Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Higher education

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

Flip

Original poster

Open days in person

19 replies

Thepaintedgarden · 18/04/2022 09:45

My eldest started uni when open days weren't possible due to covid. The uni she is actually at was the only one where she'd even visited the city (years before).
With ds, who is applying for 2023 entry, I was looking forward to his actually being able to attend open days in person but lots of them are on the same day as each other (and miles apart), most of them are during year 12 exams (which are important as they will lead to predicted grades) and his school don't allow time off on a school day to go to an open day (only weekends).
For those of you with older children who went to open days in the past - how valuable were they? Were offer holder days more valuable?
We can take him / he can go to the cities to visit and get a feel of the surroundings but I'm not sure if he needs to visit the unis themselves? He's visited his sister but that's only experience of one uni.
There are some open days in September and October but he will be putting in an early application so it doesn't leave a lot of time.
(Fwiw, he's probably trying to narrow down from 7 or 8 only. But they have quite a different feel on paper eg Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Nottingham, Birmingham... I'm worried that, if he only gets a couple of offers which isn't beyond possibility as it's a popular course, then he might have not love either uni at an offer day).
Hope that all makes sense!

OP posts:

Original poster

Thepaintedgarden · 18/04/2022 09:46

Might not love.
Random "have" in that sentence!

OP posts:

DietrichandDiMaggio · 18/04/2022 10:21

I think they are useful, because then they know what/where they are actually applying for, and especially if he wants to narrow down his choices. I actually think it's good to visit a range of different universities to help clarify what sort of place they want to go to. Sometimes they fall in love with a university and that becomes a first choice, or conversely a visit can really put them off even applying there. Offer holder days are useful if you are deciding which to firm/insure and there is not already a preferred option.

averythinline · 18/04/2022 10:34

I think getting a feel for the place is helpful.....well it has been for my ds also 2023...he's ruled out a couple just on vibe. And also determined wanted a campus rather than city...
A friend did a driving tour of the places with her DD so started at Durham and drove back via york/Nottingham/Newcastle/Birmingham/Warwick... something like that..as open Days not happening.... Bath/Bristol/Exeter also geographicaly near each other so maybe pick the on paper favourite and go to that and just check out the others by looking round them ...
We going to a couple in the summer ... and DC fancies Aber but has to read all course prospectus as its a real shlep....
DS has found live tour really useful and had good chats with lecturers and students so would recommend...but he is a sensitive soul so needs that reassurance.. some are more robust/resilient so may need less

TheBigDilemma · 18/04/2022 11:04

I was very aware of the potential overlapping of open days so we started visits a year early just to be unable to visit a year after. DS ended up making a decision on information rather than feeling and he is very happy where he is but… there is a huge element of luck (and a lot of statistical analysis on my side).

I think it is a great idea to go and see universities in the flesh in open days, particularly if they take place during the week, when the students and academics are around, it does help to get a feel of the department and for your child to see whether they will fit in, but at the same time I think it is a very bad idea to go and visit them on a weekend when the buildings are empty and closed as it is many times intimidating and unrealistic, you should not allow yourself to get biased on your decision on the basis of the external architecture, it doesn’t represent what it is going on inside those walls.

What worked for DS was to define what he was looking for (student life, great department for his subject, cost of living, location and standard offer), then find when the open days were for 7 of them and if they had offer holder visit days. For some we attended the open days, for other the offer holders visit days (the latter were online unfortunately due to Covid)

In your position, I would visit the ones he is more attracted to AND likely to meet/exceed the standard offer. Most universities offer open days in September and the summer so, with all the dates on hand you can choose what combination of visits works better for you.

RampantIvy · 18/04/2022 12:28

For those of you with older children who went to open days in the past - how valuable were they?

When DD was looking at universities they were all held on weekends, many spread them over a whole weekend so we could view one on the Saturday and one on the Sunday. They were invaluable for her because she thought that Bristol sounded ideal, then hated it once she had visited. She also decided that she definitely did not want a campus university after visiting Warwick, York and Lancaster.

