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Imperial College London

London

Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College - Invitation to Interview

I received an e-mail and letter a couple of days ago inviting me for an interview on the 13th of February.

Is anyone else attending this day?

Anyone have any past experiences with Mechanical Engineering interviews at Imperial?

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Reply 1

Henerz

I was interviewed back in November. It wasn't anything too strenious. Tour, Lunch and short interviews. I wasn't asked anything accademic but I rekon I had it quite easy. If you are it's not really anything you revise for or what not.

Good Luck, not a bad day out and it should finish quite early. Oh....make really sure you know why you want ot study Mech Eng, they might just ask you when you least expect it :wink:

Imperial College London

London

Reply 2

Kerch

Henerz

Oh....make really sure you know why you want ot study Mech Eng, they might just ask you when you least expect it :wink:

I think I know what you're referring to here. I heard they ask this question when they register you.

What was an average response?

Reply 3

ashy

Kerch

I think I know what you're referring to here. I heard they ask this question when they register you.

What was an average response?

"I'm not good enough to do Aeronautical Engineering".

Lol

ashy

"I'm not good enough to do Aeronautical Engineering".

lol too...but isn't Aero an AAB subject? So says the website. Anyway, obvioulsy Mech Eng isn't one of your A-levels so basically you want to say why you arn't doing physics or maths. Generally regurgiate the crucial piece of your personal statment...i.e. work experience or something which made you decide your degree course :smile:

Reply 6

Kerch

Thanks for the advice :smile:

I know someone at my school who had a mechanical engineering interview at Imperial and he said he didn't get asked any academic questions either. I'd feel pretty bad if I got a maths question and was rejected because I didn't deal with it well enough :frown:

Reply 7

shandelsam

If it helps, one of my friends was called in for an interview last week, she went and got an offer on the spot! Also, she said they didn't ask her any academic questions, just had a conversation with her about grandchildren. How odd. I guess they just really liked her. Good luck though!

Reply 8

Gimperial

A lot of the times its down to the specific interviewer. Some interviewers dont really believe in the interview process, so they just tend to not care what you say during it

Reply 9

Kerch

Seems a little unfair that the interviewer you get could make such a large difference to the outcome of your application, but it's understandable that they have to be selective and efficient when processing applicants.

I'm getting nervous now, starting to worry about insignificant things, like what they're going to offer for lunch? - I hate eating when I'm nervous.

Reply 10

HCD

Kerch

Everything in life is a little unfair... :rolleyes:

Reply 11

Kerch

In case anyone has an interview coming up and is curious about what happens, I'm writing a detailed account of the day.

The admissions room was on the 7th floor, and it gradually filled up with about 30 to 40 people from 10:00 to 10:30. Everyone was sitting in nervous silence waiting for the admissions tutor to show up. Once the admissions staff had arrived there was a brief introduction and then they registered us "with a twist". This involved telling the group your first name, where you're from and why you want to study mechanical engineering. It wasn't especially intimidating, and most answers were fairly similar. If you're reading this then you'll have an advantage over most of the students who aren't expecting it.

Next was a powerpoint presentation (~45 minutes) about engineering in general, which dealt with the responsibilities of engineers. After this they gave us a voucher for tea/coffee which we got from a canteen down the corridor. Then there was a presentation about the structure of the course and the options available, and we were given a simple application form which could be filled in later.

Then lunch, which was in a small room with a table full of sandwiches. A lot of people, including myself, didn't really eat anything and started talking to the current students straight away. It's a nice opportunity to ask questions and get a bit more knowledge about the interview. At 13:00 our attention was drawn to an interview timetable which showed us the details of the interview. The interview times varied between 14:15 and 15:30, I had one of the early slots because I lived about 3 hours away. In the time before the interview we were shown around the department by two current undergraduates, it would have been a lot more enjoyable if our mind wasn't on the impending interview, but it's still a good (but fairly unorganised) tour.

We returned to the initial room about 10 minutes before our interviews, and it was up to us to scatter ourselves and find the interviewer.

My interview was on the 6th floor, so not very difficult to find. It started with him handing me an engine component from one of his shelves, which I had to describe. I knew it was a cam-shaft which drives the intake/outtake valves on an engine, so I started off fairly confidently, although I forgot about the bearing and it took me a while to point out where the drive belt goes. He then asked me about living in London, which is an easy question, just be positive about it. My lack of work-experience was picked up on, but in the end he seemed fairly positive about my application and he told me I'd need 3 As to get in. It was over very briefly (so only about 12 minutes long).

It was implied that I'd receive an offer, but the interview wasn't fantastic, so I'm not sure yet. All in all, it wasn't a very difficult day, although if you have to get up at 5:30 like I did you will be quite tired by the end.

Reply 12

xinolisss

Are imperial interviews like oxbridge ones, or are they a joke compared to them. Coz I've been to a cambridge engineering interview, but I wasn't on time to make it to the imperial one, so anyone who's done it and can speak about the contents of their interview feel free to fill me in :biggrin:

Reply 13

Master Polhem

Differs from department to department. Some take it brutally serious and some can't give a toss. I've been to one of each.

Reply 14

xinolisss

Aren't we talking here about the MEch Eng department, how's that one..

Reply 15

Henerz

xinolisss

My Cambridge interview certainly made my Imperial one look like a joke. However, think I had a particularly easy Imperial interview...it was more of a chat about the different ways you can do the course, i.e. with a language and work experience thrown into the mix, and a bit about ship design; as in the hull shape.

Cambridge, on the other hand, was "solve this," "Differentiate this" etc. It was obviously another means to decide whether you are going to get an offer. This, I think, is the crucial difference. Imperial are handing out offers on the day, which implies they have already made their mind up about you and are just checking you're not a twit; Oxbridge interviews are to differentiate their candidates: Imperial checks you are worth your 3 A's, Oxbridge sees how much better than that you are.

Reply 16

Kerch

I got my offer in the post this morning, surprisingly quick.

A in Maths, Physics and Further Maths. (no surprises there)

Reply 17

WokSz

Henerz

Exactly and I think that Imperial may be a little more lenient if you do muck up your interview, as they seem to place less influence on it than Oxbridge do.

Did you end up getting into Cambridge?

Reply 18

Henerz

WokSz

Did you end up getting into Cambridge?

No, I didn't (hence I read the Imperial board!) but I never really expected to get in...My GCSE's wern't all that great and UMS scores averaging around the 265 mark just arn't up to scratch. So, I was [pleasently] shocked to get thrown in the winter pool, but it was just more messing around before the inevitable. Imperial was always my "realistic" first choice :smile:

Reply 19

Kerch

Henerz

Your marks seem very good, I know people with similar scores who got into Cambridge at my school, although we did get a surprisingly high amount of people accepted into Oxbridge (12 in the year). Maybe it was the lack of A2 further maths?