Admitted to Imperial College London, see how she embarks on an adventurous journey in pursuit of her ideals!

Date：2022-03-19   Author：admin

                                                                          
About Explore-stone

To meet the demands of more families for more professional and refined application services for undergraduate studies in the UK, the Explore-stone project was born. Based on a vast amount of admission data, with a considerate service team, rich university resources and scientific planning services at its core, we provide high-standard application planning and personalized services for students aiming to enter the G5 universities in the UK.

Admitted to Imperial College London, see how she embarks on an adventurous journey in pursuit of her ideals!


The new application season is approaching gradually. Imperial College London (IC), a British engineering college, has always attracted the attention of many students with excellent academic performance in science and engineering.

In recent years, the number of applicants for undergraduate programs at Imperial College London has been increasing year by year, and the competition for admission has become increasingly fierce.

According to the newly released 2019-20 admission data, the number of applicants for undergraduate programs at Imperial College London reached 23,470, with 2,777 students ultimately admitted. The overall application-to-admission ratio was 8.5:1, and the admission rate was only 11.7%.

Imperial College has strict admission standards. It can be said that students who can receive offers are all extremely strong "chosen ones".

Xiao E has specially invited Huan, who was admitted to the chemistry program at Imperial College London this year and received an interview invitation for the chemistry program at the University of Oxford, to share her application journey and success secrets with everyone

Student Huan

School attended: Shanghai Campus of Lingke Education

Standardized test scores: A*A*A*

Admitted school: Imperial College London

Admitted major: Chemistry


A door that was unexpectedly opened by an experimental class

It may be hard to believe that whether it was studying abroad or choosing a major, I was driven by very small motives. However, in the process of turning my ideas into reality, I developed a great passion.

When I graduated from junior high school, I watched an anime series with the theme of "Chinese personification", which kindled my yearning for the customs and traditions of foreign countries. I also hope to experience a study and life that is completely different from my hometown.

Among all the roles of countries, I love the UK, which combines ancient traditions with modern technology, is gentlemanly yet retains a touch of humor and human warmth.

So, I gathered my energy and did over a summer vacation of research on studying in the UK, and finally made up my mind to study there.

My interest in chemistry originated from an ordinary laboratory class.

At that time, I was still frantically practicing titration experiments as if I were being forced into a task, all in a rush to pass the test. By accident, I knocked over the iodine bottle. The dark iodine liquid seeped through my lab coat, leaving shocking stains on my new clothes that couldn't be washed off with water or hand sanitizer.

By chance, I thought that neutralization reactions could change the color of solutions in titration experiments, so I used sodium thiosulfate solution to "titrate" the stain. In the blink of an eye, the brown spots magically vanished.

I also exclaimed at the magic of chemistry. For me, it will no longer be an obscure and profound discipline, but a helper that is intricately linked to daily life.

Later, chemistry became my major. I hope to keep studying this field and exploring more mysteries of chemistry.

2. Get out of the misunderstandings in choosing institutions

AS early as the spring of AS, I got in touch with Explore Stone through the recommendation of my classmates. However, when the CAIE exam ended in June, my parents introduced me to another institution they knew.

This institution mainly focuses on the American system and is not familiar with the university application and admission mechanism in the UK as well as the CAIE scoring system. This has caused many inconveniences during the communication process and led to an unhappy ending.


So I gathered my courage and began to contact the responsible teacher of Explore Stone. One day of phone calls made my parents and me realize the misunderstandings we had made when choosing an institution before. We immediately confirmed our cooperation and promptly arranged the summer course tutoring.

There are mainly three reasons why I chose Explore Stone.

It is in line with the professional direction

Explore Stone has extensive experience in the UK direction. In previous years, its students have received a large number of offers from top G5 universities. Many mentors themselves graduated from prestigious British universities and are more familiar with the British process.

The chemistry major I applied for is even the forte of Explore Stone.

A harmonious teacher-student relationship

Explore Stone is a vibrant institution. The instructors and mentors are all young people who have just graduated from university. Some may even be senior students from the same high school as the students, or direct graduates from the perspective University of the students.

Such a teacher-student combination without a generation gap is more active in communication both in and out of class, which can relieve the tension of the students.

The mentorship system's responsible experience

Unlike those large-scale institutions that mainly sell class hours, at Explore Stone, you can enjoy a one-on-one mentorship system and Q&A services.

3. A busy but fulfilling application season

In the middle of June and July during the summer vacation, I followed my tutor's one-on-one explanations to preview the chemistry content that connected my freshman year with the CAIE course, and looked up and read the recommended books on the official websites of prestigious universities such as G5.

In my spare time, I self-studied the remaining parts of advanced mathematics and A2 Chemistry, and completed the real test questions in the CAIE examination syllabus. I originally intended to pass the remaining subjects of CAIE in advance in October, but for various reasons, I didn't do so.

After completing a certain amount of university knowledge, I went to the university laboratory and research institute for an internship in August. I combined these experiences with my own insights and experiences in learning chemistry or the professional knowledge I was interested in to organize the first draft of the application documents, and together with my supervisor, we screened out suitable materials.

After the CAIE results were released in August, we listed the universities or colleges in the UK that met the application requirements from high to low according to the QS University subject rankings and made comparisons based on personal preferences.

I have finally determined my five UCAS preferences, among which three are G5 universities and two are Scottish schools as a safety net.

In September, while I was studying advanced chemical knowledge, I was compiling application documents and submitting them to my high school teachers and the mentor of Explore Stone for revision over and over again until both sides were satisfied. Finally, I submitted the UCAS application in early October.

