Imperial vs Cambridge

Original post by Anonymous

Imperial and Cambridge are both very reputable colleges and very good for Sciences. Which one do you think is better (Even tho I know Imperial ranked higher than Cambridge this year)? Is it also true that Imperial has a strong support for students who are interested in entrepreneurship but none for Cambridge?

Cambridge

Reply 4

Muttley79

Original post by Anonymous

Imperial and Cambridge are both very reputable colleges and very good for Sciences. Which one do you think is better (Even tho I know Imperial ranked higher than Cambridge this year)? Is it also true that Imperial has a strong support for students who are interested in entrepreneurship but none for Cambridge?

Avoid Imperial - student support is poor.

Reply 5

jasminenugroho

4

Original post by Anonymous

Imperial and Cambridge are both very reputable colleges and very good for Sciences. Which one do you think is better (Even tho I know Imperial ranked higher than Cambridge this year)? Is it also true that Imperial has a strong support for students who are interested in entrepreneurship but none for Cambridge?

Definitely depends more on peripheral factors they are comparable on paper. I can only speak for Imperial as a student but some of their science courses are… unideal to say the least - more money is poured into Engineering and CS. Little to no pastoral care, rough buildings and labs that are old and outdated. For entrepreneurial opportunities, both have amazing start up programs - imperial just advertises theirs better. Consider things like staying in London vs. Cambridge, cost of living etc.

Reply 6

I can't speak for Cambridge, but I know that Imperial's focus on entrepreneurship is one of their main selling points and is something they're massively building on (for example, their White City campus that they're progressively building is hugely focused on innovation). You should choose based on what you personally prefer. Taking Natural Sciences at Cambridge will be different to specialising in a specific area from the beginning at Imperial. And of course, Cambridge and London are very different places to live. Both will give amazing prospects though.

Reply 7

Anonymous #3

Original post by Muttley79

Avoid Imperial - student support is poor.

I often come across you posting similar comments about Imperial. What is this personal vendetta about? Do you have personal experience with Imperial's student support? Can you tell me more, I'm thinking of applying to Imperial but not sure because people say things like this a lot.

Reply 8

Muttley79

Original post by Anonymous

I often come across you posting similar comments about Imperial. What is this personal vendetta about? Do you have personal experience with Imperial's student support? Can you tell me more, I'm thinking of applying to Imperial but not sure because people say things like this a lot.

A close relative plus some of my ex-students do. I've heard so many examples of poor teaching, bullying, lack of feedback, etc etc that it's become notorious in my school.

Reply 9

Original post by Anonymous

I often come across you posting similar comments about Imperial. What is this personal vendetta about? Do you have personal experience with Imperial's student support? Can you tell me more, I'm thinking of applying to Imperial but not sure because people say things like this a lot.

Don't let the rumours you hear online stop you from applying. You should ignore those and instead consider whether or not it is a good uni for you. I personally go there and find the support great, as do many others.

Reply 10

Jonjon7

13

Original post by Muttley79

A close relative plus some of my ex-students do. I've heard so many examples of poor teaching, bullying, lack of feedback, etc etc that it's become notorious in my school.

Poor teaching and it's still one of the top unis in the world - that's brilliant!

Just stop listening to hear-say already

Reply 11

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Jonjon7

Poor teaching and it's still one of the top unis in the world - that's brilliant!
Just stop listening to hear-say already

Be careful with the concept of being a “top uni”. I make the same error too. What many of the ranking tables look at is the research outcome that is driven by their PG research staff and Professors and not the undergraduate teaching quality.

Imperial is a decent uni but it is important to have an honest view of the College with respect to teaching, support and community. If one is lucky enough to have offers from Imperial and Cambridge, I strongly suggest that they consider Cambridge.

