board exams or lose honor students from prestigious HS from their freshman roll.

[hacksaw]

Only one university is able to consistently, through the years deliver a:

- 100% passing rate in almost all board exams
- dominance of the top 10 slots in these exams
- and the topnotcher to boot

So who the fcuk cares if that school didnt participate in the QS Asian University Ranking.

[hunter_alchemst]

Medyo nagulat ako, sorry. I didn't think that someone would take my example at face value. I clearly said that it was a simplistic depiction of the reality. But I do understand why he/she did that.

What I was driving at is that the QS ranking is now a major player in the ranking of universities worldwide along with Times Higher Education (THE) and Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU)/Shanghai Jiao Tong. I know that QS is flawed and the other two probably suffer from the same flaw. Don't get me wrong--it obviously is; it fails to contextualize the particulars of universities in each country or regions. But the fact remains that it is influential in one way or another because it capitalizes on perception. A university's image and reputation are at stake whenever these annual rankings are released.

For example, in the UK, they have their own set of rankings which use primarily the following criteria: student satisfaction, student-teacher ratio, facilities, research output and impact, research capital, and many others which better capture the context of the universities in the UK. Some of their rankings are done by the Guardian, Sunday Times, Independent, Research Academic Exercise, and many others. These rankings are obviously at a better perspective to rank their universities. But, universities in the UK, not only recognize their local rankings but also acknowledge the results of the aforementioned world rankings, flawed and incomplete though they may be. This is because of the fact that they recognize the influence and reach of these rankings. They may not entirely believe or subscribe to the results of these world rankings, but they know that it has an influence. This is the point that I am driving at.

We know that UP is the best (and no one will contest this) university in the Philippines. But it doesn't hurt either if it participates in such activities. It is a marketing strategy. May mali ba sa hindi pagbibigay ng readily available data? I just think that UP's or any other university's snobbery of such activity is plain pride and complacency.

Look at these member universities of the Russell Group in the UK. They may not entirely believe the result of the QS (or other world university rankings), but they acknowledge its influence. They know that there are people out there who will be swayed by such measures, or who takes into considerations "international reputation". They take advantage of these market.

University of Cambridge: http://www.cam.ac.uk/univ/leaguetables.html

Oxford University: http://www.ox.ac.uk/about_the_univer...s_and_rankings

Imperial College London: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/aboutimpe...eague_rankings

King's College London: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/iop/study/why.aspx

University of Edinburgh: http://www.ed.ac.uk/about/edinburgh-...top-20-ranking

University of Warwick: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/insite/new...rld_university

Newcastle University: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/about/quality/leaguetables/

If bigger and far more influential universities recognize these rankings (flawed though they may be), why can't we? May mali ba dun? I'm not saying that this should be the definitive guide to the quality of our universities. But really, masisira ba ang pangalan ng UP sa pagsubmit ng data?

[reshiram]

What kind of grammar and logic do you have? School please?
Okay, isa ka nga pala sa mga magiging produkto ng UP at isa sa pagsayangan ng pera ng gobyerno. Yan lang ba ang naabot at natutunan mo mula sa iyong high school? Reshiram, hindi lang UP ang choice ng students.

Pasensya na po. Hindi mo po ba nabasa yung katagang "Promdi"? Hindi naman po ako kagalingan sa sentence construction at grammar. Natural lang din na hindi lang UP ang choice ng mga estudyante, kasi kung ganoon, eh di sana hindi na nag-ooffer ng science courses ang ADMU at DLSU, etc. Baka hindi mo lang naintindihan ang sinabi ko..
Nagdadivert ka lang ata sa tanong ko, nakapasa ka ba ng UPCAT? baka tama sila, nagbibitter-bitteran ka lang diyan kasi UPCAT flunker ka.

[curiouser]

I don't see the point of questioning the reasons for a particular institution's reasons for providing/not providing data to a third-party survey organisation here, unless there is an admin representative from the institution present.

I could give my own opinion on the matter, but I would not be speaking for UP, nor would I be able to adequately justify UP's stand on the matter because I am not privy to the admin's reasons.

I guess what I'm saying is, there is no point in the discussion beyond congratulating the local universities that made it to the list. But, a far better point to consider is, why are our universities so far down the list? Regardless if UP made it to the list (or not), the goal should be to increase our standing vis-a-vis our neighbors, and not merely use UP as a yardstick for excellence (One can even argue that this actually proves UP's reputation as the goalpost regardless of its standings in these rankings). Or are we really that myopic that the ultimate goal is to just claim to be the premier university of this country?

[enrikino]

hi. what is QS? sorry

i-quiz bee na yan! walang urungan TS! lokolungs

[reshiram]

I don't want to start any school-bashing here, but this is basically it. It is a mere common notion, not a fact. The vast majority, especially incoming 4th year students, do not dig deeper and judge based on the name of the university.

tamang-tama po lahat ng sinabi niyo, walang mali. sige,
let's admit that "UP as the best university in our country" is not a fact, but is just a common notion and not a misconception. haha.
isa pa, incoming 4th yr students like me, indeed do not dig deeper and judge based on the name of the university kasi, alam na... kailangan pa bang i-memorize yan?

