Does ETH beat Imperial?

1

I am considering going to either ETH Zurich or Imperial College to study biochemistry.
I was told ETH has got an excellent scientific reputation, however, I do not
know whether Imperial or ETH is more highly regarded internationally.
Both ETH and Imperial are members of famous IDEA league, which means they are certainly in the same category in terms of research excellence.

I already have an offer from UCL for biotechnology, but getting into ETH is not
particularly hard even though the course is very demanding.

So which institution would you prefer? ETH, Imperial- or possibly UCL?
Which will give me the best career prospects?

Reply 1

Titanium-Fibre

ETH Zurich is a fantastic university, very reputable in Europe indeed. Having come from Switzerland, I can tell you that it's most definately percieved as the Oxbridge of Switzerland.

I think Imperial has the edge in international reputatation though so I'd imagine the career prospects will be best at Imperial (generally speaking). In terms of the quality of course, I'm not aware of how they rank in terms of biochemistry, but for most of the graduate programmes ETH Zurich, Imperial and Cambridge are often evaluated as being more or less equal.
Also, ETH Zurich require you to pass their entrance exams regardless of your qualifications.

Reply 2

Bio_Science

OP

1

Thank very much the fast reply.

Actually I have received a letter from ETH telling me I only need to achieve 70% in my final exams to get admitted
without entrance exams.
I find it strange myself that such a reputable university has such low entry standards compared to Imperial, for instance...

Reply 3

Titanium-Fibre

Bio_Science

Thank very much the fast reply.

Actually I have received a letter from ETH telling me I only need to achieve 70% in my final exams to get admitted
without entrance exams.
I find it strange myself that such a reputable university has such low entry standards compared to Imperial, for instance...

Oh really? That's even better then, the system must have changed since I was last there or it must mean that your qualifications are going to be equivalent to the Swiss Matriculation. Also do you know if your course is going to be tought in english or german?

Reply 4

spex

16

Well i think i speak for most of britain (and definitely all of america lol) when i say that i've never heard of ETH. But i don't have any idea how it's seen in europe. I think imperial would ring bells all over the world though.

Reply 5

Titanium-Fibre

spex

Well i think i speak for most of britain (and definitely all of america lol) when i say that i've never heard of ETH. But i don't have any idea how it's seen in europe. I think imperial would ring bells all over the world though.

It's sort of like the MIT equivalent for Europe, Imperial still has quite a diverse range of courses offered (although mainly sciences) where as ETH is like an institute of technology, specialising in core sciences and engineering. It's actually very good in the rankings, many place it equal to cambridge university for their science programmes. I agree with you though, it's not as popular as Imperial for sure.

Reply 6

fais

15

Titanium-Fibre

It's sort of like the MIT equivalent for Europe, Imperial still has quite a diverse range of courses offered (although mainly sciences) where as ETH is like an institute of technology, specialising in core sciences and engineering. It's actually very good in the rankings, many place it equal to cambridge university for their science programmes. I agree with you though, it's not as popular as Imperial for sure.

How does that make it like MIT, where you can leave with a degree in Architecture, History or even (shock, horror) Comparative Media Studies :eek:

?

But the rest of the post I agree with. :yep:

Reply 7

Bio_Science

OP

1

Well it sounds like Imperial has got a better reputation than ETH.
However, it should be noted ETH is one of the richest universities in europe
and has extremely tough courses (up to 50 hours of lectures and practicals in one week!).
Wikipedia says:,, ETH is not selective in its undergraduate admission procedures.
(...) The actual selection process takes place in the summer shortly after the second semester. Students have to pass the block examinations of courses of the first year, called the Basisprüfung. More than 50% of the students fail the Basisprüfung on first try and many of them choose to drop out after the failure. ''

Certainly the pressure and workload is comparable to Imperial standards.

Reply 8

fox_amro

12

Didnt you do the same thread for UCL?

Reply 9

Bio_Science

OP

1

Well, I will have to make a decision within the next several days as ETH has asked me to either accept or turn down their offer by the 18th of May, which is only a few days from now.
I really appreciate the advice people can give me, so I thought it may be a wise thing to get feedback from students of at least two independent institutions.

Anyway, I have decided to go to ETH... :yes:

Reply 10

fox_amro

12

Good luck

Reply 11

aria57

Bio_Science

Well, I will have to make a decision within the next several days as ETH has asked me to either accept or turn down their offer by the 18th of May, which is only a few days from now.
I really appreciate the advice people can give me, so I thought it may be a wise thing to get feedback from students of at least two independent institutions.

Anyway, I have decided to go to ETH... :yes:

...

If the money is no problem, I have no idea how you can choose ETH over Imperial.

Reply 12

s.e.r.e.n.e

12

I think ETH Zurich is pretty good. It is very reputable. But Imperial is very good as well.

For graduate studies, the American universities (like Ivies, UCs) are the best.

Reply 13

Byllie

ETH is very good I want to study physics there, but I am worried about how much switzerland costs

Reply 14

Bio_Science

OP

1

Yes, actually Switzerland (especially Zurich) is very expensive.
However, I do not think it is yet more expensive than London- as far as
I know finding an affordable place to live will be the greatest challenge.
Food is usually not terribly expensive, unless you buy it at one of the tourist places- anyway, this is the case in any of the bigger cities.
However, I think you should not be put off by the high cost of living- ETH is really one of the best science universities in the world which means you can expect higher salaries.

Reply 15

xSkyFire

19

Imperial has the edge when it comes to applying practically anywhere else in the world xD

Reply 16

=gabriel=

13

I have worked at both Imperial and ETH as a research intern and although I agree Imperial is probably more reputable internationally, this is probably due to it being in London more than anything else. ETH is amazing and the newly built Science city beats facilities-wise pretty much anything I have seen in the UK. Of course this also depends on the group you work with and there are some excellent specialised institutes with comparable facilities in the UK (such as the MRC Cambridge).

As for the undergraduate degrees, I can't speak from experience having worked in research groups only but I would say there is not much difference in terms of workload and quality of teaching. So it probably comes down to where you want to live, which language you want to study in etc (most of the teaching at ETH is in German).

Reply 17

Dorky

Hi there. I have worked both at ETH and Imperial.
They are both excellent scientific institutions with excellent professors.
Imperial is definitely more selective when it comes to students; in ETH basically any Swiss student who is somewhat better than average is admitted.
Imperial is ranked higher in international rankings.
ETH is much more Mittel-Europa oriented, while Imperial is much more international.

Reply 18

Geekworld1234

I think it well depend on what phase you will study.

As a research scientist, I'd like to say ETH does better research in engineering and natural sciences than Imperial generally, especially in computer science and electrical engineering fields. But ETH doesn't have business school whereas Imperial is strong, and I think it is the reason why Imperial performed better in some rankings.

ETH do has a non-selective admission for undergrad, but it will fail 50% student in the first year and 30% student in the second. It's very hard to survive in ETH actually. At the same time, their graduates are very very smart and strong academically.

Reply 19

AfterShave

8

Original post

by spex

Well i think i speak for most of britain (and definitely all of america lol) when i say that i've never heard of ETH. But i don't have any idea how it's seen in europe. I think imperial would ring bells all over the world though.

Bit of an unreasonable statement. I'm from China and I have definitely heard of ETH Zurich.

Does ETH beat Imperial?

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