Imperial College what is it like

[ImperialCollege89]

DC is really set in an Engineering course in Imperial College. I would be grateful for opinions from people with children there recently or who attend/attended themselves.

I read is very competitive but all they could do is give them the best shot.

Interesting graph showing the country of origin of international first-year students in higher education in UK by country of domicile.

There have been very dramatic changes in recent years:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/uk-universities-london-campuses-foreign-students-financeuk-universities-london-campuses-foreign-students-finance-rvxt0gmk2

The numbers from China and India and other Asian countries have increased dramatically over the last decade. The numbers have increased significantly again since 2020/2021.

By 2020/2021 numbers from Nigeria had already started to pick up and there were more students coming from Nigeria than the whole of the EU combined.

Ds is in his first year of Computing at Imperial, staying at Wilson House. The location is amazing for him. He's bought a Santander annual bike pass. I think this costs c.£100. He cycles to and from Imperial every day through Hyde Park (using the lovely segregated cycle route). There are bike stations really close to both locations, so it's worked out brilliantly and he is very eco/climate conscious, so a bonus on that front too.
He did Maths, further maths, chemistry and physics A levels and an EPQ. A stars in everything. He is on top of the work and does plenty of extra activities, like an optional drawing course, a martial art, house dinners out, and also attends non-college social events.
He has some very long days and full timetables, on top of which all Imperial students have to prepare (or buy) their own food. It can be quite a lot to deal with.
We are from Scotland, so the student loan he receives gives no London weighting, so it is expensive. We pay for his accommodation and give him an allowance and he also receives the full student loan, but no bursary. Without parental help, the numbers wouldn't add up.
He chose Imperial as he wanted to go to a STEM university.

Thank you and well done to your DS. It does sound like is quite full on. It seems many who are offer a place got at least 4 subjects with a few Astars.

How many halls are there?

I don’t think DC will be eligible for a bursary either from what I read. If offered a place I think DC will have to get maintenance loan and us top up similar.

Just looked at the website and there are quite a few halls from around £132 to £350 per week

@ImperialCollege89 Isnt that what nearly everyone does? London loans are bigger. If you have a sc at uni, you should expect to top up. The students from very low income families are better off than average students. They get a lot more financial help.

My son has recently had an offer to study Engineering here later this year. I would be delighted to hear your childrens' experiences of the course and sports/social clubs if anyone is happy to share any more stories. He loves football and athletics. I just hope he has time to continue to pursue them! Thank you (-:

Imperial Offer Holders www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/4996409-imperial-offer-holders

Hi @Iamaslummymummy my ds is interested in Engineering and his teacher pointed us towards Imperial. I had not thought of London as ds has asd. Thought crowds/tubes/vastness of London would be completely overwhelming. How does your son manage this aspect of it?

He has had some anxiety issues but it's not so much about living in London which he loves but just managing personal care/eating/shopping on top ha full on course. I think engineering is at South ken. If your son lived at the halls there then it's just a few minutes walk. If he was allocated halls in Acton and couldn't cope with the travel into South ken, then he could travel by taxi provided through disabled students allowance and he would only need to pay the public transport equivalent fare

@Refluxwrangler - my DD didn't even consider imperial because of the tube and crowds etc ... she's totally NT, just wasn't her idea of where she wanted to spend 4 years! Fortunately there are lots of other excellent engineering courses in a variety of locations. I'm pretty sure there are plenty of students with asd at imperial, just saying don't worry if he decides it's not for him.

Thanks @Iamaslummymummy and @ErrolTheDragon - those perspectives are really helpful. I will talk to DS a bit more but reassuring to know that it's not deemed the only good place.

Oh there's so many good universities for engineering and some very specific like marine/bio etc. I hope he finds one that he's happy with.