INDIA TODAY - What was your rank ???

Standing on the pavement of Park Street, Kolkata in front of St. Xavier’s College’s gate I was trying to catch up the words of 3 dads and 1 mom who were discussing among themselves about their children’s future plans. In the kind of hot day it was, I could find nothing more exciting to keep myself busy. My brother was comfortably seated in some room of the second floor of the aristocratic-looking college giving some test.

Within no time it dawned on me that the four of them belonged to the class of those extra-conscious parents who could go any limit to burden their wards with their wishes. But that is beside the point. What I want to highlight is what the mom told –

meri beti boli usko mass communication karna hai aur vo to sirf ****** college (quite a renowned college in Bangalore) me hi padhegi. Maine to manaa kar diya par jab vo nahi maani to maine usse India Today rankings me us college ka rank dekhne ko kahaa, aur bas…vo chup ho gayi

(evidently the college did not have a good rank)

This suddenly brought in front of me, the importance such rankings have from a parent’s perspective. I had never taken them seriously, but just made a small note in my mind to check out the India Today ranking this time.

And, honestly, I was disappointed. Being from an engineering background, all my comments from here on pertain to the ranking of the engineering colleges.


A copy of the “Ranking on themes”, as the title says, is given alongside. At first glance, it felt to be a decent survey. The article could have been spared of my intense scrutiny had it not been for the “Admission Procedure” column which actually made me go through the list again, and I realized that it was a strange compilation in a number of respects.




Starting with “Admission Procedure”, it is common knowledge to all that IITs, IT-BHU and ISM-Dhanbad, all admit students through IITJEE, a common entrance exam with exactly same admission procedures. But it is interesting to note IT-BHU conveniently placed at the 20th spot and ISM not featuring in the list at all. Moreover, DCE and NSIT also have the same procedure which is also the case with all NITs. Amazingly, DCE is 10th while NSIT is 24th. There is a wide disparity in case of NITs as well. How in the world can you compare admission procedures which are exactly similar. It is virtually impossible to place one above the other, whereas here, the INDIA TODAY group conveniently ranks various IITs 1,2,3 and so on.

In all the parameters (apart from “Factual Rank”), there is no college in top 25 which is ranked 8th. Or is it that the college with the eighth rank in all parameters fails to make it to top 25, though such a prospect seems highly improbable.

Coming to “Factual Rank”, if I understand correctly, it is the rank given according to actual data which excludes general perception in market. It amazes me to find IIT Bombay given the 15th rank. Now a college, finishing 4th in all parameters can’t factually be 15th, or can it? Similarly, IIT Kharagpur which finished 5th in all parameters was factually placed on 10th spot.

Also, a couple of colleges surprisingly made it to top 15 which sure would surprise everyone already in the engineering field. Obviously, BITS Pilani and its Goa campus did not make it to the list because the BITS administration opts out of the ranking every year. But the rankings conveniently forget to mention this fact anywhere. I believe, the BITS administration does just the right thing by opting out of such stupid rankings where an in-depth analysis is clearly wanting.

What amazes me all the more is how can a college improve or worsen so much that within a year it jumps 6 or 7 places. Any change could be gradual, but a sudden jump is unconvincing.

At an age, where rankings have gathered so much importance, I personally feel such a list could be highly misleading. Parents’ make it a point to refer to such rankings before taking any decision for their wards. As a responsible giant in the media world, India Today ought to be more careful. Informing, and not creating ripples, should be their attempt.


Please note : All views stated above are completely mine. My intentions are not to hurt anyone with this post. But if by chance I did strike the wrong chords, I sincerely apologize. Neither do I want to raise any fingers on the competency of INDIA TODAY group. I am only against such kind of rankings. You are always welcome to intimate me your views.