Anonymous wrote:These rankings are based on research output in a way that just isn't relevant for the vast, vast majority of undergrads.

Thanks for that insight - very helpful!

To PPs, I know we will visit and she will decide based on fit, but as we aren't Canadian, it's hard to have a feel for how each university is regarded there in comparison the the US schools. Just looking for more data.

These rankings are based on research output in a way that just isn't relevant for the vast, vast majority of undergrads.

Anonymous wrote:These are rankings are all so pointless - MIT as the world's #16 Humanities school?

MIT actually has a great humanities dept. It simply happens to be overshadowed by STEM.

These are rankings are all so pointless - MIT as the world's #16 Humanities school?

Anonymous wrote:Any advice on how to integrate this list with the US-ranked universities? For example, my DC is considering one of the foreign universities on this list (not Oxbridge) and we can't tell how it stacks up relative to the US universities DC is considering. For example, should we read this to say that Chicago and Toronto or comparably ranked, or that Toronto is inferior to UCLA? Those are two totally different takeaways.

You really should focus on fit and not on the rankings. Visit, talk to the faculty and students, see the area. Talk about logistics and independent living overseas. There are kids that thrive in GB or Canada.

Anonymous wrote:Any advice on how to integrate this list with the US-ranked universities? For example, my DC is considering one of the foreign universities on this list (not Oxbridge) and we can't tell how it stacks up relative to the US universities DC is considering. For example, should we read this to say that Chicago and Toronto or comparably ranked, or that Toronto is inferior to UCLA? Those are two totally different takeaways.

Toronto scores 18 and UCLA scores 9.

But they are still both in the top 20

Its moot.

Any advice on how to integrate this list with the US-ranked universities? For example, my DC is considering one of the foreign universities on this list (not Oxbridge) and we can't tell how it stacks up relative to the US universities DC is considering. For example, should we read this to say that Chicago and Toronto or comparably ranked, or that Toronto is inferior to UCLA? Those are two totally different takeaways.

# RANK UNIVERSITY LOCATION COMPARE STARS
Arts and Humanities

1 University of Oxford United Kingdom 5
2 University of Cambridge United Kingdom 5
3 Harvard University United States 5
4 University of California, Berkeley (UCB) United States 5
5 Stanford University United States 5
6 Yale University United States 5
7 Princeton University United States 5
8 Columbia University United States 5
9 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) United States
10 The Australian National University Australia 6
11 The University of Tokyo Japan
12 New York University (NYU) United States 5
13 The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
14 London School of Economics and Political Science United Kingdom
15 The University of Sydney Australia 6
16 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) United States 6
17 The University of Melbourne Australia
18 UCL (University College London) United Kingdom
18 University of Chicago United States 5
18 University of Toronto Canada
21 National University of Singapore (NUS) Singapore
22 The University of Edinburgh United Kingdom
23 Peking University China
24 King's College London United Kingdom
25 The University of Auckland

https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2017/arts-humanities