Do parents go to open days?

[Inniu]

We live in Ireland but DD is looking at universities in the UK.
Do parents normally go to open days?
Having to arrange childcare for a number of mid week trips to the UK will a challenge

You won't know anything definitive, sure,

Except she will - see my post

We didn’t go with DS1 and won’t go with DD.
I think it’s about what your child wants but I think it’s good to let them go alone if they can

I went by myself (30 years ago!) and back then I don’t think parents went hardly. Now I know lots do but my DS this year refused to have me come with him - he chose to attend by himself , one university was with friends but the rest he went alone.

We went to some with the kids but some they went to on their own. Depends very much on the child and the logistics. It was a LOT easier and cheaper for me to go with the kids most of the time and it made for a interesting day out. My kids liked me coming and welcomed input. I’m really good at letting them do all the decision making though. There was no way I was going to make any of their decisions for them. 😅

We would very often split up when we got to the Unis. The kids would go to the talks etc and I’d just soak up the atmosphere.

Parents are very welcomed at open days by all the Universities I visited. Taster days and applicant days are quite rightly focused on the actually kids so my kids either went on their own or I’d take them and have a day out exploring the area.

Going to open days was a fantastic way for me to hang out with my kids. It was a lovely way to completely focus on the kids.

I didn’t go with mine. It’s expensive to book extra train tickets and impossible to get leave at work.

DD went to one family local open day by herself and was definitely in the minority as most people were either with their parents or in organised school parties. One of us went with her on a couple needing an overnight stay. We went to parent sessions, hall tours & pottered around the city, whilst she went to subject specific sessions by herself.

We went to parent sessions, hall tours & pottered around the city, whilst she went to subject specific sessions by herself.

The only 'parent' talk I have been to was five years ago, visiting Leicester with DS1. My memory is that there were 3 of us at the talk! Possibly it was near the end of the day, or other people didn't want to go because it was 'parents only' and that would mean leaving their DC all alone for the duration (this was where one parent got very upset on the accommodation tour, upon learning that the cleaners would have access to his DD's flat). Most of the time at the open days I've been to with DD and DS1, people might well have assumed that they were there unaccompanied - l, too, like to find a museum / gallery / cup of coffee and leave them to suss out the subject talks etc for themselves. I do like a good nose around the accommodation, though, and do wish DD and I had tried to get a peek at the 'partner's block at Birmingham that she has now (Sod's law) been allocated.

By parents sessions, I went to a talk which explained how much the accommodation would cost and the options available. I don't think it has occurred to DD that ensuite & studio flats for 39 weeks cost a lot more than a room with a shared bathroom for term time only, as the bottomless pit will pay regardless!

We are going to Open Days this summer and autumn. So far they've all be predominately teens with at least one, if not two, parents with them. The teens on their own are very very few in our experiences so far. But there are one or two so your child wouldn't be the only one.

We've only done weekend dates.

Mind you, we did open days many years back in the early 90s and most people we knew went with parents then too.

Dh or I went to most with our dc. Dd1 went to her first one alone (weekday), hated it as everyone else was with parents and she couldn't always find someone to chat to (very extrovert), so I went to all but one of her others. It's a bit of a vicious circle.

All three went to their offer holder/interview days alone - good opportunity to work out public transport and so on.

I didn't go to any parents sessions as I'd got all that information from mumsnet the first time round

Some families will be there with both parents, a grandparent and a younger sibling, which does seem a bit much!

11 years agi it was groups of friends from college. People bringing parents was odd in my circles

However, we expected DD to take the lead and decide what she wanted to look at and ask questions herself, followed by the odd question arising out of the conversation ourselves. I have to say, being with her made me realise she is ready to go, she asked lots of sensible questions, clearly understood the subject.

You see, that sounds perfectly sensible. My only gripe with parents attending is that in a significant minority of ODs I've done in the last couple of years, the prospective students 'child' has retreated behind the parent, who has asked all the questions and done all the engaging, while the 'child' stands in total silence.

Well, that and the fact that, when giving a subject lecture, you can be talking to a lecture theatre which has more family members in it than prospective students, because some potential students brought both parents, siblings too young to be left home alone, and their granny/uncle/best friend.

We went with DSS but only because he was nervous and not quite sure what to do when we got there!!

I don't understand why so many British people think it's wrong for parents to attend.

I help out at Open Days (medical school). I can barely remember any 6th form age kids who didn't arrive with parents. DD went to Open Days by herself, though, just because that was convenient for us. Good that DD got to experience the big cities without an adult.

Only on MN is it wrong for parents to attend, as shown by the number in RL who do go! Our generation didn't go to as many open days full stop and parents rarely attended, whereas universities positively encourage parents to come along now.

Yes parents usually go, or at least they did when we were looking. Sometimes they split you up and do one presentation for the kids and another for the parents.

One or the other parent went with both DS but DH retired at the time DS1 was looking. We concentrated on accomodation and parent talks ( well we went to one for each DC) and left DS to look at subject talks - although for the post offer days I attended a couple of talks.
DS2 did a semester at UCD and we didn't see any accommodation and it was OK ish. He then went on to assist at the overseas students sessions at his Uni in the 3rd year and post grad year. I can only vouch for his Uni and they did have extra support for overseas students at Open Days and in freshers week.

I've given presentations on my subject at open days and would say that the majority of prospective students attend with parents.

In the UK there are two sorts of open day. The first pre-application is perhaps less important.

Interesting.
Neither of my older 2 dc went to post application days.
They (and we) thought it was pretty important to get a feel for places, to know where to apply to.

@EarringsandLipstick I think maybe my time was wrong. I am grateful for all the input.

She would be a 2021 entry so at this stage we don’t know what the situation will be with fees post Brexit. It just adds to the general uncertainty.

I have decided to go with her. When I looked at the flight times realistically a lot of the trips will involve an overnight stay which she would not be very comfortable with on her own. And I would like to go to parent talks etc
University choices and course choices are up to her.

Glad you are sorted now OP. Best of luck 💐

@titchy rein in the there maybe? Your information is not entirely correct. The current position is that post-Brexit (without a time limit given, so far) Irish students will continue to be treated in the same way as UK students for the purpose of fees.

However, given that there is no certainty about the profession of Brexit, especially given the newly appointed PM, nothing is certain. Also remember that Irish students don't qualify ordinarily for maintenance grants, but can via the Irish system (even if studying in UK), if they are eligible. If they aren't, it's a costly business to support a child studying abroad. (Can be costly in Ireland too of course!). That was the context in which I was advising OP. HTH. 😊

*progression, not profession.

The current position is that EU students entering HE in 2020/21 will continue to have the same access to fee loans and fee cap as now. That is the current time limit. There has been no announcement regarding 2021/22 entry, and I wouldn't expect one till next summer, about arrangements beyond that.

@titchy It was announced a while back that Irish students specifically, not all EU, will be treated as home students in the UK for university fee purposes post Brexit.

Whether that holds in the event of a no deal Brexit is another thing.