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Learning at Imperial College London
Imperial College London
London
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Imperial or MIT?

Hey there,

I'm trying to choose between these two places - what do you think?

I don't mind living in America or England.

My interest is physics, and maybe physical chemistry.

R

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Reply 1
Avatar for RyanT
RyanT
15
MIT then Imperial. Either is absolutely great however. Having an Imperial degree instead of one from MIT will not hold you back at all in science though to be clear.
Learning at Imperial College London
Imperial College London
London
Reply 2
Avatar for xaxa
xaxa
1
MIT has the edge as world reputation goes (I think), though academically it's close enough that it's more down to how well you do than which you choose -- i.e. whether you put the effort in etc.
I think a really good grade from Imperial would look better than a mediocre/poor one from MIT if you were looking for further study, for instance. But I'm just speculating really!

Do you have offers from both?

I'd also prefer to live in London.
MIT is THE place to be for engineering. But then again it is more difficult to say where the absolute top place to be for natural sciences is. It is unofficially acknowledged that the best undergrad maths course is to be found at Cambridge.
Reply 4
Avatar for Bober02
Bober02
MIT is probably the best uni for technology worldwide. They probably have more equipment and state of the art machinery than any other Uni. They are continuously rated as the best place for engineering by international rankings. Nevertheless, Imperial is still a perfect choice for engineering I guess.
i'd chose MIT

but its far far far more expensive


and i think the course would be a year longer... i cant really remeber how the american degree system works



research into the different degree course structures, etc, and base a good part of your decision on that
Reply 6
Avatar for M1R4J
M1R4J
1
MIT is perfect for job prospects and reputation.
Reply 7
Avatar for fais
fais
15
If you don't mind living in America and you can afford it, MIT. (The former's the reason I didn't go.)
Reply 8
Avatar for studyboy
studyboy
13
MIT seems to be better between the two options. Just my two cents worth.
As you express an interest in another discipline it would be wise to consider the fact that the US system allows you to play about LOT more with your modules. Cambridge’s natural sciences course is also a great option. having said that, it costs you at least an extra year’s tuition and the Imperial physics course will cover a fair bit of Physical chem as well (mainly state stuff and electrical properties etc). MIT isn’t anywhere near as multicultural as Imperial and is like 90-95% yank at undergrad which doesn’t interest me much but this is assuming we’re talking undergrad?postgrad its a TOTALLY different story and MIT is probably just as diverse in its academic staff as Imperial.
The student life will be very different and I think id enjoy the prominent rivalry between MIT and Caltech or the two Cambridge beasts (MIT and Harvard). having said that I wouldn’t choose any other city in the world over London but that’s entirely personal preference. Now onto prestige. MIT is far more prominent in the US than Imperial (among general industry) so if that’s where you intend to work go there. If however you want to go into academia Imperial is just as highly respected by those in the know and you'll find Imperial grads are at all the top tiers of science and engineering so they can be considered equal there. You must keep in mind that you will graduate in 4 years with a masters in physics as opposed to 5-7 from MIT. This doesn’t mean less work as I’m sure you’re aware. Evidence is in the fact that our grads are constantly going over there into masters degrees after bachelors or PhD’s after masters etc.
I would definitely go to Imperial if intended to work in European industry or (especially) in finance. Imperial has outstanding Industrial connections and really is the place to be in that regard. Now among the top tier US companies MIT and Imperial will likely have the same links as all the top multinational companies come to Imperial but to increase your employability among 2nd to mid tier and below US companies you should hit MIT. MIT is more expensive yes but they offer much better bursaries and treat internationals equally to US students (other than in applications). In fact the average fee (minus bursaries and other support) for an MIT undergrad is less than $10K I believe. I'll find a link after this post. Also remember that though the US has an outstanding higher education system their secondary/further education system is appalling and thus your peers will on average be a far bit behind you which, depending on your attitude, could be a factor. A level students cover a lot more than high school SATs and APs. I have watched all the first year MIT physics lectures from Walter Lewin and I was amazed that the first year at MIT is A level! Anyway great place to be but I would personally do my undergrad at Imperial and the masters at MIT.
i forgot to mention suicide prevention mondays lol. you only have lectures tues to fri hence 3 day weekend! according to the students they work on average 5 hours a night so its not like anyones slacking. average sat scores are high but lower than Harvard, stanford,yale and princeton and they recieve 10,400 applications in 2006. 71% of all current students recieve financial aid each recieving an average of $33,800!!!not that much over 4 years....its basically the same as the max bursaries Imperial give (dunno if they go to internationals as well)
Reply 11
Avatar for jqqy
jqqy
imperial col for undergraduate then MIT for graduate ... IMO
Reply 12
Avatar for riwki
riwki
OP
OK guys thanks for the info. I think I'll go stateside since

(1) I'm not ready to commit to a single subject
(2) I don't want to completely ditch arts/humanities

Thanks!
riwki
OK guys thanks for the info. I think I'll go stateside since

(1) I'm not ready to commit to a single subject
(2) I don't want to completely ditch arts/humanities

Thanks!


Say hi to Obama for me :wink:
fais
If you don't mind living in America and you can afford it, MIT. (The former's the reason I didn't go.)


Meaning you got in but declined..?
riwki
OK guys thanks for the info. I think I'll go stateside since

(1) I'm not ready to commit to a single subject
(2) I don't want to completely ditch arts/humanities

Thanks!


Excellent job in getting admitted to MIT not an easy feat.
Master Polhem
Excellent job in getting admitted to MIT not an easy feat.


lol its not as hard as it seems. 12% admission rate, 10,000 aps. no doubt its hard but nowhere near as hard as some people here think. Berkely is much much easier than many think. its the mystique of US unis i guess. over there they think getting into Oxford is damn near impossible and hence its MASSIVELY prestigous. it is much harder for an international to get in though in both cases i must admit.
solo2wolf
lol its not as hard as it seems. 12% admission rate, 10,000 aps. no doubt its hard but nowhere near as hard as some people here think. Berkely is much much easier than many think. its the mystique of US unis i guess. over there they think getting into Oxford is damn near impossible and hence its MASSIVELY prestigous. it is much harder for an international to get in though in both cases i must admit.


Did not know that.
Reply 18
Avatar for fais
fais
15
Master Polhem
Meaning you got in but declined..?


No, that was badly worded I'm sorry. I meant it's why I didn't go to study in America. Whether I'd got in or not is anybody's guess. :smile:
Master Polhem
Did not know that.


niether did i untill last week. i read somewhere that Berkely was a 3rd tier uni!naturally this suprised me so i did some research. it seems in terms of admissions, it is. Harvard is considerably harder to get into than the other major unis, basically its actually as hard as we think it is lol. Yale,Princeton and Stanford are the second tier and are a bit harder than MIT and Caltech (which suffer i suppose due to Science being less popular everywhere in the world now) but then many unis are ahead of Berkey such as DUKE and carnegie mellon!Brown, Dartmouth etc also. i was truly shocked. despite its outstanding research faculty it isnt considered even 2nd tier at undergrad (assuming Harvard is basically in a league of its own). i also expected far higher numbers for applications, they have far less internationals than Imperial as well (2745 aps, 119 admissions=4.3% acceptance). also all this crap about US unis placing massive emphasise on extra curics is bs. MIT seems to basically pick those with the best SAT and APs. having said that the average grade isnt spectacular about 90% but given how easy the exams are (considerably easier than equivalent A levels) thats no big deal.

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