Category: Applying to Imperial

I Got My Conditional Offer to Imperial. What Now?!

Yee Tong Siow

MEng Mechanical Engineering

Before I jump right in, I will start by explaining about why I decided to write this blog post. As Imperial has begun sending their conditional offers to students from all around the world, students have been overly excited on planning their next phases in life. Being a student ambassador from Imperial, I have begun receiving loads of messages from students telling me about their plans, asking about accommodations and life in London in general. On the other hand, there are also students who are anxious about moving into a new city and making new friends. Therefore, I have decided the write this blog post hoping that this can help ease your transition to your new phase in life!

Studying at University vs. Sixth Form

Anya Nanchahal

Medicine

As you go from primary to secondary school, and then GCSEs to A-Levels, the academic expectations keep changing. In response, your study habits also evolve slightly. Going from sixth form to university is no different. In this post I’ll share a few of the study-specific differences I noticed when I made the transition to Imperial.

1. You don’t have textbooks at university When I was doing my GCSEs and A-Levels the exam board specified textbook formed the cornerstone of my study routine. I took great solace from the fact that everything I needed to know for my exams was contained within its covers.

Getting into Medicine without straight As

Laura Amarin

Medicine

My name is Laura and I am currently a third year student on the Graduate Medicine course at Imperial College London. I believe if being a doctor is really what you envision for yourself, no number of rejections will stop you – take it from me! I’m enjoying this process and wish all medical students out there the courage and wisdom to finish the course and remember why you started in the first place.

Unfortunately, to practice in the field of Medicine, good grades are a must. But for those of us who didn’t quite get there the first time, it’s not something to give up on.

The journey towards an Imperial PhD course

Lucie Studena

PhD Bioengineering

From the beginning…

Hi everyone! I am Lucie, a PhD student in Bioengineering (synthetic biology and metabolic engineering specialisation) at Imperial. As this is a new blog, I thought my first post should tell you something about me, my career decisions and reasons for coming here. I would also like to share how my search for PhD courses and applying to Imperial looked like in case you found that useful. I think my way of getting here might be quite typical in the fact it’s atypical. There is no one way or recipe to get to a certain career or a PhD degree and often it’s lots of trial and error.

A Mini Throwback to My Biochemistry Days

Bianca Khor

MSc Management

Why hello there! A big welcome to my writing space and I hope that whoever reading this is coping well with the second lockdown and staying safe!

A little bit about myself

Since I’m new to the student blogger life, I thought it might be best for me to first briefly introduce myself!

So, first things first, hi – my name is Bianca, I am currently an MSc Management student at Imperial College Business School. I previously graduated from the BSc Biochemistry course at Imperial College London, so you can technically say that I’ve just switched buildings when I transitioned from my Bachelor’s to my Master’s.

To apply, or not to apply, that is the question

Aurna Maitra

Molecular Bioengineering

In the summer before Year 13, my family decided to take me university hopping around the UK. We’d go to different cities, stay at a local hotel, attend an open day, explore for a day or two and then move swiftly on to the next. Sometimes we’d visit 3-4 unis back to back – no stops, just songs blasting from the car speakers and my dog jumping up at every red light. I felt like a traveller (minus the caravan).

Back then I had no clue what I was going to do. I’d always wanted to study medicine, but I just wasn’t sure if I was passionate enough to dedicate 5-6 years of my life to one subject.

Medicine Interview: A Guide to MMIs at Imperial

Kinan Wihba

Medicine

Interview season is upon us. Although exciting, it can be really daunting as an applicant as you each medical school interviews differently so you don’t know what to expect. This year, Imperial is using MMIs (Multiple Mini-Interviews) instead of the traditional panel interview. Therefore, I decided to write this blog so people know what to expect and feel more at ease.

“The interview is not intended to be an intimidating experience and staff will try to put candidates at ease while evaluating the following:

  • Motivation and realistic approach to medicine as a career
  • Capacity to deal with stressful situations
  • Evidence of commitment to the values of the NHS constitution
  • Evidence of working as a leader and a team member
  • Ability to multitask
  • Likely contribution to university life
  • Communication skills and maturity of character”

The above list is directly taken from the Imperial website.

Internship Applications: My Story

Mathematics and Statistics

Did I manage to get an Internship?

Here’s a timeline of how I finally secured my Second Year Summer Internship at one of my favourite companies.

August – It’s all about the CV

A year in advance I found myself sitting in the waiting area of an empty careers service getting my CV checked. I would throughly recommend using the service over summer before they become extremely busy in October again. The careers service was able to not only identify key experiences I should include in my CV but also suggested some structural ideas. Whilst I know loads of people who LaTeX their CVs (overkill IMO) I think that you can make a perfectly good CV on Word.

Internship Applications: Top Tips

Mathematics and Statistics

How to successfully navigate applications

One of the hardest parts of being a penultimate year student is juggling applications for internships alongside academic studies. Having just been through this process, I wanted to share my journey and also some top tips on how to survive this time-consuming task successfully! In this first post I will talk about the general process and my top tips!

The general steps in the application process
  1. Online Application – This usually involves providing your personal details, answering some questions about your motivations for this career, listing your previous work experiences. Sometimes you will be asked to provide a CV and cover letter
  2. Online Assessments – Either with your application or sometimes if you make it through the first round, you will be asked to complete some online assessments.

Is it really Challenging?

Mathematics and Statistics

The number one question I hear about studying at Imperial

In short, yes. But of course studying here isn’t easy, but if you’re at Imperial now or are thinking of coming here than you probably already know that and can handle the challenge! (If it was easy then everyone would be able to do it) After speaking to countless perspective students and my friends at other universities, this is often the first question I’m asked about what it’s like to study at Imperial. I have often struggled to answer this question succinctly as it has many different aspects to it. There’s of course the academic side, but the also the concept of work-life balance and having a social life.

Learn more about life at Imperial

London skyline silhouette London skyline silhouette