Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. MIT
2. Imperial College London
3. Stanford
4. Oxford
5. Harvard
6. Cambridge
7. ETH Zurich
8. National University Singapore
9. UCL London
10. Caltech
11. University of Hong Kong
12. Nanyang Singapore
13. U Chicago
14. Peking U
15. U Penn
16. Cornell
17. Tsinghua U
18. UC Berkeley
19. University of Melbourne
20. University of NSW Sydney
21. Yale
22. EPFL Lausanne
23. Technical University Munich
24. Johns Hopkins
25. Princeton
26. University of Sydney
27. Princeton
28. Universite PFL Paris
29. University of Toronto
30. Fudan

https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings?tab=indicators&sort_by=rank&order_by=asc

It’s a complete garbage ranking.

are you ok? it's really not. QS and THE (times higher ed) are both the preeminent rankings for reputation of global universities. just because you are not as aware of many of these global research giants because we spend too much time in the US gazing inward and talkign to neighbors in our bubbles, doesn't mean it's not valid. sorry to burst your bubble.

+100 Both are highly regarded

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. MIT
2. Imperial College London
3. Stanford
4. Oxford
5. Harvard
6. Cambridge
7. ETH Zurich
8. National University Singapore
9. UCL London
10. Caltech
11. University of Hong Kong
12. Nanyang Singapore
13. U Chicago
14. Peking U
15. U Penn
16. Cornell
17. Tsinghua U
18. UC Berkeley
19. University of Melbourne
20. University of NSW Sydney
21. Yale
22. EPFL Lausanne
23. Technical University Munich
24. Johns Hopkins
25. Princeton
26. University of Sydney
27. Princeton
28. Universite PFL Paris
29. University of Toronto
30. Fudan

https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings?tab=indicators&sort_by=rank&order_by=asc

It’s a complete garbage ranking.

are you ok? it's really not. QS and THE (times higher ed) are both the preeminent rankings for reputation of global universities. just because you are not as aware of many of these global research giants because we spend too much time in the US gazing inward and talkign to neighbors in our bubbles, doesn't mean it's not valid. sorry to burst your bubble.

It certainly has values. But, it also tends to prop up the Brits and Commonwealth countries. It's like the Fox News for British education. Another peculiar element among the ranking metrics is the percentage of international students. For a small country like Singapore which is roughly the same size and population as any of the five largest metros in the US, it is inevitable that there will be lots of international students. If the US were 50 countries as opposed to 50 states, all OOS students would have been international students.

Anonymous wrote:As Americans, we are too fixated on a group of small or relatively unknown American colleges that the world doesn't know or care about. It's good to get some outside perspective.

if you're goal is to get employed by "the world" or have your aunt in Beijing be able to brag, getting into HYPSM or Oxford/Cambridge is all that matters.

if you want to get a good education and a job in nyc, the list is different. and if you want to get a good education and get a job in Dallas, the list is different. and if you want to get a job in nursing anywhere, the list is different.

Anonymous wrote:My recollection is that both of these rankings prioritize research and serve as better measures of graduate education and quality of employment opportunities for faculty.

Not necessarily indicative of the undergraduate experience.

they also prioritize faculty research. so any college with a graduate component or lots of faculty not teaching is good for ranking, although possibly not your kids college years.

this is why you'll never see a school like Swat on the list.

Anonymous wrote:As Americans, we are too fixated on a group of small or relatively unknown American colleges that the world doesn't know or care about. It's good to get some outside perspective.

Funny you say that. This is exactly the reason our DC has applied to an international university for their masters and was accepted. They would like to experience a different viewpoint/approach to research.

But then it would probably not be good enough for this board, as it is only a QS top 40 or THE top 30 university.

OP’s list has Princeton at both #25 and #27. Surely that isn’t correct?

Anonymous wrote:As Americans, we are too fixated on a group of small or relatively unknown American colleges that the world doesn't know or care about. It's good to get some outside perspective.

