Imperial College Applicants 2014

I'm really confused as to whether I should apply here or not.

I want to do Maths with a year abroad in France.
I'm applying to do Maths at Oxford, so I'll sit the MAT which Imperial use too.

I'm finding the financial stuff very scary. I'm from Glasgow, so travel to London is very expensive. I've never actually been to London before.
My household income is below £25,000 so I'll receive the £6,000 help but the costs are still freaking me out.

Hello! Nice to see somebody from Glasgow - I used to live there too.

The costs associated with studying in London can definitely be very off-putting. It was one of my concerns when I was deciding whether or not to apply to Imperial. Still, here's a few things to help you decide...

Travel to London from Glasgow isn't as horrendous as you may imagine. If you book well in advance, it is possible to get a one way train ticket for around 20 pounds, or 14 pounds if you invest in a railcard. You can get cheaper if you're willing to sit in a megabus.

Good accommodation in London is expensive: a single room here will cost you more than in Oxford, and will probably be smaller too. But there's a lot of variety too: you can choose to live in a shared room, or slightly further away from campus, and that will dramatically reduce the cost. Most people who have shared a room seem to have liked it, or never had any problems at least.

The biggest extra cost you'll face going to an English uni instead of a Scottish one is of course the tuition fees. I guess the biggest question is whether it is worth it. The Imperial maths course is considerably more fast-paced than the Glasgow and Edinburgh ones (which I imagine are the best unis for maths in Scotland), even compared to the three year fast track courses. Consequently, you will be taught a lot more maths. There are some really great lecturers here, and there is a much wider range of courses to choose from in third/fourth year. In terms of employment prospects/starting salary, Imperial seem to do better than Glasgow/Edinburgh too.

I guess if you took out the maximum loan, you'd be pretty comfortable living in London, with the £6000 from Imperial, ~£1000 grant and the ~£5000 loan from SAAS, and the tuition fee covered by SAAS. Of course you'd have to pay it back though... Many people get a part time job or a summer job to help cover costs and boost their CV -- you could look into that?

Hope that helped a little Best of luck with your application!

i got AAAA :O some how

If I was predicted 3As but actually got 1 A and 3Bs would that get me into bio at Imperial?

If you have a good: personal statement, GCSE grades and A2 predicted, then you will most probably be offered an interview. From what I've heard most universities will give you an offer based mainly on your interview. So as long as you get an interview and you interview well you have a good shot

I was in a similar situation, by some miracle I didn't fail biology and got AAAA

Thanks
I should get an A predicted for maths i think because i only screwed up M1 (got an E for it) and i was 3UMS off an A for history, and 8 UMS off an A for chem. Is it likely that i get predicted an A for hist and chem? (I work quite well in hist and average and sometimes not listening in chem). Also, I thought Imperial didn't give interviews for Bio courses :O?

It's up to your teachers to give you predicted, but from what they told me they never predict more than a grade above your AS, so you will probably be predicted an A for history and chemistry if you tried and worked hard over the year and your teachers think you can achieve it.

I didn't know Imperial don't interview biology courses....I assumed that since it's Imperial it would be in their interest to interview everyone. I would think they interview for all courses.

Ah ok thanks, do you think it will reflect poorly when they consider me and they see that even though i was predicted an A that I actually got 3 Bs?

I got AAAE Do you think I still have a chance with Biotechnology and a Langauge for Science considering that I got A in Chemistry, Biology and Spanish and the E in Maths? I've sent them an email and am planning to resit and would be up to taking another subject at AS. Can I still get an offer?

I don't think they'll think about that too much. Universities make their own judgement about your potential and intelligence while you're at the interview

I didn't think Imperial interviewed? While at the open day they said they didn't do it anymore or is that just the case for biology?

That's strange. I am almost 100% certain they interview.

edit: I just checked from what I know they interview for all courses but it seems you are right they do not interview for the biology courses. That's actually pretty bad, they base you only on your UCAS statement, you'll have to make sure its amazing