The most important characteristic of top universities is good management and reliable faculty members. There should be sufficient employees to handle the administrative tasks, to maintain the facilities, to ensure the safety of the students, employees, and the building and to collect and dispose of garbage to prevent diseases.

All top universities must have a good support system to support the learning process. In this case, they must have qualified instructors who not only have knowledge of the course that they are teaching but also have adequate teaching abilities and a great personality. Without adequate teaching abilities and a great personality, instructors will not be able to transfer the knowledge that they have to their students. Instructors who do not have a great personality are often unpopular and disliked.

Top universities need to have modern buildings with adequate technological facilities. The teaching facilities must be large and properly equipped to make the learning process comfortable for students. Most top learning institutions must have sufficient educational resources including books and other learning materials to accommodate the courses that are taught at the university. All top learning institutions must have their own libraries. Sufficient restrooms and cafeterias should be present in the buildings of all top universities.

The location of a university is another characteristic that most students look at. Statistics have shown that the top universities are mainly located in Europe and the Americas. In the Americas, ninety-five percent of the top universities are located in the United States or Canada. There is also a clustering of the world’s top universities. This can be seen in the United States where thirty-six percent of the top universities are located in only five states with fifteen alone being in New York City. In Europe, thirty-six percent of the top universities are located in the United Kingdom.

Another characteristic of top universities that students look at is the infrastructure of the university. The campus, the environment, and the facilities and the quality of life in the country in which the university is located are all important aspects that will aspects. Top universities excel in these areas. They also have great working conditions, academic freedom, and academic salaries for their faculty members. Private top learning institutions normally provides better infrastructure than public learning institutions because the funding of private universities are provided by private individuals and organizations. Seven out of every ten top universities in the world are private universities because they have better management and are better able to combine the different characteristics that make a good top university. This however does not mean that the top public universities are not capable of providing good education.

Being informed of the characteristics of the top universities in the world is crucial to students and will help them to make the right decision to help them to achieve their academic goals.

Below is a list of the five top universities in the world. The world’s top universities have many different traits and characteristics but they all have a few things in common. All top universities offer the best possible education a person can get; they are all prestigious; they are all expensive; and they are all difficult to get in.

The University of Cambridge has been awarded the position of the top university in the world in 2011. It is one of the oldest universities in the world and is known for its exceptional academic accomplishment. The University of Oxford also located in the United Kingdom is its main rival. They are both top universities but the University of Cambridge has been proven to be better than the University of Oxford due to its exceptional learning opportunities and extensive resources including libraries and museums.

The Harvard University located in Cambridge, Massachusetts is considered the most prestigious university in the world and the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. It is an Ivy League university with about twenty one students enrolled of which the majority of student care seeking a postgraduate in about ten academic areas. Harvard University is one of the top universities in the world known for its rich history, wealth, and influence.

The main rival to the Harvard University is the Yale University located in Connecticut, United States. The Yale University is the third oldest university of higher learning in the United States with about twelve thousand students enrolled who focused on obtaining an undergraduate education. The Yale University is known for producing most of the leaders of the United States.

The University of Oxford is located in Oxford, United Kingdom, and is the oldest English speaking university in the world with about twenty thousand students enrolled whose aim is to obtain either a postgraduate or a bachelor’s degree. The University of Oxford is well-known for its Rhodes scholarship program which gives students for many different countries the opportunity to study at the University of Oxford.

Finally the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or MIT for short is also located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of the private top universities in the world with over ten thousand students enrolled. MIT consists of five schools and one college with a total of thirty-two academic departments. Over the years, MIT has achieved thirty-five Nobel Prizes and is recognized as the leader in engineering and technology. Most of the graduates of MIT specialize in technical innovation.

Not all students are lucky and capable enough to get into one of these top learning institutions. It is therefore an honor to be a student of one of these top universities.

The first source of financing the costs of top universities is personal and family savings but most students are not so fortunate and then to turn to other alternatives.

It is not becoming easier to attend a top learning institution without having to apply for a student loan. Sometimes students apply for a student loan that is sufficient to cover all of their study costs while other students apply for a student load to cover part of their study costs. The remaining costs are either covered by the student’s personal or family savings or earrings from a part-time job.

A scholarship is the preferred type of funding for most students since that it is an award of financial aid given by top universities or by external organizations and students do not need to repay it. Most students apply for a scholarship but are not always successful.

Top universities award scholarships to students who are financially in need or who has merits. Students with merits perform outstanding academically or have special talents such as athletics talents or talents in the performing arts. Most scholarships are granted to students for four years. During these four years students must maintain a specific academic standards otherwise their scholarship can be taken away.

