The Student Room Group

Can you help me to understand British studies ?

Hello everyone, My name is Thomas and I am currently studying telecommunications engineering in France. However, I don't like that. The subjects concern electronic and the leading of a firm. I am more a chemistry/physics student.

In France you need 5 years to become an engineer and the best engineers schools are not linked with the university, which means they are rarely known in the world rankings.
I first wanted to go to Polytechnique Montreal with a friend, where I think, I am sure to be able to be accepted. (My friend had the same marks than me when we were in last year of High School.) But I am not sure I want to go so far away from my family and friends.
So I though about United Kingdom. I contacted UCL to know if my profile could work, they said yes. Indeed I had 20/20 in mathematics, 19/20 in Physics/Chemistry and the same in Biology/Geology for my Baccalaureate. The only problem could be my English. I hardly got my FCE B1. The English level in France is very low.
Considering i want to do an undergraduate in Chemical engineering:
Is the UCL a good school well-known in the world ?
Is this degree good to work all around the world as an engineer, for exemple in the USA, where i saw the engineer are really well paid ?
Is Chemistry a well paid subject for an engineer or not compared to other subject ?
Should I do a 3 years undergraduate or a 4 years one ? I saw there is a lot of honnors by doing the 4 years one.
What's next if I want to keep studying ? I heard about postgraduate but I don't know what that means.
Is the United Kingdom giving some funds ? It is a big cost 10.000 pounds a year.
Is it rare to fail his year and have to do it one more time ? I can't even think about paying a year two times
Do you have some others University to propose to me ?

Thank you a lot and sorry for all these questions but it can be stressful sometimes, when you don't know what you are going to be.

Thomas
Reply 1
Hi Thomas,

UCL is a really good school, and is actually ranked as within the top 20 universities in the world.

When it comes to whether you can work as an engineer, it depends on what type of engineering you would like to do. It is best for chemical engineering - which is engineering involving the use of chemistry and physics and microbiology etc to use chemicals for useful products, such as within energy development - although if you speak to the school once you get there, I'm sure they will be able to advise you on what modules to take, or different careers within the field.

Chemistry is probably decent for an engineer, but I would be inclined to recommend Physics or Mathematics, or straight-up Engineering. However, most higher engineering careers require additional study. I would take a look at this website.

I am going to assume the 4 years is an integrated masters. If you can get into it, go for it. It's a lot better, and means you are more qualified at the end. Alternatively, it could mean a year in industry or a year abroad, both of which are highly beneficial, but you may prefer to just do the 3 year.

Postgraduate study is going on to do an advanced degree after doing your initial one. This could be a PhD or a master's degree, which could be more specific and allow you to specialise.

I don't think loans are available to international students, but it is different for everyone so I am not sure on this completely.

I'm assuming you will be doing the whole degree here. It is not necessarily common to fail a year, but a lot of people do. However, if you work hard this should not be the case.

If you can get into UCL, you can probably get into a lot over here. Other good engineering universities are Bristol, Durham, Lancaster, Nottingham, Warwick etc. These are all very well-known here.

I'm not an engineering student but I do have a couple of friends who have gone into it. If you have any questions, I do understand some French so if you'd like to ask for something a bit more in depth, you can ask me in French or English. I'll have to reply in English but I'm decent at reading it. Hope this was helpful :smile:
Reply 2
Thank you for all of these emboy !

Be sure I will contact you if I need anything else !

Have a good evening
Original post by TTriforce
Hello everyone, My name is Thomas and I am currently studying telecommunications engineering in France. However, I don't like that. The subjects concern electronic and the leading of a firm. I am more a chemistry/physics student.

In France you need 5 years to become an engineer and the best engineers schools are not linked with the university, which means they are rarely known in the world rankings.
I first wanted to go to Polytechnique Montreal with a friend, where I think, I am sure to be able to be accepted. (My friend had the same marks than me when we were in last year of High School.) But I am not sure I want to go so far away from my family and friends.
So I though about United Kingdom. I contacted UCL to know if my profile could work, they said yes. Indeed I had 20/20 in mathematics, 19/20 in Physics/Chemistry and the same in Biology/Geology for my Baccalaureate. The only problem could be my English. I hardly got my FCE B1. The English level in France is very low.
Considering i want to do an undergraduate in Chemical engineering:
Is the UCL a good school well-known in the world ?
Is this degree good to work all around the world as an engineer, for exemple in the USA, where i saw the engineer are really well paid ?
Is Chemistry a well paid subject for an engineer or not compared to other subject ?
Should I do a 3 years undergraduate or a 4 years one ? I saw there is a lot of honnors by doing the 4 years one.
What's next if I want to keep studying ? I heard about postgraduate but I don't know what that means.
Is the United Kingdom giving some funds ? It is a big cost 10.000 pounds a year.
Is it rare to fail his year and have to do it one more time ? I can't even think about paying a year two times
Do you have some others University to propose to me ?

Thank you a lot and sorry for all these questions but it can be stressful sometimes, when you don't know what you are going to be.

Thomas


Yes UCL is very well regarded in the UK, I can't comment globally though. And providing you've lived in the EU for the last 3 years and haven't studied at university for more than one year you can take out a loan to cover tuition fees, however you will need to fund all living costs yourself. Do make sure yan afford London rent as it's not cheap.
Original post by TTriforce
Hello everyone, My name is Thomas and I am currently studying telecommunications engineering in France. However, I don't like that. The subjects concern electronic and the leading of a firm. I am more a chemistry/physics student.

In France you need 5 years to become an engineer and the best engineers schools are not linked with the university, which means they are rarely known in the world rankings.
I first wanted to go to Polytechnique Montreal with a friend, where I think, I am sure to be able to be accepted. (My friend had the same marks than me when we were in last year of High School.) But I am not sure I want to go so far away from my family and friends.
So I though about United Kingdom. I contacted UCL to know if my profile could work, they said yes. Indeed I had 20/20 in mathematics, 19/20 in Physics/Chemistry and the same in Biology/Geology for my Baccalaureate. The only problem could be my English. I hardly got my FCE B1. The English level in France is very low.
Considering i want to do an undergraduate in Chemical engineering:
Is the UCL a good school well-known in the world ?
Is this degree good to work all around the world as an engineer, for exemple in the USA, where i saw the engineer are really well paid ?
Is Chemistry a well paid subject for an engineer or not compared to other subject ?
Should I do a 3 years undergraduate or a 4 years one ? I saw there is a lot of honnors by doing the 4 years one.
What's next if I want to keep studying ? I heard about postgraduate but I don't know what that means.
Is the United Kingdom giving some funds ? It is a big cost 10.000 pounds a year.
Is it rare to fail his year and have to do it one more time ? I can't even think about paying a year two times
Do you have some others University to propose to me ?

Thank you a lot and sorry for all these questions but it can be stressful sometimes, when you don't know what you are going to be.

Thomas


The UCL is very nice

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