What does ‘the best university’ mean, anyway?

The best university. The top school.

Such phrases often crop up during conversations with students and parents. It can be frustrating for college counsellors when we hear this – we worry that the parent will whip out university rankings or the student will mention the Ivy League. 

Students and parents have an idea of what is “best” and “top” in mind. We as counsellors do as well – and likely universities do, too.

Superlatives such as “best” and “top” can flatten a complex experience into a single number. Language not only reflects but influences our worldview. So we should be intentional when communicating with students and parents, and help them broaden their perspectives through dialogue. 

Examining the different definitions of these words can help us see where the stakeholder is coming from and engage in more fruitful conversations afterwards. 

What people mean when they talk about the ‘best’ university

Most selective/rejective

The scarcity bias happens when we perceive something as more valuable just because it is limited or in high demand. This bias can lead to people perceiving universities with a very low acceptance rate as the best. Think of the April news headlines about record low acceptance rates and the message these implicitly send about the universities mentioned. 

Most highly ranked

Rankings provide a really easy and quantifiable way to think about universities. Because it’s quantified (like a low acceptance rate), it’s easy to line up universities and point to the top one as the “best”. 

Regardless of how rankings are actually decided (many are based on professors’ research output and citations, and have little relevance to the undergraduate experience), they hold a strong allure for our students and parents, most likely because of the associated social capital. 

In a prestige category

Related to the social capital, universities in a “prestige category” are surrounded by a halo. I coined this phrase to indicate university categories that are associated with prestige and seem to be defined by a societally approved stamp of quality (regardless of the original reason for the categorisation – it could be research, but it could equally well be sports). 

Some examples of prestige categories include:

• US: Ivy League (and variants: Public Ivies, Private Ivies)
• US: US News Top 20
• UK: Russell Group
• Australia: Group of Eight 

High subject rankings 

Counsellors tend to be more comfortable using subject rankings than general rankings. When a student says, “I checked the subject rankings and this university is the best in subject X”, we sigh in relief at a smarter use of rankings. These rankings will likely correlate more with actual undergraduate experience than general rankings. 

Best in a niche/non-traditional ranking 

A university representative may turn to niche rankings to pose themselves as “best” – and we counsellors can point to these, too, to highlight the various strengths of universities that students and parents would not otherwise have thought of. 

Niche rankings such as “most sustainable”, “the best young university”, and “the most international” certainly allow universities to portray themselves in a multifaceted light. Like general or subject rankings, they do allow users to line universities up and point to the best one. Use all types of rankings together to highlight that “best” can mean different things, even with quantified ways of measuring. 

Most popular in your community

A university might also be regarded as the best because it’s attended by a lot of alumni in the community, they’ve all said it’s a great destination and everyone in the community is familiar with it. Anecdotes and role models can be powerful determinants of human behaviour, and alumni stories are often full of details and information that students wouldn’t otherwise come across. 

Best return on investment 

This one is hard to calculate, because success after graduation is hard to quantify. But it’s also really important to think about, especially for parents who are often footing the bill. Is the bill they are paying worth it in the end? This is why universities with cheaper tuition (EU universities, Korean universities for overseas Koreans) can be touted as best for families who aren’t sitting on loads of cash. 

Success after graduation is often equated to the average employment rate six months after graduation and the average salary. Some universities provide more nuanced data, and counsellors should be on the look out for this as we inform our students and parents. 

Best fit 

The counsellor’s favourite “best” is probably best fit. This allows us to integrate multiple factors that matter to the student and come up with an individualised list for them. 

Why it’s futile to think about best

The reason we can get frustrated when certain stakeholders use the word “best” is because the assumption seems to be that universities can be objectively compared. There are certainly objective measures we should look at, but we also know that choosing where to study is a subjective and deeply individual experience.

So we must identify the best for the student, and ensure that whatever standards are being used to determine the “best” is actually in line with the student’s values, preferences and priorities. 

Here are some practical ways to apply these points: 

Identify assumptions

Identify students’ or parents’ assumptions when they use the word “best”. You must first understand where they’re coming from to be able to present a differing argument in a way that makes sense to them.

Suggest these varying ways to define “best”. A university experience is truly complex and cannot be defined on a single framework of definition. 

Reframe the conversation

Try to reframe the conversation from comparing universities and finding flaws (assuming that one university can be objectively better than another) to a more exploratory approach where we acknowledge the strengths and tradeoffs of each destination (a more subjective form of thinking, where we recognise that each will lead to a different path). 

Find multiple bests

Help students find multiple “best” universities. Students may assume that there can only be one “top” university where everything will work out perfectly – but we know that life after high school is so much more varied and exciting than that. The student can have a joyful and fulfilling experience at multiple universities. Remind them of that.

Ultimately, the universities where students can be their best will be the best for them. Shape the conversations keeping student success in mind.