University Open Days - views/insights/opinions etc.

Ha ha, yes he wants en suite too, part of me hopes he ends up in shared rooms - is that mean? Would be good for him I think.

He's still asleep, I've been up since 6

Yes, good idea to let the dust settle. I am waiting for the right time to talk to dd about being realistic about student accommodation. She wants to go somewhere old like Cambridge or Durham but still wants brand new accommodation with en-suite!

Thank you MrsB. He is the same - won't read any literature before we visit. Very frustrating; I will try and dig to see if he's worried about leaving home, but will do it in a day or two to let the dust settle!

He's very self contained and doesn't share his feelings easily so will tread carefully and see what happens.

This parenting lark is so difficult!

Oh Horsemad - is he worried about going? Dd wouldn't looking at any of the info before we went to our first open day at Exeter and on the way down, when dh and I had both booked 2 days off work and had booked a hotel, she said "I am not sure if I like the sound of the course". I realised that she is so worried about leaving home that she wasn't reading any of the info as she didn't want to think about it.

It has got better now that we have seen a few but even tonight at dinner when dh and i were trying to talk to her about Durham, she said she was too tired to think about it. I feel for you!

Oh DS is doing my head in. He is so moody at every open day. I've asked him if he wants to go to uni as obvs don't want him to feel 'obliged' to go if he really would rather not.
He says he does want to go. He's selected about 9 or 10 to go to - not a problem, we are happy to drive him. So why oh why is he so damn miserable?!

We daren't even ask normal questions such as 'what do you think of this uni/course/halls etc or he snaps our head off.

DH thinks he wants to go to uni, but doesn't want to do the prep (PS, applications, etc). He is exceptionally lazy and I'm not convinced he's motivated enough to succeed at uni, yet he insists he wants to go. Aarrgghh!
He refuses to plan his open days, he is a nightmare.

Today he refused to look at a college because he said it looked 'old'.
I am livid with him and the journey home was miiserable after I ranted at him.

Sorry for the rant.

I am en route home from Durham (DH driving!) We loved it, DS didn't. Grrrr. Will post later about this.

We did Cambridge yesterday and Durham today and are now completely exhausted. Didn't see Queen's Campus hellsbells99 just the Durham City colleges, which we loved.

We really liked both and met lots of lovely students who were down-to-earth and normal and all very friendly and helpful. All great ambassadors for their respective universities.

We're going to Bath for the Sept open day. I've heard it's a lovely campus, so I'm looking forward to that.

We are off to Durham on Sat. My God Daughter studied there so have been picking her brains. She said it's hilly - that will probably put DS off!

Cardiff is a good place to be at University. The city is relatively small so everything is within walking distance. Rents are cheap. However it is a capital city so there is a real buzz: loads of shops, clubs, venues, restaurants and cafes.
And you get to see Dr Who filming!

Personally I find Student Room a valuable source if information and insider knowledge which can't really be gleaned from an open day. I do agree that the students themselves have to go with their instinct to a large extent.

I think one aspect that is missed on open day is teaching methods. They only accepted 20 students on my course and we were mainly taught in classroom style and seminars by some quite scary and sarcastic lecturers. I think in retrospect I would have preferred the big lecture style at the college down the road and less small class.

I think other factors like the amount of practical time, frequency and duration of exams or number of projects also need to be taken into account depending on what you are good at.

Bath is very highly ranked and very popular, hence choosy. Everyone we know who went there has enjoyed it. I know one person who went to Cardiff recently but changed courses. I would never consider Aston or UEA over Bath or the other 3 you mentioned. However all universities suit someone. Depends on the course though. I wouldn't want my DDs to base their choice on where we went either. Things move on. London universities have many more overseas students now, for example, so that may be a consideration. Universities that were popular in my day would not have been given a first look by my DDs. Just not on their radar. I think students generally know where they will feel at home.

Hellsbells99 DH went to Birmingham and loved the place! He said it was always his dream to go to a campus uni though rather than a big city .

Thinking of finances, I was interviewing graduates for jobs last week. Most of them had fairly extensive work experience gained at Uni. A definite advantage as they were able to give good examples of what they had done/achieved. Some had been working 24 + hrs a week though while at Uni which seems a lot.

I went to university in London and relatively few of my peers lived in halls, I lived at home throughout and was not unique. I think I was fully involved in the life of my college and the union. I imagine it depends on the course and peer group and personality.

DH and my wages are too high to qualify for a bursary. We just don't have an extra £4k per annum to spend on accommodation. Wherever she goes we will have to subsidise it for at least 3 years but at least this gives us a bit more leeway.

I was not subsidised by my parent who was a low earning widow. I had a part time job but the nature of DD's course makes holiday working quite difficult.

HP. My DD is doing a course at a university in a London and lots live at home. However they are not particularly integrated into the life the other students have carved out for themselves. They are somehow seen as separate. This may not happen of course, but it is a consideration. The living at home students find it more difficult to meet people from other courses because they don't live in halls but, again, that may not matter. Therefore some of the good things about university appear to be lost.

Before loans, most parents had to pay something towards their child's living costs at university, so nothing has changed. Topping up the loan is normal and I would let a child go to the most suitable university, not the one that costs less because they can live at home. It is fairly vital to ensure they are happy and not resentful that you have dictated the choice of university. Most universities have bursaries too, so investigate that.

Weasal. I'm in the same situation with DC4. All my other DC knew exactly what they wanted to study ahead of time and all had a good idea of what their results would be. It made it so much easier, we could plan work experience,taster days and opendays. DC4 just doesn't know.

The lack of January modules hasn't helped either.

She has decided not to attend any open days until September after her AS results. I am not sure I think it's the best thing but it's her choice.

She can always take a gap year.

hellsbells99 - what did you think to B'ham & Nott'm?

I've just finished my degree course at Nottingham (mature student), did some modules at UP and some at SB. Feel free to ask any questions although won't be much help with accommodation I'm afraid!

Horsemad ".. didn't want to be 'too close to home'!!"

Yes we had this discussion. We live relatively close to Manchester and I went there myself as a student in the 80s. When DD was drawing up her shortlist I was slightly disappointed that Mcr wasn't on. I assured her that just because it was close we wouldn't expect her to live at home or to come home more often and we wouldn't keep turning up if that was what she was worried about. She said it wasn't that and she knows it is a good Uni and does a course she is interest in; however it doesn't feel "adventurous" enough. Manchester is where she will go for a day shopping with her mates in the holidays, she wants a city that is totally new to her for Uni.

It kind of creeps up on you, doesn't it weasel?

I was chatting to a couple of parents whilst waiting for accomm tours last week and although they were from cities with really excellent unis, their DC wanted to move away and didn't want to be 'too close to home'!!

Eldest is another one who doesn't know what he wants to study and what grades he'll get. It really hasn't occured to him to look at unis yet, so I am quite panicked that the open days have already gone for some.