Imperial Computing

mrman2000

I am interested in applying to Imperial for computing. I'd like to know what it's like to study there.
For those of you who are studying there, how big is the workload? How many hours of lectures are there per week? How many hours of free time do you get every day? How hard is it to get a first or 2:1? What were your grades at GCSE and A-level?

Another thing I'd like to ask is, would it be possible to have a programming job while studying at Imperial? Is there any way to view lectures online so that you could say, do the stuff that you missed after work.

Sorry for all of the questions, there isn't really much info online for me to go off. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks :smile:

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 1

mrman2000

...

Imperial College London

London

Reply 2

Rabadon

Hey. I started imperial computing in 2016 but recently left as the course wasn't for me. Don't let this put you off though, everyone's different. The workload is pretty big; but it's to be expected. I had around 25 hours a week of lectures/labs/tutorials.

All lectures are recorded online. Honestly, I would be surprised if you could handle a job at the same time, but i'd think some people can.

A levels were a*a*a*

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 3

thecsstudent

Hi, I'm a 1st year so I'm only talking with 4 weeks experience but here it goes. There are about 12 hours of lectures per week so far but that doesn't include labs (which aren't mandatory but are I think 6 hours a week and you'll probably have to go to at least one of them) and tutorials (about 5 hours a week of which only small group tutorials are mandatory). Now, in terms of the workload, so far it hasn't been anything insane we have a programming, a logic and a maths methods assignment every week so far, which is actually a good thing because it ensures you don't get behind and that you get feedback on your mistakes. Other than that there's unassessed exercises which you can do for practice as you're studying but at your own pace. Most courses advance pretty fast but if you set about 1 or 2 hours per module a week you'll be fine I think (except for programming with which if you don't have experience you'll need a lot of time). So far I don't know how hard it is to get a 1st but if you study enough you definitely can.
Also, didn't do GCSEs or A levels so can't respond to that.
Most lectures are recorded (not all of them though), however missing many lectures is not a good idea. Hope I helped

Reply 4

Xabier

Original post by Rabadon

the course wasn't for me.

May I ask why it wasn't for you?

Reply 5

Rabadon

Original post by Xabier

May I ask why it wasn't for you?

My mistake. The course the uni teach is incredible and prestigious, if you know you want to do compsci don't hesitate about applying. I didn't have much previous computing experience and so was hard to perhaps tell if this is where my calling lies; and it wasn't.

Any uni I would have done the same so it's defo not a bad thing about the uni or course :smile:

Reply 6

mrman2000

Original post by Rabadon

Thanks for the response! What position were you in when applying? AS ums averages, GCSEs, etc. What kind of things did you have in your Personal statement. Also, did you have to take an admissions test for the course?

Reply 7

Rabadon

Original post by mrman2000

UMS was 95%+ but they don't ask to see UMS so I guess that's kinda not relevant. I got AAAA at AS, 6A* gcse. Personal statement pretty much included my coding experiences (not many, but I went out my way to do some extra things). No test, just an interview.