Open Days - Did you go?

[Faultymain5]

Just querying whether you went with your DCs or if they went by themselves (or with friends), to University Open Days. I didn't go to University straight from school. But I did everything myself as I parents wouldn't have a clue. My DH is the same, he did everything himself and he went straight from college to University. Any help, as we're expecting DS to be a little more independent, but not sure if kids today just need a little more handholding.

our DD insisted that we come to one with her (St Andrews) and there did appear to be virtually nobody there without their family as well... we pushed her to do most herself as we couldn't see what we could add to the decision! how she "felt" about it is relevant, and stats on student happiness, levels of post-student employment, etc are relevant - our feelings not so much.

The issue of parental support is interesting. There was some research recently that found that you g people from working class backgrounds looked to their parents for advice more than other groups and that their advice help disproportionate weight. Engaging parents in the HE process is key.
However, there is also some evidence that open days aren't the best place for this and more low key events work best.

In my experience WP students are every bit as likely to bring a parent along as any other group.

how I've organised open days for years and worked in WP. These parents do attend .... however, these students are more likely to go to a local university which does make it easier for their parents to attend.

For those struggling financially sometimes schools and colleges can help. I even know of a few universities who will reimburse travel expenses for applicant visit days.

I can only speak as a parent whose dc is classified in a widening participation group. We are lucky in that we can afford to travel. DS was lucky in that he went to open days with his FE college as a reasonable cost. We know a lot of people who literally can’t afford their DC’s travel, never mind their own.

Which is another reason this group of applicants tend to apply to universities close to home.

I went along with my ds as he wanted my opinion on the course, city etc. It was fun to spend a night or day together somewhere new.

When looking round I made sure he took the lead for the day. It’s good to have someone with you to discuss the course, uni. If his friends had been going to the same open day he would have gone with them.

Benes which is a big problem because a lot of excellent candidates won’t apply to Oxbridge for that reason.

It's a huge problem how
It's one of my areas of research. It's not just Oxbridge. Young people from non-traditional backgrounds are more likely to attend a lower tariff, mid to low ranking university despite having the required entry requirements.

It is a huge issue for young people at ds's school I was asking a 6th former who has just left (he returned for a concert) about his uni plans. He is planning on doing a maths related course, he is predicted good grades. Both his firm and his insurance offer are for courses at our local university.

I consider us to be comfortable financially but even we are thinking that London /Surrey universities will be out of the question for ds due to the cost of living so far away and close to London. (Surrey is one of the top in the area he wants to go into. Northern universities like Liverpool & Salford will be much more affordable for us.

I should have added despite having the required entry requirements for a elite university

This is one of the problems of access to uni, travelling about to look at them costs ££. I know a couple of the places my dc’s went said they offered support, but who would tell applicants unless they asked?

I know that the thing that DS really took away from his open day was when he went for a one to one tour of a college and the student who took him round said that DS would really fit in. I realise I am a pretty much a lone voice here but I really think that some parents are a problem at open days. They monopolise volunteers who are too polite to stop them, they take up precious space in talks, they put their hands up at Q&As. The opportunity to speak with tutors and current students are limited at these things as it is without parents who want to see they are getting value for money taking over.

When I worked in student recruitment we didn't offer help to individuals for open days but we would pay for a coach if a school or college wanted to bring a group - but they had to be year 12 or 13. We would reimburse travel expenses for applicant visit days - we promoted this widely but the uptake was actually quite minimal.

But not all parents do take over how and universities are generally quite good at picking out those that are likely to and ensuring the applicant gets a voice.

You can't put a blanket ban on parents because a relatively small minority take over. Lots of parents are there to support their children and just to have a look round!

Lots of places offer specific parent talks which allows the young people time to explore alone.

Some young people are happy to go alone or with friends and some take their parents. Neither way is wrong.

There are exceptions to the south expensive, north cheap general trend of course. I get the impression Durham has among the most expensive college accommodation whereas Oxford and Cambridge can be relatively cheap - and the older, richer colleges are generally both the cheapest and most likely to have funds available to support those who need it.

This is the sort of detail which may not be obvious to bright kids (and their parents) sadly labouring under the mistaken assumption those places 'aren't for the likes of us' . This sort of self-exclusion seems quite hard to counter, especially given that there are too many schools and sixth form colleges actively perpetuating outdated attitudes or plain misinformation. Not all, of course.

I hope that’s true Benes.

I think too much depends on the quality of the info in sixth forms. I have experienced one excellent one, encouraged DD to aim much higher than she was thinking (and she achieved the aim), and supported her really well. The other experience was dreadful, I realised that the staff had no experience themselves of Russell group unis. They organised an open day but it consisted of walking round the campus, no engagement with staff, students or in any activities, and in the letter to parents the name of the uni was inaccurate (which made me inexplicably angry!) The children whose parents had been to uni were fine, but it seemed to me the rest got sub-par advice.
I don’t think uni is for everyone, it’s a waste of time for lots of people if they end up with debt and a poor class of degree, but they all need good advice.

"Neither way is wrong."

Totally agree with this. And although I've never accompanied dc to any (their preference) I think it's reasonable for dparents to want to reassure themselves about value for money. Take my money, take my attendance at an open day. And provide additional coffee/refreshment carts as necessary. (I realise that in practice dparents' money is going on maintenance/rent rather than fees, but ykwim!) Obviously the open day may not tell the dparents that much, but if they find it useful and their dc are happy, AND (very important if) they don't monopolise the questions, or fill up the talks, no problem.

I do absolutely agree that the students should get priority at the talks and at asking questions. Shocked to hear that students sometimes don't get into a talk because there are too many family members!

how I've worked at 3 universities and been responsible for open days at all of them. The applicants are priority but we also make sure we treat the parents well too.

I think TSR is my dc’s territory, not mine.

I'll tell our Marketing and SM team not to bother going on TSR answering applicant's questions then...

but I really think that some parents are a problem at open days. They monopolise volunteers who are too polite to stop them, they take up precious space in talks, they put their hands up at Q&As.

Except you are only going on hearsay because you have never, and will never, attend an open day and see for yourself....

Shocked to hear that students sometimes don't get into a talk because there are too many family members!

That's the fault of the Uni and their management of the talks.

Warwick, for example, only admit one parent per student and the other parent waits in the stand-by queue (although our experience was that they always got in).

Other unis simply don't put on enough talks. Can't remember which, I've been to so many now, but one Uni only had 2 subject talks (Maths) for the whole day, and of course, both were full to the rafters. Others have had them every hour and they were half/three quarters full.

A talk that my DS went to was full to the rafters and kids were turned away. The organisers asked non students to give up their seats and go for a coffee. Nobody did. There were people in family groups of four, mum, dad and sibling.

Well that's poor management by the university. It's also only one experience of one university....given there are hundreds of them it's a little unfair to make a sweeping generalisation of the whole sector based on that one experience.

Yes but most people don’t go to many open days so you can’t just brush off their experience as not representative.