Bath, Cambridge or Imperial for Chemical Engineering?

The fact, that the starting salary differs by a mere 3 grand (for chem eng) for all of that extra work Cambridge losers have to put in, is ultimate proof for me (and anyone without prestige-complexes) that Bath is the better choice.

You have a career ahead of you, not just a starting salary.

But for sure, for engineering specifically, the uni isn't so important for engineering employers.

well obviously it's the better choice FOR YOU. But just as all the prestige whores wetting their pants about a Cambridge offer are wrong to assume that what's best for then is best for everyone you are wrong to assume what's best for you is best for everyone.

100% proof Cambridge > Imperial




Thanks so much for doing the analysis

You have a career ahead of you, not just a starting salary.

But for sure, for engineering specifically, the uni isn't so important for engineering employers.

My case can be rested!

Not really... he did say for engineering employers so that's if you assume everyone studying engineering wants to be an engineer. At Cambridge, most in engineering tend to go outside of their field, in which there are benefits the uni provides for that.

Lastly, using statistics of average salary doesn't say much about the relative "prospects". That's if you assume every student just sets out to maximise their salary upon graduation. It would probably be better if you compared statistics within different industries...

Some good points, but:
-I want to stay in engineering.
-Starting salaries hardly deviate if you have an engineering degree. Even if I want to deviate off to IT, my starting salary is similar. Same with management, or economics or wherever else I'd deviate, which I don't want to anyway.

I will bet that if you had been accepted to Cambridge you would be going there. Ask anyone, and they would tell you they would rather have Cambridge on their CV, rather than Bath. For Engineering, there might be some who would prefer Imperial. No one would prefer Bath.

No one? I got an offer from Imperial, but a social life is of somewhat importance to me. Furthermore, the starting salary is virtually identical, irrespective of where you study ENGINEERING, dickhead. So 5 times the workload for the same starting salary, no thanks, ******.

If you think you'll be doing 80% less work at Bath than Imperial for Engineering you're in for a surprise.

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Just a few remarks:
--> Final grades aren't everything, but they make life so much easier, both concerning career prospects and self-confidence. Hence you should choose the university, who seems the best for you! Supervision may be very beneficial for one student and for the other totally not. There is no general answer.

--> available specialisation: towards the end of the degree, you can choose between courses, how much that depends on uni. While your favorite subjects can change with time, you should look, that the university course you choose, actually offers courses in your favorite field.

--> year in the industry: experience is very important and helpful, on the other hand it might be also possible to do longer internships at the other universities

--> as a lot have said Imperial would have no social life: The students I met, were all really happy with it. But one thing is sure: Engineering is not the subject, where you get to spend lots of time out, but that is down to the work load, has nothing to do with the university.

--> Generally look at grading, course structure, course content ... also look at what you think is essential for you to succeed and whether that is available at university

Concerning reputation: As said already, Imperial and Cambridge are considered equal for engineering. Hence either way, one would go to a very prestigious university. (Which would not meant, they would be the perfect choice.)

I wouldn't worry about the social life at Cambridge or Imperial - most people are happy with their social life wherever they end up. I also wouldn't worry about the intensity of work at Cambridge - if they gave you an offer they are confident that you can cope with it. I also wouldn't worry too much about the difference in prestige between Cambridge and Imperial. Year in industry is also irrelevant - you shouldn't have to worry about getting a job in industry if you go to Cambridge, and you can always do internships. Quite a few people turn down Cambridge for Imperial for engineering for whatever reason. On the other hand, in your position I think firming Bath when you have offers from Cambridge and Imperial would be kind of crazy, there is a fairly considerable difference between Oxbridge/Imperial and everywhere else for engineering.

I would take a close look at the courses for Cambridge and Imperial, see which one you like more, and apply to that university. Something else to consider is that it is fairly easy to transfer from Cambridge (and to a lesser extent Imperial) to Bath if you decide you really hate your first university, but completely impossible to go the other way.

Yeah there is a lot of mixing which is great

I'm in second year. I was in the halls on the main Imperial campus for my first year and am now in private accommodation. Sadly it is London so it is expensive but if you're willing to move out a bit you can get something for around £160 including bills but on average prices will range from £160 to £200+.

Couple of quick things.

The social life at Cambridge can be very good if you want it to be, especially due to its unique features (i.e. colleges).

Do not worry about 'the kind of people you'll meet' at Cambridge; they're as diverse a bunch as you'll find at any uni, and you will easily find people you get along with.

As mentioned, the stated starting salary statistics are only slightly in favour of Cambridge and Imperial over Bath. However, the reality on the ground is quite different if you wish to try for the most competitive and well paid jobs (investment banking, consulting, top technology firms). For those, you massively massively boost your chances by attending Cambridge or Imperial. It is certainly true that if you stay in the same job/industry for a few years, your degree becomes pretty irrelevant; but do not underestimate the benefit and goodwill that your undergraduate institution generates if you want to switch career, apply for further study (e.g. MBAs/PhDs), or for getting certain jobs in the first place.

Hi, thanks for taking the time to write this and sorry I haven't replied sooner

That's good to know about the social life at Cambridge and I do know lots of people who have gone there and having a great time I'm not really concerned about starting salary I know that Cambridge and Imperial will definitely be better for career prospects so I completely agree with you on that note Do you think there is much difference between the reputation of Imperial and Cambridge? Or do you think both would boost your chances in having a more successful career?

Thank you again

I'm afraid what I've got to say will only add more combinations but nevertheless you must consider it.

Cam and Imp have the same offer and Bath is lower, so you correctly stated you can't firm Cam and make Imp insurance or vice versa.

However, one of the possibilities you cited was firming Bath and making Not / Birm insurance. Therefore I assume Not / Birm's offer is lower than Bath.

It also shows in the event you fail to make Bath, you might end up at Not / Birm.

So why would one of your choices not be to firm Cam / Imp and make Not / Birm insurance because you COULD do so badly to miss Cam / Imp's offer but fail Bath's too!

WHAT? Definitely? If the starting salary is virtually equal at Bath or at the aforementioned, how can the prospects be better? They are identical...

And social life being good at Cambridge? At Churchill (Virgin) College? Por favor..

Feel Like I should put this straight as I see it.
I go to Imperial, and it's definitely not antisocial. I think its very true that lots of the students are odd and antisocial, but the same will certainly be true for Cambridge. There are more than plenty very sociable people here, and really you won't know what everyone means when they say the social life is terrible. Imperial has more societies than any other uni in the UK, so its impossible not to find a group of like-minded people in my opinion.
Socially, I think cambridge is very similar, but because they essentially have the same workload as Imperial, but condensed into 3 fewer weeks, it means you will definitely find it tougher going, and more socially lacking than Imperial. I guess it goes without saying that you'll have the most fun at bath, but will regret not going to Imperial and definitely will regret not going to cambridge, at the end of the day you're right they're not ranked has highly.
London is expensive, don't underestimate. But Imperial is most famous for all it's engineering departments.
tl;dr, I go to Imperial, but had I got an offer from Cambridge, I have to admit I would have accepted it in a second, even though I personally love going here. Also, don't assume that they'll be a load of posh toffs at Cambridge. Yes there will be some, but largely people will be very humble and more like-minded than you think. I think the type of people who go to imperial and cambridge are not that disimilar.

It's an incredibly small sample (3 people!) We only have had connect on the site for one full cycle (15/16 applications) and many people don't put in all their choices, or update their data afterwards when they receive offers - and Engineering at both Cambridge and Imperial is very specific... But all those 3 chose Cambridge.
There's also 8 members who had offers from Imperial and Bath (no offer from Cambridge) and they all chose Imperial.