how many universities did your dc go and see?

DD1 went to 4 and DD2 has ben to 2.

DD1 is going through this now. Apparently her school only allows pupils 4 'Uni' days through the year. Luckily for her the Oxford open day she has booked for is on a Saturday, and we are going to the more far-flung ones during May half-term. at schools organising the Oxbridge days - I have dd has had to organise all this herself.

DD went to several. Often, somebody else was going too so she hitched a lift and shared petrol costs with them (but this only happened for general Open Days, not subject-specific ones). She has had instances where somewhere that looked good on paper just didn't feel right when she got there and, conversely, places that looked only OK on paper really inspired her.

It helps that she has seen several places through courses that she has been on, so in total she has had experience (however fleeting) of at least 14 Uni that I can think of off the top of my head!!

Thinking back, they were advised by the school to only go and see 2 or 3, (including campus one and non-campus one, to get the feel of them).

Re 'liking the place before you put it down 1st or 2nd choice'.....I know what you mean but in reality they both (as will your DC) only ended up with a handful of universities in the end that they wanted to apply to, by the time they'd trawled through all the prospectuses(i??!) and so there are only going to be 5 at the most to visit.

The school advised that it's just too much to keep going to see lots of different places. You can find out an awful lot from the prospectus, internet etc and then narrow it down to a manageable number.

DS1 (whose school is similar to bagsforlife's DCs', by the sound of it) went to three, one of which was an Oxford one arranged by the school. He went to the others on his own - actually, a friend came with him to one of them because she was thinking of applying there too, but DH and I didn't go.

At my DCs school (where everyone goes on to university, many to Oxbridge - just to put in context) they recommend only going to actually see 2, plus they arrange a trip to Oxford and Cambridge. DD went to 2 others I think, one on her own. DS1 also went to 2, one with me one with DH. They were organised by the universities - proper open days with information, tours etc. I think they got invited once they had applied (or had offer, can't remember now).

My dds are too young, but I went to 5 when I was 18 and at sixth form. Tbh, the train fare gets too expensive after too many - all mine were so far away!