No uni open day visits due to coronavirus

[BlessedBeTheFruitCake]

My DD is in year 12 and was due to attend the UCAS fair and university open days in June/July. Obviously, due to coronavirus these have all been replaced with virtual open days.
Even the ones in September look like they'll be online only. DD is really worried about living and studying somewhere for three years that she hasn't seen in real life understandably.
What are your DC's doing? Are any of them going to take a gap year and apply next year?
She's also worried that her predicted A level grades won't be very accurate because she hasn't been able to sit the exams.

There's a lot in the same position, it's hard I think. If you're on Facebook there's lots of people talking about it on the What I wish I knew about university group.

www.facebook.com/groups/488235648182391/?ref=share

DD is going into 2nd year and is still going, some are talking about deferring but I don't think many will.

Thanks, I'll take a look at the FB group.
Feel so sorry for all the GCSE and A-level students.

Ds2 is looking at the online ones

One of the Universities is close to us and we know someone who went there so is happy to give ds2 a tour...obviously only for the outside of the buildings

Might try and do similar with the others...at least go to the Towns to hopefully get a feel

Its very difficult isnt it

I feel really sorry for them too, lots of things they should have experienced that they won't be able to do now.

I think it's encouraging that the universities are saying they'll be as back to normal as possible though.

I actually logged on today to see if there were any posts from people in the same boat. I’m overwhelmed enough by the whole thing as I didn’t go to uni and it’s all new to me, but am now feeling quite panicky about guiding ds (yr 12) through the decision making process with so little knowledge about the options.

I wouldn’t want to go somewhere without visiting the campus/city/area first but I think you can do that independently and it will be covid-ok to do that quite soon.
Most of what I gained from “open days” was gained just by walking around the area / campus.

We had booked for the May Half Term Exeter open days months ago. Stupidly we didn't keep an eye out for the virtual open days, in the mistaken belief they would have sent an email to keep us up to date. They didn't, so by the time we saw it, all the spaces had been filled up.

I did drop them a grumpy email, and they said, please book for Sept open day asap, and also their virtual tour from Half Term will go on-line, and although you obviously won't be able to interact with tutors in real time, please drop any questions to them by email and they will do their best to reply. Which I suppose was the best they can offer, all things being considered.

DD is very unhappy that she will be unable to visit in person. The only thing I can tell her is that DD1, changed her mind completely when she went to her offer days, and put Bristol, which she hadn't even done a tour of, as her second choice, as she really didn't like Imperial on second viewing. DH and her subsequently just visited Bristol and went on a self guided tour.

DD is in year 13 holding offers. She went to the open day at her first choice and also had a couple of day trips and a summer school there. However, she didn't visit the uni she wanted to put down as her insurance choice. She went to 4 open days and applied to all of them.

All of the unis run offer holder days and I'm sure these will restart. We actually had as much fun visiting the cities as we did the unis themselves last year. I think we spent 3 hours at most on any campus. Although it's nice to pick up a few pens and look around some halls, I don't think open days are essential. I only attended one (& didn't end up there) when I left home.

DS3, Y12, may follow the example of his DB who took a gap year and applied post A level. DS2 probably found the applicant days he went too far more useful than any Open Day; however that is just an individual example. DS1 declined to go to any applicant day, being happy with what he'd seen at Open Days.

There should hopefully be scope to visit Unis and their local city / town outside of formal settings to at least get a feel for the place. I'd also suggest a sunny day in June or July is seldom representative of a dismal, wet day in November :) as in a time of year when they are actually going to be there

I think you can do a reasonable amount of research online. With ds we looked at the following: campus v city, sports facilities, type of accommodation etc and narrowed down choices from there. As posters have mentioned areas and cities can be visited at any time, even if open days are online.
Ds didn’t visit anywhere and had never lived in the uk until he started at Warwick.

Hi everyone, I would be frustrated too if I was unable to visit a university in person, it's hard to get a proper feel for the place through a computer screen isn't it! I've found whatuni.com to be very useful, they have a whole list of universities virtual open days and you can book your place through them!

They have information on applications, deferring and other supporr for your children in these times.

Would your children consider an online degree at all? This way they could still get somewhat of a university experience without having to defer altogether!

www.whatuni.com/advice/coronavirus-covid-19-updates/best-5-universities-for-online-courses-uk/89068/

This has affected Ds1 too, his UCAS has to be in by 15th October so no real time to make decisions unless he can attend open days in September. Also harder because he has to apply to a college for Oxbridge so not even just a university decision.

He wouldn't want an online university after experiencing what it is like just doing year 12 work at home. Also a gap year would probably work against him when he would have spent a year not doing maths.

Not seeing the accommodation is also worrying him too. We are just taking it one day at a time hoping for open days but he will just apply blind and then do visits before having to make a final decision about his firm choice, unless it is Oxbridge as that is a no-brainer, he will just accept it.

