In today’s competitive world where practically everything and anything is ranked, it comes as no surprise a lot more importance is being put into the choosing of university for both undergraduate and post-graduate studies. You may have heard of numerous relatives, friends and even education experts providing their sagely advice by insisting that unless you graduate from the premier universities (the usual suspects such as NUS, Cambridge, Oxford, MIT etc), it doesn’t matter where you get your degree from. In some parts, even the concept of university rankings is widely ridiculed, commonly recognized as manipulative marketing. While the above are true to a certain extent, we at FIS feel the ranking of your university matters and here are our top 5 reasons why we think so!

#1 Academic Rigour

Courses taken at highly ranked universities are generally more rigorous than comparable courses taken elsewhere, making it a highly challenging affair. University studies are about pursuing higher education and that is often best learnt through challenging yourself. So take on the challenge head on as it can only help you later on in life!

#2 Access to Resources

Most universities offer a variety of resources to their students. Where highly ranked universities differ is they are often home to a variety of historic documents, state-of-the-art laboratories and research facilities. They are also home to a most valuable resource: alumni who are leaders in their respective fields. These leaders do at times return to their universities for speeches and even hold workshops. If you study at such a university, you will have the opportunity to meet and learn from these amazing people, and, who knows, maybe someday get to be as successful as them!

#3 Competitiveness

You may be familiar with this old phrase, “you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.” So why not surround yourself with brilliant people? While it is common knowledge that professors at highly ranked universities are brilliant, what makes these universities stand out from the rest is that EVERY student there is brilliant as well! They are the cream of the crop that have proven they are spectacular and outstanding. These are the people who strive to make an impact in the world and friendly competition sure drives you to work harder!

#4 Brand Name

Love it or hate it, you have to admit that graduating from a highly ranked university does indeed get you noticed more often when searching for a job. This creates a better initial impression of you before they even finish going through your resume. This makes it more likely that you receive the calls for interviews at bigger, more prestigious companies.

#5 Connections

The best qualification one can possess is good connections. Being in a highly ranked university provides you with more opportunities to form good connections with your professors and fellow students. The networks and networking are better at these places. This makes it easier for you to get access to the best jobs!

So what are you waiting for? Start sending in your university applications ASAP and prepare for the interviews!