Who are you and in which double major are you?
I was born in France but grew up in Canada, Italy and Belgium, I did my high school at the French School in Brussels with he international option of the baccalaureate (OIB) section S. I am in the math and computer science double major at l’X.
Why would you recommend the Bachelor Program?
For me the bachelor was the perfect fit as I did not know what exactly I wanted to study after high school. I had done applications to mechanical engineering programs in other universities simply because I liked math and physics. But I would have never chosen computer science (CS) after high school simply because you have no CS in high school so I didn’t know what it was. I think this is also the case for the economics double major! The first year which is more general and covers a wide range of topics allows you first of all to have a strong understanding of many scientific fields but also lets you explore to find the ones you prefer.
Moreover, I really enjoyed being very few students (70) as then we were truly accompanied by the professors, the lectures are with the whole promotion but tutorials were held with less then 20 students which allowed to ask questions and truly be in contact with the teacher. Indeed I feel you are more accompanied than in other programs as we have many assignments during the semester which allows us to see our level and understand what is unclear before reaching the final exam. This also allows to be less stressed during finals because you already have part of your grade! In many universities students are left on their own and may have a bad surprise at the final exam in the bachelor this is not the case, you are followed by professors and TAs and even by tutors (if you choose to take part in the extra tutorials that happen in the evening).
These are the organizational aspects, from the academic aspect I would recommend the bachelor simply because its so interesting and unique! Indeed few programs offer such complicated courses in 2 majors at once! This is what distinguishes us from other students. For instance in computer science students are given the mathematical tools to understand what you apply in CS and that is not often the case in other universities!
And on a personal level, I know the friends I have made here will be for life, yes it was hard and yes its a lot of work but there is such a fantastic group atmosphere here! We always help each other out and study together, the fact that we all live on campus in the same building creates such strong links! The student body is particularly diverse, form the point of you or our origins, the languages we speak out hobbies.. so you are sure to find interesting people and certainly people that share your interests.
What would be a great memory of your time in the Program that you would like to share with future students?
Hard question.. there are so many and even some that didn’t seem like great moments then but now I look back and almost miss them. For instance long evenings struggling on an analysis of physics homework. This may seem like hell but when everyone is in the hallways of our buildings all searching for the answer to the same question it becomes amusing because we are all in it together. That's what I liked the most, the cohesion. This program is really not an individual experience we are encourage to share and work together not only on an academic side discussing our courses and homework but also on a personal level. I was extremely lucky to go to Mont Louis a military training camp in my first year (optional trip) as the whole week was about team building and supporting and encouraging other. That’s truly the moment I realized how lucky I was to be part of this program. We are constantly pushed to surpass ourselves but in a healthy way, you don’t crumble under the stress of competition between your peers on the contrary we are happy when everyone succeeds. So I guess all the moments where we were working as a group are moments I can cherish!
What would be a piece of advice that you would like to share with future students?
Don’t panic if at first its hard the first weeks are tricky because no everyone has the same level or knowledge when arriving so these disparities may make you feel like you don’t belong in the program. What you have to tell yourself is that the admissions committee knows what they are doing so if you have been admitted well its because you have the required level! And if you feel you don’t have the necessary knowledge at the beginning… don’t worry you will acquire it very fast!!
Where have you been admitted so far and what do you intend to do after the Program? Any other general comment on the outcomes of the Bachelor Program at this stage?
I have been admitted at Imperial in advance computing for a masters program and am waiting to hear back from Cambridge for the machine learning and machine intelligence masters of philosophy they offer.
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