Has DD scuppered her chances of getting a offer at this uni??

[Curlysuzzie]

Ok where do I start, DD was suppose to go to open day visit at a Russell group uni about 2 weeks ago she booked it and everything, however we went on a last minute holiday, DD was given the choice to either stay and go to the open day and email the uni to say she can't go, DD forgot to email the uni to say she couldn't attend. We got back today, DD got a stern email asking why she did not turn up. I was a bit shocked but I can understand why they would be peeved off having a no show who couldn't at least email them to cancel. The problem is DD is wanting to apply to them, will she be black marked because of this? DD has emailed them back to say she is sorry and that she went on holiday at short notice.

If its one choice in 6, and she really wants to go there, its still worth applying. Hopefully she has learnt her lesson tho, it is always the right thing to apologise for not turning up to things.

She made a mistake, apologised and things like this happen. They're not going to put a black mark against a candidate for something like that. What will interest them is her UCAS application which has all the information they really need.

I'm surprised they did that or that they even noticed. Even when DS has booked places there is seldom any registration process. The feedback e mails all just assume he went.

I think at most of the open days my girls have been to, they have checked in in some way. Was it really a stern email? Or just an automatic "we noticed you didn't come, hope you're still considering us" message?

My dd didn't go to Cardiff open day last weekend because she got a job and they expected her to start straightaway, neither of us considered for a moment that it would be a problem.

Attending open days has no bearing on her UCAS application. It wouldn't be fair on people who can't afford (time/money) to travel to them.

If I were her I'd write an email apologising for not letting them know and giving a reason.

There's no way the people organising those visits have an influence on offers.

I am also surprised they emailed unless it was because they were fully booked for the day and someone on the waiting list could have gone if they had known in advance?

atiao no it definately wasn't a 'we notice you didn't come but hope you will still consider us' kind of of message otherwise we wouldn't be at all concerned. It was a ticking off email along the lines ( I dont want transcribe word to word) they are competitive uni, popular, who turn down alot of students for open day bookings because of large numbers. They don't appreciate not being contacted, whereby place could have gone to someone else that could have attended instead. Was there a valid reason to why she could not attend?. Obviously ive had to translate tone and sentiment of the email, as I don't think is wise to copy and paste it on here. But you get the gist. Uni sounds very peeved off. Which has got DD worried, DD knows a few kids who didn't turn up to booked open day visits but they didn't get ' why did you not turn up email?' She has emailed them to say she was 'sorry' but is a bit worried she's already dug a small hole for herself. Her UCAS is being sent next week, I've told her she should but because she's expecting probably more rejections than offers as she is applying to competive course at 3competive uni', imperial, UCL plus the one I won't mention and 2 lower down. She thinking is it wise to put them down now, even though she likes the uni. Odd situation but its going to be stressful wait on offers for her.

I work in admissions for an RG uni and I'm really surprised! We'd never send an email out like that - it's a bit heavy handed.

Was it a uni-wide open day or a department -specific one? If it was a department-led event, it might be a bit more understandable if they are looking at fixed numbers in lectures, etc. However, the tone of the email is way off.

Try not to worry - the department should not make a decision based on attendance (or otherwise) at an open day. It must be based on the application form and interview (if appropriate).

If your dd is still interested in this university, she should still apply, in my opinion. If she still wants to go and take a look, she could email the department and ask. At this time of year we often show round prospective students and their parents if they missed our open day. It's also a good opportunity to get a one to one chat with the academic admissions tutor.

Good luck!

I think that sounds really heavy handed for a pre-application open day, completely inappropriate actually.

I would actually be reconsidering whether I would want to attend a uni like that.

Your DD has nothing to worry about though, the people running open days will probably have never even heard the name of the person who actually considers the applications, let along have any sway over them.

Thanks everyone for the replies. As you can imagine it's a bit of a shock, DD interpretated as a hint to tell her 'don't bother to apply here, we don't need people like her who let people down without the decency to cancel, what kind of uni do you think we are? ' . I said to DD maybe they had a lot who didn't turn up and they were annoyed. Otherwise what would the reason be to email her for. marvin yes it was a departmental specific openday plus her course is one that several uni will interview before offers are made which include the one DD got a ticking off from.

I wouldn't go to a uni that sent rude emails.

