Visiting on non open days

[Sadusername]

There are a few universities that Dd is considering, (or I think she should just have a look at) which are in fairly far flung corners of the land. It isn't practical for economic or time reasons to go to all of them on open days. However most universities do put something on their web sites about arranging visits at other times. I know there wouldn't be the talks etc, but presumably October half term there would be a few students around and you could get a more accurate feel for the place? Has anyone done this and how was it? On the list are universities of Edinburgh, St Andrews, Glasgow, York and Durham.

Actually the one university open day we did go to was quite hellish(from my point of view) but dd unexpectedly loved it, that's why I am thinking of visiting places she might not be so interested now, or ruling out ones she has set her sights on.

PS we don't pay our students for Open Days - they volunteer because they care. Really

In my department we advertise the possibility of individual visits by arrangement. These will involve a tour round the facilities (either with a student or one of the recruitment/admissions staff) and, if possible a chat with an academic (I usually schedule 30 mins for these) if someone is available. These tend to be used by overseas applicants who are touring several universities in a short space of time. We also have a self-guided campus tour leaflet for people who just drop in without an appointment. The number of people using these visits has reduced a lot over the last few years. A few years ago there were so many that we seriously considered closing the doors to them. Now we restrict which days people can come on and make more use of student guides. We will also try to probe why you can't come to an open day ("because my child is very , very special" being the worst possible reason). So I would say that if the university says on their web pages that these are possible it probably is true.

I usually try to speak to people who just appear out of the blue if I have time, but that conversation will begin with "What exactly do you want to know" not "let me show you round and tell you about what we do", and I won't be offering them a coffee!

If you are lucky enough to get an individual tour please try to come with some questions, not including:
"Can you tell me what chemical engineering/philosophy/genetics is about" - the applicant should know this.
"What is the nightlife like here?" - I don't know, I'm 54.
I really hate individual visits where I am expected to guess what the applicant and parent(s) want to find out.

My DD and I visited Durham on a non Open Day. We saw the Department, chatted to an admissions officer, toured several colleges and had a reasonable look around. This was all done by prior contact and appointments. We would never have just rocked up! They were very helpful and the reason we asked was that the Open Day visits allowed from her school were minimal and if you had several far flung ones requiring overnight stays, it became very difficult to manage around the allocated Open Days. It helped us a great deal to travel at a time we could actually manage. We did not get the impression we were not wanted but we went out of our way not to be a burden. We were grateful for the time given to us. It did not seem to be a request that they received all the time and we agreed on a date to suit them. From recollection it was half term in May.

I have a problem with places on university open days being taken by 15 year olds. Surely they should be on a reserve list behind lower and upper 6th students who have a more pressing need?

FoggyBottom Of course you get the fine details about the course from the website. My (DC) experience is only science related and so seeing the labs and facilities in the flesh does make a difference. Also being able to chat to staff about aspects of particular interest is useful.
DS2 narrowed his choices down purely from the course info online but the final choice was made after visiting the unis.
It may not be academically relevant but DS2 in particular was influenced by the whole feel of the open days, most of which he did alone. Some places made him feel wanted and welcome and others less so.

I think you do get a feel for a university and city or campus on an open day but sometimes they can be ultra busy and of limited value. Our excursion to Exeter was one such day! You would have been hard pressed to ask a lecturer anything as the place was so crowded. DD even struggled to get into pre booked events due to the number of parents taking up places in the venues. She thought it seemed a university for the helicoptered student! Not suitable for her. Obviously, though, highly desirable to others.

Starting with the on line info is great in order to narrow down choices. Also talking to others from your school or family friends who are already at your top pick universities via Facebook etc. can be helpful.

DD even struggled to get into pre booked events due to the number of parents taking up places in the venues. She thought it seemed a university for the helicoptered student!

This is more & more common at a number of universities, not just Exeter - it's happened at my own. I find it really uncomfortable fielding questions from parents with the actual potential applicant standing aside ...

I took mine to the universities (taxi) and then largely left them to it. I am amazed at how over-invested some parents are. It is not on to take up places that were designed for potential students. Often it was both parents too! I am sure Exeter is not alone!

