Official Imperial Applicants Thread (2012 Entry)

I shouldn't even be here, I have to catch up on material for 2 lectures (damn you oversleeping!) and 2 problem sheets this afternoon.




Yeah that's definitely true.

LOL actually the 1st years are pretty idealistic. A lot of them genuinely do want to like save the world and stuff. And then it's a slow decline on the idealism-realism scale till you get to 4th year at which point you sell your soul to the banks

No pure sciences are also very unpopular, much for the same reasons as Engineering is (perceived as too difficult basically).

1st years tend to abhor the idea of a finance career, I expect this changes as you get closer to graduation.

haha most people get slowly drained by the sheer amount of work in a science degree I imagine and just want out. I can't imagine Chemical engineers jump ship too much though. Pretty hefty salaries for Petroleum engineers and the like aren't there?

The closest I could find was this where 1/3rd of the applications are processed through to interview stage.

I'm not sure how many of those statistics they ACTUALLY ask keep though because it's just too much info to store when it's not gunna be of any real use. What I'd say though, out of just observation is that if you're female and you get an interview, you'll most definitely get an offer. They seem to prize girls for some reason I did crap in my interview and I still managed an offer. If I could do it, so could anyone.

What I'd say to all applicants though, and treasure these pearls of wisdom from an old woman Getting the offer isn't the hard bit. It's achieving the offer that's f****** hard.

Hey all I've applied for Biomedical Engineering.

The required grades are AAA in Physics and Maths, with the third subject preferabley being Further Maths, Bio, or Chem. For AS, I got AABB in Biology, Physics, Maths and Chemistry, respectively. Also got seven A*s in GCSE, and my predicted grades are A*AA(A) for A2.

I was clear on track to get a fair A in Maths, but I somehow screwed up in the exams.. Made careless mistakes like 8-2=7, making me have to redo entire questions, lose time, and not finish. I also scored low compared to my other papers in all my ISAs. I'll go ahead and be somewhat immature/irresponsible and blame the grade in Chemistry on my teachers. Some minor questions on power lost me marks in both Unit 1 and 2 in Physics.

Help here would be appreciated:

My overall UMS percentages are 92% in Bio, 88% in Physics, 77% in Maths, and 75% in Chem. Also got 100% in Unit 1 for Bio. Are those worth having my teacher mention in the referee's statement, or would doing so just be of no use to or even disadvantage me?

Also, I've currently hung on to Chemistry, but I have those same teachers and pretty much hate the subject at the moment. The plan is to drop it after half term and start an EPQ on corrective eye treatment (ie laser eye surgery, contact lenses, and glasses). I really really really want to drop it. And I genuinely want at least two A*s in the sciences, so the extra time would help. Would you guys recommend going ahead with that? Or would Imperial prefer four subjects? Would the EPQ be any help at all?

Lastly, I'm really not quite sure how competitive this course is, any ideas?


Sorry for the longwinded post, I've just been kind of nervous and uncertain lately...

Not an expert, but I wouldn't put those in.

I know people applying with 95% + in every subject, with 5 or 6 A levels... Not for biomedical engineering - but nevertheless, those aren't blisteringly good scores you got.

Ah, thank you. I'm definitely aware they aren't The only reason I was thinking of putting them in was that I'm worried about how the B in Maths would come off, and so I could show it wasn't terribly low or anything. Plus my school seems oddly proud of the 100% in that Bio module.. But I read on here that it's "all or nothing", so I wasn't sure what to do. Is the 100% still worth a mention, even though it isn't even a required subject?

Hey all I've applied for Biomedical Engineering.

The required grades are AAA in Physics and Maths, with the third subject preferabley being Further Maths, Bio, or Chem. For AS, I got AABB in Biology, Physics, Maths and Chemistry, respectively. Also got seven A*s in GCSE, and my predicted grades are A*AA(A) for A2.

I was clear on track to get a fair A in Maths, but I somehow screwed up in the exams.. Made careless mistakes like 8-2=7, making me have to redo entire questions, lose time, and not finish. I also scored low compared to my other papers in all my ISAs. I'll go ahead and be somewhat immature/irresponsible and blame the grade in Chemistry on my teachers. Some minor questions on power lost me marks in both Unit 1 and 2 in Physics.

