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.

They literally shoved a load of 17 year old kids in a room with body parts and told the ones who went green/fainted that they couldn't stand the heat. ......... It's not a sign that you're unsuited to a profession that you find something like that disturbing and difficult first

This is really shocking! Apart from the effect on the students, it's appallingly disrespectful to the people who leave their bodies to the university .

DD attended an anatomy event as part of the university outreach programme which involved them seeing cadavers. They had to sign a code of conduct in advance , have written parental permission and a reference from the school. There was a lot of emphasis on appropriate conduct - they were told to treat the cadavers with the same respect as they would show a living patient. It was explained that people leave their bodies to help medical training and research and that the ( prospective ) student owed then gratitude and respect.

I'm shocked that a university used human remains to basically shock and scare school kids. I sincerely hope this was a very long time ago ( sorry holly ) and that nothing like that happens now.

I went to god only knows how many open days last summer (for myself - mature student).

Main things I found off-putting:

• Music so loud I couldn't have heard if I'd clapped in front of my own face
• Getting horribly lost and breaking down in tears because the maps were terrible (they found me a lovely student who even walked fifteen minutes with me to the other site to the talk, walked back, then walked there again so he could walk me back)
• Being packed into a damp, cramped tent with several parallel queues for different subject talks - I felt like an animal in a lorry, and ended up having to be dragged out by another student's lovely mum and taken round to tours and talks by the accessibility team (okay, most people coped a lot better than I did, but I don't think anyone enjoys standing in a deafeningly loud tent with other people three inches away in every direction!)
• Student helpers ignoring punters
• Student helpers boasting that they never read any of the books on their course and that you can get away with just watching the film adaptations
• No talks/workshops/anything for mature students
• Talks for mature students that focused entirely on students doing the university's own access scheme for local students
• Parents, parents everywhere - even in the sample lectures
• People at admissions stands who didn't have any idea about what my qualification was, let alone what their grade requirements might be (Access to HE, people, it's not some obscure vocational qualification only provided at one college in Patagonia)
• Schedules that meant that people who would very likely want to go to two particular talks (say, subject-related) would have to rush straight from one lecture theatre, via the door they didn't come in by, to a subterranean lecture theatre down seventeen twisty corridors in another building on the other side of the campus in five or ten minutes
• Telling us you even have a Quidditch society HAR HAR HAR - yes, every university has a Quidditch society, please stop using it as your go-to "we have a society for everything" example
• student accommodation tours where nobody's been round to check that the dodgy posters on the kitchen wall (e.g. the one with the tally-marks on it showing who's winning the "puked most times in town", "brought another student they found in the bar back to the halls for sex" and "brought a non-student they found in the bar back to the halls for sex" competitions) have been removed
• Lecturers who appear to have had frontal lobotomies and are now on a crusade to induce the same in their students using the technique of liquefying their brains through boredom
• Not enough loos (fair enough, nothing you can do about that)
• Promises about how amazing the new facilities they're spending millions on will be, without mentioning they will probably still be building them by the time the student graduates and they'll have been studying in a building site the whole time
• Misspellings and other errors on the PowerPoints (yes, if you're the vice-chancellor who remembers someone coming up to you at the end of your welcome talk to point out an error which was really pretty insulting to a particular religious group, that was me)
• Academics who have clearly been introduced to the concept of "a com… pu-ter…???" three minutes before having to deliver a PowerPoint (okay, that's unfair, but please, check everything's working first!)
• No signposts
• No signposts at all
• Hundreds of glossy leaflets that are so glossy you worry what they're glossing over
• Academics who hide and hope you go away
• Terrible coffee (not much you can do about that either)
• Department talks focusing on employability to the detriment of all else (Surrey, I'm looking at you - if I cared about my employment prospects that much, I probably wouldn't be studying English)
• Trying to get me to talk to current students but not supplying them with any useful information to pass on
• Current students who seem a bit dense
• Prospective students who seem a bit dense

and

• scheduling the open day to clash with the far more interesting- and fun-looking pride march going on on the other side of the river.

Positives to follow!

Things that attracted me:

