Imperial

[Champagnecharleyismyname]

It looks like DD is going to make Imperial her first choice to study Biology. I've searched but can't find any old threads of what it's like to study there.

I'm keen to hear from anyone who had DC there or are considering it for this year.

What's the pros and cons of the accommodation and where do students live in yrs 2 & 3?

My dd is in 1st year studying biochemistry at Imperial. Overall she’s happy and glad she chose Imperial. Was annoyed that all lectures have been online, but all other things have been in person. Apparently it will be all in person next year. It’s a heavy workload, but she knew it would be. After her Summer exams, she has 3 hour labs nearly every day she thinks, although hasn’t got her timetable yet, and then has 4 projects to do that count towards her coursework and also 3.5 hours of statistics and programming for 4 weeks I think, with an exam at the end of June. So definitely more workload than other unis where once Summer exams finish, that’s it for the year!

She is living in the Southside Halls this year, she hasn’t sorted next year’s accommodation yet, although has applied for one and waiting to hear back. She has loved living in London.

She has had time to socialise as well throughout the year, which she was worried she wouldn’t have time to. Maybe not at the moment though as she has her exams next week and she’s working until late in the library!

It’s great, if expensive being in London. Mine lived in Southside Hall then Fulham / Hammersmith for years 2 and 3. The second year flat was a dive but they survived!

Thanks for the responses, so good to hear some real experiences. DD had heard the work was intensive, especially in the first year.

She is also looking forward to living in London.

DS loves it (5th year medicine).

He has quite a few non-medic friends and they seem to have an even more intense class schedule and workload than the medics!

One difference between Imperial and other universities is the male:female student ratio, it is about 60:40, although I think biology is more of an even split.

Most of the students seem to live around Hammersmith or the tube stations between South Ken and Hammersmith (Earls Court, Barons Court etc). London is very expensive. Here is the budget page from the Imperial website:

www.imperial.ac.uk/study/ug/fees-and-funding/managing-your-money/living-costs/

It's based on a student survey, so what the average student actually spends. It seems the average rent is £200 a week now! DS isn't paying that much but they managed to negotiate a good deal when rental prices dropped during lockdown. Don't forget they will probably have to pay rent for 12 months in years 2 and 3, not just term time.

I think the suggested budget of £18k per year is realistic, which is a lot more than the full maintenance loan. Imperial has very generous bursaries for students with a household income less than £60k (up to £5k per year for 4 years). I don't think it would be much fun trying to live on just the maintenance loan (eg taking a shared room in halls, working term time on top of a heavy workload) if your DD isn't eligible for a bursary and you (and your DD through work in the vacations) can't afford to top up to the loan + full bursary amount.

I went there and it is tough. Accomodation for me was Beit hall if your unlucky you were a fair distance off campus. Personally I wouldn't do it again (I studied engineering) be prepared for a tough 3 or 4 years. And of course living there is expensive very expensive.

I think living away from the South Ken campus has probably changed since your day, @Fishwishy. It's changed since my DS started. Most of the off campus accommodation is in 2 new halls in North Acton with about 1400 rooms, near the White City campus and not too far from Charing Cross Hospital, where the medics have some of their teaching. I think UAL also have halls there. It's about 40 mins door to door, which in London commute terms is not so bad. They also have 350 rooms Wilson House on the other side of the park, a few stops on the tube/walking distance and big enough to feel like a community. The small halls they had dotted around London have closed.

Living that far out was a bit like being in social Siberia when it was a handful of students in disparate locations but now there are so many students on one site, I think that has changed.

But I agree with you that the courses are probably more challenging than at some other universities and it is expensive. Very expensive.

Your right my experience is a bit old I stayed in 3 halls Beit, Piccadilly court and clayponds. Both of those last two I think are no longer used.

I actually studied Biology at Imperial (albeit about a decade ago now).
It is hard work. I wouldn't go in expecting an American Pie style university life.

Biology, as a subject, required a lot more rote memorization than I was expecting.
The first year was especially tough because it was broad. You have little choice over your 1st year courses, which means you will probably end up having to spend a lot of time studying stuff you have no interest in to do well but it was only worth 5% of the final grade when I was there.

A lot of the people I knew were disappointed with their final grades and they had all met the entrance criteria. Quite a few people simply dropped out after the first year too.

I can't say whether I regret it or not because it's my only university experience. It did put me off continuing with academia though, and I had essentially assumed that I would be a career academic since I was a child.

