随着2015年US News全球大学排名的公布，许多有前瞻性的海外学生和他们的家庭成员顿时产生了困惑：为什么全球性的大学排名会如此戏剧性的不同于综合大学排名？尤其还是出自同一家媒体？

下面是分析两个富有争议的排名系统的一些关键点，通过这些关键点，我希望读者可以从排名上获得更多的信息，在选校的时候，可以更自如的运用他们。

U.S.News是一家专门发布消费者建议，排名和分析的美国传媒公司。成立于1933年。目前来说最著名最有影响力的是他们所做的每年大学排名和医院排名。该排名仅供参考，美国政府从未认可过。

U.S. News 最近发布了两个排名—2014年9月9号发布的2015大学排名和2014年10月27号发布的2015全球最好大学排名。

很多人想知道两个排名间的差别。

下面的表格是综合大学排名和全球大学排名有差异的大学。

问题：为什么Vanderbilt University在综合大学排名第16位，但却在全球大学排名89位？

回答：虽然两个排名出自同一家媒体，但他们用的是不停评判标准。

仔细分析上述标准表明，这些排名系统都是基于不同的假设，如我们所知道的，US.News是一个消费者咨询的出版物，信息的提供必定符合目标受众群体，给他们提供最相关的信息。

2015年大学排名：出于对美国大学一个更定性的分析，考虑到什么样的因素会让学生有一个美好的大学生活。包括是否小班授课，从教授那里获得的关注度，资源的丰富程度。结果就是，像师生比例，学校在每个学生身上的消耗，这样的因素成为的排名的关键。

2015年大学排名：对资源的高度重视是排名决定性因素。额外的资源可以让学生有更多更好的机会接触到更多样化的指导老师，实验设备，奖学金，实习机会以及课外活动。因此，校友资助，大学的捐赠以及教授的薪水都是此排名的决定性因素。

2015年大学排名：考虑到治学严谨的环境的重要性，越严谨越有挑战性的环境，就有更多的学生向同辈学习。因此，对SAT和ACT要求越高并录取率很低的大学，排名一般都很高。

考虑到这些，私立大学胜过美国传统上的公立大学，作为公立大学来说，它们由州政府建立，它们对公众有教育的使命：各个州都要录取比私立大学更多的学生。

事实上，所有加州的学生只要在他们的高中课程取得班上的前9%，就会保证他能通过ELC项目被加州分校的至少一所被录取，并且不看SAT的分数。除此之外，加州社区学院的学生在参与UCs资格文凭,可以通过TAG项目来保证被录取。

因此，想UC一样的公立大学往往有很多的州内学生从录取政策中受益，可以很常见到本州学生的SAT分数会比外州学生或者国际学生低。所以，UC的课堂往往比较大，而且人均教育经费投入往往低于顶级私立大学。

私立大学没有授命州政府，它们有自己的资金来源。他们的录取政策不被公众教育所影响，因此私立大学通常要有更高的SAT平均分，小班授课，以及付给教师的更高的薪水。

2015 全球大学排名：出于对全球大学一个更定性的分析，评判标准变为在国际上称得上“优秀”的大学，而不是评估学生参加大学的体验。在为什么这所学校比较好于另外一所大学的看法上更加客观。

2015 全球大学排名：是非常以结果为导向的。做为一个大学来说，这个意味着学术输出：出版物的数量，博士的数量，授予博士学位的数量。

大学注重知识共享，所以2015全球大学排名密切的看重和其它大学件的关系和合作。

作为公立大学来说，被授权教育公众，他们往往有很多很强的专业，来满足学生的各种需求，比如说UCB,UCLA,密西根大学，弗吉尼亚大学和威斯康辛麦迪逊大学都有大量的排名前25位的专业，从英文文学，到商业或者工程，顶尖的私立大学也有很多顶尖专业，但更专攻一点，大多数只有顶级10大专业。

私立大学学生较少，所以需要更有效率的打开资源，专门从事特定的专业而不是投资在不同的领域。因此，他们在全球排名上降低因为他们的学术产出下降：出版物的数量，博士的数量，授予博士学位的数量。

什么大学才是最好的？

当研究一个大学的优点，学生必须考虑一系列因素。虽然排名是快速评估大学质量的一中方式，但是看的更仔细一点会更明智。

如果学生对小班授课非常感兴趣，私立大学应该比公立大学更好一点。如果学生的兴趣广泛，也许不想被限制他们的学术能力，那么公立大学就更加适合。同时，仅仅因为一所学校在综合排名和国际排名上是前10，并不意味着它就是最适合你的学校。学术专业是一个重要的考虑因素。如果学生希望学习很专攻的专业，比如教育，威斯康辛麦迪逊和密西根大学就是很不错的选择，相反，常青藤里却没有一所的教育专业排名在前10。

要记住，这两个排名，还有其他一些排名都是仅供参考，不是官方认证。它们每年都会更新一次，有可能上升10个名次，比如波斯顿大学。

因此，要持保留态度的去评估每一个排名，更密切的认识这所大学为什么是学生们所认为的优秀大学，而不是仅仅通过一个数字去认识它。

最后，要永远记得那句古老的格言：“人不可貌相”，我相信你也不会因为一个人的名字不好听而觉得这个人是坏人，所以我们不要尝试着用排名来衡量一所大学的好坏。

With the recent release of 2015 US News Global Universities Rankings, many prospective study abroad students and their family members are left baffled with a quandary: Why does the Global Universities Rankings drastically differ from the National Universities Rankings, especially if it is produced by the same organization?

Below are some key points, analyzing the two discussed ranking systems. Through this, I hope that readers would become better educated on the Ranking systems and can better employ them in their own university selection process.

