Do I have a chance for imperial biochem?
Hi everyone! I'm an American international applicant for biochem at:
imperial
ucl
king's
bristol
edinburgh (already accepted!)
I won't go too much into my qualifications since I know they're quite different from A levels, but basically I have already achieved 2/3 of the American equivalents for imperial's biochem qualifications (Chemistry & Other subject)
I still need to achieve my biology qualification but I am predicted to do so (my reference is my biology teacher & he says I am one of his strongest students ever)
I'm worried because I sat a maths qualification last year which was below imperial's requirement, but I'm sitting a higher level maths qualification this year and i'm predicted to meet imperial's requirement.
Furthermore, I included the following supercurriculars on my personal statement:
1. "Biochemistry: A Very Short Introduction" by Mark Lorch
2. Visiting a prestigious California university to perform a spectrophotometry experiment
3. Talked about specific modules in Chemistry & Biology
4. A TED Talk on neuroscience & addiction (sparked my next supercurricular)
5. An independent research project on caffeine addiction (biochemical mechanisms)
6. An internship/research program with a chemist at a very reputable chemistry company focusing on drug design
7. A non-profit initiative that I created to teach biochem lessons to youth, presented at a large science museum and a few local schools
I also included one extracurricular:
1. President of a philanthropy organization, raised a large sum (£10k+) with my group and advocated for the funds to be donated to research organizations.
I also had one singular sentence about wanting to study in the UK because my family is British and i've spent every summer there/want to pursue a more specialized education than what the US offers.
Going to Imperial would be my absolute DREAM but i don't know if my qualifications/supercurriculars stack up---especially as an international---so I would really appreciate any insight/guidance that you all can provide
Thank you all so much!
-A very stressed American applicant trying to leave his very unfortunate home country
imperial
ucl
king's
bristol
edinburgh (already accepted!)
I won't go too much into my qualifications since I know they're quite different from A levels, but basically I have already achieved 2/3 of the American equivalents for imperial's biochem qualifications (Chemistry & Other subject)
I still need to achieve my biology qualification but I am predicted to do so (my reference is my biology teacher & he says I am one of his strongest students ever)
I'm worried because I sat a maths qualification last year which was below imperial's requirement, but I'm sitting a higher level maths qualification this year and i'm predicted to meet imperial's requirement.
Furthermore, I included the following supercurriculars on my personal statement:
1. "Biochemistry: A Very Short Introduction" by Mark Lorch
2. Visiting a prestigious California university to perform a spectrophotometry experiment
3. Talked about specific modules in Chemistry & Biology
4. A TED Talk on neuroscience & addiction (sparked my next supercurricular)
5. An independent research project on caffeine addiction (biochemical mechanisms)
6. An internship/research program with a chemist at a very reputable chemistry company focusing on drug design
7. A non-profit initiative that I created to teach biochem lessons to youth, presented at a large science museum and a few local schools
I also included one extracurricular:
1. President of a philanthropy organization, raised a large sum (£10k+) with my group and advocated for the funds to be donated to research organizations.
I also had one singular sentence about wanting to study in the UK because my family is British and i've spent every summer there/want to pursue a more specialized education than what the US offers.
Going to Imperial would be my absolute DREAM but i don't know if my qualifications/supercurriculars stack up---especially as an international---so I would really appreciate any insight/guidance that you all can provide
Thank you all so much!
-A very stressed American applicant trying to leave his very unfortunate home country
Reply 1
*sorry, to clarify:
The mark that I received on the maths qualification I sat last year was one grade below imperial's requirement, the qualification isn't below imperial's requirements itself.
The mark that I received on the maths qualification I sat last year was one grade below imperial's requirement, the qualification isn't below imperial's requirements itself.
Reply 2
Hii there, I'm also going to apply for Imperial, King's and UCL, but for chemistry! 
I'm no expert, but based on what you've said, I think you have a very good chance for biochem. Your supercurriculars look great (and sound super interesting!), and it's really obvious that you're dedicated to your subject. But of course, whether you get an offer or not depends on many factors, so you can't predict what will happen. I'm sure you know this, but on Imperial's website, it's says for the BSc biochem course it's a 10:1 people to number of places ratio, so yes it's quite competitive. But with a strong application, that 1 person who gets an offer (out of 10 applicants) could be you. That's the mindset I'm trying to have about my own uni application, because once you finally send it off, it's out of your hands and you'll just have to wait and see what will happen.
Also, I don't think your previous maths qualification will be a problem, since you are predicted to meet the requirement for the qualification you're doing now.
I'm no expert, but based on what you've said, I think you have a very good chance for biochem. Your supercurriculars look great (and sound super interesting!), and it's really obvious that you're dedicated to your subject. But of course, whether you get an offer or not depends on many factors, so you can't predict what will happen. I'm sure you know this, but on Imperial's website, it's says for the BSc biochem course it's a 10:1 people to number of places ratio, so yes it's quite competitive. But with a strong application, that 1 person who gets an offer (out of 10 applicants) could be you. That's the mindset I'm trying to have about my own uni application, because once you finally send it off, it's out of your hands and you'll just have to wait and see what will happen.Also, I don't think your previous maths qualification will be a problem, since you are predicted to meet the requirement for the qualification you're doing now.
