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Reply 60
Original post by ThePhoenix13
What if I'm not on the year abroad course, but am now thinking about spending a year abroad?


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Yep you can still apply for the year abroad in your 2nd year. It doesn't matter which course you've chosen (Chem Eng, Chem Eng with Nuclear, Chem Eng with Year Abroad). You can always switch around, they're pretty flexible with that. A lot of people only decide to do/not do the year abroad once they have started Imperial.
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So basically, I'm getting a re-mark for my CIE A Level Physics cause I need it upgraded from a 'B' to an 'A' to meet my Imperial offer. I geniunely think I got an 'A' and I have good reasons to believe so.


Problem is, I submitted it for re-marking on the 14th but CIE won't allow me a priority re-mark cause I'm an international student and priority re-marks are only allowed for UK students. Therefore, my re-mark might not even arrive before 31st August - deadline for meeting my Imperial offer.

I'm wondering whether Imperial would be willing to extend the deadline for my offer in light of these circumtances. I emailed them on 27th but they haven't replied yet.

N.B: My offer was A*AAA for computing (with A* in Maths) and I got A*A*A*B (in Maths, FM, Chemistry, Physics). I have good reason to believe that I got an A in Physics and I would genuinely be willing to bet my life on it. Physics is the type of subject where the marking is objective and you either know the answer or you don't, so it's easy to predict what grade you got after the exam. I've been getting comfortable A grades in all my past papers and the paper I did also felt like a comfortable A. I have the blank question paper, mark scheme and grade thresholds and after going through the paper several times, I've become utterly convinced that I deserve an A. I've actually been looking for areas to knock off marks and I can't knock off enough marks to justify a 'B' - so there might have been some sort of clerical error during the marking.

EDIT: Physics was also 2 UMS off an A
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 62
Original post by Godel_Mark
So basically, I'm getting a re-mark for my CIE A Level Physics cause I need it upgraded from a 'B' to an 'A' to meet my Imperial offer. I geniunely think I got an 'A' and I have good reasons to believe so.


Problem is, I submitted it for re-marking on the 14th but CIE won't allow me a priority re-mark cause I'm an international student and priority re-marks are only allowed for UK students. Therefore, my re-mark might not even arrive before 31st August - deadline for meeting my Imperial offer.

I'm wondering whether Imperial would be willing to extend the deadline for my offer in light of these circumtances. I emailed them on 27th but they haven't replied yet.

N.B: My offer was A*AAA for computing (with A* in Maths) and I got A*A*A*B (in Maths, FM, Chemistry, Physics). I have good reason to believe that I got an A in Physics and I would genuinely be willing to bet my life on it. Physics is the type of subject where the marking is objective and you either know the answer or you don't, so it's easy to predict what grade you got after the exam. I've been getting comfortable A grades in all my past papers and the paper I did also felt like a comfortable A. I have the blank question paper, mark scheme and grade thresholds and after going through the paper several times, I've become utterly convinced that I deserve an A. I've actually been looking for areas to knock off marks and I can't knock off enough marks to justify a 'B' - so there might have been some sort of clerical error during the marking.

EDIT: Physics was also 2 UMS off an A


Wow that's really unlucky. I think your best bet would be to call them up and speak to an admissions officer directly. They would likely have more sympathy/be more reasonable over the phone than through email. Explain how you overachieved in the other subjects and ask if they would be willing to wait for the remark to go through/accept you.
Imperial, like all unis, gives out more offers than they have spaces for though as they expect people not to meet their offer so I wouldn't get my hopes up too high :/
Reply 63
Original post by babuchang
The only program that you actually need to run on your laptop are MATLAB and Excel/Word. A Mac can handle MATLAB (I have a Mac and it runs fine).
Apart from that, the other programs that you require are all on the department computers and you won't run them from your laptops.


Is the MacBook Air sufficient to handle Matlab?
Reply 64
Original post by Slumber
Is the MacBook Air sufficient to handle Matlab?


Yep, I have a MacBook Air and its good.
Original post by babuchang
Hi guys
I'm entering my final year here at Imperial. If you guys have any questions regarding the course/Imperial feel free to ask!


I was wondering if you know any students that were a 2nd year entry for chemistry e.g. they transferred from a different university to imperial to study chemistry from the second year. I will be attending southampton university soon. Thanks!
Original post by babuchang
Wow that's really unlucky. I think your best bet would be to call them up and speak to an admissions officer directly. They would likely have more sympathy/be more reasonable over the phone than through email. Explain how you overachieved in the other subjects and ask if they would be willing to wait for the remark to go through/accept you.
Imperial, like all unis, gives out more offers than they have spaces for though as they expect people not to meet their offer so I wouldn't get my hopes up too high :/


They said computing was oversubscribed this year, so they're could be no flexibility over admitting near misses this year. I strongly believe that CIE messed up with physics papers from my school (centre) this year, cause my friend - an A* student who's going to study physics at Glasgow also got a B.

Anyways, my physics re-mark should be arriving some time in the first week of September. If I call Imperial then and explain to them that CIE marked my paper wrongly (if my grade goes up) and that there was nothing I could've done to get a faster re-mark, do you think they'd still let me in for entry in October?

I think it would be pretty unfair if they say no: because it wouldn't have been my fault that CIE messed up my paper and that they wouldn't allow me a priority re-mark.
Reply 67
Original post by chocomoco
I was wondering if you know any students that were a 2nd year entry for chemistry e.g. they transferred from a different university to imperial to study chemistry from the second year. I will be attending southampton university soon. Thanks!


