Your comments:

I think it is better to read the long version of the article since it explains that UI and ITB rank quite remarkably only in those two subject areas (social sciences for UI and engineering for ITB).
In overall rankings, however, they’re outside the Top 200 list.
I wonder why The Jakarta Post doesn’t display the longer version of the story on this website, because they ran it in the paper edition.
Here’s a link to the full story http://bataviase.co.id/node/383983
Lena
Jakarta

UI? What a joke. This is not the right way to help this country. Making us believe our universities are among the top 100.
This is the same nonsense I witnessed in Europe, where many postgraduate Indonesian students were just given their diplomas, even though they don’t have the qualification. Double standards.
Why?
Roberto
Surabaya

To Lena and Roberto,
I think it is a mistake to downplay the achievements of UI and ITB in climbing the ladder of the 2010 QA World University Rankings.
That’s how the rankings are categorized. Yes, you’re right. Overall, UI is still trailing behind other global universities, but the fact that the university is placed 95th in the Social Sciences ranking still means something.
Social Sciences include studies ranging from politics to social behavior sciences, and people interested in studying certain majors don’t necessarily have to look at the overall global ranking of a university.
Harvard may top the list in social sciences, but it may not in other fields, such as engineering and medicine, which I think both are led by MIT and John Hopkins.
So, don’t get yourself too focused on the overall ranking. It may disillusion you. If I were interested enough in journalism, for example, and if I were smart enough to get into Harvard, I wouldn’t choose that university because journalism isn’t that “big” or even listed in the university as a major.
I would choose Columbia for journalism, or Northwestern University in Chicago, which have long-standing reputations for producing the best journalists in the world.
The same applies to any cool majors such as creative writing, music etc. You go to Sarah Lawrence College for creative writing, Juilliard for performing arts, or CalArts for multimedia arts, not Harvard or Yale, or whatever the QS World Report says.
So, this report is not that accurate either, because it overlooks small colleges in the US, like Williams and Armherst, both of which are deemed as highly prestigious in the US because of their exclusive liberal arts curriculum and history.
See? People shouldn’t throw judgments around just because UI or ITB could not get into top 100 university rankings.
I’m not a UI or ITB graduate, but I am proud we have two universities that are pretty much acknowledged internationally.
“Many postgraduate Indonesian students are just given their diplomas even if they don’t have the qualification [in Europe]. Double standards.”
What qualification? Don’t you think this would risk the credibility of such European universities? If that was true, I think the universities you are talking about would be C-list (commercial) universities, which put profiteering at the forefront of their academic agenda and reputation.
Jason
Jakarta

Totally agree with Jason! Comparing ITB to other universities in overall ranking, while ITB doesn’t have social major? Stupid!
In terms of technology, ITB is among the best.
Thanks to the smart The Jakarta Post for alerting readers to this ranking.
Syadera
Jakarta

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