Open days - what attracts you? What puts you off?

[shovetheholly]

I'm interested in hearing about your experiences of open days!

What attracts you and your DS/DD to a course or a place? What puts you off? What kind of information is it good to receive about the course? How much does the city/town of the university matter? How significant are job prospects later on to your decision? Do open days always confirm what you already think, or has one changed your mind (either positively or negatively)?

Am asking because we rarely get honest feedback from parents on the day (for obvious reasons), and I'd love to hear what you REALLY think... and get a sense of what we can do better.

twitter - YES! I feel like saying to them "YOU'RE ONLY YOUNG ONCE, FOR GOD'S SAKE ENJOY IT!!" Because when you get to your late 30s like me, you will find you start creaking when you get up from the floor and forgetting why you came into rooms! Then I realise they will laugh at me an old gimmer. Which, to be fair, they do anyway

Marketing people... it depends who they are. Junior marketers can be a bit clueless, but some of our senior support staff have PhDs themselves and actually know a lot about the instituion. (Parents often assume that they are just graduates, though).

Parents usually assume marketing people are academics - until they cannot answer basic questions and are all "sell".

I'm thinking that badges with name and role might be quite a good idea bobo!

Yes, I think being absolutely clear about the role of anyone from the university would be helpful.

I have had feedback from French parents who met university marketing staff at events in Paris and then met the same marketing staff at an open day - bear in mind that the costs and logistic of going to an open day from continental Europe are quite condsiderable. The families had expected to meet academics at the open day, though not at the marketing event in Paris.

I am surprised that anywhere would have an open day staffed without any academics at all. We always have at least 4-5 at ours, often more if there is lunch on offer

Open days can quite busy. Also, depending on the country people are coming from, the very idea that there are marketing staff at a university can be rather alien (and hence disturbing). For example, at events for French prepa recruitment, applicants take along their school reports and show them to academics who then give them an idea of their chances.

at the idea of kids taking along their school reports to show at an open day! Especially current school reports. They mainly seem to consist of "Maths: RhodaJnr is within the parameters of national expectation levels" I'm sure the venerable professors all lining up to inspect reports would be as bemused as I am by a modern school report.

Sure, Rhoda, I'm just illustrating why families' expectations of an open day can be very different, for cultural reasons, to the reality. And since it's a marketing event, it's best to reach out to the customer

Bobo "I'm not at all sure students are that bothered about "fun"".

My point is that they should be. This is the one time in a young person's life when they try whatever they want to - hence the hundreds of social clubs available. Where (and when) else could you go hand-gliding one day, to an all-night theatre production the next, to learning about love, sex, cooking, homesickness and understanding that you are in charge of your life.

Fun is integral to learning, to life, to enjoyment and to personal and career contentment. And uni is absolutely the place to have it!

I don't think that that's why all (most) people go to university and all those things are more than accessible outside term time.

I've had 2 DCs through the UCAS experience so far. We have seen the good, the bad and the ugly.
Without naming specific universities....
-DS travelled 200 miles to look at a course in his very niche subject- could only find 5 unis offering it. Open Day booked, train tix bought. A week before, he noticed that the required A level subjects had changed on their website. Phoned in advance to ask if his (slightly different) subjects were ok. Told 'yes', guidance was for next year's applicants. Arrived at the Open Day and Head of Dep. told him he had wasted a trip. DS was not the only one who felt quite ripped off.
-DS got an offer from one uni 12 hours after submitting his UCAS form. One month later they cancelled the course and offered him something completely unrelated.
-DS enjoyed Open Day at a uni he didn't think he'd like as he couldn't study his subject exclusively and had to cobble it out of offerings in the department. When he went to the Offer Holder's day to meet the staff and learn more (this was with the same bunch of familiar faces he'd seen at the 4 other unis who do this niche subject), the faculty member who actually taught the niche bit was practically somnambulant . I was in the back of the room virtually nodding off.
DS stayed awake to be polite but made the decision to go sh*t or bust. He firmed the only uni he liked, that seemed to actually show an interest in prospective students, answered subsequent emailed questions and actually offered the course as described.
-DD went to an Open Day for the uni with the toughest requirements for her subject. AAA. Pretty campus, oh, the food stalls and very buff student helpers. What put her off? Extreme whiteness, current students doing the subject talk didn't seem very bright , close inspection of the curriculum showed it to be very dumbed down, unimpressive faculty and ....turns out that they actually accept ABB on results day. The AAA and the shirtless hunks were a very clever marketing ploy.
-DD went with friends (all different subjects) to a uni that required a plane journey. DD's friend discovered that they had discontinued her course when she arrived. Put them all off.
-DD went to an Open Day and noticed that all the tours were being shown the same two accommodation blocks. She asked about the others and got a coy response from one student helper so, later, asked another. Vermin issues.

