The UK’s undergraduate education system is a compressed four-year course into three years, and the overall curriculum is very tight. Imperial College is divided into three semesters each year, with a total of eight courses from first to the third year in the Mathematics Department, four courses in the first and second semesters, exams and projects in the third semester, all compulsory in the first year, two to three electives in the second year, and eight electives in the third year. Each course has about 30 hours of class time. In my first year, I did not have a proper grasp of the study method, and I was too busy experiencing the freedom of university life, so my grades were not very good. In sophomore year, the average score improved by about 20 points. The third-year is probably the most critical year, with more than 50% of the marks being weighted. All in all, grades are quite important.

I had heard that IC was very stressful, and I was prepared for it, but I really didn’t expect it to be that stressful. Our class schedule is from morning to evening, only the evening and midnight can tutorial and coursework. coursework is really difficult, the teacher teaches very few things in class, 90% of the coursework is to learn on their own to figure out very time-consuming. I really don’t want to say anything when I see the schedule of this CW today, it really doesn’t leave us any time to breathe. Calmly think about IC really giving me a better life? No. After coming to IC hair fell faster acne grew more. The body is getting worse and worse from staying up late and sitting all day.

Imperial College London is a great university because of its academic rigour but also it’s student experience outside of the course. I’ll be honest – the work is very hard and very demanding but this is a good thing because it pushes you beyond what you think you could do and makes you a much better student. Regarding life outside of the course, Imperial is perfect. Being in London is a great advantage. There is also over 300 clubs or societies so there is plenty to do!

I have highly appreciated my time spent at Imperial College London thus far, studying Mathematics for this first year has been an enriching experience. Imperial’s atmosphere boasts a strong balance between a relaxed and intense working environment, in order to bring the best out of every student. This is perhaps most shown through how much freedom each student has to complete their work on time, to be able to work at their own pace, yet the standard of work is still maintained since sufficient help and support for exam preparation is given to students throughout the year. The facilities are incredible, for example the Imperial library of 5 floors is more than enough to accommodate all students’ needs for individual studying. Panopto is also used as a means of lecture recording across many subjects, allowing students to recap on learned material, which comes as a great aid to students who have fallen behind on lectures. My favourite part of Imperial has to be the sheer number of clubs, societies and projects available for students to take part in, as made aware during Fresher’s Fair – my personal highlight being taking part in EMW 2019 for Imperial’s Indian Society. I would highly recommend Imperial to any student looking to study a STEM course, especially Maths, since it really does allow you to reach your full potential.