Degree Space

An assessment carried out by AllAboutUni.com reveals that there are no Italian universities in the World’s Top 100-Universities. AllAboutUni.com is an independent, global and inter-active website where visitors can obtain information about universities (global rankings, student reviews, university news and campus pictures). It publishes regular reports on universities around the world.

The analysis is based on a ranking of the World’s top 500 Universities produced by the Institute of Higher Education at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Several indicators of academic or research performance are used to establish the ranking, these include staff winning Nobel Prizes, highly cited researchers and articles indexed in major citation indices. The rankings have been published since 2003, with the 2008 rankings published on 15 August 2008.

The assessment paid special attention to G8 countries, an international forum which brings together the heads of state of the richest industrialized countries: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Russia. The hypothesis was that G8 countries would be well-represented in the World’s Top-100 Universities.

The analysis found that, with the exception of Italy, all of the G8 countries had one or more universities in the World’s top-100 Universities in 2008. The breakdown was as follows: United States (54), United Kingdom (11), Germany (6), Canada (4), France (4), Japan (4), Russia (1) and Italy (0). This data clearly highlights the performance of universities in the US and, to a lesser extent, those in the United Kingdom. It also highlights the poor performance of Italian universities. The first Italian university in the World’s top-500 Universities is the University of Milan (ranked 101-151), the University of Pisa (101-151) and the University of Rome – Sapienza (101-151).

The poor position of Italian universities is striking and may highlight a malaise in the higher education sector in Italy. It is possible the way the way the rankings are calculated is a disadvantage to Italian universities, as the system favors English-speaking indicators of academic performance (e.g. publications in English-speaking journals). However, other non-English speaking countries in the G8 countries, including France, Japan and Russia, performed better than Italy.

Factors which may explain the poor performance of Italian universities include poor management practices, lower levels of university funding, the high number of students enrolled in Italian universities (e.g. the University of Rome – La Sapienza has a staggering 147,000 students) and the limited number of private universities (compared to the US).

The AllAboutUni.com website provides a portal where students can find independent information about universities from around the world. ‘The website allows students to compare colleges and universities online based on independent information: the Shanghai rankings, student reviews and campus pictures. Combining this with the information provided by university websites, we hope students will be able to find the college or university of their dreams’, says John Paget, Founder of the AllAboutUni.com website. John studied Economics at the London School of Economic and then completed graduate studies in the United Kingdom and Switzerland. The AllAboutUni.com website was launched in November 2007.

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John Paget

http://www.allaboutuni.com

Beginning the college process can be a little daunting task because there is no fixed formula for getting into college and moreover, whatever combination of courses one studied at high school makes no difference in the success rate of getting admission to your dream school. Grades, SAT/ACT scores, and class rank are certainly looked into, but while doing well in all three may be enough to get you into some schools, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get into all your choices. In fact, even students with perfect SAT scores and straight A’s are sometimes denied admission by some of the more elite colleges and universities. Here are some tips that’ll help you navigate the admissions process and succeed in your application.

You must know that selective colleges have more qualified applicants than their limit. This is where extracurricular activities come into play. In fact, extracurricular activities can often tilt the decision in your favor when compared to other students with equivalent grades/test scores but without much in the way of activities because they demonstrate your motivation and time-management skills. You should remember to inform college if pursuing academics and an after-school job or any other extenuating circumstances. According to The Princeton Review, highly selective schools generally place emphasis than average on a good essay. The essay questions on college applications are usually very open-ended, so it is prudent to talk about your experience or aspect of you or your life that was particularly meaningful.

Awards or other recognitions and achievements can weigh into your application’s consideration. Be sure to inform them if you have achieved any because good colleges and universities look for leaders and achievers and not just academic performers.

Recommendations of your teachers and counselors do matter. Get a letter of recommendation from a teacher or counselor who thinks you’re brilliant and include it with your application packet. Similarly, if a family member went to your college of choice, you may receive (not necessarily) some preferential consideration in admissions and this could count even more if more than one family member attended the college.

Most importantly, start planning early to get into the schools you want. Do your reasearch, collect updated information on the most sought-after colleges and universities and their admission criterias in advance. There are many online resource guides that assists high school students in selecting a college.

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Peter M. Jones is a freelance writer who writes for websites, print media and TV serials. He has also been writing for www.allaboutuni.com He can be contacted at www.techmagnate.com