I&#x27;m an Imperial College Physics student! Feel free to ask me questions!

May I ask what grades you've got at GCSEs and A Levels? :smile:

Reply 4

OP

Original post by WinterWind

May I ask what grades you've got at GCSEs and A Levels? :smile:

If I'm totally honest, especially for physics, these are not extremely important. As long as you meet the entry requirements, then it's mainly down to your interview. If you can demonstrate your physics skill at the interview then that's what will get you a place at Imperial College. Yes, having higher predictions and grades may help slightly, but they are people who have minimum requirements and are studying just fine at Imperial College.

So, make sure you get the minimum requirements. Good predictions will help. But at the end of the day, the interview is quite important.

A lot of the people at Imperial have grades that are higher than the entry requirements but I think that has more to do with the fact that the people who they accept based on the interview are those who also tend to get higher grades anyway.

NOTE: I just thought I'd point out that at my interview, my interviewer read my personal statement out aloud to me and got my to explain it pretty much bit by bit, so I'd say also write your PS carefully and don't BS.

If you still want my grades, I can PM to you :smile:

Reply 5

OP

Original post by Karoel

How different is the physics course compared to the A-level? (if you've done that)

I'm not 100% loving my physics A-level at the moment, even though it's interesting at parts I just can't really get into what I'm learning. I'm guessing you've got one, but how did you find your interest in the subject?

Thanks :smile:

I agree. I found the Physics A-level pretty boring. The way I got into the subject was by reading around and looking beyond the scope of the prescribed A-level course. Wikipedia was my best friend at school just because it made reading around so easy! (it still does!) University textbooks are also okay but not necessary and undergrad textbooks can be sometimes dull without reading up on the whole picture.
Another great way is to simply read journals and magazines such as Physics World and New Scientist.

Beyond this, I would sometimes try and find more challenging questions such as those presented on PAT papers, the Physics Olympiad, etc... But these can also take up a lot of time and are (most of the time) beyond the scope of the course.

There are some great physics courses online at places such as MIT OpenCourseWare where they have courses on the particular topics that interest you. However, these may be a bit advanced.

Reply 6

WitnessMO

14

How do you find the course?
Whats the workload like?
How many hours of self study do you do on a typical day?
Whats the best thing about studying in London?

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(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 7

OP

Original post by hiphysics

Is it easy to look for research opportunities in IC? Is the UROP very competitive?

Well, if I'm honest, I'm not 100% about how competitive UROP is. I know that the places get filled very quickly and that it's open to all the undegraduates in the college. So, I'm guessing it's pretty competitive. But if you apply early, you will probably get a placement :smile:

I'll learn more about this and get back to you :smile:

Reply 8

Ilovemaths96

13

Original post by Gavin.

If I'm totally honest, especially for physics, these are not extremely important. As long as you meet the entry requirements, then it's mainly down to your interview. If you can demonstrate your physics skill at the interview then that's what will get you a place at Imperial College. Yes, having higher predictions and grades may help slightly, but they are people who have minimum requirements and are studying just fine at Imperial College.

So, make sure you get the minimum requirements. Good predictions will help. But at the end of the day, the interview is quite important.

A lot of the people at Imperial have grades that are higher than the entry requirements but I think that has more to do with the fact that the people who they accept based on the interview are those who also tend to get higher grades anyway.

NOTE: I just thought I'd point out that at my interview, my interviewer read my personal statement out aloud to me and got my to explain it pretty much bit by bit, so I'd say also write your PS carefully and don't BS.

If you still want my grades, I can PM to you :smile:

i applied for mechanical engineering to start in 2014, unfortunately i was rejected. Even though they are different courses they are still very competitive and from my experience (and from the feedback) i learnt that if you want to past the first hurdle in other words get an interview, you have got to have an application which on paper is brilliant. I was predicted 2 a*s and two a's. Feedback - application was good but not outstanding. oh yeah btw, fairly average gcse grades. so i basically disagree with you about so called minimum requirements which is very misleading. it tempts you into thinking that for example a minimum of a star and three a's for example is sufficient.

Reply 9

WinterWind

Original post by Gavin.

If I'm totally honest, especially for physics, these are not extremely important. As long as you meet the entry requirements, then it's mainly down to your interview. If you can demonstrate your physics skill at the interview then that's what will get you a place at Imperial College. Yes, having higher predictions and grades may help slightly, but they are people who have minimum requirements and are studying just fine at Imperial College.

So, make sure you get the minimum requirements. Good predictions will help. But at the end of the day, the interview is quite important.

A lot of the people at Imperial have grades that are higher than the entry requirements but I think that has more to do with the fact that the people who they accept based on the interview are those who also tend to get higher grades anyway.

