Constance is a Biomedical Engineering student at Imperial College London in England. After passing her Bac in France, she was accepted at the prestigious Imperial College London. Read her testimonial below and find out more about her university experience at Imperial College!
Profile
FIRST NAME : Constance
NATIONALITY : Française
NAME OF COURSE FOLLOWED : Biomedical engineering
UNIVERSITY NAME : Imperial College London
TYPE OF BACCALAUREATE AND RESULT OBTAINED : American OIB French baccalaureate science section
A FUN DETAIL ABOUT YOU: JI have a phobia of popsicle sticks
Why did you choose to study abroad?
What courses did you apply for abroad (in the UK and elsewhere)? Why did you choose this subject/curriculum for your Bachelor’s degree?
I applied for a biomedical engineering degree in the UK because I was looking for an applied engineering course in a field that was close to my heart. It’s a course that has a lot of applications today and covers several areas of engineering at the same time.
What other universities did you apply to (in the UK and elsewhere) and why did you end up choosing Imperial College?
I also applied to UCL, King’s College, Queen Mary and Durham. Imperial College was the one I really wanted because it’s one of the best universities in the department. I’d also received positive reviews on it and found that the spirit suited me well.
What was the admissions process like for you?
Did you receive coaching/help with your application (e.g. from your school)?
I had 2 appointments with my “college counsellor” who filled out our files and wrote the letter of recommendation combining those of the teachers. He reviewed our UCAS Personal Statements, but didn’t really coach us, just advise us on where to go.
How did you go about writing your UCAS Personal Statement?
It took me a long time to do it, but I got a lot of advice from older students, which was very useful, because there really is a method to the UCAS personal statement: things to do and things not to do.
What readings/resources did you find useful to mention in your Statement, and could you recommend to a student interested in applying for the same course?
It’s important to mention what you’ve done outside of school, such as internships, extra courses, activities within the school, projects and so on. For example, I took a robotics course, helped write an astrophysics MOOC (online course) and talked about my internships. The most important thing is really to say what they brought you, otherwise it won’t be useful.
That’s why it’s important to take part in activities that are directly related to your chosen course of study, without neglecting any other courses or activities that might interest you, as the skills they provide can be very useful and transferable.
Did you have to attend an interview? If so, how did you prepare?
Yes, but at Imperial it’s not an interview like Cambridge or Oxford. If you are invited to an interview, you have a good chance of being admitted, provided you defend your personal statement well and demonstrate an excellent academic level in maths. You’ll need to ” revise ” your UCAS personal statement carefully, as you’ll be asked a number of questions about it. So it’s essential that you only mention things you’d be able to talk about.
I was also asked some technical questions: I looked at the A-levels maths syllabus to find out roughly what skills might be examined : curve drawing, equation solving (in the faster English way).
Why did you choose Imperial in particular?
Have you been influenced by the rankings? Do you think students should look at rankings to choose?
Yes, I think it’s important to go to the best university for your level and course of study. You have to be careful to do your research carefully, because some universities may be highly ranked, but not necessarily for your course of study, or vice versa. Even if the name of the university ultimately determines your degree, the courses in which the universities excel are also recognized.
Did the content of the curriculum at your particular university influence your choice of university?
Yes, I could see from their website or my interview that the curriculum was very rich, and that I had access to resources unavailable at other universities. It’s really important to look at the different modules of your curriculum year by year (available on university websites), as different universities sometimes have very different approaches to the same curriculum. For example, my course at Imperial is very much oriented towards electrical engineering, mechanics and programming, whereas this is much less the case at other universities.
What do you think of the campus and the city in which it’s located?
It’s really great! Imperial is located in South Kensington, so it’s a very nice, pleasant place, not too “busy” like central London. The South Kensington campus (there are others for other courses) is great, the buildings are beautiful and the campus is quite impressive.
What are the 3 things you like best about your university and the 3 things you’d like to improve?
3 things I like best : the atmosphere, the wealth of resources, the many opportunities.
3 things I’d improve: a bigger library, better language courses, a less hectic schedule.
Do you have any international friends (French or otherwise) at your university?
Are there many international students at your university? How easy do you find it to integrate and make friends at your university as a foreigner?
There are a lot of international students, 30% from outside Europe and 20% from Europe. There are a lot of French: I think it’s the first European majority in almost all London universities. Groups of French students are formed automatically, and as a French student you have to be careful to integrate well with other internationals, otherwise you run the risk of just being French. Groups of English students also form very quickly, and the easiest way to do this is to form heterogeneous groups. You need to be sociable – people are shy !
À quoi ressemble votre résidence étudiante ? Êtes-vous logé sur le campus ?
Comment était votre résidence étudiante en 1ère année (confort, propreté, proximité du campus…) ?
I was a 30-minute walk from my university (Wilson House) on the other side of Hyde Park. The walk to the university was very pleasant. The rooms were very nice, the shared showers and kitchen not always very clean, which is quite unavoidable unfortunately. However, this depends very much on the people with whom the kitchen was shared, but you can’t expect great cleanliness… I strongly advise against going into residence in the first year, as this is really where friendships and integration take place.
How far from the university are the halls of residence? Where do 2nd and 3rd year students live?
There are three on campus: 2 further away (30 min walk) and others quite far (45 min metro ride). The 2 th and 3rd th year students live in shared apartments or houses, usually around Fulham, Hammersmith, Chelsea and, more rarely, South Kensington.
What’s the food like in your residence and in others? Is it possible to cook for yourself ?
Everyone cooks for themselves, as none of Imperial’s residences has a canteen.
What was the process like to get a place in a residence? Which student residences would you recommend to French or international students at your university?
Once accepted there’s a site where you have to enter your preferences, I’d recommend the three residences on campus but, unfortunately, you can’t really choose.
Could you describe your experience at your university?
How many hours of lessons do you have each week?
25 hours or so.
How much work?
It’s quite important and to keep up with it, you have to work hard. There are exercises in every subject to do every week, and it’s pretty hard to do them all.
Do you have exams once or several times a year?
There are exams in January and May. There is a particular exam system in my course where there is a first exam in most subjects in which you need to get 80% to guarantee a ” pass ” (40% in the subject).
Are you involved in any student associations?
I’m on the committee of an environmental association, and in several dance associations.
Is there anything about the British university system that you’d like to improve?
If the May exams could weigh a little less, it would be a little less stressful.
Do you have any other comments or advice for students interested in applying to your university or other foreign universities?
You really need to ask around, and ask students who are already in the course you want to take, or in the university you want to go to. You also need to think about the course you’ve chosen, and really look at the course names, because it’s totally different from what we’re taught at school.
If you’ve chosen a course of study that really interests you, you’re in for a great experience, but it’s easy to make a mistake, and many people change direction after the first year. You shouldn’t say to yourself that you can’t do this or that course because you’re not very good in a subject associated with it at school, because the subjects won’t have anything to do with it. One good thing about the English system is that it’s very flexible: you can apply for a course and then reorient yourself. It’s not always that easy, but it’s still more flexible than the French system.
For the UCAS Personal Statement, you really need to avoid blah , blah, blah and cliché sentences, because they read thousands of them and detect them very easily. There aren’t many words, so everything has to be essential. The aim of a Personal Statement is to explain that you have a genuine interest in the program and why you should be admitted. It’s important to put yourself forward.
Once at university, it’s very important to seek out opportunities and not hesitate to do things you’ve never done before, because it really is a unique experience and you have to make the most of it !
