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Social life at Imperial

Hi everybody,
A lot of people told me that there is a huge majority of chinese people at imperial that do not mix with the other people.
Also is it true that there are only few girls and that the majority of people here are boys ?
And how are generally people at Imperial ? Do they stay in their room everyday and always work or do they go out the night in bars and clubs ?
If someone could answer theese questions because I am quite worried to go there if these details are true.
( I am young and I want to have fun during my university years! )

Reply 1

username68316

3

1) Alot of chinese people. They do tend to stick in their own groups. All the time - antisocial bastards

2) Yep there's more guys than girls. Ratio of 65:35 I think, but for my subject its 50:50. When you factor in the antisocial nerdy guys, the overall figure goes down to about 50:50 anyway who you see out and around i.e. Union after lectures, out in the central clubs etc.

3) Alot of people do stay in their rooms and work all the time. Myself, not being one of them, I don't find it a problem. This is because you just don't see them around. You'll realise early on who's sociable and you'll tend to never come into contact with the antisocial types. It dosen't stop the normal people from having fun AT ALL. I still go out and have as much fun as I'd expect to at any other Uni.....it only got worse towards the end of last term when I ran out of money!

I knew this before I signed up for it. I enjoy it enough there, it's just I'm now VERY far behind most others because I choose to take the sociable route during term time.

Reply 2

Nicolasfromparis

OP

thanks, and which nationality are the most present exepted chineese and english ? And do they mix easily with english people ? And how are girls lol, are there like 90% of nerd girls or are there also cool girls like in other uni ? (because girls that are in my school that are going to imperial ahah you have to see them to believe it !)

ps : im from france and im going to mechanical engineer section

thank you

Reply 3

Alexthepenguin

Nicolasfromparis

Hi everybody,
A lot of people told me that there is a huge majority of chinese people at imperial that do not mix with the other people.
Also is it true that there are only few girls and that the majority of people here are boys ?
And how are generally people at Imperial ? Do they stay in their room everyday and always work or do they go out the night in bars and clubs ?
If someone could answer theese questions because I am quite worried to go there if these details are true.
( I am young and I want to have fun during my university years! )

there are a lot of chinese at imperial thats true and its quite right that some of them don't mix with people. but some other are really nice and do mix well as well. there quite a few indians and also german, spanishs and french ppl.

ya unfortunately its true that guys make up the majority of the student population at imperial.

well whether people stay in their room and work depends on the person its really hard to stereotype on the whole

ya im sure you will enjoy your uni and have a lot of fun!

Reply 4

username68316

3

There's a fair few fit birds around the place. Obviously, you'd expect there to be less of them since in order to be smart and get to Imperial in the first place they'd need to have spent time working rather than improving their appearance

Other nationalities? The one's I've come into contact have been French/German/Swiss/Belgian, and I can honestly say that these guys have actually been pretty sound. Most 'normal' people from the continent (like yourself, I assume) seem to get on fine, mix in and go out with people in a way that the chinese never would.

Reply 5

Gimperial

11

There's a lot of greeks and cypriots in my course as well, strangely enough :s-smilie:

Reply 6

studyboy

13

The Chinese from which country form the bulk of the antisocial group? China, Malaysia, Singapore?? I don't think Malaysian Chinese are that unsociable. :s-smilie:

Despite coming from a same ethnic group, the Chinese do differ from one another in terms of personalities and traits, all depending on their nationality. :smile:

Reply 7

Gimperial

11

From China I guess
I dont think most people here have talked enough to the chinese students to know the minor details.

Its not that they're unsociable, they socialise with each other a lot. They just dont socialise with non-chinese very much, which is perfectly understandable I guess

Reply 8

Irrelevance

16

wais

From China I guess
I dont think most people here have talked enough to the chinese students to know the minor details.

Its not that they're unsociable, they socialise with each other a lot. They just dont socialise with non-chinese very much, which is perfectly understandable I guess

I would guess the bulk of students are China Chinese - i find it so rare to see HK Chinese around uni's these days

And i don't understand why i hear so much on here that Chinese people only socialise with Chinese people - i personally can't stand most of them and i'm chinese myself

Reply 9

Gimperial

11

I'm guessing you were brought up here though. We're mainly reffering to the ones that came to the UK to study, which makes up the vast bulk of the Imperial Chinese population.