NOTE: I just thought I'd point out that at my interview, my interviewer read my personal statement out aloud to me and got my to explain it pretty much bit by bit, so I'd say also write your PS carefully and don't BS.

If you still want my grades, I can PM to you :smile:

Thank you for such a detailed explanation! I will definitely put a lot of effort into my PS. Thanks for the tip! :biggrin:

BTW, I didn't mean to be nosy :tongue:

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 10

Reddish

Hey

I have an offer to study Aero this year, so assuming I get the grades I will go to imperial hopefully :smile:

My questions are based more on the infamous imperial social life. Is it really as bad as they say? Also how is the workload? How many hours are spent in lectures?

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Reply 11

OP

Original post by Ilovemaths96

i applied for mechanical engineering to start in 2014, unfortunately i was rejected. Even though they are different courses they are still very competitive and from my experience (and from the feedback) i learnt that if you want to past the first hurdle in other words get an interview, you have got to have an application which on paper is brilliant. I was predicted 2 a*s and two a's. Feedback - application was good but not outstanding. oh yeah btw, fairly average gcse grades. so i basically disagree with you about so called minimum requirements which is very misleading. it tempts you into thinking that for example a minimum of a star and three a's for example is sufficient.

Yes, you're right. I was talking about after getting the interview stage in which, in physics at least, the interview is much more important I feel looking at the grades of my peers. But you're right in that, I guess when they are judging who gets an interview, a large emphasis will be on the grades.

Although I know physicists who have the minimum grades, they were all probably predicted much higher.

I apologise for this mistake.

Reply 12

OP

Original post by WinterWind

Thank you for such a detailed explanation! I will definitely put a lot of effort into my PS. Thanks for the tip! :biggrin:

BTW, I didn't mean to be nosy :tongue:

Haha. Don't worry. I'm not personally bothered :P Please see my post above.

Reply 13

OP

Original post by Reddish

Hey

I have an offer to study Aero this year, so assuming I get the grades I will go to imperial hopefully :smile:

My questions are based more on the infamous imperial social life. Is it really as bad as they say? Also how is the workload? How many hours are spent in lectures?

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1. No, it definitely isn't as bad as they say but it does depend on your course as other courses have heavier/lighter workloads. Also depends on yourself; you have to make the effort to go out and meet up with people. Imperial does quite a few events such as balls, and then individual societies do there own thing too.
2. This is course dependent but generally speaking, it depends on how much work you want to put in; for example, it will depend on whether or not you complete the optional problem sheets or if your course has an emphasis on design work, or whatever. But with all courses, it is doable as long as you don't slack too much. The general rule to pass first year is do the problem sheet which many people don't do until the very end of the year (exam time! :P).
3. Depends on your course. I spend about 15-20 hours in lectures maximum. Depends also on point during the year. For example, in third term, I only had two lecture courses amounting to 8 hours of lectures a week.

Reply 14

Barney13

Is owning a laptop more handy than a desktop- do you use laptops in lectures or would need one to complete your work somewhere other than your room? If that makes sense?

Reply 15

WinterWind

Original post by Gavin.

Haha. Don't worry. I'm not personally bothered :P Please see my post above.

Thanks!!!

Reply 16

Sotty94

Hi Gavin!
I am a prospective undergraduate physics student at Imperial and I come from Italy. I have to apply for accomodation by 25th July.
I read on the website that in Beit Hall levels of noise are higher in comparison to other halls. Do you know someone who have lived there? Could tell me how much noise there is? Is something unbearable or just a fully tolerable noise? Is there noise also overnight?
Thanks in advance

Reply 17

Reddish

Original post by Gavin.

1. No, it definitely isn't as bad as they say but it does depend on your course as other courses have heavier/lighter workloads. Also depends on yourself; you have to make the effort to go out and meet up with people. Imperial does quite a few events such as balls, and then individual societies do there own thing too.
2. This is course dependent but generally speaking, it depends on how much work you want to put in; for example, it will depend on whether or not you complete the optional problem sheets or if your course has an emphasis on design work, or whatever. But with all courses, it is doable as long as you don't slack too much. The general rule to pass first year is do the problem sheet which many people don't do until the very end of the year (exam time! :P).
3. Depends on your course. I spend about 15-20 hours in lectures maximum. Depends also on point during the year. For example, in third term, I only had two lecture courses amounting to 8 hours of lectures a week.

Thanks so much for the detailed reply!! I plan on making an effort to be social and join loads of clubs so hopefully I will make a great group of friends.
I'm takin aero which is probably considered one of the hardest subjects going by the grades I'm required to achieve!! But hopefully I will still have loads of time left over to relax and hang out with friends.
Once again thanks a lot for the reply :smile:

hope your exams went well btw.

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Reply 18