• Sample lectures
• Subject stands in the actual department, near where the talks were; it's really hard to have a good conversation about the course, or ask any specific questions, in a loud hall full of dozens of other subject stands and general stands - also good to be able to go to the stand in the department and talk to the academics about anything you had questions about from the talk, straight after the talk
• Sounds obvious, but academics who are enthusiastic about the course and actually want to talk with you about it
• Sunshine. Please make sure the weather is pleasant for your open day. Thanks.
• One place ran a personal statement workshop (instead of a talk) that was really useful, with tasks to do, quizzes and tips
• Leaflets with maps and timetables whose number codes actually relate to the numbers used on the maps on campus and the numbers on the front of buildings - nothing more annoying than seeing in your schedule that your talk is at building 22, labelled as 22 on the map in your leaflet, and having to work out from the numbers on the front of the buildings and on the maps on campus that the building you want is actually called QP17. And that everyone at the university actually calls it The Milk Carton anyway. So yes - I loved it when universities used the actual proper names/numbers of the buildings in their guidebooks
• 1:1 appointments with people from the disability department, or disability department staff who were willing to go to one side to talk through help that's available
• Nice coffee
• Academics having time to hang around after the talk and answer individual questions
• Specifics about assessment methods, learning methods (e.g. seminar sizes, tutorials, contact hours, lectures) etc.
• Not having people coming in and out of the talks all the time; I don't know whether they were just refusing to let people in, or whether their scheduling was better, but it really helped to be able to concentrate on the talk
• Free pens

Someone said The best open day we've been to was in Sheffield.
I had also suspected that many unis did not read PS, especially if the applicant was clearly likely to meet or exceed the offer. Sheffield plainly did read DS's PS because with his offer he got a personal letter from the HOD commenting on things mentioned in his PS. He didn't go there because he preferred another uni but it was nice

I am so pleased Exeter now have food outlets with food and coffee!!! I complained about this years ago when we went - they have listened! Well done. For anyone who does not think there should be a food court at a campus university because it is not "real life", I guess the rest of us get hungry and want a quick bite to eat and a coffee to keep going.

Bobo - you are just too serious! Lots of young people have a good idea of what they think is fun and do not just want to be "nose the grindstone" all the time. It is so important to choose a university where there are "people like you" where you can enjoy the company of like minded people and enjoy the downtime. Who actually works all the time? We hear of all the differing attributes of universities: near countryside, in a city, on a campus, quiet housing, academic facilites, active student union or not, expensive housing or cheap halls, large, small, AAA* or CCC: the lists are endless, but essentially these make up the experience and knowing what suits you enables some universities to be discounted from the list. Whatever a single academic or addmissions officer is like on a visit, this is not the overall experience. How can it be? Why does anyone have to be "sold" anything? Have a look round. Make up your own mind. Shiny new Departments are not always the best Departments.

Gosh, now the students are thick too! Dense and even more dense. How utterly patronising. I would hate to be in a class with you TheOtherStock in case you thought I was thick. Probably am. Young people, in the main, are less judgemental and friendly.

Yes, to employment prospects. Most young people do care these days. It is only the rich or well supported by others who don't. If mature students really do not have the same needs as younger students, perhaps they do need a special event of their own but it shows an unwillingness to embrace the university and the other students in my view. Somewhat disconnected from reality.

Removing posters? Are the local Stazi going to do this? Not acceptable posters I agree, but these are meant to be the "homes" of the other students. I am surprised they volunteered to have their flats inspected by visitors. Did you report the posters to the university accommodations office?

Enormous - Do get your DC's to visit Bristol. They need to get the feel of the university area which is far more upmarket than some other areas of the city. It is a great place to be a student.

Sorry bojo, I don't particularly want to go to a place where the students boast of not having read the books and snort/giggle behind my back because I'm talking enthusiastically with one of the academics about a specific interest of mine that I'm excited to see he's interested in too (I find that quite judgemental and unfriendly). And where the questions asked at end of the talk by prospective students had a) been answered in the talk and b) been extensively covered in the accompanying literature and on the website. All of these were at one particular university. They were being dense. If you don't listen in talks and ask questions that have already been covered, and if you like to brag about not doing the work and laugh at students who are interested in it, then yes, you are dense, and I quite agree with you that we don't suit the same kind of institution.

The poster was off-putting. Every other university took us round vacated accommodation. People can have what they want on their walls. Why on earth would I report it? It's up to them. It's also up to me to think "hmm, I'm not sure I like the culture of a place where people have these kind of posters up when they know the general public are going to be looking round their kitchen" - yeah, of course people drink and fuck at university, but leaving a poster like that up with individual students' names on and tallies for how many times they got blowjobs, when there will be students and parents visiting, is crass, and the question was about what people would find off-putting. I personally found it off-putting. It's a personal preference/gut instinct thing, and finding out about the culture of a place is one of the reasons you go to open days rather than just reading websites.

One is booked on a Bristol visit and his twin is not going. Their sister did go there though so they have been before. It woudl probably be better if they both visited both Durham and Bristol as they are choosing between the two but it's up to them.

I am from the NE and my father and their cousin went to Durham so they are not in the dark really about that City either; even so I would visit if I were they.

Did you read, btw, the part where I said "to the detriment of everything else"? The talk I'm referring to was the departmental talk, and at least a third of the time, if not more, was dedicated to graphs and stats about the employment prospects, and usually explicitly directed at the parents by the speaker. Very little about the actual course, which leads me to think that the focus of their course is not going to suit me. The question was about what I found off-putting. Sorry that you think I should be enthusiastic about a university that doesn't offer what I'm looking for and can't sell its course by talking about the actual course.

