Chemical engineering application thread 2012

... did they not specify your A*'s?

What's your offer from Imperial??

A* in Maths, and A* in either Physics or Chemistry, with an A in the one I don't get an A* in. A in Further Maths.

Hi guys! =D
I'm having trouble deciding which uni to choose as my insurance. Just wondering if you're able to help me decide, considering the deadline of decision offers is fast approaching.

So, I've decided to firm Imperial (with A*A*A offer ) but I can't seem to choose between Manchester (AA) and Edinburgh (AAB) for my insurance. Although many have said that they prefer the life in Edinburgh more, Manchester seems to be more globally recognised and has better job prospects especially for ChemEng. What's your say?
*Also, cost of living-wise which one is cheaper?

Thanks in advance! x

[I am an International Student btw, if you haven't figured out.]

Do u think you can get it??

Should I put Edinburgh or UCL for my firm choice?

I've been to UCL campus twice and love it (have friends there as well), but I've also just come back from Edinburgh and the uni, the city is absolutely stunning, although the campus is a bit far from the city centre.

My Edinburgh offer is A*AA (second year) and UCL is AAA, so there is not much of a difference there...

What do you guys think?

Hey I don't think I can help you here as I have never been either place but I'd like to ask you how did you find the chemical engineering department at UCL? I am hesitating to firm UCL as well.

Congrats on your offer from Edinburgh though, they rejected my application for 2nd year entry

Hi guys! =D
I'm having trouble deciding which uni to choose as my insurance. Just wondering if you're able to help me decide, considering the deadline of decision offers is fast approaching.

So, I've decided to firm Imperial (with A*A*A offer ) but I can't seem to choose between Manchester (AA) and Edinburgh (AAB) for my insurance. Although many have said that they prefer the life in Edinburgh more, Manchester seems to be more globally recognised and has better job prospects especially for ChemEng. What's your say?
*Also, cost of living-wise which one is cheaper?

Thanks in advance! x

[I am an International Student btw, if you haven't figured out.]

The engineering building looks really amazing, although I couldn't get in. The facilities appear to be quite good from outside. They've got nice (modern) cafe and I found the atmosphere not as depressing as I expected .

My friend who is currently a first year at UCL advised me to go there as well, he said it's not the best one but the reputation and advantage of being in London (so more job offers after graduating and chances for industrial placements during the course I assume?) may worth the fees (I'm international). So I almost made my mind towards UCL until before coming to Edinburgh today...

Job prospects figures for UCL are quite low though, although I honestly don't know how reliable they are as everyone says London gives you more job opportunities?

Oh thanks xD. What are your other choices to firm?

Well I don't know if London gives you more job opportunities but I guess graduating from UCL or Edinburgh - which are both reputed unis -certainly opens more doors for you

What would you expect it to be depressing at first? I'm glad to finally read some positive stuff on the engineering department at UCL as that faculty is often described as UCL weakest one.
I have unconditional offers from Manchester (chemEng), UCL (chemEng) and Imperial (materials science & engineering). Really don't know which one to firm although I'm leaning more toward the London unis.
My first choice was actually Edinburgh cause it would have been free for me (EU applicant) and the city and uni look so nice but unfortunately I didn't get in

I usually prefer small cities so London did overwhelm me a bit at first (maybe partly because I went there on a dull day as well), that was where the depressing feelings came from , but now it's alright.
Yeah I've heard those complaints as well, in fact my friend did mention some of the downsides (one of which being a lecturer who has a really horrible accent or something like that) but overall it's still good and enjoyable.


Why didn't you apply for ChemEng at Imperial as well?

I did, I did but I was rejected this time around. I am a reapplicant (hence the unconditional offers this year) and I missed both my firm (Imperial) and insurance choice (UCL by 2% in chemistry) last summer. The rejection was predictable though as my grades are not high enough and my school system does not allow resits. Mais c'est la vie and I accept it.

Where else have you applied?

Oh so your friend is studying chemical engineering at UCL? Apart from the lecturer with the thick accent, what does she think about the facilities, the course's structure? Thank you a lot for taking your time to answer my questions and sharing the information

Hi guys I've been trying to decide whether to firm Manchester or UCL for chemical engineering for ages and I've done quite a bit of research into both of them but I'm still having trouble deciding, I'm going to list the pros and cons of both universities and I'd really appreciate it if any knowledgeable or current students at either university could add any of their own experiences and opinions. Thanks

Manchester:

Pros - Ranked higher than UCL for chemical engineering, better facilities (New Building), Well known and strong Chem Eng department with good ties to industry. Opportunity to do a paid year in placement which is accredited by IChem and counts as part of your degree (No other university that I know of offers this, verify tho please?).

Cons - Domestic and World Rankings much lower than UCL
Is not in the same league as UCL in terms of international name and prestige
UCL overall is a much better university

UCL:

Pros - Better university as a whole (ranked higher domestically and internationally)
Situated in London (regardless of added expense), more exciting, multicultural and diverse city than Manchester, possibly more opportunities to diversify (financial/banking sector - kind of what I really want to do - any current students at UCL able to comment if this would be true or not?)

Cons - Department at UCL is not as strong as Manchester and many people say it's quite weak.
Facilities seem old and the open day I went to was horrendously organised

Any feedback is welcome!

Loughborough said that their Year in Industry counts towards accreditation by the IChemE, so I'd presume that this is true for most YinIs? I'm not sure if many people at UCL do YinIs, so I'm not sure how well organised it would be.

Have you looked on the Unistats website? I'm trying to decide between UCL and Birmingham and you can compare their stats which is cool

On the whole, UCL seems to have far lower student satisfaction across the board, but not many people drop out and ~80% of students got a first or a 2:1 which is pretty high.
Also, it says that only 25% of those with a job 6 months after graduation actually became engineering professionals (compared to 45% at B'ham and 65% at L'boro)

I can't believe I haven't come across Unistats before, its got so much information! It's quite weird how few people go on to become engineering professionals at UCL. I wonder if this is by choice or if there is just not as much opportunities and jobs at UCL and in the London area for engineering?