WHAT IS THE HARDEST UNIVERSITY IN THE WORLD, AND WHY?

 

From Worldometer (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):

        DAY  USA  WORLD   Brazil    India    South Africa

June     9    1093     4732        1185        246       82

July    22     1205     7128        1293      1120      572

Aug    12     1504     6556        1242       835      130

Sept     9     1208      6222       1136      1168       82

Oct     21     1225      6849         571       703       85

Nov    25     2304    12025        620        518      118

Dec    30     3880    14748      1224        299      465

Jan     14      4142     15512        1151         189      712              

Feb      3      4005    14265       1209       107      398

          25       2414    10578        1582       119      144

Mar     2       1989     9490        1726        110      194

          17        1289      9736        2736       171       74

          24         936   10206        3158       277       55

          25        1405   10470        2244       249     121

          26        1165   10331        2639        257     163 

          30          873  10854        3668       355      78

Summary:  There is a fourth wave beginning to show in Europe, South America and perhaps India.  U.S. new cases are staying up there, yesterday 62,459, compared to 86,704 for Brazil and 53,158 for India.

This was a very long time ago when I started college, but beginning freshmen at many state universities were spooked by the following:

The dean addressing an incoming class tells them: “Look to your left and then to your right, and three years from now, only one of you will still be here.”  

This was true then for schools like the University of California at Berkeley.  Luckily, this was not the case for Stanford, and probably not so today for most campuses.  But to the question above, Berkeley was easier to get into, but was more difficult from which to graduate.  Which one is harder?

I saw the question at the top in Quora, and am somewhat familiar with the query because I've had several posts on this general subject.  Okinawa, for example, has a unique and top-rated graduate program, the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology.  There are these exceptional campuses throughout the world dedicated to trying to be the best.  They are difficult to get into, plus challenging when you get there.

Four years ago I wrote on WHICH IS THE HARDEST UNIVERSITY TO GET ACCEPTED?  I showed the following graphic:

Nothing much has changed, for U.S, News and World Report showed the following 2019 acceptance rate:

• Stanford, 4%
• Columbia, 5%
• Curtis Institute of Music, 5%
• Harvard, 5%
• CalTech, 6%
• Princeton, 6%

#9 was Alice Lloyd College with 7%, #15 Juilliard School 8%, #19 College of Ozarks 9%, #40 Jarvis Christian College 14%.    Also, #51 Notre Dame 16% and #53 University of California at Berkeley 17%.  In other words, some schools specialize in something like music, and swarms of talented students apply.  I'd would hate to now be in high school trying to get into any "best" school.

Responses to that question at the top probed deeper, and here is one, sort of indicative of why Curtis and Alice Lloyd sit among the top in the USA:

Evelyn Haley

·

June 15, 2017

Studied Economics at Stanford University (Graduated 2019)

What is the hardest university in the world and why?

Not what you expect. Without a doubt, Harvard, Stanford, and MIT are some of the hardest universities to get into – in terms of both acceptance rate and quality of applicants. But are they the hardest? I would dispute that. Even if they are arguably the three most prestigious universities in the world, there are universities that are just as hard – if not harder to get into.

Two such universities (which I happen to have good knowledge about due to friends attending) are NYU Abu Dhabi and Deep Springs College.

NYU Abu Dhabi

(3.65% acceptance rate--SAT median 1510 out of 1600)

NYU Abu Dhabi students have extremely high test scores, with a median score of a 33 on the ACT, and 1510 out of 1600 on the SAT. But while these scores are high, the real reason its its selectivity lies in its diversity. NYU Abu Dhabi’s mission is to create the most diverse university in the world for future “global leaders”. This is shown by the class of 2020 hailing from 76 countries and 42% speaking three or more languages. There are only 323 students in the class of 2020, and these students are the cream of the crop of their respective countries. In addition, NYU Abu Dhabi places a focus on a student’s “X-factor” - or what separates a student from the crowd (do they seem like they would make a good global leader?). While high test scores are great, alone they won’t get you accepted.

Average starting salary of graduates:  $90,000/year.

Deep Springs College

(6% - 8.3% acceptance rate)

Manual farm labor in the middle of the desert in California might not sound like an elite college experience but that is exactly what Deep Springs College is. Deep Springs is a 2-year college which accepts an average incoming class of 14 students (you read that right), who tend to be some of the most talented and creative individuals.

Even though Deep Springs College is located on a ranch, farm work is more of a necessary extracurricular of students (taking about 20 hours per week). Curriculum is highly individualized. Students select and hire their own professors (generally 8 or 9), and studying is intense – classes can go into the night with discussions around a campfire.

How successful are its graduates? Upon completing the 2-year curriculum, Deep Springs students are pretty much accepted by any college they choose– Harvard, Stanford, MIT…graduates are almost guaranteed a transfer into any top school. Why? Deep Springs has a record of producing great leaders. Despite having only around 1,000 alumni Deep Springs has produced many prominent alumni (over 50 on Wikipedia) which include two MacArthur (the “genius grant”) recipients, two Pulitzer Prize winners, and one Emmy award winner.

Anyone thinking Deep Springs is a shortcut to get into Harvard would be sadly mistaken though. Admission is likely more difficult (high quality applicant pool).

On a personal note, one of my best friends was accepted to both Harvard and Stanford (now attending), but was rejected at Deep Springs.

Another Quora response said the following;

1. Indian Institute of Technology (the coveted IITs), every year around 10–15 lakh(1.5 million) students appear for engineering entrance examination in India known as JEE mains(Joint Entrance Examination), out of which around 1.5 lakhs (150K) are selected for JEE advanced, out of which around 10k to 15k are finally selected for the prestigious seat in the renowned IITs, do the math - (15k/1.5M) * 100 = 1% ( in highly optimistic conditions).  There are 16 IITs in the country.
2. Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (Post graduate entrance examination), this exam is conducted for Master's degree in the field of engineering for all the engineering colleges in India, conducted jointly by IITs and IISc (Indian Institute of Sciences). The same examination is used for PSU(Public Sector Unit) jobs in the country. Students from all engineering branches appear for this Examination, I will give you a hint about the scenario for Computer Science graduates, around 2.3 Lakhs(230K) students appear, out of which around 300–400 students finally make it to IITs, the acceptance ratio - (400/230k) * 100 = 0.17% , while the acceptance ratio of IISc is far lesser, around (50/230k) = 0.02%.

Conditions are similar in China, for the two top universities, Peking and Tsinghua, had an acceptance rate of 0.91% in 2017.

You would think that the University of Tokyo would be impossibly exclusive.  But admittance is 20%.  Why?  Students don't bother to apply unless they are truly outstanding.  Must have something to do with the culture.

National University of Singapore is the best in the country, and the acceptance rate is 25%.  Nanyang Technological University is outstanding, but the rate is 36%.  Same reason as Japan, I guess.

Similarly, Seoul National University is top rated in South Korea, but their acceptance rate is said to be 10-20%, and 20% for international applicants.  Oxford and Cambridge?  Around 16%.  China and India you can almost imagine why, because of the large population, but why are these top U.S. universities so competitive relative to other countries in the Orient and the UK?

Thus, if you live in India and China and want to improve your life by going to a top university...lots  of luck.  Many of their motivated graduates end up migrating to the USA.  This is why they do so well.  They are enterprising and really smart.  We end up with the best of the best.  Limit immigration?  Find a way to get more!

Finally, there is the additional matter of Return on Investment:

I haven't seen a survey that combines acceptance rate, difficulty of the coursework to actually graduate and return on investment.  So what is the hardest university in the world, and why?  Don't know.

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