Wait, SHIRTLESS student helpers?

Our open days are clearly not racy enough!

I'm shocked that so many of you are struggling to get basic information like eligible A-levels, and making wasted trips. That shouldn't happen.

It was like a sunnier version of an Abercrombie store.
I didn't even detail the uni that offered DD and one of her friends a different course than what they applied for (new course, too few applicants) as they correctly surmised that they would both get Oxbridge offers but their GCSEs and predictions would bump up their applicant stats for the second year of the course.

Oh, and they both went to that Offer Holders Day to get out of a school assembly and go shopping. It was pretty clear that the faculty weren't sure what they would be teaching and there was no written detail of what would be in the course.

Or maybe shirtless academics, since senior academics are required?

The academics had no clothes.

This probably isn't particularly helpful as I can't really quantify what made a successful open day for me, and I'm going back 10 years now so the memories are hazy...

But the open days completely changed my mind. The university I ended up going to I'd actually only applied to because I'd only chosen 5 courses and needed to submit my application the next day. It was chosen almost completely at random (genuinely the decision making process went like this - 'I have lots of prospectuses for unis beginning with L so I'll choose one of those. Hmm, not too sure about living far away from the coast, so I'll go with this one').

I absolutely loved the open day. It was the feel of the department more than anything. It was a very small open day (maybe a dozen of us), loads of staff around and plenty of opportunity to chat. All felt very laid back. There were also a few subject-based talks from really brilliant speakers with lots of enthusiasm. This was actually the only open day I went on where I wasn't separated from my parents and to be honest I didn't particularly see any benefit either way - I probably spoke to more potential students when I was not with my parents, but more staff and existing students when I was? The other open days I went on were huge, there were a good 200 of us at one of them and I just decided that wasn't the kind of environment I wanted. Location is important too I guess - Warwick had amazing labs but I really didn't like the isolated campus thing they've got going on, and when the student leading our tour said 'do try to get off campus at least once in your first year' that was my decision made!

Not read whole thread yet, so sorry if this has already been mentioned, but I was really impressed by unis who did sample lectures on the open day, so kids could get an idea of what it felt like. Also the ones who were very specific about structure of the course and where their students ended up post degree.
It is so expensive to go now, that you want to be reassured as much as possible that your kids will be employable.

Was less impressed by unis that laid on a lot of things (like food stalls) to specifically impress/attract students, when those facilities weren't the norm. Open days should be an accurate representation of what the place is really like.

Assured accommodation for 1st years was really important to me when ds was looking. I hadn't had it when I was at uni and it was a total pita.

The location itself was also important but obviously outside their control.

The academics had no clothes.

I honestly cannot think of anything more likely to send a healthy, happy 18 year old running for the hills.

Did 6 open days with DD1 last year & gearing up for it with DD2 this year. Very helpful in separating out unis that on paper all appealed.

First impressions were important - plenty of very visible student ambassadors who were friendly and well-informed, and a well-organised day, set the tone.

City/location determined which DD even considered visiting - needed to be accessible by rail, and uni location in the centre was a plus. No preconceived ideas about campus vs city unis but visits resulted in a preference for campus. Transport for students from nights out etc was a factor. Some unis well located in that respect and had schemes to ensure students could get a taxi with student card and no cash if they needed to. Worst was a uni 20 minutes bus ride from city centre but no buses into campus Friday to Sunday!

Subject/departmental talks were key. Such a shame that at one uni two very similar courses, which DD wanted to choose between, held talks at the same time - these were at different times everywhere else. Please don't overlap similar course talks! DD was really put off by dumbing down (an apology about 'long words'), an incredibly boring lecturer at one place and poor slides at another. A comment by a lecturer to the effect that "we don't really want to cover mental health [in course content] but we have to" immediately ruled out that uni! Conversely, DD was impressed by lecturers who were professional in the way they presented themselves and their courses, didn't patronise and were enthusiastic. Plenty of information about course content and a chance to speak to current students was really helpful. But don't show slides showing the details of the course and just read that out!

