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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Original poster

Real life open days: Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Southampton??

43 replies

kitnkaboodle · 15/09/2021 16:51

Has anybody managed to find any real in-person events for any of these unis this autumn?

Luckily, we are relatively close to all of them, and my DS has already been to all of the cities apart from Southampton, so could always pop over to a visit ourselves. But is there really NOTHING happening in person this term? So disappointing ...

OP posts:

Tumbleton · 15/09/2021 16:55

Southampton is planning an open day for 9 Oct.

Original poster

kitnkaboodle · 15/09/2021 17:17

ooh - thanks. Bath AND Cardiff seem to have virtual events this weekend. It's such a shame ...

OP posts:

Chilldonaldchill · 15/09/2021 17:21

Bath has a campus open day in October I think (9th?)

Original poster

kitnkaboodle · 15/09/2021 18:43

Are the campus open days slightly different from 'normal' open days, do you think? More like a guided tour with a few Q and As? It seems like subject talks are mostly online this year, and that's probably not a great loss ...

OP posts:

Delphigirl · 15/09/2021 18:55

Southampton had open days last weekend and I went to one. Campus and residence tours were available, there were profs and students from all different subjects to talk to, some facilities could be toured (eg engineering, NOC) but there were no formal subject talks, those are emailed to you as links to videos. It was a really good and useful day snd surprisingly I busy, better than pre-Covid days frankly!

I keep looking for Cardiff but no joy.

NCTDN · 17/09/2021 07:09

We went to Bristol for a tour. It was very informative but we never stepped inside any buildings. We could have done it ourself but the student who took us round told us lots of extra information.

Abetes · 17/09/2021 07:23

A friend of mine and her son went to a real life open day at Southampton recently and loved it. Not sure if there is another one coming up tho.

Piggywaspushed · 17/09/2021 11:49

Bath has already had two. Haven't heard about Oct 9th but PP mentioned it.

Piggywaspushed · 17/09/2021 11:50

Oct 9th is Bath Spa, according to Google!

NotDonna · 18/09/2021 08:08

Also looking at Bath & Bristol for DD. I’ve just popped into the University of Bath website and it seems they have onsite tours Wednesdays and Saturdays throughout October you can book 🥳🥳 app.geckoform.com/public/#/modern/FOEU02e5kW2M1p7F

Dunrovi · 18/09/2021 08:19

There's a very good self guided tour of Cardiff Uni published on their website (scroll to bottom of page) www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/open-days-visits
At many universities you can often just walk into student union buildings and cafes - it's unlikely anyone will challenge you.
Not accommodation though; which is likely to be the thing that kids are most concerned about. Does your DC know anyone who is already attending these universities who could show them round? When DD was looking she went to visit an older friend, someone she'd known from Guides, and stayed overnight with this girl. Seeing the wild party scene in halls swung it for her more than any official open day!

LunchWithAGruffalo · 18/09/2021 09:44

Bath had a couple of campus tours, but they filled up quickly. There is a bit on the website to sign up if you are interested in tours. DD has signed up but not heard anything yet.

Delphigirl · 18/09/2021 12:32

@kitnkaboodleJust been on a virtual open day for Cardiff and the professor said Cardiff is planning an actual attended Open Day on 23 October. Final decision not quite taken but that’s the plan and if they go ahead it will be publicised in the next couple of weeks.
So keep an eye out!

Orangejuicemarathoner · 18/09/2021 12:35

I think you have missed them. I've had sixth formers attend these open days already over the last few weeks

Piggywaspushed · 18/09/2021 13:20

Where did you find that initially on Bath website as I could only see a sign up for info thing?

I missed a talk, tour and stay in the summer because I had sodding Covid...

Howshouldibehave · 19/09/2021 16:07

Sorry to interject here but those who have been looking at Southampton-can I ask what sort of prices were the halls of residence??

Delphigirl · 19/09/2021 19:26

They are on the website but about 140-150 for shared bathroom, 170-180 for en-suite.newer hall in town a bit more. There are some cheap smaller shared Bath rooms in the older halls fir about 120pw but apparently they aren’t many in number so don’t rely on getting one

NotDonna · 19/09/2021 23:13

@Piggywaspushed I think I googled ‘Bath uni open days’ and got a couple of links for Baths Spa initially but then the one I posted above. There’s two online forms; one for ‘registering your interest’ and the other for ‘an in person campus tour’. It looks like they are only an hour, don’t enter any buildings but given DD2 is interested in quite a number of courses there it’s possibly worth the trek.

Piggywaspushed · 20/09/2021 06:48

Thanks donna, found it! Annoyingly, not running at half term. I think we'll just go down there for a day trip and see what we can see.

NotDonna · 20/09/2021 10:48

@Piggywaspushed no they’re prior to half term but there’s some Saturdays. I visited Bath (and a few others) with DD1 last year and although everything was closed it was still very much worthwhile. It gave her a really good idea of distances (to and from home as well as campus to towns), logistics and general feel of the cities. Again, the cities were likely more subdued but it still helped with the decision making. Unfortunately DD2 didn’t come to any with us so here we go again!

TangoWhiskyAlphaTango · 20/09/2021 17:02

Just had an email from Bath Uni as they are doing Bitesize Bath tours in October have booked DD in. Its a full tour with teachers Q&A and student talks. The email says booking from 22nd September unless you already signed up to news letters you may have had an email for early booking. DD wants to apply for Politics next year.

Piggywaspushed · 20/09/2021 18:59

Me too! Just booked!

If something happens so I can't go to this one I will be vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv cross!

My DS wants to do social policy tango so also not part of Bath STEM/Sport crew!

TangoWhiskyAlphaTango · 20/09/2021 19:42

@Piggywaspushed

Me too! Just booked!

If something happens so I can't go to this one I will be vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv cross!

My DS wants to do social policy tango so also not part of Bath STEM/Sport crew!

Good to hear! Where else are you looking at?

We are off to Bath on Wednesday for the night to celebrate DD 18th Birthday and will have a wonder around the campus too but I cannot wait to have a proper look inside. We went to Durham a few weeks ago and was really underwhelmed with the area so hoping she likes bath.

Piggywaspushed · 20/09/2021 20:16

His other choices are for broader degrees so Policy, politics and economics at Birmingham, Social and political sciences at York, possibly economic and social history with public policy at Glasgow or Government and society at Edinburgh and having a punt at HSPS at Cambridge. But Bath has a brilliant reputation for Social Sciences so I am nudging him...

TangoWhiskyAlphaTango · 20/09/2021 20:31

@Piggywaspushed

You sound just like me! DD also applying for HSPS at Cambridge although very realistic about the odds of not getting in... she is just polishing off her PS as we speak. I am also nudging her towards Bath, she is hoping to do the 4 years with a year in industry. I absolutely love Bath and knowing DD she will too, seems like a no brainer with its reputation. Good luck to your DS.

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