Academia 16: Imperial College and University of Nottingham Open Days
Hello my beautiful friends!
As last week, this blog post is about my opinion of the Imperial and Nottingham open days. Again, I do not mean to influence anyone's opinion through this post. I purely hope this is useful to a few readers!
28/06/18 - Imperial College Open Day
I attended the first part of this open day with my half sister. I spent the second half of this open day alone and it was completely fine, so firstly I would like to reassure those attending open days alone that it isn't scary!
Onto the ins and outs of Imperial College... I thought my heart was set on the University of Warwick, but I felt more at-home at Imperial. The campus is so modern and beautifully designed. The location of the campus, in central London, is an amazing location too. Not only is central London the hub for many firms, meaning Imperial has good connections for internships and graduate jobs, there are many universities within London. Apparently, there are many student bars within London and you meet students from a variety of universities here, which means you can have an array of friends.
Similar to the campus, the majority of the accommodation was very modern. Although accommodation in London is slightly pricier than accommodation outside London and students may have to live slightly further away from the university, the higher student loan that you get in London balances out this cost and the commute seems negligible. You have access to a student Oyster card too, which allows students to get 1/3 off transport in London and this means cost of transport isn't too painful either.
I really enjoy the maths course as well because there are a lot of choices, so there is a lot of variety, and lecturers within the department are very involved with cutting-edge research, which is exciting. With Imperial being in London, there is lots of expertise within the mathematics department on financial mathematics, which will be beneficial as I hope to have a career in finance. The course is very focused on computer programming as well, which is a key aspect of many mathematical jobs, so this makes students more employable. There is a good representation of women within the maths departments, which I value greatly too.
I'd also like to note how diverse Imperial College is in comparison to the other universities I have attended. Both students and prospective students were from a variety of countries, I became friends with a girl from Canada! I believe that these students from a variety of backgrounds creates a thriving learning environment because students have different mathematical backgrounds, so are able to pass this alternative knowledge onto other students.
As always, here are my ratings...
29/06/18 - University of Nottingham Open Day
The University of Nottingham has a beautiful campus. The campus is large, but has lots of greenery and there is a lake in the center of the campus. All of the buildings are well-located with sciences subjects being at one side of the campus and arts subjects at the other side. My first impressions of the campus were very good.
All university-owned accommodation has vintage charm and character; however, they are all catered, so I preferred the private halls. In contrast, the private halls are all self-catered and very modern, but felt homely and were clean.
The course, like many others, is very varied, which allows students to specialise in later years. Nottingham is also a top research university, which means your lecturers can teach their most recent findings in their research. Similar to other universities, women were well-represented within the department, which I respect a lot, but, unlike other universities, Nottingham offers options of a semester/year abroad with their maths courses, which makes Nottingham a good options if you wish to travel.
This review was slightly briefer because I feel I have now made a clear decision regarding my university choices and Nottingham, I guess, was just generally "nice". As always, I will still rate the university.
This is my final open day post! I hope this short series is useful for prospective applicants. Please do share your own opinions regarding the universities and feel free to ask any further questions.
*I now realise, as mentioned in my review of Warwick, that you are not guaranteed your first choice of accommodation at all universities. The universities I have visited all allow students to list their top five accommodation choices and they are not guaranteed one of these choices, so I no longer hold this against Warwick.
**For this new category, I'd rate Warwick and Birmingham the following...
Student life [at Warwick]: ☺☺☺
Student life [at Birmingham]: ☺☺☺☺
As last week, this blog post is about my opinion of the Imperial and Nottingham open days. Again, I do not mean to influence anyone's opinion through this post. I purely hope this is useful to a few readers!
28/06/18 - Imperial College Open Day
I attended the first part of this open day with my half sister. I spent the second half of this open day alone and it was completely fine, so firstly I would like to reassure those attending open days alone that it isn't scary!
Onto the ins and outs of Imperial College... I thought my heart was set on the University of Warwick, but I felt more at-home at Imperial. The campus is so modern and beautifully designed. The location of the campus, in central London, is an amazing location too. Not only is central London the hub for many firms, meaning Imperial has good connections for internships and graduate jobs, there are many universities within London. Apparently, there are many student bars within London and you meet students from a variety of universities here, which means you can have an array of friends.
Similar to the campus, the majority of the accommodation was very modern. Although accommodation in London is slightly pricier than accommodation outside London and students may have to live slightly further away from the university, the higher student loan that you get in London balances out this cost and the commute seems negligible. You have access to a student Oyster card too, which allows students to get 1/3 off transport in London and this means cost of transport isn't too painful either.
I really enjoy the maths course as well because there are a lot of choices, so there is a lot of variety, and lecturers within the department are very involved with cutting-edge research, which is exciting. With Imperial being in London, there is lots of expertise within the mathematics department on financial mathematics, which will be beneficial as I hope to have a career in finance. The course is very focused on computer programming as well, which is a key aspect of many mathematical jobs, so this makes students more employable. There is a good representation of women within the maths departments, which I value greatly too.
I'd also like to note how diverse Imperial College is in comparison to the other universities I have attended. Both students and prospective students were from a variety of countries, I became friends with a girl from Canada! I believe that these students from a variety of backgrounds creates a thriving learning environment because students have different mathematical backgrounds, so are able to pass this alternative knowledge onto other students.
As always, here are my ratings...
Location: ☺☺☺☺☺☺ (Yes, bringing out those 6-out-of-5 star ratings again! 😂)
Campus/City: ☺☺☺☺☺
Facilities: ☺☺☺☺☺
Accommodation*: ☺☺☺☺
Department: ☺☺☺☺☺
Student life (a new category 😉)**: ☺☺☺☺☺
29/06/18 - University of Nottingham Open Day
The University of Nottingham has a beautiful campus. The campus is large, but has lots of greenery and there is a lake in the center of the campus. All of the buildings are well-located with sciences subjects being at one side of the campus and arts subjects at the other side. My first impressions of the campus were very good.
All university-owned accommodation has vintage charm and character; however, they are all catered, so I preferred the private halls. In contrast, the private halls are all self-catered and very modern, but felt homely and were clean.
The course, like many others, is very varied, which allows students to specialise in later years. Nottingham is also a top research university, which means your lecturers can teach their most recent findings in their research. Similar to other universities, women were well-represented within the department, which I respect a lot, but, unlike other universities, Nottingham offers options of a semester/year abroad with their maths courses, which makes Nottingham a good options if you wish to travel.
This review was slightly briefer because I feel I have now made a clear decision regarding my university choices and Nottingham, I guess, was just generally "nice". As always, I will still rate the university.
Location: ☺☺☺☺☺
Campus/City: ☺☺☺☺☺
Facilities: ☺☺☺☺☺
Accommodation: ☺☺☺☺☺
Department: ☺☺☺☺
Student life: ☺☺☺☺
This is my final open day post! I hope this short series is useful for prospective applicants. Please do share your own opinions regarding the universities and feel free to ask any further questions.
*I now realise, as mentioned in my review of Warwick, that you are not guaranteed your first choice of accommodation at all universities. The universities I have visited all allow students to list their top five accommodation choices and they are not guaranteed one of these choices, so I no longer hold this against Warwick.
**For this new category, I'd rate Warwick and Birmingham the following...
Student life [at Warwick]: ☺☺☺
Student life [at Birmingham]: ☺☺☺☺
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