I recently went to the Bristol open day with my DC.

The vast, vast majority of potential applicants were accompanied by one or more parents.

However, for the short-on-space sessions, parents were not allowed in. But TBH most sessions accommodated everyone (parents and young people alike).

15 year olds on Scotland may be applying to university to start in 2017/18. You get 16 and 17 year olds starting at Scottish universities (straight from 5th year). Don't assume that the 15 year old is taking a place from a 'real' potential applicant.

Also, younger visitors to open days may well be investigating university subjects so as to choose subjects more effectively. Just because they're not applying immediately doesn't necessarily make them time wasters.

Like Chemenger, we offer the possibility of arranging an individual visit by appointment. The visit will probably last about an hour and - if I am doing one - I usually take people on a tour of some of the facilities. However, unlike on open days, I can't actually take you into the labs, studios, etc because teaching is going on. We just peer through the windows. On open days we have staff and students in these areas to talk to prospective applicants. I would also run through the basics of the course and ask for questions (looking hard at the student rather than her mother, but mostly it will be the mother who asks questions).
If you are talking to me, by the way, it will be because I am kind hearted enough to volunteer because the course leader is teaching when you want to come. The course leader would of course give up her entire Saturday for an open day and would have much more valuable information for your daughter. I would really recommend open days!

At the Cardiff medical open day parents were completely segregated from students for the whole day. It was great!

I have a problem with places on university open days being taken by 15 year olds. Surely they should be on a reserve list behind lower and upper 6th students who have a more pressing need?

An increasing number of universities now offer foundation-type courses for 16/17yos, with guaranteed entry onto the applicant's UG course of choice at that institution if they pass at the required level.

Yes, I know that is the case, Page, but I do think they should be visiting on a separate Open Day. Perhaps the universities should do this because their needs are rather different from the older students? I am not sure the top universities do offer foundation courses in many subjects - it is more common for art.

I do think they should be visiting on a separate Open Day.

Really? You want universities to run yet another set of Open Days (showing off campus, accommodation, departments etc) for a pretty small set of students? Do you think this is fair on staff (yet another unpaid weekend of work) or a sensible use of university's budgets?

Most foundation courses at "top" universities are aimed more at 18+ year olds who don't have enough academic background to study the subjects of their choice, than at 16-17 year olds. These students will be attending foundation course talks but need to see the same campus, accommodation, student union as those doing undergraduate degrees.

Overall there are rather few students who aren't in the equivalent of year 12/13 visiting the "main" departmental open days, but of course some can be younger because different school systems have different school leaving ages and private schools in the UK allow grade skipping. (I was looking around universities at 15 because I started university at 16.)

It's also an important part of universities' diversity strategies to ensure that pupils make the right subject choices for their desired careers. I think many STEM departments would actually welcome year 11s coming to the drop in part of open days, and getting advice about A level subject choices before it's too late. Year 11s booking places in the subject talks would perhaps be not so much appreciated, but this is not an issue I have come across.

bojorojo I work at a Russell Group university and we have such a foundation college on campus, and not for art (we don't offer art courses) and also work in partnership with a local FE college. We're far from unique in that respect. Their needs aren't very different at all - they're considering which UG course they wish to study and making a decision about the institution based on course and campus. Numbers are small compared to direct entry UG students so the resources involved in hosting and staffing additional open days when they are looking for essentially the same information as the older applicants could be better spent elsewhere.

DD has been to lots of Open Days (and a residential at her probable first choice) but some fell during her AS levels and the rest are too close to the October deadline for her to be able to visit then. Therefore we spent this weekend visiting 2 cities (close together) she is interested in. She already knows the course details inside out but wanted to get a feel for the cities themselves/ campus / distances to accommodation / proximity to shops / public transport. We got to see a fair bit just by walking around. It was very worthwhile.

In our case, having already a short list of five, we didn't visit the two universities that had compulsory interviews for applicants. My DS then attended the interviews alone post application (though he was a minority in attending alone and got lots of approving comments from his interviewers that he'd travelled up from London at 5am without a mummy taxi service!)