Comparing Imperial to Harvard,Yale etc...

Hi duds!

I got an unconditional offer from Imperial college (course F390 - Physics with Theoretical physics).

The characteristics of Harvard, Yale etc. that are most important to me are:
_intelligent atmosphere
_sense of community (college has a strong identity)
_entrepreneurial spirit
_everybody (99%) lives on campus

Does Imperial college have the same characteristics? (or to what extent?)

Thanx pals!

Reply 1

shyopstv

15

I'm not at Imperial but when I was there it definalty had the "intelligent atmosphere" but only about 30% of people live on campus and the accomodation is not actually at the campus itself most of it is at least a 10-15 minute walk away not sure what it is like at the US institutions

Reply 2

xaxa

1

We have the intelligent atmosphere (although, it's mainly science and engineering of course) and the community spirit. And the entrepreneurial spirit. Most of the first year live on campus, but not many others. Some of the accomodation is by the campus, some isn't, probably about 50:50 (complete guess). People not in university halls live elsewhere in London -- which may or may not be near to South Kensington campus.

Reply 3

Adarah

16

imperial has a big plus though, that you've forgotten - it's in central London! That's the reason why everyone can't live on campus, but London more than makes up for that.

Reply 4

pole_from_swede

6

dens

Hi duds!

I got an unconditional offer from Imperial college (course F390 - Physics with Theoretical physics).

The characteristics of Harvard, Yale etc. that are most important to me are:
_intelligent atmosphere
_sense of community (college has a strong identity)
_entrepreneurial spirit
_everybody (99%) lives on campus

Does Imperial college have the same characteristics? (or to what extent?)

Thanx pals!

I applied to Pton this year (didnt get in, though) but I may write you my observations.

US Colleges are different from British. In US, university and the surrounding it campus, function as a small city, while IC is a part of Univeristy of London that is spread all around the place. So basically you dont get to feel this unity, as you do when you are at the American College (or thats at least what I think).
However IC has sport clubs and all that, so there is no bigger difference.
Also it is equal, if not better than Harvard and Yale for Engineering, since these two last institutions specialize in other fields than Engineering while IC is purely about science, eng and med. I think that not many American Colleges (MIT, Pton, Stanford, Berkeley) may be compared to IC in terms of engineering. However if you wanna research, I think that IC gives you great opportunity of UROP, while my friend that studies at Pton said that she has never had any chance of getting involved into any research as they are reserved for grads.
I would not think however in terms of rankings and classification since Harvard, Yale etc have their names and it will still make a good impression of the employer if he sees your diploma. Basically IC is less about partying than American schools I guess. However IC is in London, one of the world party centres so you will always find sth outside the college, while Yale is in New Heaven that is not very big, Pton is in the middle of nowhere and Harvard is in a medium size city I think....

Reply 5

not1

15

They're not very similar, no. Do you have offers from them?

Comparing Imperial to Harvard,Yale etc...

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