Imperial College London Hosts Virtual Master’s Information Session

We now live in an upside-down world, and business schools around the world are feeling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the foreseeable future, cyberspace will be our new reality, and Imperial College London is using the virtual world to connect with prospective students.

In early May, Imperial College London held a virtual cross-program MSc information session to give prospective students an overview of its master’s programs, including the experience of studying in London, and to show students the campus research facilities used by finance, management, and specialist master’s students.

Staff, students, and alumni from Imperial all joined via Zoom to create an informative event from afar, helping make up for the cancellation of in-person gatherings on the London campus.

This rapid shift to online delivery has been necessary not only for information sessions, but for all teaching at the school. But how do MSc students feel about the way Imperial has handled the transition?

Seyon Indran, a student on the MSc Business Economics and Strategy program, said: “The biggest thing is definitely the business school’s response to the coronavirus. I wasn’t too sure how it would affect the course, especially the exams.

“Over the past two weeks I’ve just completed six exams, which was quite stressful. I started classes yesterday, and the classes are going very smoothly, and the exams went smoothly too — we had to use very effective online software. Their response has been really impressive.”

Anahita De Vito, a student on the MSc Finance program, was also surprised by the school’s response. She said: “I was really surprised by how efficient they’ve been in handling everything. Even now, with coronavirus, we still have a lot of different opportunities to take part in remote events and live events.

“We previously had the chance to meet so many recruiters, and we’ve had a lot of support from the careers team. I can’t emphasize enough how much help I’ve received.”

Joël McConnell, Executive Director of Marketing, Recruitment and Admissions, spoke in more detail about the school’s strategic approach to moving business online, which is not just about responding to coronavirus, but about preparing for all future contingencies.

The focus over the next few months will be on developing their offering through innovation. Joël said: “About 10 years ago, we started investing in the EdTech Lab, and I think we’re in a relatively strong position to adapt quickly to the very dynamic situation schools and companies find themselves in.”

Imperial’s short-term approach is to ensure that courses can be delivered online and that students can sit exams, but above all, they want the remote format to provide the richest possible experience.

Imperial College London said it will achieve this through multimodal delivery, as the business school gradually resumes full-time teaching over the coming months once it is safe to do so. Students will be offered live classes, live sessions for candidates who are more comfortable staying at home in the short term, and online content.

Joël said: “So, we really offer the maximum number of ways you can choose to follow your program as part of returning to campus full-time.

“This allows students on part-time programs to take electives from full-time programs and think about how to become more dynamic on campus.”

What the Students Think

These events gave prospective students a chance to hear real-life experiences of a program from those who had been through it.

Hannah Abdel-Hadi, a student on the MSc Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Management program, said that one of the things that stood out to her was the people.

She said: “People on my course were specifically selected to work together as a cohort. They come from truly different backgrounds — they were deliberately chosen because everyone comes from a different background.

“I don’t think I expected it to be so carefully designed to make sure everyone is really diverse. You can see that when you’re doing group work and things like that. When they choose groups, you’re selected for a specific reason, and I think that makes the experience more tailored. You get a much better experience.”

It is not just current students who help paint a realistic picture of the business school — alumni are there too.

Carlos Demartini, who graduated from the MSc Finance program in 2019, talked about what happened after he finished his studies. He said: “The reason I chose Imperial’s finance course was that it had applied classes, and I ended up doing things at work that I had done there too — modeling, going through a lot of companies’ financial statements, and applying theory to case studies.”

The business school will continue to host online events until operations return to normal, and there will undoubtedly be more innovative events and initiatives.

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