transfer from Imperial to US unis

I am getting an offer from Imperial to do computing starting 2009. But I know that many of the US unis such as MIT and berkeley are even better at this subject. Is it worthwhile to apply for transfer to MIT after my first year？？

If you think about it, employment wise, if you want to work in the UK afterwards, studying at anywhere else that's not Harvard won't have any more clout than studying at imperial.

On the other hand if you work anywhere outside of the UK, the MIT / berkley >> Imperial.

I wouldn't say that. Imperial has a very strong reputation throughout the EU (and that's coming from an international [EU] student). It depends on what you mean by "outside the UK" I suppose.

ooh, good to know! Apparently it's quite strong in Asia and the Middle East. It's a no-name school in the US though.

You'd be better off at Cambridge - none of the fees hassle, with a year exchange at MIT if you want it. But you can always exchange at the Cali universities (reciprocal exchange) for a year when you're here (I know at least one Computing student who's over there now). Anyhow, more constructively, MIT do take transfers but you'll have to damn near top the year and have a compelling reason to do so.

this is a good idea. do cambridge take transfers?

Sure you can do it, but you'll start as first year again. You might as well apply there already.

And to be honest, its not like imp computing isn't a challenge...

no-name school in the US?! are u sure?

this is a good idea. do cambridge take transfers?

Well, MIT has an incredible reputation (obviously), but so does Imperial (at least in Europe). And btw, Imperial a no-name college in the USA? BS. Aeronautical engineering has an exchange program with MIT... I don't care if US students never heard of Imperial College, as truth be told, students won't be employing you, employers will. I had never heard of Cornell before watching The Office. That doesn't mean European employers haven't heard of it.

Anyway, I don't know exactly how transfer applications go. I know you have to obtain references from high school teachers and also from college teachers. MIT is quite elitist so you have to do very well on your first year. For freshman applications you were required to obtain two references (one from a humanities teacher and another one from a science teacher), write a few essays and, most importantly, describe your extracurricular activities and achievements (this is extremely relevant to their decision). You were not required to attend an interview but you were advised to do so (their interviews are not meant to test your knowledge on physics or maths or whatever. The point of MIT interviews is for you to share some information about yourself: why would you like to study there, what do you like to do in your free time etc., and the interviewers are generally relaxed - it's more of a chat than an interview really).

To Polhem:
MIT applications are not all about brains. US Ivy League Universities consider your extracurricular achievements to be of extreme importance (instead of basing their decisions on SAT scores alone).
Getting the average SAT entry scores for MIT is actually pretty easy (I took them as an international student and got 800 Maths and 790 Physics). And most of the applicants obtain that kind of scores, so, their decision is actually based on the rest of your application.

My knowledge is based on some of my friends' applications (though they didn't get in - their SAT scores were far too low). My opinion is: if you trully want to study at the MIT then go for it. Take tons of extracurricular activities (related to physics and maths) and study for you SATs (if those are required for transfer students - I have no idea).

Before any flames: I did not apply to the MIT. My post is based on my general knowledge of the American educational system. I applied to Stanford and yes, i got accepted. However, my first choice is IC (and why? because I have friends and family in London, the fees are much much much much lower and its about 2 hours away from my home country - as opposed to 7 or so).
And why didn't I apply to the MIT? I know noone there, I know several people at Stanford.