Offer visits versus Open Days (Warwick)

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Warwick gave sent DS an Offer Visit Day. in 2 weeks. Unfortunately I probably can’t go but DH can. DH is stupidly optimistic and often fails to think things through.
Warwick also offer a two hour walking tour but accommodation is off limits. Also an Open Day but that’s not until June which seems late.
Any more experienced parents suggest which will be most useful please? Or can you just tell if it will be a good fit?

Former admissions tutor here (Russell Group but not W). Your DS is presumably Y13 or on gap year and holds an offer, hence his invitation to an Offer Day. Open Days are geared for Y12 pupils who have yet to apply to university. Different emphasis. The Offer Day should be more relevant for your DS.

Congratulations to him - it is a wonderful university with a number of excellent programmes.

I think Offer Day much more relevant.

DD did a tour with cohorts from her Course and they had a sample History lecture which was brilliant.

Worth the effort for what if offers

Thank you. He wanted to take his computing skills into the Army last year so we didn’t look at any Uni’s.

I think he decided to apply on a whim and now quite likes the idea. I’m concerned about his course choices. Our local Uni has better suited courses in my opinion ( and a year in industry) but obviously Warwick is an excellent Uni and gives DS the experience away from his familiar patch.

I did an offer day at Warwick with DS and it was very well organised and useful. The kids were taken off to look at the labs (physics) and have a talk about the course content. They then had a tour around the campus in small groups by a current physics student. Parents had their own tour of campus and then we joined the kids for another presentation. We were also given lunch and had the opportunity to informally chat to the lecturers and head of department. After the official event we had a nosy around some other parts of the university like the sports centre which was pretty amazing.

Great to hear this @Igglepigglesblankie!! We are going at end of April. Sounds fantastic! My DS and DH were on one at Birmingham today which was also very good and sounds similar (but no lunch 😂).

I agree with @poetryandwine. An offer holder day will be very much geared to the student about the specific course they will be doing. DD got a lot out of hers, and it reinforced her decision to go to the university (Newcastle). She sat through a sample lecture and was given a tour of the labs. We also had the opportunity to look at some of the accommodation.

Ds did all his research from the comfort of his own bedroom and did not visit a single university. He had never lived in the UK before he went to Warwick. I am not recommending your ds adopts the same approach, but it’s possible to make a decision without exploring the campus. Ds would also say that the Warwick tour includes visiting the accommodation with the really decent kitchens. In reality your ds’s kitchen will be of a considerably lower standard!

We went to both the open day and offer holder day at Warwick (for maths related subjects 2wks back). They were both great. But the offer holder day was really good, they had a couple of lectures for the kids only (they put something on for parents) plus a lecture for parents too, a lovely free buffet lunch with lecturers and student ambassadors there. At the end they did a tour but we had already done a tour previously. DS is going to firm Warwick I think, but still struggling with turning down St Andrews

Like a PP, My DS and I attended the Warwick offer day when he was applying a few years ago and I'd definitely opt for this over an open day. He spent time with his cohort, they had a group workshop, tour including labs and also accommodation, met current students, had a group activity and presentation in the lecture theatre. We had lunch, a talk about the department, research areas, funding opportunities etc and parents were taken on a separate tour and there was lots of opportunity to ask the academics questions about the course.

Thanks, it sounds like a worthwhile journey then.

Just to agree about a day off work now. The benefit of the walking tour visits were that they were in the Easter hols.

My son did an offer holder day at Warwick. Well worth the journey, because it became clear that he wouldn't be happy at a campus university and was able to discount it with confidence. My friend's son was at Warwick and loved it.