I am afraid the thread is worrying me that the open day might put him off. I've never heard what these open days are like before. Although if he is put off Bristol so tries for Durham I don't mind - I just want them both to make the choice they think is right for them (....although it would be so much easier if they go to the same one.... thinking of the driving them up etc)

My kids enjoyed all their open days and came back enthusiastic after all of them.
It sounds as though there is a huge difference between universities and how they run them.
It seems odd to me that so many courses don't talk about the course.

My kids enjoyed all of their open days too. Some might have been a bit better than others but they were all good. Whenever I went with them I found them to be vibrant, exciting and welcoming.

I didn't go into any talks but I did chat to various admissions staff, lecturers and students and found them all to be helpful and friendly.

Funnily enough the Uni that came over the least well was Bristol but I just think it was because of the sheer weight of visitors. I'm not sure they could do much about it. It's hardly their fault they are so popular.

I'm not sure they could do much about it.
Sure they could have - have another day.

Bristol already run at least 3 open days a year along with open afternoon, offer holder days and interviews etc. It looks like they get 15,000 visitors per open day

tiger - Is your DS going to an offer holders' day or an actual Open Day which are really aimed at the ones deciding which to put on the ucas form in the first place?

Enormous. Honestly if they go with an open mind they will be fine. Look at accommodation on an offer day unless he has lots of spare time. It is an opportunity to look around the faculty and get a feel for the university area of the city.

If people are doing English, it is highly likely employment prospects are not as good as medicine or economics. Therefore it is a big issue for lots of students! My DD was rather keen to hear what MFL degrees may lead to! A wide range of jobs and her eyes were opened.

There is often copious info on web sites about the content of courses! You can be very well informed about the few hours of lectures you will get on an English degree! Do you want o know every minute detail of a seminar and how they mark essays?

Hogging a lecturer will be seen as a bit intense. Perhaps everyone else has a lighter approach. I bet some of the students will be less dense than you think and I feel they may come with prepared questions and have to ask them or Mum and Dad will want to know why! You are coming across as someone who does not like young people TheOtherSock and somewhat intolerant! Go with the flow a bit more!

Lol - but of those 3 days, only one was a weekend day, the others were schooldays - well, 17th june maybe quite a few had off because there were still AS exams that day.

bojo

I have no idea what your problem is with me or why you're talking about hogging lecturers. There was me, the lecturer I was talking to for about five minutes about a particular kind of literature that most courses don't cover, who teaches a module on it (and said he would be teaching the module again next year), and two annoying current students sitting on the next table making comments they presumably thought I couldn't hear and laughing. Nobody else about. It put me off.

Yes, I'm intolerant of people who don't pay attention, and ask questions that have already been answered. Mum will get the same answer if the student remembers the answer from the talk rather than asking the question again.

There's less information than you would think online about seminar sizes and contact hours. Somehow, the other universities' subject talks for English managed to convey enough information about career prospects in the talk without having to spend an enormous amount of time bragging about their statistical success in employment. I know I joked about taking an English degree meaning that I obviously don't care about employment prospects. It's just a joke! Obviously I care. But I didn't find the talk which focused on that and didn't give as much information on other aspects of the course as useful as other universities'. Made me feel the focus of the course wasn't right for me. Maybe it isn't. It put me off so I listed it.

I'm not sure why you're picking and picking at the things I've said? OP asked for things that put people off. I gave a list of what put me, personally, off. It included some things other people might have liked (e.g. loud music - some people enjoy it, I don't).

I love young people, at least, I love them as much as I do any other group of people. I study at college alongside people with all different kinds of career ambitions and plans, with all levels of academic ability in the various different subjects. None of them are dense. People on my course are mature students (mostly over 21) and are there because they really want to be and have made a big effort in coming back to college. They read the damn books. The standard-age students are great too.

we did a varierty of things at open days - had to do the transport for some, others they went alone. Sometimes had another student or two along for the ride. Dropped and picked up for one, went with to others, including escorting a different child at one as they seemed keener to have a parent with them than my own child was . I'm afraid I asked questions for them, too, as they didnt seem to know what to ask and it's embarassing when someone is keen to talk to you.

What put me off wasn't necessarily the same as what put students off. I detested the poor administration, especally the one where the lecture was cancelled because the lecturer didnt want to turn up. We were informed of the cancellation by a notice on the door when it was due to start and of the true reason by a disgruntled student. Also hated the arrogant places - and on that one the students agreed with me.

We were all put off by poor facilities - we wanted to see decent libraries and labs and in well maintained buidings. You dont have to be super flashy but for a science subject you do need equipment comparable to your peers.

