More Uni advice required please, Imperial & UCL.

JohnnyG

JohnnyG

JohnnyG

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My eldest is finding it hard deciding which one of these to take as his first choice (he's had the same offer from both) and he's going to do Biology, was going to be Maths but changed for some reason.
He's been to both a couple of times and seems impressed by each of them but it would be handy if anyone who actually goes to or went to them could give us a few pros and cons:)

Edit: He's only planning on staying on campus for the first year then travel from home.
 
I believe Imperial is ranked higher than UCL, but I could be wrong. Both are very good unis though.
 
I went to Imperial and they are ranked higher in the league tables for most subjects I think. They also have a lot of top researchers and this has helped build the reputation of the uni also.

Either place will be good for him but I think Imperial may look slightly better on his CV.
 
Imperial is ranked higher than UCL. But, to be honest, neither of them have a life. I had to a choice to go to both of them. In the end I chose Queen Mary because it appealed more to me and was great in the league tables in my course. Your son will have to pay higher accomodation fees and higher living expenses due to being in Central London. They're both great Uni's serving with great distinction. But I'd advise him to look into what kind of life he'll have.
 
Ricochet J said:
Imperial is ranked higher than UCL. But, to be honest, neither of them have a life. I had to a choice to go to both of them. In the end I chose Queen Mary because it appealed more to me and was great in the league tables in my course. Your son will have to pay higher accomodation fees and higher living expenses due to being in Central London. They're both great Uni's serving with great distinction. But I'd advise him to look into what kind of life he'll have.
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What utter tosh, I would really like you to elaborate on what you mean by UCL 'not having a life'.

I went to UCL and have a lot of friends at QM and I much prefer UCL. QM is situated in Mile End, a pretty awful part of town and since most popular nightlife is in the West End, QM guys have to travel further Central if they want a good time. UCL has an amazing union with a cracking events line up, much bigger and more successful than QM union nights. Yes QM does have a nice campus but it's all enclosed. I also can't believe you turned down Imperial/UCL to go to QM, individual departments may shine but the university is looked at from a higher viewpoint, QM is not part of the elite set of universities.

JohnnyG, it's a tough choice to be honest. Imperial is highly ranked and will be better on the CV however UCL has a great sophisticated social atmosphere which I feel is generally missing from Imperial. Imperial has a vast number of international students whereas UCL is probably the most mixed out of the top London universities. As far as socialness goes, Imperial are reserved compared to UCL. Whilst Imperial is based in South Ken, a lot of the halls are not very well positioned, some require quite considerable travelling whereas UCL has some great centrally located halls of residence, with access to the West End within 15 mins walk.

I had the opportunity to go to Imperial for my postgrad and it was a tough choice between Imperial and LSE but the course structure, quality of academics and location (I really didn't want to live in Imperial halls) of LSE tipped the scales for me. You may find your lad has a better opportunity to find his 'set' of people (due to the diversity) to socialise with at UCL as Imperial is very internationally focused and is another reason which puts me off.
 
I did my biology postgraduate degree at Imperial. It's an excellent university and has consistently been ranked in the top three in the UK, sometimes coming above Oxford and Cambridge for some subjects. It has very good research facilities and a good reputation for research, with close ties to the Natural History Museum (where I did my research work) and with the Silwood Park (Ascot) research facilities.

My other half went to UCL, which is also very good, but personally, I think Imperial would be hard to beat. It's in a very s****y part of town and has superb facilities on site. The only downside would be the cost of living there.
 
You may find your lad has a better opportunity to find his 'set' of people (due to the diversity) to socialise with at UCL as Imperial is very internationally focused and is another reason which puts me off.
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I was trying to think of a diplomatic and politically correct way to say that, without sounding like a xenophobe, but you've summed it up well there! That was quite noticeable to me when I went there from my undergrad degree. The postgrad course I did was probably 60% UK students, but some of the undergrad ones were predominantly overseas students - presumably because they help pay the bills!
 
Ricochet J said:
Imperial is ranked higher than UCL. But, to be honest, neither of them have a life. I had to a choice to go to both of them. In the end I chose Queen Mary because it appealed more to me and was great in the league tables in my course. Your son will have to pay higher accomodation fees and higher living expenses due to being in Central London. They're both great Uni's serving with great distinction. But I'd advise him to look into what kind of life he'll have.
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I'm sorry, but you'd have to be crazy in my mind to choose QMUL over IC/UCL, theres just no comparison between them, but thats another debate.

In terms of Imperial social life. Yes, the student union is unbelievably rubbish if you want anything more than a bar to watch sport in, in which case its not too bad. I found all of imperials halls very sociable, and frankly the rest of london gives you all the night life you could need, and there are so many student nights out in london, it doesn't really matter where you go. I also think the very international feel of imperial is really great, my university friends are from across the world, and there are so many interesting and diverse people if you make the effort to get to know the international students.

In terms of accomadation, Imperials best (and also most expensive unfortunately) halls are all about 2 minutes from campus. A lot of the other halls are about a 10 minutes walk through south ken which is actually a pretty pleasant walk.
 
I'm at imperial atm and UCL does have better bars etc but Imperial has the better union with more clubs and societies.

Campus and teaching facilities at excellent. tbh you can't go wrong with either. I'd state that Imperial is in posh part of london and nearby accomodation is expensive. It looks like that may not be a problem for you. Its worth considering whether living at home is the best course of action though.
 
fishfishfish said:
I was trying to think of a diplomatic and politically correct way to say that, without sounding like a xenophobe, but you've summed it up well there! That was quite noticeable to me when I went there from my undergrad degree. The postgrad course I did was probably 60% UK students, but some of the undergrad ones were predominantly overseas students - presumably because they help pay the bills!
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unfortunately at a science based university, the funding the government provides for uk students is woefully below the actual costs, so unsurprisingly universities and imperial in particular (as it can leverage its london location as well) has targeted students from overseas who are quite happy paying 20k a year in fees, to make up the funding gaps.
 
I'm at Imperial at the moment and can attest to what Bush has mentioned. Although some of the accomodation can be quite distant, transport links are numerous and easy. If he's into his sports, Ethos, the University's sports centre, is deemed one of the best in the country.

Being based in South Kensington is a major bonus with the museums and Royal Albert Hall a mere 2 minute walk from the University. Since the uni has very close ties with the Natural History museum and the Science museum, it might be of added benefit for his choice of course. As a member of the RSM, I get gree access to the imax at the Science museum :D.
 
I go to imperial and would recommend it over ucl :p. At imperial you get free access to great quality swimming and gym facilities, new accommodation is ready this year right next to college and the location (hyde park, south ken, museums) is great generally.

At the end of the day both are really good unis and central london is a great place to live so you can't go too wrong with either choice.
 
Generally UCL kids are a lot cooler, the common line of defense from Imperialites is their locality to museums, as evident in this thread:D
 
Everyone I know who's been to Imperial say that it's a fantastic university for learning but a bit too serious and faceless. Cambridge and Oxford are much better for social life and actually looking after their students.

You've got to be the right kind of person to excel at Imperial. It's given some of my friends a great start to their professional lives.
 
Tunney said:
Everyone I know who's been to Imperial say that it's a fantastic university for learning but a bit too serious and faceless. Cambridge and Oxford are much better for social life and actually looking after their students.

You've got to be the right kind of person to excel at Imperial. It's given some of my friends a great start to their professional lives.
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You can't compare the social life in Cambridge and Oxford with the capital's.
 
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