+100

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. MIT
2. Imperial College London
3. Stanford
4. Oxford
5. Harvard
6. Cambridge
7. ETH Zurich
8. National University Singapore
9. UCL London
10. Caltech
11. University of Hong Kong
12. Nanyang Singapore
13. U Chicago
14. Peking U
15. U Penn
16. Cornell
17. Tsinghua U
18. UC Berkeley
19. University of Melbourne
20. University of NSW Sydney
21. Yale
22. EPFL Lausanne
23. Technical University Munich
24. Johns Hopkins
25. Princeton
26. University of Sydney
27. Princeton
28. Universite PFL Paris
29. University of Toronto
30. Fudan

https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings?tab=indicators&sort_by=rank&order_by=asc

It’s a complete garbage ranking.

are you ok? it's really not. QS and THE (times higher ed) are both the preeminent rankings for reputation of global universities. just because you are not as aware of many of these global research giants because we spend too much time in the US gazing inward and talkign to neighbors in our bubbles, doesn't mean it's not valid. sorry to burst your bubble.

Anonymous wrote:My recollection is that both of these rankings prioritize research and serve as better measures of graduate education and quality of employment opportunities for faculty.

Not necessarily indicative of the undergraduate experience.

They aren't indicative of the undergraduate student experience, I agree. But they are indicative of the global prestige and reputation of that degree and institution.

Anonymous wrote:1. MIT
2. Imperial College London
3. Stanford
4. Oxford
5. Harvard
6. Cambridge
7. ETH Zurich
8. National University Singapore
9. UCL London
10. Caltech
11. University of Hong Kong
12. Nanyang Singapore
13. U Chicago
14. Peking U
15. U Penn
16. Cornell
17. Tsinghua U
18. UC Berkeley
19. University of Melbourne
20. University of NSW Sydney
21. Yale
22. EPFL Lausanne
23. Technical University Munich
24. Johns Hopkins
25. Princeton
26. University of Sydney
27. Princeton
28. Universite PFL Paris
29. University of Toronto
30. Fudan

https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings?tab=indicators&sort_by=rank&order_by=asc

It’s a complete garbage ranking.

My recollection is that both of these rankings prioritize research and serve as better measures of graduate education and quality of employment opportunities for faculty.

Not necessarily indicative of the undergraduate experience.

Better World Rankings is Time Higher Education
2026

World

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/latest/world-ranking

US

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/best-universities/best-universities-united-states

Top Universities in the World Rankings 2026 - US Colleges Ranked

1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2 Princeton University
3 Harvard University
3 Stanford
5 California Institute of Technology
6 University of California, Berkeley
7 Yale University
8 University of Pennsylvania
9 The University of Chicago
10 Johns Hopkins University
11 Cornell University
11 University of California, Los Angeles
13 Columbia University
14 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
15 Carnegie Mellon University
16 University of Washington
17 Duke University
18 Northwestern University
19 New York University
20 Georgia Institute of Technology
20 University of Illinois at UC

yawn

As Americans, we are too fixated on a group of small or relatively unknown American colleges that the world doesn't know or care about. It's good to get some outside perspective.

1. MIT
2. Imperial College London
3. Stanford
4. Oxford
5. Harvard
6. Cambridge
7. ETH Zurich
8. National University Singapore
9. UCL London
10. Caltech
11. University of Hong Kong
12. Nanyang Singapore
13. U Chicago
14. Peking U
15. U Penn
16. Cornell
17. Tsinghua U
18. UC Berkeley
19. University of Melbourne
20. University of NSW Sydney
21. Yale
22. EPFL Lausanne
23. Technical University Munich
24. Johns Hopkins
25. Princeton
26. University of Sydney
27. Princeton
28. Universite PFL Paris
29. University of Toronto
30. Fudan

https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings?tab=indicators&sort_by=rank&order_by=asc