My DD lived in a North Acton hall used by UAL. The Imperial one is close to the underground station in a cluster of high rise buildings. The big issue is that there is nothing to do in North Acton. It’s awful from a young persons point of view. You simply exist there. There are better areas for y2 onwards of course. DD really thought there would be a better infrastructure for students in North Acton. I do think Imperial suits those who commute from home in London. Or who are rich.

These are some of my concerns also. I really want DD to enjoy her university experience. We do live somewhere commutable to Imperial but she really wants the experience of living away from home and it would be a long expensive commute if she strayed at home.

Manchester is also an option and Cardiff will be her insurance.

It's not all doom and gloom. I did my fair share of partying, just not as much as much as my friends in other universities (Cambridge included).

That said, I was friends with a group of pretty heavy partiers and the majority of them ended up with 2:2s or worse, despite being about as intelligent as anyone else.

My personal tutor at the time essentially warned us that many of us would be coming from situations where we had excelled academically and may well find ourselves struggling to keep up. He was 100% right. The courses at Imperial are designed to make academic outliers have to work hard and I think a lot of us were just not used to having to work consistently throughout a term to do well in an exam.

I had a friend that I'd known since secondary school who joined the course with me and she graduated with a 1st. She had gotten into the habit of consolidating the days learning each day during A-level so she didn't require any adjustment.

On the cost, it was very expensive. I was on full loan, maintenance grant, the maximum standard bursary from Imperial and worked part-time at the student union. I still ended up in my overdraft by the end of the second year despite a relatively cheap accommodation (3 people in a 1 bedroom flat). It worried me enough that I commuted from home in my 3rd year but I wasn't great with managing money and didn't really have any parental support other than taking my washing home every couple of weeks though.

@ToletPoster
To be fair to your parents, they were assessed as having a low income and that’s why you got full maintenance and a bursary.

@Champagnecharleyismyname
Imperial can have very many international students on their courses and I suspect quite a lot won’t socialise much so they are happy to be in a less than great location. If your DD is at the Kensington campus, is there not accommodation nearer to that? I thought there was. What about shared halls with other London unis? Does Imperial offer these?

DD was at Imperial last year on an intercalation from her medical degree. Her intercalation was within the engineering department, so though there were other medics, most of her peers on the courses she selected were third or fourth year engineers. Her experience was limited in that it was entirely online, so she stayed at home. She did a major project with a lovely group of European students studying for masters degrees, but unfortunately she was pinged by the NHS app just before the end of year party they invited her to, so she never did meet them.

That said she enjoyed her year, and there were a number of positives.

1. Imperial seemed remarkably well organised and, from her vantage point responded to Covid well. The IT worked at exam time and they had a variety of examination approaches (group projects, with marks sometimes adjusted by peer scores or by individual presentation, and so on which mitigated for potential weaknesses of online, unsupervised exams.) Her tutor was very supportive and quick to sort out the inevitable admin snaffles that came from her being an external student.
2. The course was full on and maths aptitude was required. They had a summer school to bring them up to speed and then a mastery exam which required them to achieve 80% on a maths paper within three attempts. Fellow students were focussed and the place was buzzing, with many members of staff involved in international research projects and indeed one of her group projects was designed to contribute data to something really interesting. (And which she is not allowed to talk about!)
3. SEN provision was good. DD reckons the essay club for those who struggled with written English was really useful and helped her overcome what had been a constant hurdle during her school career.
4. Her fellow students, and indeed teachers, were very international, which was a real positive. Working with colleagues in a variety of locations and with a variety of backgrounds is the new normal for engineers, and this early exposure will have been useful. DD was worried that her engineering peers would resent having to carry her on some of the more technical stuff, only to discover that they were pleased to have a medic able to make their own contribution to a multi disciplinary team.
5. DD enjoyed the social life, or what was allowed. It was a real pity University sport was not allowed when school sport was, and she thinks it sad that her first visit to the University bar was on her graduation night. She is not a clubber so drinks after sport or smaller parties at people's flats suited her better. She found "her people" quickly and is still in contact with several. There is a strong sense of what might have been.

I am not sure I agree with Tizers comments about North Acton. It might help if she were to clarify when her daughter was there. I suspect it was at the same time as Fishywishy or even before. I also suspect that Fashion students will often be looking for a different sort of social life to STEM students. (It can be argued that one of the joys of Imperial is that no one can call you a nerd.) Since then I think Imperial have opened their second campus near Westfield. (DD never got there so I am not sure.) The area has changed dramatically and next month the Elizabeth line is due (!) to open. Bus services in London are very good and provision for cycling has also improved massively and the area is pretty flat. DD had planned to cycle from South London so cycling from North Acton would be very feasible.

