It is easy to find out the basic entry requirements to apply to a degree, but are there qualities that set you apart from other applicants? Jake Ganymede is a Senior International Officer at Imperial College London, and he shares his perspective on what makes an attractive applicant to Computing at this world class university. You may be surprised to hear the answer isn’t necessarily programming experience. Jake says that each year, a large number of the college’s incoming students have no prior programming experience. “If you are in this category and are thinking of applying to our courses, but are worried that a lack of computing experience will leave you at a disadvantage, don’t be.” This is because Imperial teaches a variety of programming languages from the beginning in the first and second year, so not having previous programming experience won’t be a problem. This also means that you don’t need to have taken A-level Computer Science or AP Computer Science to apply to computing at Imperial. So, if knowledge of programming is not the most important quality, then what is? Photo by Imperial College London: Brain visualisation main entrance, South Kensington Campus Imperial College London is consistently ranked one of the top universities in the world. Here is what they are looking for in students applying to their computing degrees. Tips for applying to computing at Imperial “To summarize it is that we need students to be excelling at maths! We look for people who are good (I mean, very, very good) at maths and are excited by computing and its many applications. We welcome people with a wide variety of subjects they’d like to mix with maths – usually physics, for example. We are looking for students who are, or have the potential to be, great problem-solvers, lateral-thinkers, or systematic thinkers.” Jake strongly encourages applicants to take Further Maths or the most rigorous math course available. “If the school offers Further Maths, we expect them to take it. If their school does not offer the chance to take Further Maths, please make sure this is stated in the school reference. We will take this into account. It is desired but not essential.” All applicants (particularly those not taking Further Maths) are encouraged, and may be required, to take a STEP exam in Maths. Jake feels that extra tuition is advisable because of the difficulty and style of questions. For applications to Computing courses, Imperial usually asks for a Grade of 2 in STEP II. You will also need to locate your local examination center for this test. This can take a bit of time and planning if you are not in the UK. Jake also points out that Imperial does not place any focus on “extra-curricular” activities, so unrelated activities won’t significantly influence how admissions officers assesses a student’s academic profile. However, they are looking for a student to demonstrate academic interest in computing and transferable skills /competencies such as: • The ability to work as part of a group/team, for the purposes of research, collective problem solving, and communication of results/findings. • The ability to present key facts, ideas, problem solutions, results etc., both verbally and in written form. • The ability to work independently. • The ability to use computer systems and appropriate software packages as an aid to research, analysis, problem solving, and presentation. • The ability to exercise self-learning. • The ability to use acquired theoretical and practical knowledge to tackle unseen problems. But overall, Jake stresses that as a UK university, nothing is weighted as much as a student’s academic interest. Photo by Imperial College London: Student at Dalby Court, South Kensington Campus
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy