The Student Room Group

Bath, Cambridge or Imperial for Chemical Engineering?

Scroll to see replies

Original post by A*da*m
It really is a nightmare!! At this rate I'm picking randomly out of a hat and just going to that place!! :wink:

Yeah me too and it is just so mixed opinions I think it will just be complete luck with who is in your accommodation block and course!! London has so much potential which is why I'm not overly concerned, because if I could just find one other person who would want to socialise you could just hit the town and socialise with all the other unis!! :smile: May I ask what your cambridge and imperial offer is and which college at cambridge? :smile:


Camb (Christs):
A* - Maths, Further Maths, Physics
A - Chem
Step (1) 1

Imp:
A* - Maths Chem
A - F Maths Phys
Reply 61
Original post by Bath_Student
Oh, Chrrist above, not Churchill! Do you want your penis to commit suicide?


Ah, hello epsilon0 or alpha0 or... :smile:

And you have a point :wink:
Original post by jneill
Ah, hello epsilon0 or alpha0 or... :smile:

And you have a point :wink:


At least you have a sense of humour :smile:

I can't even count how many accounts I've made (the current one's long term, I rather very much hope). Do you, by a snowflake's chance in hell, remember to which College I applied?
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by A*da*m
Hi, Thank you very much for this!! Much appreciated :smile: I'll take a look at the thread you linked in.

Your accommodation sounds very reasonably priced that's great to hear! :smile: Do the buses actually run up and down from the campus as much as they are advertised) I think I've seen every 5-10 minutes and pretty much 24/7 is this true?

Omg you don't know how excited I was to find there was a Lidl in Bath!! I know its note exactly something you should pick your uni on but it was a big positive for me for Bath!! :smile:

I think that's the sort of workload I would like, I just don't want to be completely overwhelmed by the high intensities of Cambridge and Imperial when I'm probably going to be right at the bottom of the class compared to all the other super smart people :frown:

Thanks again for your reply!


There are a few buses that stop off at the uni and go to different areas in Bath. The one I use (which gets just about full at the busiest of times, but can also be empty) first comes down at 8 and the last one is at around midnight, with no service on Saturdays or Sundays.

The main buses (which have quite long queues for) both seem to be almost 24/7. One goes from around 7 am until 3 am, the other from 7 am till 6am.

And yes, the main ones come every few minutes and go to the centre of town.

:lol: yes, Lidl has some nice things at reasonable prices.

Oh yes, from what I've seen I'd definitely have struggled at Universities like Cambridge, Durham, Warwick etc but here it's just about right (there are some modules I think I've barely passed, others that I've done quite well in :dontknow: but I doubt that anyone works 24/7 or overnight in the library unless it's close to exams or a deadline. And there are some fairly smart people here.
OP. There's a lot of people advising you on this thread based on what THEY would do in your place.

Reading your posts it sounds like you really, genuinely want to go to Bath (but don't feel like you can justify declining Cambridge or Imperial).

You have another 3 months to make this decision so make the most of that time. I'm sure if you ask Cambridge they can arrange for you to visit again, maybe even stay over, in order to get a good feel for the place without the pressure of interviews.

If you are uncertain that you will thrive at Cambridge then go with your gut. 3+ years of feeling unhappy aren't going to get you the degree you're capable of. Choose a university where YOU will thrive - don't risk your future happiness for other people's opinions on prestige. Prestige counts for very little in engineering circles.
Reply 65
Original post by Bath_Student
At least you have a sense of humour :smile:

I can't even count how many accounts I've made (the current one's long term, I rather very much hope). Do you, by a snowflake's chance in hell, remember to which College I applied?


LOL. By deduction I'm guessing it wasn't Churchill... something tells me John's? :wink:
Reply 66
Original post by PQ
Prestige counts for very little in engineering circles.


^ That is certainly true :smile:
Original post by jneill
LOL. By deduction I'm guessing it wasn't Churchill... something tells me John's? :wink:


Well deduced!!!11!!111!!11!!121!11

And lucky guess.
Reply 68
Original post by Bath_Student
Well deduced!!!11!!111!!11!!121!11

And lucky guess.


BOOOOOOOM!

I'm sorry to say you would have fitted in beautifully as a stereotypical Johnian :smile:

(jk, seriously, jk)
I can't stress enough how poor student life at imperial is compared to bath.

Anyway, if you're choosing Cambridge/Imperial, bath MUST be your insurance. Do NOT put Cambridge firm and imperial as an insurance (or vice versa) like some people have stupidly advised you to do.

If you're putting bath as a firm, there's no point at all of putting either Cambridge or Imperial as an insurance. Just put another one of your options down
(edited 8 years ago)
The social aspect of studying at Imperial is just fine. Studying in London has many other (obvious) benefits, too! :biggrin:

If I were you, I'd firm Cambridge and let Imperial be my insurance choice :yep:
(edited 8 years ago)
I'm still waiting for someone to challenge the fact that the workload at Cambridge is significantly higher relative to the essentially equal starting salary. I ask the OP (and anyone else facing this "dilemma") whether they're fine trading the best four years of their life (literally) for a mere grand a year after graduation? It's a preposterous "dilemma". Bath is by far the better choice for a vocational course.
Reply 72
Original post by Bath_Student
I'm still waiting for someone to challenge the fact that the workload at Cambridge is significantly higher relative to the essentially equal starting salary. I ask the OP (and anyone else facing this "dilemma":wink: whether they're fine trading the best four years of their life (literally) for a mere grand a year after graduation? It's a preposterous "dilemma". Bath is by far the better choice for a vocational course.