[Daiju]

tamang-tama po lahat ng sinabi niyo, walang mali. sige,
let's admit that "UP as the best university in our country" is not a fact, but is just a common notion and not a misconception. haha.
isa pa, incoming 4th yr students like me, indeed do not dig deeper and judge based on the name of the university kasi, alam na... kailangan pa bang i-memorize yan?

You are still very young and know nothing about universities.

[hacksaw]

UP is not in the business of marketing itself. It doesnt have to. It doesnt need to.

So why the hell participate in survey who's avowed objective is to help Universities market themselves?

[empoweredtams]

UP is not in the business of marketing itself. It doesnt have to. It doesnt need to.

So why the hell participate in survey who's avowed objective is to help Universities market themselves?

sure ka? kaya pala naglipnan ang UPCAT review sa pilipinas dahil iminamarket ng mga mayari na mga UP graduates ang UPCAT exam na kung tutuusin, hindi naman kahirapan. PaNGALAWA, Maraming ads sa ndiyaryo ang UP.

[lneliouchiora]

tamang-tama po lahat ng sinabi niyo, walang mali. sige,
let's admit that "UP as the best university in our country" is not a fact, but is just a common notion and not a misconception. haha.
isa pa, incoming 4th yr students like me, indeed do not dig deeper and judge based on the name of the university kasi, alam na... kailangan pa bang i-memorize yan?

WOW.

Critical Thinking of incoming 4th year students FTW.

[hacksaw]

sure ka? kaya pala naglipnan ang UPCAT review sa pilipinas dahil iminamarket ng mga mayari na mga UP graduates ang UPCAT exam na kung tutuusin, hindi naman kahirapan. PaNGALAWA, Maraming ads sa ndiyaryo ang UP.

Its sad that you cant tell the difference between UP grads marketing the UPCAT and UP marketing itself. Nahirapan ka siguro sa UPCAT.

UPCAT is a national ranking exam that rates 70,000 hs seniors from highest to lowest. The top performers get admitted to UP while those na "nahirapan sa UPCAT" join the "others"

Joke of the Day: Mahirap ang UPCAT....

[curiouser]

sure ka? kaya pala naglipnan ang UPCAT review sa pilipinas dahil iminamarket ng mga mayari na mga UP graduates ang UPCAT exam na kung tutuusin, hindi naman kahirapan. PaNGALAWA, Maraming ads sa ndiyaryo ang UP.

You forget, of course, that it is the review centers that put up these ads, and not UP itself. There's a distinction there.

[almostthere]

WOW.

Critical Thinking of incoming 4th year students FTW.

It makes me so excited for the future of our country

[hunter_alchemst]

So, if the likes of Oxford and Cambridge recognize the importance of marketing themselves despite being the Oxford and Cambridge, why can't UP?

[curiouser]

So, if the likes of Oxford and Cambridge recognize the importance of marketing themselves despite being the Oxford and Cambridge, why can't UP?

I already answered this with this post.

I don't see the point of questioning the reasons for a particular institution's reasons for providing/not providing data to a third-party survey organisation here, unless there is an admin representative from the institution present.

I could give my own opinion on the matter, but I would not be speaking for UP, nor would I be able to adequately justify UP's stand on the matter because I am not privy to the admin's reasons.

I guess what I'm saying is, there is no point in the discussion beyond congratulating the local universities that made it to the list. But, a far better point to consider is, why are our universities so far down the list? Regardless if UP made it to the list (or not), the goal should be to increase our standing vis-a-vis our neighbors, and not merely use UP as a yardstick for excellence (One can even argue that this actually proves UP's reputation as the goalpost regardless of its standings in these rankings). Or are we really that myopic that the ultimate goal is to just claim to be the premier university of this country?

I could say, for conjecture's sake that UP chooses to invest its meager financial resources in actual educational and research output instead of marketing, but that's not really a fact because it's just my opinion. Simply put, unless you can find a member of the UP admin to interview, these questions are pointless.

[Kirkegaard]

tamang-tama po lahat ng sinabi niyo, walang mali. sige,
let's admit that "UP as the best university in our country" is not a fact, but is just a common notion and not a misconception. haha.
isa pa, incoming 4th yr students like me, indeed do not dig deeper and judge based on the name of the university kasi, alam na... kailangan pa bang i-memorize yan?

Parang ganyan 'din ako dati.

I guess it's but the norm that we go by name or brands. We do it everyday, in all the things we do. We often go by the brands we trust. After all, we know that goodwill, reputation and good name must have some basis - proven quality. In the case of UP, we know where the reputation comes from - decades of academic excellence. So the point is, it is perfectly and logically sound to go by mere name and reputation.

[hunter_alchemst]

^I get your point. It is valid--investing in actual outputs.

It was actually addressed for Hacksaw. I just failed to quote his post.

But the fact remains, this ranking-thingy has value. We can undermine it all we want, but I think it's here to stay for the long run. For as long as bigger, influential, and powerhouse universities recognize it, it will continue to attract attention. So, might as well for our universities to participate in it. I see nothing humiliating there. Besides, we're not even 100% sure that a payment is needed in order for a university's complete data to be included in this ranking.