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Imperial College London
From The Student Room WikiTSR Wiki > University > Choosing a University > University Guides > Imperial College London
 Imperial College is a university based in West London. The main buildings are located in Kensington, near to the Natural History and Science Museums, though it has another campus at Ascot in Berkshire. The university was established in 1907 as part of the University of London. It remained part of the Uni of London until 2007 when it became an independent institution. FacilitiesLibrariesThere is the Central Library as well as individual department libraries on campus, with online booking and search systems for all of the libraries on the campus, as well as access to the STS library in the Science Museum. There are 5 floors in the central library, one for quiet study, one for group study and most levels have computer access. New development and coffee shop to open late 2008. There is also Athens online journal repository access for students. IT and computingComputers in the main library, and each department has a computer cluster. The majority of machines are Pentium 2.7 Ghz, 1Gig Ram, and 17"tft monitors. The computing department DoC has the largest cluster of computers on the campus, all very high spec, with a free printing service, but restricted to computing students. Printing on campus is centralised by the ICT service and charges using online payment system, enabling printing from any computer and printer on camus. HealthcareBrand new health centre opened december 2007 underneath Southside halls, Princes Gardens, across the road from the main campus, with online booking facility for quick visits. ShopsThe South Kensington campus has several shops. This includes a newsagents, a stationery shop, an opticians, STA Travel and Endsleigh Insurance. Campus FoodNo food is served at the weekend or during College holidays. All locations ONLY serve food at lunchtimes unless stated.
In the mornings however, the SCR serves a buffet fry-up breakfast to ALL Imperial College members until 10:30am. This is extremely good value as you can get a full fry up for under £3, and there are plenty of healthy options available too.
BanksBranch of Natwest on Campus. ATMs in Sherfield building and the Union building HSBC directly opposite Gloucester Road station next to Burger King. Natwest and Barclays on the crossroads of Cromwell Road and Gloucester Rd. TransportBus routes serve in a lot of places, see the Transport for London website. There are night buses to central London. South Kensington and Gloucester Road tube stations are a short 5-10 minute walk. Careers servicePart-time jobsWork at the Union. There are a range of jobs available ranging from working behind the bar, stewarding to manning the Union Reception. Work for the College. Work is sometimes available in the Catering department or the Conferences department. Both offer higher rates of pay than the Union jobs, and often for less work. Religious facilitiesChaplaincy inside the union building. Various societies cater for the religious and non-religious. WelfareEach faculty has a slightly different welfare system. In general, students will be assigned a personal tutor (sometimes an extra academic tuor) within the department, and many student-run departmental societies also run 'buddy' systems for incoming students. All departments will have student academic representatives who sit on staff-student meetings. The Student Union has a full time Welfare Advisor who can advise on a range of issues, and there is a full time Education and Welfare Sabbatical Officer as well. SportsImperial College has as a large number of sports clubs, and compete in a number of BUSA leagues. Sports availableAll the major sports are played at Imperial from Football (7 teams!) to Tennis. The most successful Imperial club from a BUSA perspective is IC Boat Club - who consistently win head of the river and other events, and have won at Henley Royal Regatta. Other smaller sports are played as well - such as Lacrosse, Handball, Archery, Sailing, Gaelic Athletic Association, Tenpin Bowling, Ultimate Frisbee, Riding and Polo and American Football etc. Imperial has over fifteen martial arts clubs, including (but not limited to) Wushu, Tae Kwan Do, Wing Chun, Karate, Muay Thai Kickboxing, Shotokan Karate, Shorinji Kempo, Capoeira, Jujitsu and Kendo. Sports FacilitiesEthos sports centre opened in February 2006, and boasts many top facilities including:
Imperial College currently offers free 'gym and swim' to all students - arguably the only university in the UK to do so. On top of Ethos at South Kensington, sports teams and clubs can make use of facilities at other 'satellite' locations - such as Harlington near Heathrow (where the rugby, football, hockey teams train), St Mary's sports hall/gym in Paddington, Charing Cross gym in Hammersmith and the Boathouse in Putney MusicStandards of music at Imperial are extremely high despite not having a dedicated music course offered or music department. This is evidenced by Imperial College Symphony Orchestra recently winning 'UK University of the Year' in March 2008, and an active weekly lunchtime concert series regularly featuring artists such as the Belcea Quartet, Natalie Clein and Charles Owen. There are music rehearsals taking place every evening and most weekends, and many of the student clubs go on tour both within the UK and internationally. The Blyth Music Centre has a mixture of solo and ensemble practice rooms all fitted with upright or grand pianos. There is an organ in the Great Hall where the two main college orchestras and the college choir rehearse each week.
