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Ask a current chem eng student anything!

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!

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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!


Yes finally an opportunity to ask a chem eng at imperial! :biggrin:.
When you applied to imperial, what was your interview like? Additionally, how are the lecturers and what are the labs like at imperial?
(edited 9 years ago)
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Reply 2
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!


This is just the thread I need :smile:

How do you find the lab facilities? Do you feel you get enough time to use them? Also did you do the year abroad?

Thanks!
How is the course split up? Mainly maths? Mainly chemistry?
Is the maths incredibly rigorous?
Reply 4
Original post by League_Masters
Yes finally an opportunity to ask a chem eng at imperial! :biggrin:.
When you applied to imperial, what was your interview like? Additionally, how are the lecturers and what are the labs like at imperial?


My interview was extremely relaxed. I wasn't asked any technical questions at all, although I have heard that this has changed. We just had a chat about why I wanted to study Chem Eng, why Imperial, and that was pretty much it.
He pretty much told me he'd give me an offer at the end of the interview and told me to make sure I work hard to get my A* in maths.
I've heard that nowadays some interviewers give a list of topics and you can choose a topic to discuss with the interviewer e.g thermodynamic cycles

Lecturers can vary. Some are very good at teaching; they're organised, they are engaging, very clear and can make the class fun. Others, not so much. I'd say that the majority of the teaching is pretty good though.

You do labs for the first 3 years of the course in groups of 3 or 4.

In first year, we did 2 lab experiments a week for one month which was insane. We had labs everyday (excluding Wednesday) from 2-5pm. It was very hectic and there often wasn't enough time inbetween labs to write up your lab book. At the end of this you had to produce a lab report (individual) on your final experiment. Sometimes you could be lucky to get an easy experiment, sometimes not. They've reduced the number of experiments now so it should be okay.

Second year was similar but with a reduced number of experiments so you go more in depth into them.

Third year was actually the most interesting. You are given a topic and you have to design an experiment plan, decide how and what you want to investigate and are given a lot more freedom in the lab. A professor and a Phd student help you out for this.
You're given a month and at the end you have to produce a group report.

Hope it helps :smile:
Are you planning on applying this year?
Reply 5
Original post by CakeFrog
This is just the thread I need :smile:

How do you find the lab facilities? Do you feel you get enough time to use them? Also did you do the year abroad?

Thanks!


Lab facilities are really good! Everything is very new and in good condition.
Yes there is more than enough time to use them. About a month every year (12 hours/week), you'll probably end up pretty sick of it to be honest!
There's also a brand new pilot plant to play around with in second year.

Nope I didn't do the year abroad. Around 10 people in my year did it I think and they had a great time. There's quite a list of countries to choose from: USA, Australia, Singapore, Germany, France, Spain.
Reply 6
Original post by Bude8
How is the course split up? Mainly maths? Mainly chemistry?
Is the maths incredibly rigorous?


The name chem eng is quite a misnomer. In 1st year there is only one chemistry course. Maths is a major part of the first two years and its actually the module that count the most. In 3rd and 4th years you don't take maths anymore.

The rest of the modules in 1st year are going to be pretty new: Thermodynamics, Heat and Mass transfer, Process Analysis, fluid mechanics. They are all pretty much grounded in maths and physics and you don't need much chemistry knowledge at all. You do have the option to join the Fine Chemicals stream though, from 2nd year onwards and you do a lot of chemistry there so its totally up to you as to how much chemistry you do in the whole degree.

Half of first year maths is mostly Further Maths (HL) so it would be a big advantage to take it.
I wouldn't say that the maths is incredibly rigorous. It can be challenging but for most people its actually the module they do best in. If you can meet the entry requirements you'll be fine.
Original post by babuchang
My interview was extremely relaxed. I wasn't asked any technical questions at all, although I have heard that this has changed. We just had a chat about why I wanted to study Chem Eng, why Imperial, and that was pretty much it.
He pretty much told me he'd give me an offer at the end of the interview and told me to make sure I work hard to get my A* in maths.
I've heard that nowadays some interviewers give a list of topics and you can choose a topic to discuss with the interviewer e.g thermodynamic cycles

Lecturers can vary. Some are very good at teaching; they're organised, they are engaging, very clear and can make the class fun. Others, not so much. I'd say that the majority of the teaching is pretty good though.

You do labs for the first 3 years of the course in groups of 3 or 4.

In first year, we did 2 lab experiments a week for one month which was insane. We had labs everyday (excluding Wednesday) from 2-5pm. It was very hectic and there often wasn't enough time inbetween labs to write up your lab book. At the end of this you had to produce a lab report (individual) on your final experiment. Sometimes you could be lucky to get an easy experiment, sometimes not. They've reduced the number of experiments now so it should be okay.

Second year was similar but with a reduced number of experiments so you go more in depth into them.

Third year was actually the most interesting. You are given a topic and you have to design an experiment plan, decide how and what you want to investigate and are given a lot more freedom in the lab. A professor and a Phd student help you out for this.
You're given a month and at the end you have to produce a group report.

Hope it helps :smile:
Are you planning on applying this year?


Thank you for replying, yes I am applying to imperial for 2025 entry :smile: going to the open day this September to see what the place looks like
Reply 8
Original post by League_Masters
Thank you for replying, yes I am applying to imperial for 2025 entry :smile: going to the open day this September to see what the place looks like


2025?:biggrin:
You're very keen hahaha
Original post by babuchang
2025?:biggrin:
You're very keen hahaha



haha oh crap, 2015, typed on my phone :biggrin:
Original post by babuchang
The name chem eng is quite a misnomer. In 1st year there is only one chemistry course. Maths is a major part of the first two years and its actually the module that count the most. In 3rd and 4th years you don't take maths anymore.

