Imperial chemical engineering interview 2024

Is 2A and A to weak for imperial even though that’s the entry requirements, but all of you lot have like 4A😭, so I don’t know

For most people with 4A*s it’s predicted. Most people I know don’t achieve 4A*s, they most often achieve 2/3A*s.

Therefore, for predicted students they often see people with 2/3A*s predicted as the same level.

But I could be wrong.

has anyone heard back with a decision after their chem eng interview yet?

Did they tell you why you got rejected? Or was it just a straight-up rejection? Sorry for asking but I am waiting for a response from them and am just really nervous.

have the decisions come up on ucas or is it just an email.

Does it matter that much if someone has 4 a stars or 3 a stars as their predicted grades?

Sorry I was mean to say 2A* and A

Absolutely not! It's not weak by any means. It depends on the course you have applied for (i.e. how competitive it is), how you have done on your admissions test and/or interview, and how strong your application is.

If you applied for Computing, I would say that you have lower chances unless you have a strong personal statement and a strong admissions test and interview performance because the acceptance rate is 5% (1 in 20 applicants!!).

I worked out that the chances of securing an interview is 1 in 16 (because I knew the acceptance rate for the course and also the offer rate post-interview, which is 80%) for Computing applicants and having a strong admissions test performance doesn't even guarantee interview. You need to have a strong personal statement as well. In the past few years, there have been several cases where applicants have scored full marks on the admissions test and yet not received an interview so it just goes to show the importance of the personal statement.

In that, the number of applicants predicted 4 A*s or higher is insane! The competition is extremely tough. At my interview, which was in-person, we were split into 6 groups which consisted of ~ 15 people. I am by no means exaggerating when I say that literally every person in my group had an Oxbridge interview coming up as well!

To give you a valid comparison between the two, I will use football. 4 A*s is Manchester City.

3 A*s is Arsenal.

Both are very good but when compared against, one side (Manchester City) always has a slight edge. Some schools only allow you to do three a levels and EPQ because the school has to pay the exam board or the government (I think) for every A level that a given student takes. As a result, it won't be used that much to make a decision about a given applicant because it would disadvantage certain demographics of applicants.

Therefore, in addition to grades, Imperial holds admissions tests (in most departments) and interviews to determine the merit of applicants as it is a fair metric that eliminates any external factors, like availability of subjects to take.

I got my offer 2 weeks ago, predicted 5 A*s ( 4 A level subjects and EPQ) , GCSEs: 9999999988, I smashed my admissions test (the questions were really easy) and I think that my interview went well but hard to say. We talked about a project I did for industry for 15 minutes and my interview ran over by 10 minutes. I was the last interviewee to leave the campus that day. That being said, there was one shaky Maths question that I got asked (which I eventually got) but I needed a couple of prompts.

The questions I got asked were:

Why Imperial?

Three questions on my personal statement on the project I did, future prospects and something technical I mentioned in my application.

Then we had two Maths questions: The first one was a proof by contradiction, which was easy enough. The second one, which threw me off-guard, was a mechanics question. I answered the first part easily enough and I got the second part with a diagram. For the third part, I was completely stuck (even though I had drawn the entire solution on the board 😂😂, I still could formulate an answer and I looked at the board for 2 minutes straight). I had worked out the shape formed is an arc and so after a couple of prompts I realised that it meant that these lengths were equal.

Look, just calm down...
First of all, you earlier said they prioritise Computing applicants - they don't!! Each department moves at its own pace and most interview dates are January onwards. STEP is there but that doesn't mean they are obliged to be nice and give out offers earlier. Furthermore, please don't overstate the competition and oversimplify - Imperial claims [huge number]:1 rates but this is just statistical liberty. Based on your example, I've gone and gotten some data that shows real interview rates are 1 in ~4 and offer rates are 1 in 5 or 6. Also Imperial do like to see 4 A levels if you have had the opportunity. If it's common at your school to take 4, then Imperial might like to see 4, or if it's common to take 3 then 3 and vice versa.

It's also not great that you are actively sharing interview questions - I reckon that's against the terms and conditions.

Thanks a lot for your detailed answer aside from what you’ve already said do you have any other interview advice for me? Iv recently just been going over the A2 course, oxbridge admission questions and super-curricular stuff I mentioned in my ps but I don’t know if that’s enough? Also what exactly did you wear to the interview?

