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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to sneak into uni lectures even though i'm not a student

407 replies

Lecture · 24/02/2016 13:53

I am in fact a SAHM Blush. We live in a university town and every Wednesday my DM has the baby for the morning so I get a break. About a month ago I ordered a book from waterstones and picked it up from the university branch. I'd never been on the campus before and couldn't believe there was no security or need to show any student ID. After i'd been to Waterstones I got a cup of coffee at one of the cafes and had a wander round the grounds.

Its lovely there, lots of (cheap) restaurants and cafeterias and you don't need to show ID to use them Shock

The next week I went there for lunch and looked around the library for a few hours.

Today I was wandering around and sat on the bench outside the lecture hall. There were hundreds of students milling around and the lecture schedule on a big flat screen TV on the outside wall. Anyway i watched them going in to each room and there were loads of spaces in the halls (big double doors open so i could see in). Then I was looking at the schedule and there were lots of interesting sounding lectures on. It suddenly occurred to me that i could probably just go in and sit in on one without being noticed by anyone. There were quite a few mature students so I don't think i'd stick out too much.

Now i'm home I think I might be being a bit mental (and possibly a bit post natal) to consider essentially stealing lectures I haven't paid for. I haven't told DH or DM i've been hanging around the uni Blush

AIBU (or do you think I could get away with it)

BTW, can't believe the username Lecture wasn't taken!

OP posts:
MajesticWhine · 24/02/2016 13:55

YABU. It sounds great though. Why don't you enrol on a degree course for next academic year? (I'm an eternal student)

derektheladyhamster · 24/02/2016 13:56

I'd love to go and listen to some lectures (and not have to do any work afterwards!)

No idea on the ethics/legalities though!

Littlefluffyclouds81 · 24/02/2016 13:57

I'm at uni as a mature student. If you went into one of the bigger lectures you'd definitely get away with it! Some of my lectures have 300 people in, some of them 15.

You do sound a bit bonkers but I have actually considered sneaking into other lectures too! Have you thought about actually being a student, legitimately?

Primaryteach87 · 24/02/2016 13:57

Do it!

LaurieFairyCake · 24/02/2016 13:59

Do it if there's no ID taken. I would like a shot.

PollyPocket100 · 24/02/2016 14:00

When I was at uni I went to a load of lectures I shouldn't have been in because they looked interesting! Go for it.

UpWithPup · 24/02/2016 14:00

I don't think YABU, I bet as long as you choose a bit lecture with lots of students no one would notice and it's not like anyone else would miss out with you being there - the lecturer doesn't have any more work to do because there are 201 people rather than 200.

theycallmemellojello · 24/02/2016 14:00

Go for it - at many unis they're open to the public anyway. Oxford and Cambridge publish their lecture timetables. Other unis you'll have more difficulty actually tracking them down. But if the lectures are not open to all then only go to big ones so you're not challenged.

SellFridges · 24/02/2016 14:00

You could check what public lectures are available. Most universities run a great programme.

liz70 · 24/02/2016 14:02

It's ethically dubious - people who aren't awarded grants have to pay hundreds or thousands of pounds to attend courses. I'd be worried in case someone in authority asked for ID some time. Maybe see if you're entitled to a grant if you wish to take a course yourself? Also many unis do free public lectures, presumably including this one. You could check them out.

bigbluebus · 24/02/2016 14:02

If you've got the front to do it, then go for it. Can't imagine they'd take any action if you got caught other than to tell you not to do it again. I'm sure there'll be plenty of students who are paying to be there who are absent from the lectures!

Micah · 24/02/2016 14:03

I sense an opportunity- some students would pay you to go and sign their attendance/take notes while they stay in bed!

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 24/02/2016 14:03

Go on, most lecturers are constantly depressed by how poor the turnout is so you would be helping to cheer them up!

Probably is a bit unethical but if you can get away with it, do it.

Original poster
Lecture · 24/02/2016 14:03

I was thinking if someone asked i'd just say oops i'm in the wrong room.

No I have no interest in taking a degree!

OP posts:
hellsbells99 · 24/02/2016 14:04

My DD is at university and has sneaked into maths lectures a couple of times (she is not a maths student).

Original poster
Lecture · 24/02/2016 14:05

I don't think i'd want to go to a public one at night time or something.

I think I just like wandering around and pretending i'm a student Blush. Like I said, possibly a bit post natal at the moment!

OP posts:
ilovesooty · 24/02/2016 14:07

I think you should only attempt to access lectures available to the general public.
At my last place of study if you were on campus without your ID security asked you to leave.

liz70 · 24/02/2016 14:09

The public lectures are sometimes held in the afternoon.

VoldysGoneMouldy · 24/02/2016 14:10

Yes, YABU - people have paid a lot of money to sit in those lectures.

That said, I do completely understand. I would love to do the same.

If you need a change of scene, and to be someone that isn't a mum for a while (and this reads as being about that), then have a look at some of the free public lectures that are on in most towns fairly regularly.

Marzipants · 24/02/2016 14:11

Go! Though maybe take a pen and paper with you so you look like a student. Though I could be showing my age there... Is it all tablets these days?

PennyHasNoSurname · 24/02/2016 14:12

What Id would you possibly have though? My campus was just a smattering of buildings in and around the city. No "borders". No ID issued.

zoemaguire · 24/02/2016 14:12

"It's ethically dubious - people who aren't awarded grants have to pay hundreds or thousands of pounds to attend courses"

OP isn't handing in her essays to be marked! It is no odds to the lecturer or anybody else whether there are 50 or 51 people in the lecture hall - it's a lecture, not a seminar. And as somebody said upthread, some universities see lectures as public anyway. Go for it OP! As an ex-uni lecturer I'd have been delighted to lecture to people who had actively chosen to turn up for the hell of it! That kind of intellectual curiosity is what universities are supposed to be there for, though increasingly are not.

MouldyPeach · 24/02/2016 14:13

All universities have security and I think you're bound to be spotted sooner or later and asked for ID. They may tell you to keep it with you, they may escort you off the premises, either way you wouldn't be able to show your face again.
Would videos of lectures do it for you?

Vanderwaals · 24/02/2016 14:15

You'd definitely get away with it.
I felt tempted to do that with other lectures.
My uni had many open lectures anyway.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 24/02/2016 14:16

Oxbridge lectures aren't technically open to the public, despite the published lecture lists, but you are allowed to go to lectures not in your subject and a fair few people do (I used to go to the nautical archaeology ones when I was reading classics) so it would be easier to get away with it than at a university where it's less common.

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