The rest of the modules in 1st year are going to be pretty new: Thermodynamics, Heat and Mass transfer, Process Analysis, fluid mechanics. They are all pretty much grounded in maths and physics and you don't need much chemistry knowledge at all. You do have the option to join the Fine Chemicals stream though, from 2nd year onwards and you do a lot of chemistry there so its totally up to you as to how much chemistry you do in the whole degree.

Half of first year maths is mostly Further Maths (HL) so it would be a big advantage to take it.
I wouldn't say that the maths is incredibly rigorous. It can be challenging but for most people its actually the module they do best in. If you can meet the entry requirements you'll be fine.


Thanks for your answer :smile: I'm doing HL Maths atm but not Further - I'll see if I have time to start learning bits of FM though. What are the most important topics?

It's mostly calculus though, right? I'm doing the calculus option topic too.
(edited 9 years ago)
I didn't do further maths. Will I be at a disadvantage?


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Reply 12
Original post by Bude8
Thanks for your answer :smile: I'm doing HL Maths atm but not Further - I'll see if I have time to start learning bits of FM though. What are the most important topics?

It's mostly calculus though, right? I'm doing the calculus option topic too.


Yes calculus is integral (excuse the pun :tongue:) to the course! You'll use calculus from high school in pretty much every course.
From the top of my head in 1st year we had imaginary numbers, hyperbolic functions, partial derivatives.
Reply 13
Original post by ThePhoenix13
I didn't do further maths. Will I be at a disadvantage?


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Slightly but don't let it discourage you from not applying. Most of the year didn't do FM and it was fine. They will cover FM anyways but its in one term though so you could find it a bit rushed.
I went through some topics from FP1/2/3 in the summer before uni though and it did make lessons a bit clearer.
Stats is useful for 2nd year where it is part of the maths course.
Original post by babuchang
Slightly but don't let it discourage you from not applying. Most of the year didn't do FM and it was fine. They will cover FM anyways but its in one term though so you could find it a bit rushed.
I went through some topics from FP1/2/3 in the summer before uni though and it did make lessons a bit clearer.
Stats is useful for 2nd year where it is part of the maths course.


I've already applied and have an offer for Imperial. I start this October. I didn't do Stats 2 in yr13. I did mechanics 1 instead.

And after my exams finished, I came back into school once a week and did some matrices work (multiplying matrices, determinants and Inverses) with a maths teacher. My teacher also gave me the PDF versions of the FP1, 2 and 3 books so I guess I should go through some of it. Which topics would it be the most important for me to look through?


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Reply 15
Original post by ThePhoenix13
I've already applied and have an offer for Imperial. I start this October. I didn't do Stats 2 in yr13. I did mechanics 1 instead.

And after my exams finished, I came back into school once a week and did some matrices work (multiplying matrices, determinants and Inverses) with a maths teacher. My teacher also gave me the PDF versions of the FP1, 2 and 3 books so I guess I should go through some of it. Which topics would it be the most important for me to look through?


Posted from TSR Mobile


That's good. Matrices are quite a big part of 1st year maths too.
From FP1 complex numbers, matrices are useful
FP2: 1st and 2nd order ODEs, further complex numbers, Taylor/Maclaurin Series
FP3: Matrices, Hyperbolic functions, integration, some vectors as well
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!


How rigorous is the course? I want to have a balanced life at University but have heard it's one of the hardest disciplines there?

Also I'm an international student, do you have any idea about the job prospects after graduation?

Thanks.
Reply 17
Original post by kkohli17
How rigorous is the course? I want to have a balanced life at University but have heard it's one of the hardest disciplines there?

Also I'm an international student, do you have any idea about the job prospects after graduation?

Thanks.


The course is very rigorous. The hard part is when the coursework kicks in. Lectures are usually only 3-5 hours a day and when there is no coursework (which happens only around 2 weeks per term) this is easy to handle. The coursework is hard and you often stay pretty late and work for the whole weekend as the deadline gets nearer and nearer.
Its not too bad though as you're usually in decent sized groups (6 ppl) and it can be quite fun to work together.

I'm an international student too. I haven't started applying for jobs yet as I'm doing a work placement and I could get offered a job at the end.
On the whole, the department has a pretty good % for the number of students that get a job after 6 months from graduation. I can't remember the figure but its high. Its a mix, some work in the UK others work back home.
There are companies where you can only apply if you are UK/EU citizen but the majority of the big companies (BP, Shell, Exxon) don't have any problems sponsoring international students for work visas.
Reply 18
Whats the physics like?? I didn't do it but I've been looking over it.
Reply 19
Original post by Mercy.O
Whats the physics like?? I didn't do it but I've been looking over it.


You do some very basic quantum physics in Properties of Matter, you'll learn about 'particle in a box,' molecular vibrations, particle interactions. Its very simplified but I found it interesting.
Most of the physics concepts in the other courses is around heat capacity/thermodynamics/ideal gases, which is covered in A level chemistry anyway.
It would be good to know about momentum as that's done in Fluid Mechanics.
Also make sure you're comfortable with pressure, density and their equations as you will use these equations quite a bit too.

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