External organizations also grant scholarships to students. There are a number of factors that determine if a student will receive a scholarship from an external organization or not. A student’s country, ethnicity, religious beliefs, interests, gender, or special talents are all criteria’s that need to be met before a student can become eligible for a scholarship.

If a student thinks that he is academically qualified to apply for a scholarship at one of the top universities or an external organization, he needs to make sure that he starts applying early. He should be patient and committed realizing that acquiring funding for top universities normally takes time. He should take time to research the different scholarships available and apply for the right scholarships. Applying for scholarship can be quite simple. A student should also know that some top universities offer scholarships to second, third, and fourth year students so if he cannot obtain a scholarship for four years, there are other opportunities and possibilities for him. Certain top universities also offer an on campus working program for students as a way of funding their education. Some students in their third and fourth can even apply to become a resident advisor which gives them certain benefits such as free on-campus housing and food.

One important thing that a student should remember when seeking funds to finance his education is that he should check the tuition rates and scholarships of different top universities since that different universities have different tuition rates and scholarship programs. He might not find a scholarship program at the university of his choice but there are many other top universities with excellent funding programs.

There are a few criteria’s that need to be met before a student might gain access to one of the top universities in the world.  First of all, a student needs to prove that he is an academically top student. A transcript with his achievements is one of the ways to show his academic qualifications.

Secondly, a student need to make sure that he writes an excellent, thoughtful, and creative essay to submit with his application. The essay is essential to obtaining an interview. Proper preparation is also very important if an interview with the local alumnus is granted. If a student is lucky enough to obtain an interview to one of the top learning institutions in the world, he needs to make sure that he makes an excellent first impression. His academic journey can be made or broken by a single interview.  In order to get into one of the top universities, a student also needs to show deep interest and passion in the things that he is most passionate about. This should be revealed in his essay and his interview.

Thirdly, how a student spent his free time during high school is very important to be considered seriously by top universities. Students who spent their summers effectively in high school partaking in leadership activities or doing an internship at a well-known corporation or law firm are taken more seriously and stand a better chance at getting into one of the top universities.  Students who spent their free time doing recognized research that relates in with his academic interests also have a better chance at getting into one of the top universities.

Finally, students who excel at athletics are of great interest to top universities because these students show dedication and focus which increases the chances of getting into top universities. Such students might even obtain scholarships at top universities because of their athletic abilities.

Being aware of the criteria’s that need to be met for a student to be considered by a top learning institution should not be de-motivating. If a student want to attend a top learning institution, he should apply and do all that he can to enter but he should also be realistic and make sure that the does not apply only to the university of his choice.

There are many qualified applicants that apply to top learning institutions on a yearly basis so it is understandable that the top universities do not have place for all of them. Sometimes some students are lucky enough to get in but most students have to be exceptionally talented and excellent at academics to be allowed entrance to one of the top universities in the world.

A student should first of all make a list of the top learning institutions that he would like to attend. This list should consist of at least twenty-five to thirty top learning institutions. Each institution must be carefully compared with the other before the student decides to narrow the choices down to a few institutions that best meet his requirements.

Some students want to move away from home while others want to stay close to their homes. When choosing amongst the top universities, students will take the geographic location of the universities into consideration. Before making a decision, a student should visit at least three campuses with family and friends. Family and friends would be able to assist the student to choose the university with the best possible geographical location. As important as the name and reputation of top universities are, they are not sufficient for a student to make a decision. After physically seeing the campuses, the student can decide if he feels comfortable or not. The campus setting and its environment help to provide this feeling of comfort.

Students will also look at the security policies of top universities. The best way to know the security policies of a university is to contact the university itself, the alumni, or some of the students who attend the university. The crime rate of the city in which the university is located is also important when choosing amongst the top learning institutions.

Most students will choose a private institution over a public institution because private top universities provide more scholarship programs for students due to the fact that they are more expensive because they rely on tuition and private donations for funding. Most private institutions have smaller classes than public institutions. Some students are able to deal with smaller classes than other students who prefer to be enrolled in a university with larger classes. Some private top universities are owned by religious organizations that might require students to take religious classes and participate in worship services.

Some students prefer to attend a top learning institution that is single-sex instead of coed. Statistics have shown that women who attended single sex institutions perform better academically and are now fulfilling some of the world’s top professional positions. .

The specific majors or specializations offered by top universities are very important when choosing amongst the top universities. Some universities might not offer the major a student would like to study while other universities might have more research opportunities than others. Some top universities have specific courses involved in their major program while other top universities allow students to choose their own majors.

Choosing amongst the top universities in the world is a difficult task that requires much thought and research. It is not a decision that should be taken lightly.