SocialHalls often organise events, but obviously this varies by hall. For the most part not many people go to the union for a night out except at the end of term, but with London at your doorstep, who cares? After first year, the Union is a good meeting place before a night out -- mostly for the cheap drinks! Bars, pubs and clubsThe Union has a couple of bars on campus. The Queen's Arms and the Gloucester Arms are 2-3 minutes walk away from the campus. The rest of London has hundreds of bars of every kind! There is also the medics bar, the Reynolds, at Charing Cross Hospital in Hammersmith. EventsThe Student Union runs a large number of events throughout the academic year which are published at the start of each term.
Regular nights include Tuesday Quiz Nights, Wednesday Sports Nights and fortnightly Gig Nights on Thursdays.
AccommodationAccommodation policyAccommodation is guaranteed to all first year undergraduates, providing Imperial is made their firm choice. If Imperial was your Insurance choice or you are entering a later year, accommodation in halls of residence is still possible but not guaranteed. Most people prefer to leave the halls of residence after their first year, with only a small number of places available for second years primarily given to 'hall seniors' and the rest assigned by a ballot. FacilitiesAll room have internet and telephone access with very fast internet speeds, but there is a 5Gb transfer cap per day enforced with penalties for breaking it. Depending on the hall of residence bathrooms are shared on average between 1 person to 8 people with kitchens shared from between 4 people to 24, though obviously the sizes of the kitchens differ. Halls may also contain some or all of the following facilities: access to a coin operated laundry room, games facilities (pool, table tennis, etc), a tv and a lounge. The majority of halls are non-smoking, however some allow smoking in single study bedrooms. ResidencesThere are around 15 different halls of residence at Imperial, all varying in size, distance from the campus, quality and most importantly price. Beit Hall is one of the closest to the Kensington campus (it is just across the road from Physics and Maths) and is quite often considered one of the nicest, however at around £150 a week it is very costly and cheaper places can still be nice. Southside Halls, newly built and also pretty close, enjoys a better reputation than its previous version. The 'Boathouse' accommodation is located on the Thames in Putney, and is for extreme rowers. Students are chosen to live in this hall of residence based on rowing ability however, so there is only a small chance for first year undergraduates. Private sectorTHe 'Stuedent Accommodation Centre' is available for help with finding accommodation in the private sector. They claim to offer the following services:
Approximate private sector rents vary hugely depending on exact area and size but in zones 1 and 2 Bedsits gnerally start from £110 per week and studio flats from around £160 per week. Your cheapest (and most sociable) bet is to share a larger flat with multiple people, with four bedroom flats from around £410 per week in total. Student unionClubs and societiesImperial has over 300 clubs and societies, more than any other university in the UK, so you'll find something to interest you.
