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When choosing a university to attend inCanada, or anywhere else in the world, students want to study at a top rankeduniversity or college.&nbsp; Although it isimportant to study where you know that you will get the best education and havea degree that is worthwhile; one must not get too hung up on ranks.&nbsp; It is first important to know the criteria onwhich a ranking is determined.
Canada has four universities that stand inthe top 100 world rankings, depending on which ranking system you view;University of Toronto, McGill University, University of British Columbia andthe University of Alberta.&nbsp; Yet among OECD countries, Canada standsfourth in how much of their GDP they spend on education.&nbsp; Canada is considered to have one of the besteducation systems in the world, even outranking the US on some points.&nbsp; Could it be that rankings are not all thatthey are made out to be?
So what do the rankings mean?&nbsp; You will want to know if you are planning onstudying abroad in Canada or elsewhere.
There are two main ranking systems thatstudents look to for guidance as to which university they want to attend: 
<ul>
<li>
·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Times Higher Education (THE)</li>
<li>
·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Academic Ranking of WorldUniversities (ARWU)</li></ul>
Each one of these systems uses differentcriteria to determine a university’s standing.
Times Higher Education (THE)
These scores are someone subjective becausethe ranking is partially based on reputation; what are students, academics,university leaders, industry and governments saying about the university.&nbsp; The criteria used are:
Teaching – the learning environment makes up 30% of the overall rankingscore.&nbsp; Institutions that have a highpercentage of undergraduates as opposed to graduates don’t score well.&nbsp; In other words, the higher ratio of graduatesis, the higher the rank.
Research – the amount of research, the income (due to grants and researchfunds, etc.) and reputation as a research institute are important factors in auniversity’s rank.
Citations – this refers to yearly publications; a university needs to publisha minimum of 200 papers per year to get any sort of score in this area.
Industryincome – how much industry or revenue is generatedas a result of the research?&nbsp; Manyuniversities have their spin-off companies that have evolved out of theresearch conducted at the university.
Internationaloutlook – Internationalisation aspects of nationalvs. International student rations; international instructors, collaborativeresearch and agreements between universities makes up 7.5% of the score.&nbsp; (Internationalisation is increased at auniversity where there is a strong graduate studies and research focus.)
A close examination of the above criteriashows that a university that focuses on graduates studies and research are thereal leading factors in determining a university’s ranking on this scale.&nbsp; If you are a graduate student looking for agood university, using THE might be worth your while, but for theundergraduate; while you want to study at a reputable educational institution,using THE rankings might not give you the best selection as to where to study.
Academic Ranking of WorldUniversities (ARWU)
Their ranking methodology is lesssubjective as they do not rely on reporting methods that might be highly askew ifcertain segments of the global population have an undue representation in thesurveys.&nbsp; ARWU relies heavily onstatistics and facts.&nbsp; Therefore theirrankings might be considered more reliable; but again there is a heavy emphasiseson research and graduate work.
The criteria used here are:
Qualityof Education:
Numbers of alumni who hold Nobel Prizes andFields Medals
Academics at the university who win NobelPrizes and Fields Medals
Quality of Faculty:


How many of the universities researchersare highly cited in 21 subject categoriesThe number of papers published in Nature and Science
ResearchOutlook:
Papers indexed in Science Citation andSocial Science Indexes
PerCapita Performance:
Per capital academic performance of aninstitution
If you are interested in studying at theGraduate level, you do want to consider the research factor of the university;but for the most part, either ranking system should not totally govern yourdecision as to what university or college you will attend.&nbsp; If you are an undergraduate there are otherfactors you want to consider; such as smaller classrooms or closerrelationships with professors and teaching staff.
If you are an international student whowants to study in Canada, there are many smaller institutions where you can geta quality degree or you can transfer to a top ranking university after yourfirst couple of years studying in Canada.&nbsp;This would be more suitable, less expensive and still provide you with asolid education from a reputable institution.&nbsp;If you are interested in studying in Canada, then contact your International StudentRepresentative in Pakistan for more information and details so you can findthe best place to study in Canada.