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My DS is at Imperial now studying hard for his 3rd year exams which start on Monday.

Like everyone else has said, it is hard constant work. He was in the main North Acton hall, which itself is perfectly acceptable (great kitchens), but he wasn't particularly happy there as his flat just wasn't sociable (he found his tribe eventually). North Acton halls are cheaper than Beit Hall which was completely out of reach financially unless he was prepared to share a room.

In his 2nd and 3rd year he lived in Fulham (where he can walk to uni). Both times he has had a very small room in a shared house with friends. I think he pays £140 a week now (those with larger rooms pay more).

The advantages of attending are that he will come out with an Imperial degree. He has secured internships easily for both last summer and the one coming up - and I think this is in part due to being at that university.

The bursaries available are also very good.

@ItsReallyOnlyMe
That can be a problem. Not having similar flatmates.

I know North Acton well enough snd there’s nothing to do in the vicinity of the halls. They are literally dormitories. I can assure you White City and Shepherds Bush are nothing like North Acton. I have a flat in SB. I know that area very well. DD was at North Acton 7 years ago. I can assure everyone that the only changes are more high rise developments. It is easy to get to White City on the central line but not great for Kensington in my view.

I think COVID is still putting a dampener on things but I don't think the social life at Imperial is that different from other universities.

I think worrying about being allocated a room in North Acton is a bit of a red herring. The student union is in South Ken but Hammersmith seems to be the centre of Imperial social life beause that's where most of the students end up living after the first year. DS was in South Ken halls but they never really went out there. In fact, their hall's Freshers' welcome event was in Hammersmith Big university/course events like balls, formal dinners, official after parties, club nights, Freshers' Fortnight events etc are held all over town, not just South Ken.

North Acton to Kensington is not a great journey to access the union. However OP and DD might like to visit snd see what they think. I have had a DC living at a North Acton hall and the lack of facilities there is an issue and it’s remote from university life (other than arguably White City) so becomes a dormitory. What students do in second year is somewhat irrelevant to a fresher. Or the fact someone lived at home. I’m guessing no one else has ever had a DC live there! I do of course know Imperial is world class. So it all needs to be weighed up.,

TBF, your DD was at a different uni though, TizerorFizz. I don't think the social scene at Imperial is especially centred on the student union bar or halls, at least not for the medics.

What students do in second year is somewhat irrelevant to a fresher.

The freshers seem to go out a in Hammersmith a lot too because it's cheaper than South Ken and a lot of socialising seems to be across years through clubs/societies/teams/courses and it's the 2nd/3rd/4th years that organise the events so they organise them where they live. They are also the ones hosting the house parties. There is an SU bar at Charing Cross Hospital that is open twice a week too.

If they go clubbing, they go further afield. They aren't hanging out in Boujis in South Ken.

It's only 7 tube stops from North Acton to Gloucester Road and the union anyway. It's on night tube routes, although the night tube hasn't fully reopened yet.

DS applied to imperial and was planning to commute if he went there, an hour or so door to door. From that I’ve heard it can be harder to find your tribe due to high number of international students who perhaps don’t socialise (sure many do) so I was worried he wouldn’t get the best of the experience especially as he wouldn’t be living in. Anyway his offer from Imperial was too high (involved 2 SAT papers in middle of A levels) so he declined it and has firmed Warwick with St Andrews as insurance. Imperial has a great reputation for graduate job prospects so it’s worth doing for that and many students are happy there.

@chesirecat99
My DD would not know what a Student Union was!! Not really a thing for UAL students. I was actually responding to another poster who mentioned the union and where it is.

I think a lot of London bound students would like to live in a buzzing place in first year near where they go to university. North Acton isn’t it. Further afield is even more of a schlep back to North Acton! It’s a high rise outpost. However one possibly worth paying for that grad job in the end. It is a very international uni though and won’t suit everyone. It’s best to be informed and for parents to understand the costs and pitfalls.

It must have been disappointing living in North Acton if there is no central social life at the SU. @TizerorFizz . I had a feeling UAL was like that, hence my comment that your DD's experience might be different from students at Imperial. Is there a least an area where the social life is based?

I think a lot of London bound students would like to live in a buzzing place in first year near where they go to university.

I agree but the reality is not all of the London universities are in buzzing places and most of them have at least some halls in far flung places, so that isn't the norm. UCL, SOAS and LSE are probably the best for that as, if you don't get "near university", at least you get "buzzing" in Camden or by the river.