DD was also keen to go somewhere with plenty of opportunities for work-based placements - this is pretty variable on her course between unis.

It was useful to see accommodation, as she had no idea what that would be like, and has moved from her starting point of "the cheapest will be fine" to "I'd like an ensuite room and to share a kitchen/social area with a small number of students".

This doesn't help you at all but aside from all these kind of things that could be ranked on paper, how DD felt about each place, from the moment of arrival (actually before with what's now her top choice - at our local railway station heading off to the open day she an advert for it with a quote she could really identify with!), was really influential. A gut reaction.

Great that you're asking and I will be interested to read the rest of the thread (when I've finished writing the article I'm putting off finishing!)

Our DD is yr 13 and has been to quite a lot over the last two years, mostly with DH but I went to a couple.

One that stood out in a positive way was Southampton - it was very well organised, it was on a Saturday and sunday, which given its quite hard to get to from the north was very much appreciated. Despite this there were lots of staff as well as students present. Very good clear admissions talk, very good lab tours.

The one which was (unexpectedly) negative was Bristol. Loved the location, DD liked the clifton & stoke bishop accommodation, hated the one city centre block we saw. On the whole, she was seeing it as a place she could imagine herself being - till we got to the dept. Unimpressive lab tours and very poor talk (I think it was the HoD not admissions tutor, plus a hapless student rep ... well, he tried). We nearly weren't even let into the talk because DH had to excavate his pockets for the tickets - despite the fact the room was only half full, which was a poor attitude. There were some lovely students with nice enough demos, but there seemed to be very few staff around. It seemed to us - perhaps this is unfair - that its a place which knows it has a good reputation, the sort of place people might automatically think of if they had to name half a dozen good unis, so its rather resting on its laurels and cba to sell itself.

Agree with the gut reaction to the place. My 2 spent a while milling around the campus to get a feel for the place and imagine being there and see how other students looked and what they were up to. Sometimes weird things can attract you to a place. I ended up putting as my first choice a uni I'd only put down because it didn't mind being 5th in the days when position mattered. Whilst waiting for my interview an academic walked past and a student threw himself at his feet and handed up an assignment. The 2 then chatted informally to each other and both seemed happy. That's the only bit of that day I remembered. I did love my years there.

Just thought, one thing that we found a bit baffling was that most places told us the PS isn't read by the departmental staff. At DDs top choice, the course lecturers told us they did see it, once Admissions had checked that the predicted grades met the course requirements.

I've been to a number of Open Days in the last couple of years as I have DDs in consecutive years at school. DD1 is in her second term at university; DD2 has just completed a gruelling set of interviews to go in September.

The best open day we've been to was in Sheffield. In fact I've been twice now and thought it was great both times. The thing that really set it apart was having representatives from student societies in the student union, talking about all the different things you could do. I've looked for this elsewhere and not found it. We also really enjoyed the subject talks, which gave an overview of the course and the interview process, as well as some information about current research topics etc which was really interesting.

Worst was Durham, which was a great shame for me as I went there and loved it. The open day was terrible. All the introductory talks were in the wrong places so DD could not get an idea of the feel of the departments. Theology was in science, Philosophy was in the Business School. Both of the Philosophy lecturers were male and in their 30s, and both had first degrees in science. It would not have taken much imagination to have put together a more diverse team! There were not enough places to eat or to sit down and it was raining - some thought to how an open day might work in the rain would have been useful. Whilst sitting on the floor in an overcrowded cafe we overheard a parent giving out lists of questions she had compiled to her DC, tailored to the lecturers' research interests, for the next subject talk, along with desperate instructions to identify themselves and make eye contact!

At another open day DD was really impressed to find that one of the people giving the subject talk had written the text book she was using for her A level course. I thought that was a good move, and although it seems obvious I wonder if other places had thought of it.

I've never been as most of the older 3 children didn't go to inverviews actually although I think they may have been to 1 or 2. I have one son about to go to one so perhaps can report back after that. He is going with 2 friends from school.

I have not asked about the format but I hope it gives them an honest view of the subject and a chance to see the town (possibly accommodation?)

(My twins are choosing between Durham and Bristol at the moment (assuming they get the grades later in the year of course)... I would visit both if I were they but instead only one is visiting one of them so far and the other has just asked his twin to pick up a brochure for him.