In US there are the Ivy League universities. In Korea there are the "Sky League" universities. SKY represents Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University in order of their university ranking. So I thought these are the three top university in Korea until I do an Internet search. According to THES-QS World University Rankings 2006, surprisingly, Yonsei is not among the top three university in Korea. In fact, the third highest ranking Korean university is the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology after Seoul National and Korea University. As Ivy League universities are not necessarily the top eight university in the US, the "Sky League" is likely to stay intact regardless of Yonsei ranking.
To put thing in perspective, our National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University actually have better world ranking than the Seoul National University. However, I never thought my alma mater, NUS, as a world-class university despite it being among the top 20 university in the world. If it is of world-class standard, how come our politicians are not sending their children there? Many Chinese politicians graduated from the Peking University and that makes it a prestigious university to the Chinese. By any chance is there any high-flying Singapore politician who actually graduated from NUS? If our best brains do not go to NUS, what else can be used to convince me that NUS is among the best in the world. Perhaps the major stumbling block towards achieving world class is that Singaporeans, in general, do not believe enough in ourselves.
I am not obsessed with ranking results. Called it the world best university but it may not suit my preferences. To study Korean language in Korea, I won't be thinking too hard about getting into the Sky League universities. I will be contented just being a student at Sogang University or Kyunghee University. When it comes to learning Korean as a foreign language, Sogang is still known as the best place to do that. I am not too sure if this perception is correct but I can always find out myself someday, perhaps only.
To put thing in perspective, our National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University actually have better world ranking than the Seoul National University. However, I never thought my alma mater, NUS, as a world-class university despite it being among the top 20 university in the world. If it is of world-class standard, how come our politicians are not sending their children there? Many Chinese politicians graduated from the Peking University and that makes it a prestigious university to the Chinese. By any chance is there any high-flying Singapore politician who actually graduated from NUS? If our best brains do not go to NUS, what else can be used to convince me that NUS is among the best in the world. Perhaps the major stumbling block towards achieving world class is that Singaporeans, in general, do not believe enough in ourselves.
I am not obsessed with ranking results. Called it the world best university but it may not suit my preferences. To study Korean language in Korea, I won't be thinking too hard about getting into the Sky League universities. I will be contented just being a student at Sogang University or Kyunghee University. When it comes to learning Korean as a foreign language, Sogang is still known as the best place to do that. I am not too sure if this perception is correct but I can always find out myself someday, perhaps only.
I can understand your perception that you have to study at a prestigious school to be considered an elite. I graduated from an overseas university and that gave me an invaluable international perspective as compared to my peers who graduated from local unis. That might explain why your politicans are pursuing international qualifications.
ReplyDeleteOur politicians also said that our university is of world class standards. But when they are sending their children to overseas universities, NUS will never get its recognition as a world class university among Singaporeans despite being among the top 20 universities in the world because our people don't see it as such. NUS can win the world but when it doesn't win the support of its own people, that is sad.
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