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.

But it's not representative. It's their experience and it's a valid experience but it's not representative of the whole sector.

To get a more representative view you would need to speak to a sample of people who attended a whole range of open days. I'm actually doing this at the moment. One person's experience cannot be called representative.....if I presented that my research would be thrown out.

There are over 300 higher education providers and hundreds of thousands of applicants.....one person's experience of one open day is not representative.

Our experience is valid to us though. We are not researchers. Just an ordinary family.

I'm not saying it's not a valid experience but it's not enough to make sweeping generalisations of an entire sector!

Benes, Herocomplex
Using social media to advertise financially supporting visits.

www.facebook.com/8213259321/posts/10157315847409322/

Theres a website you can use to share lifts to open days.

Anybody here in HE who manages open days and has a solution to dealing with parents?!

I thoroughly agree that it's my money so I want to see what's what and offer some advice. However, subject talks are not my affair and I would never attend one - let alone with spouse, siblings, grandparents etc!

Perhaps open day information could include the suggestion (or order!) that only one adult per prospective applicant can be accommodated.

Great suggestion Irma.

Perhaps open day information could include the suggestion (or order!) that only one adult per prospective applicant can be accommodated.

Some do. Warwick make it clear it's just one parent per student in subject talks and there is someone on the door checking pre-booking etc. The other parent and anyone who hasn't booked waits in the stand by queue which is admitted to fill the gaps just before the start.

Durham's Physics dept tours were student only - parents were corralled away.

We add information to the booking forms which suggest applicants only take in one guest.
We also ask people to book on talks and indicate how many guests they will bring do if a talk is getting fill we'll move it to a bigger room.

Open days are a priority so we get first pick of all the rooms on campus. When we've had new buildings we've asked for big event spaces.

We've never had an issue fitting people in to talks.

We also provide free refreshments so that can be an incentive for parents to have a break while their kids attend talks.

Apologies for the typos.... currently multi tasking!

Perhaps open day information could include the suggestion (or order!) that only one adult per prospective applicant can be accommodated I'm sure some of ours said that.

However, as long as there is room, who cares if granny and siblings go? I agree they shouldnt be asking loads of questions but surely there's nothing wrong with them being there, other than making the prospective student look a bit wet?

On the open days DD and I went to it was either students only or students plus a parent at the subject talks.

When we went to York I was surprised to see entire families there. It was almost like a family day trip out. Although, it could be that it was potential students and their offspring.

@TapasForTwo - I noticed that at York as well. Pushchairs and dogs. I can imagine mature students with babies but why take the dog? DDog would not have thanked me for taking him.

Yes, loads of pushchairs. I don't remember seeing any anywhere else.

He went alone or with friends. his choice. I drove him to a couple but he wanted to imagine himself living there and go on the tours without his mum. I went to mine alone. My mum drove me to one interview but very much stayed in the background, I got the bus to the others as my parents worked

Agree that many subject talks don't have enough spaces. These should be student only and are more important than the non subject talks and should be prioritised

Maybe York works as an open day plus train museum/Jorvik combo trips for mixed age families? Though that wouldn't explain the dogs...

Now I can imagine dh attending a subject talk with ds seeing as he has a degree in a related field and now works in and lectures in the same area ds wants to study (same subject area, different approach!).

However when dd looked round places he kept well out of it as she us studying the EXACT area he is in (indeed she ended up at his institution)

And he knew many of the staff at places she applied to.

The subject talks were interesting- DDs chosen field isn't DHs and mine, we wanted to know a bit more about the scope of it and also some of them covered things like industrial links for placements etc. But if there had been a shortage of space then of course students should have absolute priority. As far as I can see there's unanimity on this among posters.

Totally agree about York , maybe it was because it was a Sunday? Although it’s not a new thing DS1 went to an offer holders day 8 years ago and texted to say that the subject talk was full of parents and pushchairs and some people had to sit on the stairs . I posted about it here at the time!

Didn’t go. Parents should butt out. I did travel with dd, or meet her later in the university town. She wasn’t unsupported. But university is where you go as yourself, not as mummy and daddy’s baby.

DD was a very unconfident 16 year old at the first few open days. If I had told her she was on her own to look round Warwick university she just wouldn't have gone. The sheer size of these places is quite daunting if you have never visited a university before.