Reply 12

MedMama

13

Original post by Wired_1800

Be careful with the concept of being a “top uni”. I make the same error too. What many of the ranking tables look at is the research outcome that is driven by their PG research staff and Professors and not the undergraduate teaching quality.
Imperial is a decent uni but it is important to have an honest view of the College with respect to teaching, support and community. If one is lucky enough to have offers from Imperial and Cambridge, I strongly suggest that they consider Cambridge.

forgive me, wired, but ‘a decent uni’?!
- so dismissive and ill informed
more importantly, you need to declare an interest if expressing opinion evidence
did or do you attend one institution in question…
as @Jonjon7 says moreover be wary of hearsay evidence

Reply 13

Original post by MedMama

forgive me, wired, but ‘a decent uni’?!
- so dismissive and ill informed
more importantly, you need to declare an interest if expressing opinion evidence
did or do you attend one institution in question…
as @Jonjon7 says moreover be wary of hearsay evidence

My post was not intended to be biased towards my alma mater. I was seeking to help the applicant to have a measured approach to considering Imperial.

The phrase “decent uni” was not intended to be dismissive but was a positive point.

Reply 14

Original post by Wired_1800

Be careful with the concept of being a “top uni”. I make the same error too. What many of the ranking tables look at is the research outcome that is driven by their PG research staff and Professors and not the undergraduate teaching quality.
Imperial is a decent uni but it is important to have an honest view of the College with respect to teaching, support and community. If one is lucky enough to have offers from Imperial and Cambridge, I strongly suggest that they consider Cambridge.

The issue with what you say is that it's very hard to objectively measure "teaching, support and community".
Teaching - this is going to vary across courses at any university but Imperial is rated highly for teaching quality overall (not saying these ratings are perfect but there isn't really an alternative)
Support - there is plenty of pastoral care and mental health support available and lots of measures are put in place to support students if they seek it out, the uni has a poor reputation for stress etc because the workload is difficult but the same applies to any other highly demanding uni
Community - this is almost impossible to generalise, it's going to vary so much depending on the friends you seek out, the flatmates you have, the societies you join, or in the case of oxbridge the college you're at. I could list so many other factors but the main point is that community is a personal thing rather than university wide (if you're referring to networking, imperial is great for that).

Reply 15

Original post by Labradoodle1

The issue with what you say is that it's very hard to objectively measure "teaching, support and community".
Teaching - this is going to vary across courses at any university but Imperial is rated highly for teaching quality overall (not saying these ratings are perfect but there isn't really an alternative)
Support - there is plenty of pastoral care and mental health support available and lots of measures are put in place to support students if they seek it out, the uni has a poor reputation for stress etc because the workload is difficult but the same applies to any other highly demanding uni
Community - this is almost impossible to generalise, it's going to vary so much depending on the friends you seek out, the flatmates you have, the societies you join, or in the case of oxbridge the college you're at. I could list so many other factors but the main point is that community is a personal thing rather than university wide (if you're referring to networking, imperial is great for that).

I agree with you that it can be difficult to quantify and qualify those attributes as they are largely subjective and open to interpretation. The other main issue is that an applicant can only go by opinions as they are making a decision on a future experience.

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 16

Anonymous #4

Original post by Anonymous

I often come across you posting similar comments about Imperial. What is this personal vendetta about? Do you have personal experience with Imperial's student support? Can you tell me more, I'm thinking of applying to Imperial but not sure because people say things like this a lot.

smilar beef with Oxford

Reply 17

Original post by Wired_1800

I agree with you that it can be difficult to quantify and qualify those attributes as they are largely subjective and open to interpretation. The other main issue is that an applicant can only go by opinions as they are making a decision on a future experience.

It is a bit of a tricky one yeah. I'd advise prospective applicants to look at the course structure, potentially visit an open day and most importantly just do a lot of general research, looking into as many sources of information as possible in order to make an informed decision. However, students should not be discouraged from applying somewhere just because a couple random people say not to (especially if it's unsubstantiated). These types of rumours tend to spread pretty easily, especially online.

Reply 18

Original post by Labradoodle1

It is a bit of a tricky one yeah. I'd advise prospective applicants to look at the course structure, potentially visit an open day and most importantly just do a lot of general research, looking into as many sources of information as possible in order to make an informed decision. However, students should not be discouraged from applying somewhere just because a couple random people say not to (especially if it's unsubstantiated). These types of rumours tend to spread pretty easily, especially online.

True. Regret can be a horrible feeling. If one likes the look and feel of Imperial or any other uni, they should apply and experience it for themselves.

Reply 19

Muttley79