I'd say familiarise yourself with Maths, Physics and Chemistry principles. If you can do the Oxbridge ones, you can do the ones at Imperial (I think) because the Oxbridge ones stretch you even further than the ones at Imperial. Remember one thing - they don't care about the correct answer (though if you do get it like I did in mine, that's a massive plus).

Since you know your interviewer, take your time to find out more about them and their area of research because you can ask questions at the end.

Also, can I just say that what you have done is more than enough. For my interview, I just prepared myself for the range of questions I could be put up with (general questions) and then went for it.

As far as interview preparation goes, in the coming weeks to your interview, the best thing to do is to take a break. By all means, familiarise yourself with the activities you have mentioned in your personal statement (I'd be a bit worried if you can't remember most of the ones you have mentioned) and maybe a couple of the questions but other than that, DON'T DO ANYTHING.

Now this isn't something I concocted up myself but I completely agree with this philosophy. This is something which was concocted by Professor Frank Stajano, a Computer Science fellow affiliated with Trinity College Cambridge. He has a YouTube channel which talks about admissions-related matters and this is the one bit of advice he had for interviews.

You have done what you can in terms of doing the activities and there is no point in going over it again and again after you have received the interview. Try to relax yourself.

I would try to find the YouTube channel but I can't post links on here without it taking a day to check the validity of it. Search up Frank Stajano Explains on YouTube and look for the videos about interviews.

As for what you should wear, I wore trousers with a belt and a formal shirt (a semi-casual look. I didn't want to come in a hoodie but at the same time I didn't want to come in a suit so found the in-between). People wore all sorts of different things - some people came in wearing hoodies, some people were dressed in a similar style to me, some people came in wearing their school uniform and a handful of people came in wearing suits.

What you wear isn't important. I understand that what you wear sets out the first impression but they look beyond that because that could all just be style over substance. Just perform as well as you can and you'll be fine.

Thanks a lot wish me luck

Good luck! We have no doubt that you will be successful in this endeavour....when is it??

17th of Jan

The course data you have published is from 2019 and I'm going off what is said on the actual course website for the 2023 entry. I'm not sure which is accurate to be honest but because it's from last year, I trust that one more. I'm not too sure what Imperial think to be honest about the number of A levels that should be taken from my school. We've only had 3 other people go there in the past (All for medicine) and they did all did 3 + EPQ.

As for the interview questions stuff, I will refrain from sharing anymore. It's a different course that the OP is applying for so I thought it wouldn't help them but I realise my mistake as others applying for the course could also access this forum...

Well, using the course data from 2022 which I found here in a matter of minutes, and by doing some calculations with the data on your quoted course (specific to home applicants, UK-domiciled), I have found that 1 in 5 people received offers for the course you mentioned in 2022... so the 1 in 16 interview ratio and 1 in 20 offer ratio you mentioned is impossible for home students. These statistics (the 1 in 5 thing) is also consistent going back at least a few years. Furthermore, the 2023 cycle has not completed yet so I have no idea what statistics you found!

Basically, what I'm saying is don't pull statistics out of thin air (especially when the real data is easy to procure) since it could really scare some people off applying for courses which they are academically suited for if they hear these sorts of crazy numbers people pull out!

I'm going off stats for 2023 ENTRY (i.e. last year's applicants). If you look at the course website (just search up Imperial Computer Science BEng) and scroll down I think to the entry requirements slide, you will see that the applications to places ratio is 20:1. Now, I've seen and heard a wide range of acceptance rates for post-interview.

One of the lecturers on the day of my interview said it is 1 in 9 (I didn't ask him - there was this presentation on Imperial's history and the course details and tour we were given as part of the day). The admissions tutor said on the day and this is direct quotes that "the acceptance rate for the course was 1 in 20 last year and after thoroughly looking through your applications, we deemed you to have enough potential to receive an offer from us." I spoke with said person afterwards and they said the 1 in 9 figure.

I also asked another admissions tutor and they said that they don't know the exact number but it is extremely high (above 65% she said).

Upon asking the current first year and second year students, they said that it is something like 80%+ and this reinforces what I saw online that the offer rate after securing an interview is 80%. Now, going off the fact that the acceptance rate is 5%, and the offer rate from interview is 80%, it means that the chance of getting an interview is (1/20) / (4/5) which give us 1 in 16. That's how I got the number (not from thin air).

Yes, I recieved my offer on the 8th of december. My interview was on Nov 29.

Congrats!! How was the interview, what sort of questions and technical questions did they ask, and how did u prepare?