Clubs and societies generally fall under one of the following categories:
It's also easy to start a new society, and you can join societies all through the year. Other ServicesThe Union also provides advice on Welfare and Representation issues - please see section above. BarsThe Student Union runs two different sites; Beit Quad, South Kensington and Reynold's, Hammersmith. On top of this the college runs an additional site; the Holland Club, South Kensington. This article will focus upon the former two sites. Beit Quad (ICU) The Beit Quad site is situated within the same building that the student union is within. There are three permenent bars at Beit. The first is the Union Bar. This is by far the smallest of the three and is also the oldest. The decor currently can be described best as a wooden bar. It is also covered with the history of the union, with the coat of arms of each of the Imperial College faculties. There are also the 'pots' stored behind the bar counter on the rear bar. These are pewter tankards each affliated to a position within the union (many of which are presidents of Clubs and Socs - NB not all C/S have presidential 'pots'). As each 'pot' is past from person to person each year, the side of the pot is engraved with the name of the previous holder of the position. There are also many a tradition related to pots, such as 'potting'. There is also a dart board in this bar The second is Da Vinci's Bar. This is a much larger bar to the Union. The decor here is much more like a canteen, in fact there during lunch hours and during certain nights part of the bar opens up to form 'cattering' which sells food to students. There is also large LCD screens above the bar area and a very large screen projector that projects upon the far end of the room (from where you enter). These screens are usually used during large sporting events, which the union can tune into on the sky box (due to the fact the setup relies solely upon the sky box for its reception, all screens show exactly the same channel). A new addition to this bar is the dukebox in the corner, which may or may not work... The final bar is dB's. This is the club/venue area of the union, which normally opens on a Wednesday and a Friday. The area has a dance area and a stage next to it. Opposite the stage is a DJ booth, which this term has seen talent such as Colin Murrey from the BBC. There is also a more limited bar in dB's as compared to the other two bars, which suprisingly sells at the exact same price as the other two bars. Reynold's Bar (ICSMU) This the Medics bar, situated in the Reynolds building of Charing Cross Hospital. The Reynolds plays host to regular themed "bops" usually on a Friday night, which are hosted by an ICSM sports club. Outrageous fancy dress is encouraged. Despite being situated in such close proximity to a hospital, the bar stays open until 12pm on most main nights. The Reynolds has recently undergone difficulties in retaining it's late license due to complaints from security staff and local residents, but after a brief period of shutting at 10.30pm the bar has resumed nearly normal service. Every Wednesday sees the gathering of ICSMs sports clubs under one roof for a night of chaos, chanting, orange buckets and nudity. ICSM Sports Night, throughout it's rich history and to the present day, has a highly deserved reputation for volumous alcohol consumption. But the Reynold's is not all about shooting-the-boot or sticky floors. When one is not sitting at a drinking circle or being blinded by the lights at a bop, one can observe the ceiling enscribed with signatures of newly qualified doctors - each with their own fond memories of the student days in the Reynolds. The decor is owes much to some of the other Medical Schools of London - as signs obtained from rival medical schools adorn the walls alongside road signs and plaques bearing a relation to ICSM. During the day, a small shops is open at the back of the Reynolds to vend coffee and edible items to students.
Due to the license that the union opperates under, only members of Imperial College, students and members of the NUS may use the bar. To circumvent this law, the Union offer £1.00 yearly membership to the bar facilities. PricesPrices are exclusively for Beit Quad Bars only Draught Drinks/568ml
Spirits/25ml
Non-alcoholic
EnvironmentArchitectureThe front Tanaka entrance looks like a giant tinned bean can inside a glass box and the back of Imperial looks like a block of council flats in Slough. The centre of the campus looks like glass lego. Generally the place is a concrete and glass jungle. Queens tower is big. There's lots of refurbishment at the moment, so things are continually improving. Local areaThe Museums (Science, Natural History and Victoria and Albert) are worth a visit, as is the Royal Albert Hall. This is one of the most expensive areas of London, so you'd usually go elsewhere for a night out (but it's really easy on a bus, and only 90p). Local RestaurantsSouth Kensington area
Gloucester Road area
Other areas
Teaching qualityApplying to Imperial CollegeThinking of applying to Imperial College? Why not read some Personal Statements which were used for applying here? Other Imperial College ArticlesWhy not read these other Imperial College Articles? Links
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