Anyone else not accompanying there DC to a uni tour?

[NewYearNewTwatName]

DS1 is off today to have his in person tour of his chosen Uni. He's quite independent in doing stuff like this, but needs hand holding and support in other areas of his life which we give in buckets.

I'd love to go, but when he booked it he didn't say it came with a plus one, since finding out I could go, I offered if he wanted me there, but said he's fine and happy to go alone. I think he will be fine too, and I think he would find it awkward me being there, in fact when I said I would really like to go, he sort of said as much .

after the tour he's off to look at his accommodation too.

I presume other parents will be there with their DC, and DS will be alone. apparently he again is fine with this.

How many people don't go with their DC?
I feel a bit shit, but at the same time really happy he is so independent.

Ahhh, it's an offer holder's day. In which case a lot more would have gone by themselves in a bid to make friends and find friendly faces they will recognise in a few months time.

I dropped DD off at an offer holder's day a couple of years ago. She was one of the few students who didn't have parents in tow.

By them I had had enough of sitting through university talks and visiting universities in general, so I just took myself off for a shopping trip round town.

I think the odd ones are the parents who do accompany young adults to uni days!

Based on my experience, that used to be the case but now the majority of prospective students have their parents in tow. There is still a sizeable minority that don’t though, so being on their own certainly not unusual.

I can’t remember if there is a difference between general open days and offer holder days. They all meld into one when you do (or did) so many in a year.

One thought is that parents might be discouraged this year because they are trying to keep numbers down due to covid social distancing restrictions.

Is it more a thing to have parents accompany you now?

Yes, and not just in last 3 or 4 years, has been for at least 10 years, I was quite surprised when the oldest of this generation of our family went, but, in looking at several universities for each of our 3 dc, the students overwhelmingly have a parent with them.
Sometimes you get a couple of friends who go together without parents; very occasionally you get a young person on their own; some people seem to treat it as a whole family day out ; but mostly young people go with one parent. Or sometime one parent takes their own dc and their dc's friend(s).

I can see me or DH accompanying DS2 to open days. He's a different kettle of fish though. He's very level headed and responsible but is not as head strong at wanting to beat his own path, and will like the security of the annoying middle age people trailing him around

I went to loads alone (parents worked FT so don't remember there being any discussion). I remember being surprised at so many other parents being there. I think it might be more normal to take parents these days given the fees etc (no fees when I went) and also with the pandemic more people are likely to be given lifts.
But I still think it's perfectly ok to go alone, in fact a good experience in enjoying a bit more independence than has been possible recently.

We went with Ds for his Durham open day recently as it is his firm choice. The tour was strictly students only so we walked round the town to get a feel for the place then met up with Ds for lunch.

We also walked down to his chosen college, he had seen it online but wanted to see it in reality and also how long it would take him to walk from town to his college.

When Dh and I went to uni our parents weren't forking out thousands of pounds to support us. We on the other hand, are expected to top up Ds's maintenance loan as he gets the minimum amount. He wanted our input having never lived away from home and what things to consider.

No, we didn’t go. And nor did DD go on any tours. But she did only apply on the last day you were allowed.

We have a young lodger who also didn’t go on any tours and nor did she have her parents accompany her.

I went to a few with my daughter...to be honest the kids normally get taken off and you are left hanging around. I only went as they were miles away..we travelled together them met for lunch or dinner.

Another reason I went with DD was that she was 16 (Summer birthday), and some visits involved an overnight stay. She didn't have the confidence to arrive at a strange city and find the hotel for her stay, and most hotels don't allow under 18s without an adult anyway.

We went with our DS for his open days. There were far more going round with their parent(s) than there were alone. It was only offer holder open days where prospective students were taken away on their own, and only for a short 1 hour session - rest of the day, parents/students were together for the tours, talks, etc.

Even if covid hadn't happened DS wouldn't have gone to them as he only decided to go to Uni in feb 🤦‍♀️ (that's a long story 😂)

although lots were still doing virtual tours.