•U.S. News & World Report (U.S. News) is an American media company that publishes consumer advice, rankings and analysis. Founded in 1933, it is best known today for its influential Best Colleges and Best Hospitals rankings. The rankings are for advisory purposes only, and have never been endorsed by the U.S. Government.

•U.S. News has recently released two rankings – 2015 Best Colleges on 9 September 2014 and 2015 Best Global Universities on 27 October 2014.

•Many have wondered the discrepancy between the two ranking systems.

See below for otherexamples:

•QUESTION: WHY IS VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY RANKED 16TH ON THE NATIONAL LIST BUT RANKED 89TH GLOBALLY???

•ANSWER: ALTHOUGH BOTH RANKING LISTS WERE PRODUCED BY THE SAME COMPANY, THEY WERE DEVELOPED USING DIFFERENT CRITERIA.

A close analysis of the criteria above demonstrates that these ranking systems are based on very different assumptions. As we must remember, U.S. News is a Consumer Advisory publication, the information provided must fit the targeted audience, providing them with the most relevant information.

•2015 Best Colleges Ranking strives for a more 'qualitative' analysis of American universities, i.e., considering factors which will allow students to have a great university experience. This means small classes, greater attention from professors or resources available to them. As a result, factors such as: student to faculty ratio and money spent per student are key.

•2015 Best Colleges Ranking highly considers resources as a means to determine a university ranking. The idea is that additional resources will allow a student to have greater access to better and more diverse instructors, laboratory equipment, scholarships, internships or extra-curricular activities. As a result, alumni funding, university endowment and professor salary are major factors in determining a university ranking.

•2015 Best Colleges Ranking considers the importance of an academically rigorous environment. The more rigorous and challenging, the more students will be able to learn from their peers. Therefore, universities with students with higher SAT/ACT scores and have lower rates, rank higher on the rankings.

•Given these considerations, private universities in America traditionally outperform their public counterparts. As public universities are funded by their State Governments, they have a mandate to educate the public – admitting more students within their individual states.

•In fact, all California students achieving top 9% of their high school class are guaranteed admission to at least 1 University of California (UC) through the Eligibility in the Local Contest (ELC) program – regardless of SAT score. Additionally, students enrolled in California Community Colleges with qualifying GPAs at participating UCs, are ensured admission through the Transfer Admission Guaranteed (TAG) program.

•As a result, public universities like the UCs tend to have a large in-state student population who have benefitted from admission policies. It is not uncommon to see admitted in-state students with lower SATs and GPAs than out-of-state or international students. As a result, UC class sizes are generally bigger and their funding per student tend to be lower than top private universities.

•Private universities are not mandated by State Government as they have their own funding sources for their endowment. Their admission policies are not affected by the need to educate the public. As a result, private universities tend to have higher admitted SAT averages, smaller class sizes and higher salaries for faculty members.

•2015 Best Global Universities Ranking strives for a more 'quantitative' analysis of universities, assessing criteria that makes the university ‘excellent’ in the international arena. Rather than assessing a student’s university attending experience, it looks objectively at how a university outperforms another.

•2015 Best Global Universities Ranking is extremely results oriented. For a university, this means academic outputs: the number of publications, citations from other academics, number of Ph.Ds. awarded and the rate of Ph.Ds. awarded.

•Universities are knowledge sharing, so the 2015 Best Global Universities Ranking closely looks at the university’s partnerships and collaborations.

•As public universities are mandated to educate the general public, they tend to be strong in many majors, allowing them to best fit the diverse needs of the student body. For example, UC Berkeley, UCLA, University of Michigan, University of Virginia and University of Wisconsin Madison have a plethora of Top 25 majors, ranging from English Literature, to Business or Engineering. Top private universities while holding many top majors, are more specialized, with most having only a few Top 10 majors.

•Private universities have less students so must expend their resources more efficiently, specializing in particular majors rather than investing across diverse fields. As a result, they tend to score much lower on the 2015 Best Global Universities Ranking because of their decreased academic outputs: number of publications, citations from other academics, number of Ph.Ds awarded and the rate.

Which University is the ‘Best Fit’ for me?

•When researching the perfect university, students must consider a range of factors. Rankings is one way to quickly assess the quality of the university, but it’s wiser to look more closely.

•If a student is interested in small class size, private universities may be a better option. If the student has diverse interests and may not want to be limited in their academics, a public university may be a better fit. Also, just because a university is Top 10 on the National or International Ranking doesn’t mean that it’s the right school. Academic Majors is an important consideration. If the student wishes to study a specialized major, such as Education, Wisconsin Madison and University of Michigan are great choices. No Ivy League university have ever ranked Top 10 for Education major.

•Keep in mind that both of these Rankings, as well as all other rankings, are for advisory only and are Unofficial. They change annually, with some increasing as much as 10 ranking positions, for example: Boston University (BU) moving from 51 to 41 between 2013 and 2014. Did BU become that much of a better school overnight? Perhaps, but highly unlikely.

•Therefore, assess every ranking list with a grain of salt. Look closer to why specific universities are excellent for the student rather than recognizing the university as a number.

•After all, remember the old adage: ‘don’t judge a book by the cover.’ You would never judge a person by his or her name so why should you ever attempt to measure a university by its ranking.

作者介绍：

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在中、美、澳等国的工作过，让他更能客观地挖掘出学生内在的深层潜力，设计匹配学生的课外活动并鼓励执行来包装学生；有深厚的文书写作功底，通过打磨修剪让学生成为名校最需要的人才，曾帮助学生进入康奈尔大学、宾夕法尼亚大学、加州大学伯克利分校。