Imperial offers

[mynameisnotmichaelcaine]

Hi all,

DS had an interview for Oxford to read Maths, but didn't get an offer. He's really disappointed today but I know he'll bounce back. He has an offer from Warwick, which he loved, but he also really liked Imperial, and he hasn't heard from them yet. Does anyone know when they usually make their offers for Maths?

Thank you.

Congratulations to all those who have recently Firmed Imperial. A brilliant university

A friend's son is at Imperial. Don't know which halls but says the trick is to join lots of societies which is where he's met most of his friends. Some societies are more social than others. Many of his friends are internationals and mix fine.

Good to hear about the positive Imperial experiences and of people firming. Ds is also likely to firm IC and insure Warwick.

We looked at the Warwick accommodation yesterday online and it's surprisingly expensive for the central en-suite rooms, same as the Acton en suite rooms really. However, Warwick has a much wider choice of accommodation with some very cheap options too. I like that it guarantees accommodation to those who insure too (unlike Bath).

Ds is considering putting down an en-suite twin as his friend has insured for the same course but I'm not sure he's thought it all through. As far as he can tell his friend isn't a party person (like ds) but what if they keep different hours,one hogs the bathroom, girlfriends etc

We visited the North Acton halls over Easter. Obviously it was very quiet as term had finished and there were mostly international students left. Spoke to a really nice young woman who was post doctoral. Her whole student journey had been at Imperial. She said there was a good social life at the Acton site, bbq's etc. there are common rooms there and we saw that both buildings were bright and modern with 24 hour concierges so it feels safe.

She said that the home students who live in London tended to commute in, particularly after the first year (which is probably what ds will do). Rents are cheaper and rooms are a good size although we didn't get to look at one. There are loads of clubs to join but these tend to be based in South Ken and sometimes people can't be bothered to trek back there after returning to N Acton. A lot of the N Acton students take the tube to Lancaster Gate and then walk through Hyde Park to the South Ken campus or she said she cycles in about half an hour. The N Acton campus is also very close to the White City campus.

There is a lot of building work going on in the immediate area - other tower blocks being built. I can imagine road traffic will be a 'mare for a while due to one way traffic controls etc. There's not much there but the tube line is a minutes walk away from both blocks and it's a fairly short bus ride or a walk to Acton itself (uninspiring but has a big supermarket) and a bit further on to Shepherds Bus (much livelier). We saw a Costa, small Tesco's and small Sainsbury's and a peri chicken takeaway in North Acton. There's also a Travelodge.

The person we spoke to said people organise main shopping deliveries and Deliveroo for takeaways.

All in all, I'd prefer ds to be in S Ken for his first year and we'll have to suck up the extra cost if he's offered but we'd definitely consider N Acton for his 4th year as his course is at White City then. Having said that, we might not get the choice!

Thanks for that @Lightsabre - v helpful.

Also look at Wilson which is near Paddington Basin. It's a lovely walk through Hyde Park onto campus. My DD enjoyed her first year there.

She had a decent size room up 3 flights of stairs though! A shared bathroom amongst 6 rooms which she said was ok.

Also near a tube station.

Some info on Imperial halls, UK vs overseas students split.

Very useful @RockaLock , thank you. Ds is at the IC offer holders day today and the Warwick one at the weekend. Will be interesting to compare both.

@RockaLock

How old is this though

Xenia or Boathouse don't even exist anymore and haven't for years

@Lightsabre the building work around Acton will only be during the day though so shouldn't have to much of an impact if they're at lectures etc hopefully

Thanks @InAMillion , good point re; traffic plus the two Acton blocks are very new so I'm sure they'll have good soundproofing/double glazing.

It would be useful to have an up to date list re; accommodation split. I'm assuming, perhaps wrongly, that the international students might gravitate towards the S Ken. accommodation just because it's so central. However, if costs are a consideration, they may not. I'm sure that not all of the international students are well off. Anyway ds will be happy with either I think.

This was from a FOI request published today by Imperial...

So I had assumed it was for this academic year, but then I don't know, if a couple of those halls don't exist any more!

Oh, they've literally just updated the request. Here's the link:

www.imperial.ac.uk/admin-services/secretariat/information-governance/freedom-of-information/disclosure-log/college-estates-and-facilities/

It's the request called "proportion of UK and overseas students in Imperial Halls of Residence"

Here you go (I am not the person that requested the FOI, by the way, I was just following it on whatdoyouknow!)

Great, thanks @RockaLock.

Thanks for sharing the accommodation stats. Really helpful to see. Looking forward to the offer day on sat and am impressed with the effort that has been put into it from the programme they've sent (for EFDS).

Thanks @RockaLock the information is much appreciated and I've forwarded it on to DS to help his accommodation decision making

He of course just thinks I'm interfering yet again

But I'm happy to provide him with necessary info to gently gnaw at his brain

Enjoyed the offer holders day yesterday. I'd have liked to have been there but he wanted to go with his friend so didn't want embarassing mum around! He seems keen on the course and the flexibility re; year in industry or years research.

Warwick this weekend to compare.

I think I was comforted by the fact that although yes, there were more overseas students than UK in the South Ken halls, there were still a decent number of UK students. It wasn't like there were only 20. So hopefully from a friendship/possible cliques point of view, that is all fine.

DS did say something about an offer holders day, but I'm assuming that he decided he didn't want to go, seeing as he was in school yesterday . But he was pretty settled on Imperial anyway, so I don't think it would have changed his mind either way (and in any case he firmed it at the weekend, so...).

Just reinvigorating this thread! Ds had an email today about accommodation choices at Imperial. He's gone into an exam so I'm not sure what it says. Anyone else's dc received it?

Good luck to all for the rest of the exam period - ds still has the bulk of his exams to do.

Worth noting. In the new CUG ratings Imperial is the highest ranked RG university for student satisfaction.

DS has his accommodation email last week.

You put down 4 choices, and can pick from types of rooms across all the halls (e.g. single, en-suite, double). Then it is pot luck which of your choices you get when they allocate rooms in September

So DS put down single en-suite at the 2 North Acton halls, Paddington, and one of the S Ken halls, because for him the room type was more important than the location.

But you could equally put down (e.g) single en-suite, single basic and double all at the same hall, if you wanted to be sure of getting a specific location and weren't bothered about the type of room.

We went to have a look at the North Acton area the other weekend. Someone had described it as somewhat dystopian, and I have to say I can see what they mean... The student building itself looked nice, though!

Good to know this. There are so many clubs and societies and the career prospects are good across the board so hopefully that will make for a positive experience.

@RockaLock, I think ds will choose the same. He's quite keen on en-suite but this an expensive option at S Ken. The actual blocks at N Acton are very nice but the area is 'meh'. Close to Shepherds Bush, Ealing and Hammersmith though and the tube is literally across the rd with the Elizabeth Line not far away either.