Students discuss university rankings as one of THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS in their choice of location and university, sometimes with little consideration to other important factors, but also without truly understanding what the rankings are based on. Michelle L.Stack raises some alterntive points to consider in her article: "What’s ‘World Class’ About University Rankings?" (Stack, 2016); I have included some sections below in the interests of presenting an unbiased view and food for thought when considering the weighting and importance given to the use of Rankings in your decision making process. 

"Higher education is a globally competitive market and institutions with a high rank can claim exceptionalism that brings in students and funding. But are rankings useful for students or research? But no simple table will provide the answer to a question that should take some time to answer: is this university fulfilling its specific mission?  Will this university meet the passions and abilities of a student who will spend four or more years and thousands of dollars at it? Is this university using its funding responsibly?"

(Stack, 2016)

(For full article, click here. )