Nope. I don't know any student in any course who has done that. I don't think it's that easy (if not impossible) to switch unis and start from 2nd year because that goes around all the admissions requirements and there would be a different syllabus taught.
I know one girl in my course went on to join Cambridge after her 1st year but she had to join as a fresher there.
Reply 68
Original post by Godel_Mark
They said computing was oversubscribed this year, so they're could be no flexibility over admitting near misses this year. I strongly believe that CIE messed up with physics papers from my school (centre) this year, cause my friend - an A* student who's going to study physics at Glasgow also got a B.

Anyways, my physics re-mark should be arriving some time in the first week of September. If I call Imperial then and explain to them that CIE marked my paper wrongly (if my grade goes up) and that there was nothing I could've done to get a faster re-mark, do you think they'd still let me in for entry in October?

I think it would be pretty unfair if they say no: because it wouldn't have been my fault that CIE messed up my paper and that they wouldn't allow me a priority re-mark.


Worth giving it a shot. It would seem pretty unreasonable for them not to let you in after you achieved your required grades!
Good luck!
Original post by babuchang
Hi guys
I'm entering my final year here at Imperial. If you guys have any questions regarding the course/Imperial feel free to ask!



Imperial Chemical Engineering :ahee:

I'm hoping to study life sciences at Imperial :colondollar: apart from getting the grades required, what else do they look for? (work experience, volunteering??) Do you know what Imperial are looking for in personal statements before they invite you for an interview? Thanks! (:
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 70
Heya :smile: so I got accepted and I'm going to be going to imperial this year (eeek ;D ) I was just wondering about the social life and the whole social aspect of Imperial. Could you please tell me more about that side if things? (Sorry I know it's such a vague question)


Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by babuchang
Your GCSEs are probably going to be below average compared to the other applicants.
How close was your physics and biology to an A grade and how strong were your Maths and Chemistry?
Imperial is likely to make an A*A*AA offer (Maths, Chemistry, Physics, Biology), if you really think you can make this then you should apply but it seems like your biology grade is really letting you down.
I don't know about your extra curriculars/personal statement so I can't really say.


Are my GCSEs/AS weak compared to all ChemEng applicants or just Imperial applicants?
Reply 72
Original post by babuchang
Yep, I have a MacBook Air and its good.


I'm considering getting a MacBook Pro with retina display. Are there still issues with matlab for the current model eg blurry display/unclear font?
Reply 73
Original post by happysmile
Imperial Chemical Engineering :ahee:

I'm hoping to study life sciences at Imperial :colondollar: apart from getting the grades required, what else do they look for? (work experience, volunteering??) Do you know what Imperial are looking for in personal statements before they invite you for an interview? Thanks! (:


Hey,
I don't think they expect you to have much relevant work experience (unless you're applying as a Medic) so it's not a massive problem if you don't have any. But if you were able to secure some it would be a great bonus. Tutoring kids is a good thing to have as it shows your passion for the subject/communication skills/ability in the subject.
I think what they really look for is an interest in the subject. You could mention some outside reading that you have done on a particular aspect of the subject that you are interested in.
Reply 74
Original post by Slumber
I'm considering getting a MacBook Pro with retina display. Are there still issues with matlab for the current model eg blurry display/unclear font?


I don't know anyone who has that laptop at uni, sorry!
Reply 75
Original post by Jed-Singh
Are my GCSEs/AS weak compared to all ChemEng applicants or just Imperial applicants?


A bit weak compared to ChemEng applicants I'd say. Some of the other courses have lower requirements as they're not so oversubscribed.
I was told when I was accepted that the ratio of applicants to places was 12:1 for ChemEng!
Im considering of applying to chemical engineering in imperial and ucl however neither am I a double-math student nor chemistry is my strongest subject (in fact it is the weakest one among all my AS subjects). My gcses are 8A*3A and I am expecting to get an AS prediction of A*A*AA. Do I stand a chance?
Reply 77
Original post by oooooolala
Im considering of applying to chemical engineering in imperial and ucl however neither am I a double-math student nor chemistry is my strongest subject (in fact it is the weakest one among all my AS subjects). My gcses are 8A*3A and I am expecting to get an AS prediction of A*A*AA. Do I stand a chance?


You have good GCSE grades, so should be fine for that.
A lot of people didn't do further math either so don't worry.
What are your other two A-Levels?
However, Imperial wants A* predictions in Maths and Chemistry. If you're not predicted A* in then its unlikely you will get an offer. If those are your predicted A* subjects then you should be fine, if not, you need to convince your school to predict you an A* if you think you can achieve them.
Original post by babuchang
You have good GCSE grades, so should be fine for that.
A lot of people didn't do further math either so don't worry.
What are your other two A-Levels?
However, Imperial wants A* predictions in Maths and Chemistry. If you're not predicted A* in then its unlikely you will get an offer. If those are your predicted A* subjects then you should be fine, if not, you need to convince your school to predict you an A* if you think you can achieve them.


I'm afraid my A* predictions are on Maths and Physics :frown: and my school is extremely strict when giving prediction grades so i think an A* prediction in chemistry is unlikely
Original post by babuchang
Hey,
I don't think they expect you to have much relevant work experience (unless you're applying as a Medic) so it's not a massive problem if you don't have any. But if you were able to secure some it would be a great bonus. Tutoring kids is a good thing to have as it shows your passion for the subject/communication skills/ability in the subject.
I think what they really look for is an interest in the subject. You could mention some outside reading that you have done on a particular aspect of the subject that you are interested in.


Hey, so if I'm applying to study medicine, what sort of relevant work experience should I try to do? (most hospital volunteering has a minimum age of 18 though ): Where would you suggest I tutor kids/help with elderly people/other volunteer... Thanks for your reply!! (:

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