On the advice of my teacher and Explore Stone, I took the O-Level English exam in early October to prepare for the further English requirements of the university.

In addition, the chemistry department of Oxford that I applied for requires taking the TSA (Thinking Skill Assessment) written test at the end of October. Since October, Explore Stone has very considerately arranged the TSA instructor for me (a senior who was admitted to Oxford and got a high score in the written test).

Moreover, since physics was my weak point, Explore Stone also arranged for me a powerful physics teacher (graduated from the Physics Department of Oxford), enabling me to complete the filling of gaps in physics within the limited time.

After completing the above written test, I began to focus wholeheartedly on preparing for the interview content. Throughout November, my supervisor and I arranged several mock interviews and prepared many questions that the university might ask.

The interview topics are not only in-class and out-of-class chemical knowledge, but also include some advanced mathematics (calculus), physics and personal questions.

I received an offer from the University of Edinburgh just two days after submitting it to UCAS. Before that, the consultant from Explore Stone was joking with me that the UK would go on strike for at least a month before offering a job. A few days later, I also received an interview invitation from Imperial College London.

For more than a month after that, UCAS was completely silent. I became increasingly anxious and even developed "email syndrome", wishing I could refresh my email every three seconds.

A week before my interview at Imperial College London, I received an offer from UCL. Then, on the flight to the UK for my interview at Oxford, I got an offer from Imperial College (fortunately, I bought WIFI on the plane). And during the two days of my interview at Oxford, I received an offer from the University of St Andrews.

My parents are both joking that these offers seem to have colluded, sending me reassuring pills to treat my "email syndrome".

The interview for IC was completed in early December. On the spot of the interview, I received the closing remarks from the university professor, "I am looking forward to see you in Imperial College next autumn."

In mid-December, I went to the UK for an interview at Oxford University. Unfortunately, among my competitors was a tough guy who had spent five years in high school, so I failed.

4. A shining journey

For me, the entire application season is like an adventurous journey in pursuit of my ideals, and what makes me happier than realizing them is being on such a shining journey.

My supervisor graduated from the Chemistry Department of Oxford University and has provided me with assistance in multiple aspects over the past six months. Even when not in class, we will also answer questions on wechat.

Such academic discussions allowed me to enjoy the thrill of being replied to immediately one of the few times. Whether it was morning or evening (midnight is not a good habit for practicing immortality), my mentor could always provide me with rigorous, professional and guiding answers in a short time. This is not only to answer my question, but also to send me the link index (reference list) of this section, allowing me to explore it myself and draw inferences by analogy.

For the subject of chemistry, the gap from high school to university is very large. Many theorems commonly used in high school even become wrong or generalized concepts in the university stage.

I was also extremely nervous because I was afraid that during my study, I would find out that I actually didn't like this subject, and that I had overestimated my own level just because I was good at high school content.

Under the concerted efforts of my supervisor and me, all these confusions were no longer like dark clouds lingering in the clear sky, but vanished without a trace.

It turns out that much of the content in university is about revealing the essence of phenomena that were once unsolvable.

I have met many friends from all over the country in the application groups of various universities, and also made like-minded friends on Explore Stone.

We will share our experiences in exam preparation and interviews, and also chat about interesting things around us to ease our tense emotions.

For instance, before the written tests at Oxford and Cambridge, we squeezed chocolate sauce and wrote down the abbreviations of our respective test subjects on slices of bread (such as my TSA, others' MAT, STEP, PAT, ECAA, etc.), and then devoured these slices of bread with the test names written on them as memory bread.

Even now, every time I take a major exam, I still eat such chocolate-flavored memory bread to calm my mind. The revolutionary friendship among us during the application season has always been inspiring me.

5. Some suggestions for everyone

For students who are about to apply to universities, I have the following suggestions

Confirm your major direction as early as possible

The earlier a major is determined, the more time there will be to prepare towards the target requirements.

If there is no particular direction of interest at present, you can analyze one by one from the popular majors, such as computer science, mathematics, engineering, etc.

Grasp the first-hand information

Although intermediaries can assist with planning, one should not rely on them passively. Taking the initiative and having first-hand information can enable us to stay one step ahead of others.

We can search for information on the university's official website or UCAS, such as the university's admission requirements and modules, the types of students we like, recommended reading materials, and so on.

We can also look up information about competitions or internships to enrich the materials for personal documents.

Develop self-study ability

Whether it is achieving satisfactory results at CAIE, winning competitions or interviews, or handling university courses with ease, self-study is undoubtedly a helpful skill.

It is difficult to meet higher academic requirements merely by relying on the knowledge acquired in class. Previewing is also a form of self-study, which can achieve twice the result with half the effort both in and out of class.

Balance one's mindset

Anxiety during the application season is a major enemy, and in severe cases, it can even damage physical and mental health.

While trying your best to keep a calm mind, please also communicate with your supportive relatives and friends around you from time to time to relieve stress in a timely manner.

The most important point is that no matter what the outcome is, please enjoy the application season and the remaining high school life. The journey of striving together with family, teachers and friends is also one of the shining memories in high school and even the entire youth.

No regrets is victory. Just Enjoy it!

It is also hoped that Explore Stone can help more students realize their dreams!

Tutoring Review

Student Huan is an impressive one. He/She excels in all science subjects. Besides constantly posing high-quality questions in class, he/she also spends time exploring knowledge not covered in class and raising related questions after class.

Her passion for chemistry makes her very willing to spend time delving into it. She is well-prepared for the interview and her performance in the Imperial College interview also enabled her to easily secure an offer.

It is hoped that Huan can always maintain this spirit of loving to delve into and explore basic disciplines, and contribute his own strength to science and society in the future.