University rankings are not the final word or a fixed measure of prestige. They are compiled by a handful of reputable organisations — Britain's QS and THE, or the Shanghai Ranking, for instance — which gather data from a variety of sources: from professors' research publications to employer surveys. For a parent or an applicant, they're simply a first filter — a litmus test: if a university sits at the top, chances are it has resources and a strong reputation. But that doesn't guarantee the programme will be the right fit for you, or that you'll enjoy being there.

So treat them as a road map: they show you which directions are worth exploring, but deciding whether a particular university is right for you comes down to other factors — student reviews, for instance, or where graduates end up a year after graduating. The smartest approach is to glance at the rankings, then dig into the specifics of your chosen faculty and talk to current students or recent graduates.
 

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