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Oxford vs Imperial Engineering

What do you think is harder to get into do you think?

Engineering Science at Oxford (A*AA)
Or
Mechanical Engineering at ICL (A*A*A)

Many thanks in advance.

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There are two aspects to this: the offer and the selection process gaining the offer. On the offer, Oxford is good value at A*AA (it will most likely be A*A*A soon).
On the selection process, Imperial may be a shade easier. But have you considered the course content and the pros and cons of whether you prefer London city life?
If you are a contender for a place at either University, these considerations would be my starting point.
I dont know about whats harder to get into but for engineering the best is as follows.

1. Cambridge
2. Imperial
3. Oxford
Reply 3
Avatar for dbla21
dbla21
OP
6
Original post by admissionshost
There are two aspects to this: the offer and the selection process gaining the offer. On the offer, Oxford is good value at A*AA (it will most likely be A*A*A soon).
On the selection process, Imperial may be a shade easier. But have you considered the course content and the pros and cons of whether you prefer London city life?
If you are a contender for a place at either University, these considerations would be my starting point.


Yh I have, atm I'm not completely sure I want to do Mechanical, because I like all engineering in all its aspects, which is the reason for wanting Oxford. (Cambridge is probably harder to get in that oxford)

Thank you.
Reply 4
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dbla21
OP
6
Original post by newblood
I dont know about whats harder to get into but for engineering the best is as follows.

1. Cambridge
2. Imperial
3. Oxford


Yh, thanks for the info.
However I think that even though ICL is better, oxford would be harder to get in because of its reputation though ICL is pretty similar too.
Original post by newblood
I dont know about whats harder to get into but for engineering the best is as follows.

1. Cambridge
2. Imperial
3. Oxford


Long way off. As an engineering institution, Imperial is most reputable. In terms of what a student gets out of their degree, Oxford would probably fall somewhere in the middle of the 46 accredited universities for engineering.
Reply 6
Avatar for bhushan
bhushan
Hi, I was also wondering about these two! I would like to know for which of the two i have the best chance for(or neither!)
GCSE:6A* 4A +A in fsmq add maths
AS: AABBB(Maths(95%), Biology, F.Maths, physics and chemistry respectively)
A2 Predictions: A*A*AA(Maths, physics, further maths and chemistry respectively)
I understand both universities will be incredibly tough but I feel with oxford's PAT I'll have an opportunity to show that I am better than my AS grades! I'd just like other people's views, thank you!
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Like_A_G6
Long way off. As an engineering institution, Imperial is most reputable. In terms of what a student gets out of their degree, Oxford would probably fall somewhere in the middle of the 46 accredited universities for engineering.


you start off with ''as an engineering institution'', while i do not. you are ranking on a different system to i.
Original post by newblood
you start off with ''as an engineering institution'', while i do not. you are ranking on a different system to i.


What good is a university that is ranked highly overall but don't have the resources to best facilitate your subject? Just pointing out that Oxford is not renowned for engineering and shouldn't be considered to be in the same bracket as imperial
Original post by Like_A_G6
What good is a university that is ranked highly overall but don't have the resources to best facilitate your subject? Just pointing out that Oxford is not renowned for engineering and shouldn't be considered to be in the same bracket as imperial


i know that. cambridge and imperial are easily a lot better than oxford for engineering. Oxford isnt even top for any science subjects these days
Original post by newblood
i know that. cambridge and imperial are easily a lot better than oxford for engineering.


What makes that so?
Original post by Smack
What makes that so?


Oxford is general for the first 2 years and even in year 3 and 4 you can only specialise in 2 fields minimum... Eg. Mech and information .

Engineering is a discipline where specialism at the very least in later years is important. With cambridge and imperial you specialise from the beginning and that is important as to get ahead in an engineering career you need to be well disciplined in your strand...problem with oxford is it looks a little at everything -- for those who know they want to become engineers after it makes a lot more sense to choose cambridge over oxford which is why cambridge is regarded as the place of engineering from oxbridge. It is not the fact that the course and teaching etc is bad (or worse relatively) but it is because Oxford offers a GENERAL engineering course unlike the others which specialise from the start - crucial from an engineering standpoint. Oxford once offered EEM (Engineering, Economics, Mangament) which was very good for those that enjoyed engineering but didnt necessarily want to be an engineer.

We are picking at hairs here though, the difference between Cambridge, Oxford and Imperial is negligible in the grand scheme of things- which is probably more important than its difference when looking at engineering alone!

[EDIT: Sorry for the late reply :smile: ]
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by newblood
...


I thought Cambridge did general engineering and then asked you to specialise (like Oxford)
Original post by pleasedtobeatyou
I thought Cambridge did general engineering and then asked you to specialise (like Oxford)


No you can do stuff like chemical engineering via natsci or mechanical engineering etc. Cambridge particilarly do not offer a general engineering course.
Original post by pleasedtobeatyou
I thought Cambridge did general engineering and then asked you to specialise (like Oxford)


Imperial however offers a lot more strands than even Cambridge, so it is often considered to be a better option than Oxbridge if you know what specialism you want to go into.
With just 3 years in UG, I would recommend specializing (at least to a branch) as soon as possible.

In North America we have 4 years UG, and some universities start specializing first year, some second, and some third. Graduates of universities that specialize earlier tend to do much better, just because they get much more specialized training, instead of general stuff, most of which will turn out to be completely useless.

Downside is of course if you change your mind. I would still recommend specializing early however.
why not apply to both?
Makes me depressed that I missed my imperial offer but got into UCL. :redface:

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Reply 18
Avatar for Noble.
Noble.
17
Original post by newblood
No you can do stuff like chemical engineering via natsci or mechanical engineering etc. Cambridge particilarly do not offer a general engineering course.


What are you on about? It takes 5 minutes to check that both Oxford and Cambridge teach their engineering courses with a broadly similar concept - the first two years everyone essentially does the same basic general engineering material, then the last two years there's scope for specialisation.
Original post by Noble.
What are you on about? It takes 5 minutes to check that both Oxford and Cambridge teach their engineering courses with a broadly similar concept - the first two years everyone essentially does the same basic general engineering material, then the last two years there's scope for specialisation.


And it takes a further 5 minutes to realise you are comparing only one of Cambridge's engineering course, and to also appreciate that Cambridge allow specialism earlier on than Oxford...in fact even by 3rd year and 4th year in Oxford you can not specialise into one discipline, you still have to spread your time over 2 or 3.

There was a thread on here a little while back where an Oxford engineer complained hugely about the lack of specialism at Oxford compared to Imperial, and to a slightly lesser extent Cambridge. I shall try to find it

You have now find your reason for why people generally view Cambridge/Imperial as better than Oxford for engineering. In fact it is crystal clear. But there is no point arguing with you as you will never accept the reason you apparently seek to find, however valid, as all you seem to want to do is argue about anything, no matter how trivial.

Out of interest though, and i probably wont reply so as to not detract from the thread: Do you think that Oxford is better than Cambridge for maths, I ask only because the recent QS ranking puts Oxford 2nd and Cambridge 4th or 5th and someone I know starting at Oxford this term told me it proves that Oxford is the best regarded and most difficult course for mathematics. Funnily enough, MIT is placed first when all the anecdotal evidence on this forum seems to show that they learn a lot less mathematics over in the US, though my oxford friend seems to think MIT and Oxford are the best for maths...he's a lot like you i imagine :rolleyes:.

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