Help here would be appreciated:

My overall UMS percentages are 92% in Bio, 88% in Physics, 77% in Maths, and 75% in Chem. Also got 100% in Unit 1 for Bio. Are those worth having my teacher mention in the referee's statement, or would doing so just be of no use to or even disadvantage me?

Also, I've currently hung on to Chemistry, but I have those same teachers and pretty much hate the subject at the moment. The plan is to drop it after half term and start an EPQ on corrective eye treatment (ie laser eye surgery, contact lenses, and glasses). I really really really want to drop it. And I genuinely want at least two A*s in the sciences, so the extra time would help. Would you guys recommend going ahead with that? Or would Imperial prefer four subjects? Would the EPQ be any help at all?

Lastly, I'm really not quite sure how competitive this course is, any ideas?

Sorry for the longwinded post, I've just been kind of nervous and uncertain lately...

Personally, I wouldn't. I'm not sure how difficult biology is, but lets look at the bigger picture here - In my physics class of about 25, only about 5 people didn't get 100% on both their exams..

And these are going to be the people you will be competing against.

Hello there I've added you to the list of applicants, so welcome to the thread!

Regarding whether you should drop chemistry - in general, I firmly believe that if you are taking more than three subjects, then if you don't enjoy a subject you should definitely drop it (unless one of your subjects is Further Maths...). After all, it's certainly better to do well on 3 subjects, than to do okay on 4. However, as it is biomedical engineering you've gone for, I imagine Chemistry would be very useful indeed. I'm not too sure how important it is though, so perhaps you should attract the attention of our resident biomedical engineer arianex

Not too sure about the UMS scores. The 92% is possibly worth putting in, as well as the 77% maths one, along with a sentence from your maths teacher saying that they are fully confident you will achieve an A at A-level, as that is what the entry requirements demand. I don't think any of the others are worth mentioning at all.

Personally, I wouldn't. I'm not sure how difficult biology is, but lets look at the bigger picture here - In my physics class of about 25, only about 5 people didn't get 100% on both their exams..

And these are going to be the people you will be competing against.

Eton or Harrow?

Eton or Harrow?

I don't think u should put your ums score in the reference. I got 598/600 in Chemistry, 573/600 in Biology, 574/600 in Maths and my teachers wouldnt say anything about my marks in the references. They said something about my ability and even included non-academic references. They said marks shouldnt be included in refs and if i rly want to include my ums, i can choose 'other' in ucas and input the ums.

Personally, I wouldn't. I'm not sure how difficult biology is, but lets look at the bigger picture here - In my physics class of about 25, only about 5 people didn't get 100% on both their exams..

And these are going to be the people you will be competing against.

I assume you are addressing Araliya?

If there's one place UMS marks should be put in, it is most definitely the reference, and not the UCAS form! That's what I've heard repeatedly anyway... In terms of Araliya's UMS marks - I suggested they put in the 77% mostly because the B is in a key subject that her offer will be based on. Something nearer the 80% mark is perhaps forgivable, but a boundary B would look much more shifty. As for the 92% - there will no doubt be many people applying with more, but there will also be many applying with less. At the very least it shows she is on track for an A*.

I did say "Not too sure about the UMS scores" though, so feel free to contradict me if you like!

I put my Biology and Chemistry UMS in my other field since they were relatively high and my reference was already capped at its character limit. Only my 100% at History Unit 2 (Henry VIII!) was put in my reference.

Hmm... I didn't bother putting UMS in the UCAS or reference My reference was way too long anyway - in the end, they had to cut great chunks out of my biology section, and take off the top section which explains what a poor school we are XD Oh the joy of having seven A-level subjects...

Hmm... I didn't bother putting UMS in the UCAS or reference My reference was way too long anyway - in the end, they had to cut great chunks out of my biology section, and take off the top section which explains what a poor school we are XD Oh the joy of having seven A-level subjects...