(edited 1 month ago)
Reply 3
Original post
by AlchemeriHii there, I'm also going to apply for Imperial, King's and UCL, but for chemistry! I'm no expert, but based on what you've said, I think you have a very good chance for biochem. Your supercurriculars look great (and sound super interesting!), and it's really obvious that you're dedicated to your subject. But of course, whether you get an offer or not depends on many factors, so you can't predict what will happen. I'm sure you know this, but on Imperial's website, it's says for the BSc biochem course it's a 10:1 people to number of places ratio, so yes it's quite competitive. But with a strong application, that 1 person who gets an offer could be you. That's the mindset I'm trying to have about my own uni application, because once you finally send it off, it's out of your hands and you'll just have to wait and see what will happen.
Also, I don't think your previous maths qualification will be a problem, since you are predicted to meet the requirement for the qualification you're doing now.
I'm no expert, but based on what you've said, I think you have a very good chance for biochem. Your supercurriculars look great (and sound super interesting!), and it's really obvious that you're dedicated to your subject. But of course, whether you get an offer or not depends on many factors, so you can't predict what will happen. I'm sure you know this, but on Imperial's website, it's says for the BSc biochem course it's a 10:1 people to number of places ratio, so yes it's quite competitive. But with a strong application, that 1 person who gets an offer could be you. That's the mindset I'm trying to have about my own uni application, because once you finally send it off, it's out of your hands and you'll just have to wait and see what will happen.Also, I don't think your previous maths qualification will be a problem, since you are predicted to meet the requirement for the qualification you're doing now.
Hi! Thank you so much for this! I really appreciate your encouragement and I'm crossing my fingers for both of us!!! ❤️❤️
Also, I think that the 10:1 ratio on the website is applicants to places, so there might be an even higher chance of offer for us than 10:1!
Reply 4
Original post
by AnonymousHi! Thank you so much for this! I really appreciate your encouragement and I'm crossing my fingers for both of us!!! ❤️❤️
Also, I think that the 10:1 ratio on the website is applicants to places, so there might be an even higher chance of offer for us than 10:1!
Also, I think that the 10:1 ratio on the website is applicants to places, so there might be an even higher chance of offer for us than 10:1!
Honestly, from my impression you're quite a way above the requirements. Even though the offer rate is about 35 percent, the quality of applicant won't be as high as someone applying for engineering or something. Despite being so high in the rankings, it's much easier to get into the imperial courses (that don't require entrance tests) compared to their oxbridge equivalents. I think you have a really good chance, especially since imperial is starting to value supercurriculars a lot more in recent years. I've applied for biotech, but i've thought I might ask to change it to biochem if I go there since the courses are so similar. It seems like you're pretty set on the uk lol, but good luck and i'm manifesting these offers for you 😁
Reply 5
Original post
by AnonymousHi! Thank you so much for this! I really appreciate your encouragement and I'm crossing my fingers for both of us!!! ❤️❤️
Also, I think that the 10:1 ratio on the website is applicants to places, so there might be an even higher chance of offer for us than 10:1!
Also, I think that the 10:1 ratio on the website is applicants to places, so there might be an even higher chance of offer for us than 10:1!
No worries! Hopefully we'll both get offers
Shame it might take ages to get a decision though, seeing as these unis have to deal with so so many applications, and for some courses they have to wait until all the interviews have been completed
But hopefully the long wait will be worth it! Good luck with your studies!Reply 6
Original post
by MewTube288Honestly, from my impression you're quite a way above the requirements. Even though the offer rate is about 35 percent, the quality of applicant won't be as high as someone applying for engineering or something. Despite being so high in the rankings, it's much easier to get into the imperial courses (that don't require entrance tests) compared to their oxbridge equivalents. I think you have a really good chance, especially since imperial is starting to value supercurriculars a lot more in recent years. I've applied for biotech, but i've thought I might ask to change it to biochem if I go there since the courses are so similar. It seems like you're pretty set on the uk lol, but good luck and i'm manifesting these offers for you 😁
I hope you get an offer for biotech!
Reply 7
Original post
by MewTube288Honestly, from my impression you're quite a way above the requirements. Even though the offer rate is about 35 percent, the quality of applicant won't be as high as someone applying for engineering or something. Despite being so high in the rankings, it's much easier to get into the imperial courses (that don't require entrance tests) compared to their oxbridge equivalents. I think you have a really good chance, especially since imperial is starting to value supercurriculars a lot more in recent years. I've applied for biotech, but i've thought I might ask to change it to biochem if I go there since the courses are so similar. It seems like you're pretty set on the uk lol, but good luck and i'm manifesting these offers for you 😁
Hi thank you so much! I was definitely worried about no admissions tests/interviews because the personal statement is the only thing that rlly makes us different from other applicants 😓 but hopefully it will work in our favor!
Good luck to you too! Manifesting your imperial biotech offer and maybe we'll even be course mates! 😛
Reply 8
Original post
by AlchemeriNo worries! Hopefully we'll both get offers
Shame it might take ages to get a decision though, seeing as these unis have to deal with so so many applications, and for some courses they have to wait until all the interviews have been completed But hopefully the long wait will be worth it! Good luck with your studies!
Shame it might take ages to get a decision though, seeing as these unis have to deal with so so many applications, and for some courses they have to wait until all the interviews have been completed
But hopefully the long wait will be worth it! Good luck with your studies!I know right! Waiting for these decisions is killing me 😭😭 Good luck to you too! We got this!
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