Imperial College London

London

Seemingly unreasonably hard offer for computing at imperial, should I read into it?

Hi all,

Yesterday I received details of my offer to study computing at Imperial.
I was all very happy until I saw the grades for the offer: A*A* in maths and further maths, AA in physics and chemistry, and a grade 1 in STEP 2. This seems overly hard compared with the standard (although minimum) offer of A*AA-A*AAA. I felt my interview went very well as I thought I'd impressed my interviewer with my knowledge of 2nd and 3rd year topics, and I don't think I'd have a problem with the A-level grades. But that STEP is freaking me out.

Is there any reason why Imperial might have set such high grades?

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Reply 1

Artimus

What did you get at AS?

Imperial College London

London

Reply 2

Atay

Original post by Artimus

What did you get at AS?

AAAAAA
Maths, Further maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and German.
99% in FM, 98% Maths, 96% in Physics were my 3 best UMS scores, which I think went on my reference.

Reply 3

Artimus

Good Lord... I don't think you should be that worried now.

Reply 4

username938249

Rumour has it that last year Imperial gave out to many Computing offers and they had to admit more people than they usually do - maybe that's the reason.

Reply 5

Atay

Original post by ounce

Rumour has it that last year Imperial gave out to many Computing offers and they had to admit more people than they usually do - maybe that's the reason.

That sounds likely.

Reply 6

Enattente

Original post by ounce

Rumour has it that last year Imperial gave out to many Computing offers and they had to admit more people than they usually do - maybe that's the reason.

They also turned away alot of people on results day. People who just narrowly missed their offers in unrelated subjects (ie got a B rather than A in Geography). On enquiry applicants who were turned away were told the department was "oversubscribed". If you do get in, and are not equipped for the course then you are the one who will ultimately suffer so obviously they have decided not to let this happen. Have any EU students been given a Step condition out of interest? Don't worry Atay, alot of people were given similar offers to yours last year too and they made it so I'm sure you will too.

Reply 7

Godel_Mark

Original post by ounce

Rumour has it that last year Imperial gave out to many Computing offers and they had to admit more people than they usually do - maybe that's the reason.

This is true, when I missed my offer for Imperial computing last year, they told me that they were not admitting any extras/"narrow misses" because the computing department was oversubscribed.

Though I got a remark and ended up meeting my offer in the end

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 8

Kolasinac138

Very worried now, that I'll get a STEP offer. :frown:

Reply 9

ThatChineseBoy

Original post by Atay

AAAAAA
Maths, Further maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and German.
99% in FM, 98% Maths, 96% in Physics were my 3 best UMS scores, which I think went on my reference.

Mate, you can do it.

I got 97% in Maths and Further Maths in AS, but obtained A*s in Maths and Further Maths in A2 while putting the same amount of work into my A2 subjects as I did AS.
Edit: I recommend you do a maximum of four A2s though as I did.

Reply 10

Akele

First year Imperial student here, and can confirm Computing was oversubscribed this year as they underestimated the number of people who would make the offer. It is highly likely that the department is giving out high offers to prevent this, which also means that it would still be possible for you to be admitted despite whether you make the exact offer or not (as with many Maths offer holders whom missed the STEP requirements). It all depends on how your peers do, but I wouldn't worry to much about it, just make sure you do your best!

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 11

oskarm93

I joined Imperial in 2012 (Computing as well).
My interview went really badly and my offer was A* (Maths), AAA (Physics, Chemistry and F. Maths) and Merit in AEA Maths.

I don't think your offer is too bad. The standard for mathematics is really high, especially with first years doing A LOT of maths courses.
If you do statistics in Further Maths, the better. It will definitely come in handy 2nd year, if you join that is.
All the best to you.

Reply 12

Kolasinac138

My offer is identical to yours. My main thought right now is to just decline the offer and look elsewhere. Ridiculous that they are giving out these offers, they are harder than both Cambridge and Oxford for Gods' sake.

Reply 13

rohanpritchard

I have a very similar offer with that Grade 1 STEP 2. I think the thing is as well, Imperial really is up there with Oxbridge for computer science, and shooting up the league tables recently, but they don't have the in depth application process that Oxbridge does to sift out the best. So perhaps this is their way of substituting?

Reply 14

Kolasinac138

Original post by rohanpritchard

Yes, I agree.

Reply 15

caveman123

Original post by Kolasinac138

Original post by rohanpritchard

Do you know there are handbags selling for £100,000? Why do you think the price is so high? Because they can!

Obviously if nobody buys it, they'll lower it.

So with Imperial, they're confident they'll get what they ask for.

Reply 16

thecatwithnohat

Original post by ounce

Rumour has it that last year Imperial gave out to many Computing offers and they had to admit more people than they usually do - maybe that's the reason.

It should be. I did work experience there around this time last year and spoke to the undergraduate admissions officer for Computing (Victoria Nicholl, if I recall correctly) and she said that their intake last year was more than what they usually accept.

I'm not sure whether this is the reason for the step up in STEP grades. Probably so from the sounds of it