A good lecture went down well, didnt bother to attend Vice Chancellor's welcome after the first one. We know your position in the various league tables, we know why they arent perfect and we dont need to have that repeated. Tell us what makes you different to other universities, whether that is is getting people into jobs or offering accommodation after the first year or generous bursaries or being a campus type university one stop from the city centre (Birmingham) . Keep it short and sweet - and if you cant cut short politely someone who is hogging questions then you shouldnt be in a senior post.

I dont want to speak to senior academics, I want the ones who are likely to be doing the teaching to speak to students. I do want someone who can answer a specific question about entrance requirements, especially when they have changed recently and the website isnt clear. I dont want to queue for 40 minutes to speak to someone who says they dont know.

The students werent greatly interested in accommodation as they said it all looks much the same - except at Oxbridge. They wanted to know about costs and these often arent clear on websites. Why not treat these like estate agents with sample room plans and prices?

If you are being asked a lot of the same questions at open days then your website is inadequate - and most of them are. Not everyone can attend open days and your website is your first marketing tool.

I think snorting and giggling behind someone's back is always unimaginably rude, and in a context where you are trying to be as open and welcoming as you can, a extremely dim-witted thing to do! I also would like to think it's unacceptable in any context to treat women as items on a tally. . Those students need to be sent to mandatory gender studies classes!

The thing about talks is that it's a difficult balance. As some posters have noted, you have a talk on a subject and then sometimes a parent or student will ask a question that you have literally just answered. That's absolutely not necessarily a sign of stupidity or lack of attention - sometimes we need things explained several times (in different language) before the answer sinks in. It's the same with students when they encounter a difficult concept. When it happens, often what is required is for the same thing to be explained in a different way!

kristina - it was about 10 years ago and I was extremely shocked by it! It is part and parcel of the medical faculty at my institution being a hot mess.

enormous - I hope it doesn't put your son off! Just remember the open days don't bear that much of a relation to how the university is on a normal day. There aren't people in loudly coloured T-shirts waving signs, for instance! And things are usually considerably less packed!

One thing that hasn't appeared much in these lists is student satisfaction scoring. I would urge anyone looking at universities to have a look at those stats. There's not necessarily much difference between somewhere scoring 89% and somewhere scoring 95% - it can just be a different cohort - but if you see a much lower score in the 60s, say, it can be useful to investigate why.

There's not necessarily much difference between somewhere scoring 89% and somewhere scoring 95% - it can just be a different cohort

also the sample sizes are often very small - DH likes to look behind the numbers and for quite a lot of the league table stats, you have to get quite a few percentage points out for it to be statistically significant (even with the research rankings it can be instructive to check how many of the academic staff they actually included - many it's 100%, others it's a lot less). Slightly OT but may be of some interest to people reading the thread.

One thing that hasn't appeared much in these lists is student satisfaction scoring. I would urge anyone looking at universities to have a look at those stats

With one of my DC who was looking at the lower end 'high' tariff Unis and some middle tariff Unis we forensically examined all the ranking stats although we knew not to read too much into them too iyswim. - I think they are useful. If a department has near 100% satisfaction in areas that matter to you for several years I think that's telling you something. It all helps build a picture. It was information that my DC looked up before or after open days though.

There were a few odd stats about. We found one STEM course at a middle tariff Uni that was awarding over 70% of students First class degrees (it was a fair sized course too).

With My DC who were looking at the highest (I think that's the right term?) and higher ranked Unis then the finer details of the rankings mattered less.

One of my DC does medicine and I doubt he looked at any ranking or student satisfaction data at all.

I don't see student satisfaction surveys as something that you'd ask about at open days as that info is available on line although I agree very few students do the studies but some unis consistently do well and others poorly which is an important factor.
I wouldn't have thought open days were the best place for specific admissions queries either. I'd have thought emailing or phoning the admissions tutor would give a more accurate response with less hanging around. My kids sent several specific emails re admissions criteria and course content and got timely and helpful replies.

Student satisfaction statistics are incredibly unreliable.

I agree with Rebecca, parents and kids do care about student satisfaction and employment figures. But it's part of the decision about which unis to visit, so no point in discussing at the open day.

And no one should make decisions about subject / grades unless they have something in writing from the university ( assuming it varies from the published advice ) . So if an admissions officer said at the open day " I know it's says that we require a level politics , but we will accept economics instead " , I would have my child follow up with an email that confirmed that .

My DD emailed one uni asking if they would accept Human Biolgy instead of Biology and they wrote back confirming that they would. Followed about two weeks later by another email saying that they had missed out the word " not " from their email . Fortunately this was before DD had made her subject choices.

If they had not corrected their email and DD had chosen the " wrong subject " , everyone would be in a difficult position. But you have no recourse without anything in writing .