Reply 10

username68316

3

Yeah there is a difference. You get your standard chinese person who can barely speak a word of english - they'll very likely stick in their own group. But obviously someone brought up in England for 5 years is much more likely to move in English circles. I know a couple of chinese people who refuse to have anything to do with chinese people at all, because they want to integrate into standard english life. Shame it's not many of them.

Reply 11

Nicolasfromparis

OP

Thank you all, hope to see you next october !
( And is there the fresher week in imperial to make people know each others ? )

Reply 12

Gimperial

11

Yes. But depending on your department, it might turn out to be freshers weekend (i.e. mine)

Reply 13

Razio

Horrorshow

Yeah there is a difference. You get your standard chinese person who can barely speak a word of english - they'll very likely stick in their own group. But obviously someone brought up in England for 5 years is much more likely to move in English circles. I know a couple of chinese people who refuse to have anything to do with chinese people at all, because they want to integrate into standard english life. Shame it's not many of them.

I thought if you can get into IC decent english is a standard. I would agree that some Chinese do tend to stick together, but I think that as long as a balance is achieved, that is to socialise with other nationalities sometimes, sticking with chinese ain't too much of a problem. After all, the cultural difference is supposed to be huge, and that not everyone would fancy english lifestyle.
I know it's strange to ask...... but any coffee shops around IC? Rather than getting drunk like most people want to, I prefer drinking coffee, ha. And are most Maths guys sociallable?

Reply 14

thegreatone

all students can speak and write english to a good standard as it is a requirement of entry to IC to have passed a standard english test such as GCSE english or equivalent.

after a few years here at IC, i noticed that it is a very multicultural and diverse group of people. the reason people group together, e.g. into english groups, chinese groups etc. is that they prefer to be friends with people who are similar to them. you can view this both ways, english people dont make enough effort to mix in with other people. I think specifically with chinese people that they are making an effort e.g. with the chinese society, just join it if you want to mix with them, u dont have to be chinese to join it. if you want ot meet other chinese people just talk to them. and if you cant speak mandarin, why not learn it? it is one of the most common language on earth. one of the reasons for going to uni is to get a broader sense of the world around you, if you dont communicate with other ppl just because you have misinformed conceptions of ppl before you start then you have missed the point somewhat. its not their problem, its your opportunity.

coffee shops, there is a cafe nero in jcr, and starbucks on glouceter road. also the gym and tanaka have coffee places, and the maths building has a cheap coffee vending machine, 30p a cup to be exact.

Reply 15

Gimperial

11

That machine is always broken though, pisses me off as I cant keep awake in lectures because of that :d

Reply 16

Razio

thegreatone

all students can speak and write english to a good standard as it is a requirement of entry to IC to have passed a standard english test such as GCSE english or equivalent.

after a few years here at IC, i noticed that it is a very multicultural and diverse group of people. the reason people group together, e.g. into english groups, chinese groups etc. is that they prefer to be friends with people who are similar to them. you can view this both ways, english people dont make enough effort to mix in with other people. I think specifically with chinese people that they are making an effort e.g. with the chinese society, just join it if you want to mix with them, u dont have to be chinese to join it. if you want ot meet other chinese people just talk to them. and if you cant speak mandarin, why not learn it? it is one of the most common language on earth. one of the reasons for going to uni is to get a broader sense of the world around you, if you dont communicate with other ppl just because you have misinformed conceptions of ppl before you start then you have missed the point somewhat. its not their problem, its your opportunity.

coffee shops, there is a cafe nero in jcr, and starbucks on glouceter road. also the gym and tanaka have coffee places, and the maths building has a cheap coffee vending machine, 30p a cup to be exact.

Exactly, to mix well with other groups, both sides should always offer what they can do, this is never an one-sided issue, both groups should try their best to socialise with another, or this won't happen.

Oh yeah, starbucks, love them as long as they have a toilet there for my kidney. :redface:

And about aboutthe coffee vending machine in maths department, shall I expect good quality from it?

Reply 17

ashy

17

wais

That machine is always broken though, pisses me off as I cant keep awake in lectures because of that :d

The one in Blackett works nicely :wink:

Reply 18

Gimperial

11

But Blackett smells :frown:

Reply 19

shimmy_shimmy

ashy

The one in Blackett works nicely :wink:

except when it doesn't, and gives out cold water with foam instead of coffee...

i switched to pepsi last term to keep me awake, until that machine broke as well. :P

Social life at Imperial

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