If they are in Year 12 maybe they can apply and then do offer holder days?

Can you visit the cities - if she likes the course from the website, and then likes the city or campus, it's most of the way there in terms of making a decision to apply.

Different if you are in Y13 and are holding an offer for a place you can't visit. It does make it difficult but again you can visit the city/campus.

The deferral thing for current Y13 is difficult - on the one hand online-only is rubbish, but on the other hand what are they going to do if they can't get a job or travel?

I don't think open days are essential. I only attended one (& didn't end up there) when I left home

I attended two and did end up at one of them but that was also because 2 of my 5 choices rejected me so I was only making a choice from 3 anyway.

Enid do you realise that your DS can apply to Oxford or Cambridge by the early deadline, then fill in the others before the January deadline?

Most campuses will be open by Oct even if no open days. But you could go for a look round, visit the town, the campus, get a feel for them. Online, virtual official open days. Plus look for unofficial YouTube videos by current students. They often do halls of residence tours of their digs, etc.

DD has already decided not to apply until after A-levels. She is doing basic online course research, but the lack of opportunity to visit the relevant departments means that she is not going to be able to make a decision this Autumn.

My DD is in Year 13 and doesn't see much option but to try and go in September and make the best of it - but knowing what I know now, if I had a child in Year 12 I'd be encouraging them to have a gap year and go in 2022. By then, Corona will hopefully be a distant memory.
For one thing are going to be a lot of extra students applying for 2021 (all those who didn't go in 2020) and it's a much faster, pleasanter experience to apply with grades in hand than doing so speculatively.
I also think not being able to visit the city or the campus is a real disadvantage.. I wouldn't want to commit to spending 3 years anywhere without having visited in person, however good the reputation.

Yes, thank you Hoghgyni it is just trying to pick an Oxbridge college that needs research before the October deadline. He is also looking to apply to Durham so again a college choice but obviously more time.

Luckily we are centrally located to all the places he wants to apply to so it could literally have been day trips to get a feel for a town, then a re-visit. When I went to uni we didn't necessarily see all the places we wanted to apply to, but back then I wasn't dropping £9k on tuition fees. It feels more important now somehow to have really researched where you want to go.

In our experience, there was no rhyme nor reason to Durham college allocation. DD asked for catered, as it would be almost impossible to self-cater & empty rooms each term relying on public transport from the opposite end of the country. She was offered self catered in the first round of allocations.

Try to get hold of the alternative prospectus from Oxbridge Colleges. They are a great source of info & help give the feel of each one.

I live very close to the university.

The city doesn’t feel anything like it normally would in term time, particularly with lockdown hanging over us in limited form. The normally relaxed retail centre is an intimidating mix of deserted streets and beggars / street drinkers, the normally noisy and dirty residential lets and pub/takeaway areas popular with students are quiet and clean.

I certainly wouldn’t judge the place on its current appearance, and am fascinated to see what the future holds.

DS is in year 12 with applications due by October deadline for vet med. We're in the very lucky position of having visited 3 of the 4 he will be applying to already, as we decided to start early and visited last year. Everyone said it was pointless to visit so early, even his head of 6th form was mildly disapproving, but I'm very glad we did now. At the time we went early so we could get a good feel due to getting the work experience done in plenty of time.

@EnidsCrochetCorner

This has affected Ds1 too, his UCAS has to be in by 15th October so no real time to make decisions unless he can attend open days in September. Also harder because he has to apply to a college for Oxbridge so not even just a university decision.

He wouldn't want an online university after experiencing what it is like just doing year 12 work at home. Also a gap year would probably work against him when he would have spent a year not doing maths.

Not seeing the accommodation is also worrying him too. We are just taking it one day at a time hoping for open days but he will just apply blind and then do visits before having to make a final decision about his firm choice, unless it is Oxbridge as that is a no-brainer, he will just accept it.

Is it just his Oxford that needs to be in by October or is the school asking for all of them by then? I ask because I'm pretty sure Ds's school wants all applications out through by the earlier date. Normally I can see this could be quite good as it gets it our the way but with the situation we're in currently, I'm not so sure, Plus his tutor suggested Oxford to him and I have no idea how to even start with that one.

I'm pretty sure Ds's school wants all applications out through by the earlier date.

The UCAS form can be submitted with fewer than the maximum 5 preferences and more added later on. Probably better to start with two, rather than one, though, because the fee structure is 'single university application' or '2 - 5' and by paying the slightly higher fee upfront (assuming that one doesn't genuinely intend only to apply for one). Although you can just pay the small top-up fee when the extra choices are added.

Or is this one of the schools that tries to stipulate which universities are 'acceptable' choices?

Cany year 12s sit their exams next year? They havent cancelled A levels next year? Or do you mean predicted AS Levels?