I can't directly comment except to say the workload for an engineering degree is fairly high no matter the uni. But Cambridge *is* higher largely because of the shorter terms.

(I'm not sure if I'm actually agreeing with you on this... :wink: )

But, on the upside for Cambridge, the 1:2 or 1:3 supervision system is unparalleled.
Original post by jneill
I can't directly comment except to say the workload for an engineering degree is fairly high no matter the uni. But Cambridge *is* higher largely because of the shorter terms.

(I'm not sure if I'm actually agreeing with you on this... :wink: )

But, on the upside for Cambridge, the 1:2 or 1:3 supervision system is unparalleled.


As for the last point, I am not sure all youngsters are all too happy talking to an overly-passionate, old academic on a highly esoteric area without there being any significant financial incentive to do so.

On another note, to what extent do you think a first class degree from, say, Bath is on par with a 2:1 from Cambridge in a field such as engineering, and how much work is a first class degree from Bath in your highly esteemed opinion?
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Bath_Student
You are contradicting yourself left and right. My premise was that Bath offered the best all-round package. Its starting salary is excellent relative to the social life / fun one can have there.

I ultimately rest my case.


I'm not contradicting myself. The only reason I mentioned graduate salary was because you said Cambridge, ICL, and Bath have the same graduate salary for Chemical Engineering. http://university.which.co.uk/ shows that there is a £3k difference between Cambridge/ICL and Bath graduate salaries.

I think quality of education is the most important factor, followed by graduate prospects. Cambridge/Imperial are better than Bath for both of these.
Original post by anonwinner
I'm not contradicting myself. The only reason I mentioned graduate salary was because you said Cambridge, ICL, and Bath have the same graduate salary for Chemical Engineering. http://university.which.co.uk/ shows that there is a £3k difference between Cambridge/ICL and Bath graduate salaries
.ALL OF £3K !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

--
Original post by Princepieman
This doesn't tell us anything..

Fact is, a Bath student is smart enough to vie for the same jobs as the Camb guys. If we're talking strictly 'engineering', then the difference is meaningless as the salary you receive is based on the company/role you chose to apply to.

Pretty poor example rebuttal tbh.


Posted from TSR Mobile


The statistics show that Cambridge/ICL Chemical Engineering graduates earn £3k more than Bath graduates. I doubt all students who study Chemical Engineering go into jobs directly related to Chemical Engineering.

Idk what you're trying to say. Pretty poor response tbh.
Reply 77
Original post by Bath_Student
As for the last point, I am not sure all youngsters are all too happy talking to an overly-passionate, old academic on a highly esoteric area without their being any significant financial incentive to do so.

On another note, to what extent do you think a first class degree from, say, Bath is on par with a 2:1 from Cambridge in a field such as engineering, and how much work is a first class degree from Bath in your highly esteemed opinion?


To the first point it's about the learning not the money. And they aren't all old...

And yes, for an engineering employer they won't be that interested in the degree class (as long as it's 2:1 or better), or the uni.

But why did you apply to Cambridge if you feel so anti? Peer/teacher/parental pressure (actual or perceived)? Or your own idea?
Original post by jneill
To the first point it's about the learning not the money. And they aren't all old...

And yes, for an engineering employer they won't be that interested in the degree class (as long as it's 2:1 or better), or the uni.

But why did you apply to Cambridge if you feel so anti? Peer/teacher/parental pressure (actual or perceived)? Or your own idea?


For the "lolz", if I may so say.

On a slightly more serious note, I rather like the idea until they rejected me. I'm a bitter, bitter old man (at the grand age of 18).
Reply 79
Original post by A*da*m
So as the title suggests, I've had offers from Bath, Cambridge and Imperial for Chemical Engineering and I am having a very hard time deciding which one to choose:/ for me all three have amazing things about them and also bad things about them and so I'm not really getting anywhere in working out which is going to be best for me, I'll sum up very quickly my thoughts on them,

Bath: Year in industry, high students satisfaction, I love the campus, social life probably best out of the three, lovely city, probably a more mixed group who go there compared to cambridge and Imperial, but it does have a lower reputation nationally and most definitely internationally
Cambridge: it's amazing reputation, brand new building so will have amazing facilities, but I'm struggling to see myself doing the whole college and formal dinner thing:/ and also a little concerned at being overwhelmed with the people who go there
Imperial : in London which is good and bad, expensive, heard awful things about the social life (so if any current students could please clear this up I would be so grateful!! :':wink:), high international student percentage

There's loads more things I've considered but that's just what I could think of in two minutes. The grades I need for Cambridge and Imperial are the same while bath is a lot lower. If anyone could reply with some advice I would be so grateful!! Because I am really struggling I have no clue where to choose:/ I appreciate lots of people will say clearly Cambridge because of the reputation but I am trying to choose on overall uni experience rather than just that. Thank you very much for anyone who takes the time to reply! :':wink:


Cambridge firm, Bath insurance. (No point putting Imperial as insurance if their offer is the same as Cambridge's).

Quick Reply

Latest