Although accommodation choices aren't guaranteed, there are enough options that OP's DD doesn't need to include North Acton in her choices. A lot of students do choose to live there because it is one of the cheaper options.

I am a bit uncomfortable with all the international student cliches on this thread, that they don't socialise and stay in their rooms studying. Imperial is very proud to have the highest number of international students of any UK university and that it has a very diverse British student body. DS's lived with 2 international students in his hall's flat of 5, and has house shared with international students every year, plays sports and music with international students... They make up a big part of his social circle. Just like the British students, some of them are in the party crowd, most of them are just average, and a few live with their nose in their books. If anything, the biggest partiers are wealthy international students. It's more the students who live at home who don't participate.

I am a bit uncomfortable with all the international student cliches on this thread, that they don't socialise and stay in their rooms studying.

I don't know if that's what people were saying, but it is sort of true that there wasn't that much mixing between the native European (mostly white) students and the (mostly east/south-east Asian) overseas students.

I'm black and most of the British black and South Asian students were medics (this may have changed now). I was one of 4 black people on the course (3 by the end of the final year).

I ended up spending most of my time socialising with the overseas students.
They had plenty of parties (I went to them), they just tended to not be the ones that the majority of the British students went to (if they didn't revolve around the course). I went to plenty of both, so it's not as if there were hard restrictions.

Again, this was 10 years ago, so the divide may be less stark now.

I think people just give an opinion on what they experience @chesirecat99 No one is unfriendly and DD2 did have overseas friends in London. She also found enough to do - but not in North Acton!

DD1 at Bristol found it very different. London universities have lots of overseas students. DD1 had a lot of Chinese girls in her year at school and some are still her friends and some hardly came out of their rooms. So now no one knows them 12 years on. You DSs experience might not be universal or typical.

DD2 at UAL didn’t really expect to have a great time in her hall snd took the view she had the whole of London. Some students do want buzz near halls though so it’s best to know what you are signing up for.

Getting back to OP, Imperial suits some students well, and others less well. I went to quite a gentle girls boarding school and at a school event, people expressed surprise that I had gone to the LSE. For as long as anyone could remember the school had advised against London. (It was very much the wrong school for me and I could not wait to escape to the big smoke, something my teachers recognised.)

Catchments for London sixth forms can be wide, and many are used to travelling for school as well as social life, sport etc. I assume it is the same for others who go to schools with wide catchments elsewhere in the country.

Tizer's girls went to a very posh girls boarding school in an era where things would have been more sheltered. If your social life and education happen at school where you also live, it is not unreasonable to want similar at University. Nine stops on the tube or a 20- minute cycle probably feel like a marathon, and you might be happier somewhere more compact.

Our experience of London Universities is that because students are dispersed, the SU comes into its own as a social focal point. Also London is not really geographically arranged but overlayered, so South Ken is student London, tourist London (the museums), French London (the Lycee), workplace London, Prepschool London, Trustafarian London and so on. You can be one and barely aware of the others. Student bars are used by students. Or favoured bars. (DD did most of her very limited Imperial drinking in Hammersmith, a revelation to her as she went to school in Hammersmith, and though she knew the streets, was completely unaware of the parallel student universe.)

In terms of international students, Imperial is somewhere where even the diverse are diverse. DS' friendship group included Chinese from mid-Wales (keen to get somewhere where he did not look different) and north London, educated at a British boarding school, parents who were expats in third countries so educated at international schools, from SE Asia, HK or mainland China, fabulously rich or relying on "family scholarships" (where the extended family support a bright kid to study abroad), mixed race and so on. And stereotypes are changing as more of the younger generation have grown up with affluence and exposure to international trends like KPop. The unofficial social secretary of DS' course was from HK, but they all joined in. Even the British students are diverse, though the north is under represented. Of DS' British friends that I am most aware of, four were Londoners, of whom only one was white, and one was from elsewhere. Two at least lived at home. DD says none of staff at Imperial teaching her were British, though one was Irish.

In short if OPs DD loves visiting London and does not find it underwhelming, she will probably enjoy Imperial. (With the caveat that though there is scope to play hard, you absolutely need to work hard.) Bus pass....will travel. Student London can be cheap, check out TodayTix, TooGoodToGo etc, and there is an infinite variety of things to do.

If you make the effort, join societies and put yourself where you are likely to meet people with similar interests, enjoy your subject and want to put real effort into it, you should be fine. If you sit in North Acton and expect the world to come to your hall, perhaps not.