Open days can be oversubscribed so it's a shame when there are no shows which prevents another potential applicant to attend.

That said, I would suspect this was a rogue member of staff, and the email was probably not sanctioned/signed off by the student recruitment team. The tone was totally off.

OP I'd be more concerned if she'd actually applied and the Open Day booking was linked to a UCAS PIN. She could so easily have cancelled her place and some of these Open Days do get hugely booked up. I think the uni is quite right to tell her it was thoughtless since someone who wanted to go couldn't, all because your DD couldn't be fagged to ping off a short e-mail. They may still link it although I doubt it since it's pre-application but at least she's now likely to let people now if another last minute holiday comes her way, so that's a positive.

Who actually sent the email from the uni? Can you forward it to Admissions and express your concern about their professionalism, based on the points raised in the replies here? Or just leave it, DD might be better off at a uni that doesn't react like that.

I wouldn't forward it to admissions.

I'm an admissions tutor (for a ridiculously oversubscribed course at an RG university) and I am astonished that any institution would send an email like that. I would be livid, in fact, if I found out that our admissions dept was sending out those sort of emails to prospective students.

Yes, in an ideal world your dd should have emailed, but she didn't and it's hardly the end of the world. Her application will be based on the UCAS form and any interview, nothing more. Tell her not to worry (although she may wish to reconsider her application in the light of it!)

What's a UCAS PIN? I've never heard of that.

DD has definatley learnt her lesson. She is normally a considerate person. In her defence she did have 2 uni openday that clashed in the summer, she did email one of them to cancel. But on this occasion she got carried away, distracted with last minute holiday prep. No defending her, the fact she was a let down not emailing though. The dept in concern does sound a bit picky and authoritative, not sure if DD has considered whether it's a good idea to be studying at a place like that, especially if they are not approachable and supportive. Think she might be wise to see if she can get a individual departmental day visit to see how they are and put off UCAS application till after the visit, see what school says as well. molio what is UCAS pin too??

Molio, just realised you just meant personal identity number. That's not given when booking to view a university! Students are still making up their minds where to apply to; that's the whole point of the open days.

Imperial there are Open Days that take place after an applicant has applied but before an offer has been made - those will have the UCAS PIN on the booking form. Certainly the two most recent DC to go through the process (last cycle and the cycle before) had bookings linked to their UCAS PINs.

Gloria mine have been to Open Days where booking closed weeks before with waiting lists also full. Each time they were asked to please let the uni know asap in the event of not being able to attend. No-one could fail to see the request. And frankly there are few worse reasons for a no show than a 'last minute holiday'. I mean, once the DD had been told she was in the poo for not cancelling and allowing someone else to attend, surely, surely she could at least have tried to redeem herself a bit with a slightly better excuse - bunny died or whatever. I'm afraid I'd mark her down for that attitude, other things being equal: a) it shows a huge lack of consideration for other people which may well reflect how she'd carry on as a student and b) she showed a distinct lack of nous in telling the truth, given how flaky the genuine reason was.

OP some unis have a snotty approach until they dish out an offer then they couldn't be more approachable. Curious as a marketing approach but there you go. Others are exceptionally welcoming from the word go. I personally find the former snotty approach extremely irritating but the uni I'm thinking of in particular has adopted that approach for some years and it evidently doesn't put students off. I think it's intended to convey the idea that the uni in question is world beating, not sure. Anyhow, it's a very popular uni so the marketing gurus must know something I don't.

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DD went to the bath open day too for departmental specific one, she also mentioned that it was half empty, its a popular uni so must be alot of no shows also, can understand why they would get disappointed with the turn out. DD didn't want to lie about why she didn't turn up although maybe in hindsight she should have and give a better excuse. I know what your saying molio DD has given a bad impression of herself, it isn't very professional of her, she should know better. But I can't see the point of them telling her off for it, what purpose would it serve for them? especially since she hasn't applied to them yet. I've had many of plumbers and joiners that haven't turned up over the years, I don't always ring them back up to ask why they let us down, especially if it someone I've never used, I can't force them to turn up. I just find another one who wants the job. Maybe as you say they want to make themselves sound more prestigious. After all as DH says there isn't many that would not attend let's say Oxford or Cambridge booked open day or at least inform them they can't go given how prestigious they are.