So, in answer to your question, yes they were invaluable. The offer holder's day was even more useful because DD attended a sample lecture, a sample lab session and had a chance to look at some of the accommodation.

Geamhradh · 18/04/2022 12:41

I went to one last weekend with DD. (Bath) As we were in the area, we also went to see Exeter and DD had a non official tour with someone we know who is studying there.

She's come away 99.99% certain to firm Bath. Loved every second of it. She attended an online open day/offers day at the other uni (Lancaster) to have offered her a place but came away saying "nothing that I hadn't already read on the website".

boys3 · 18/04/2022 12:59

For DS2, now in final year, the applicant days were of greatest value, as it really cemented that his first choice throughout really wasn’t after the more nuts and bolts applicant day.

DS1 long before covid went to about half dozen open days which helped confirm places he did not really want to go to compared with his top two choices. Although he went to an applicant day at his eventual destination that was a bit different. He also had a quite flexible school in terms of mid-week open days despite back then AS level exams still in place.

DS3 sixth form through covid so more just website, and course content informed. We managed a visit post application and pre start just for him to at least get a brief feel for the place he was anticipating going to. Which thankfully he liked.

boys3 · 18/04/2022 13:07

it’s a real shlep quite a gift for understatement there @averythinline. It’s a long way from anywhere, although DS3 chose it for the course and absolutely loves it. It’s a nice place for a long-weekend / midweek break though from a parental perspective.

Original poster

Thepaintedgarden · 18/04/2022 13:28

Thanks everyone. I think we're going to need to visit them all in September and early October!

OP posts:

clary · 18/04/2022 13:35

dd went to lots (2018) and they were really useful - feel of place, look round accommodation, subject talks.

Ds2 (2020) couldn't go to any but we did go and look round some cities and campuses he fancied which was useful. Fwiw he ended up at the only place that did do a very small low key open day (small groups booked on) but I don't think that's why.

Yes they are all he same days arrgh. DCs' school allowed I think max of two weekdays off fir them. We just went at weekends except for one of DD's offer holder days. They were really good btw as more focused and she did a seminar/had a 1-1 chat with a prof.

From your list op, Bristol and Nottjngham are VERY different (city v campus) so I would certainly visit. Dd hated Sheffield at open day and loved Warwick. Ended up on clearing somewhere else but still.

SFisnotsimple · 18/04/2022 14:29

They are useful in understanding what appeals. DS visited 4 and picked 3 of those towards his 5 choices, firming one and insuring one he didn’t visit!

You can get a surprising amount from YouTube videos etc. What you don’t get is a feel of the place, a feel of the location, a feel for the department. You also don’t get to speak to anyone in the department which can be super useful. For example DS was going to have Nottingham as his insurance but speaking to an admissions person there who also worked in the dept and walking around and understanding where his lectures would be vs where he may stay/where it all happens really put him off.

You can ask really specific questions face to face in the dept that don’t get answered online.

BuwchGochGota · 18/04/2022 14:36

DS is in Y13 and we have done face to face open days and offer holder days in the last 12 months. They were definitely useful. All of those that we attended were on Saturdays, and the universities generally run several so you can coordinate them to avoid clashes.

LethargeMarg · 18/04/2022 16:58

As a prospective mature student I would also make sure you have a look round without the official uni tour guide part. Without naming and shaming I've been to a few smaller cities that looked great on the official uni tours and the campus was lovely but when I explored the area on my own it was pretty rough and a bit bleak . I also ended up being wooed by this at 18 and ending up in a depressing town and dropping out after a term as the uni was opposite the train station and I hadn't looked any further than this .

TheBigDilemma · 18/04/2022 17:06

@Thepaintedgarden

Thanks everyone. I think we're going to need to visit them all in September and early October!

Most universities also have open days on and around June, so going to those may help to cover more ground.

Original poster

Thepaintedgarden · 18/04/2022 18:12

@TheBigDilemma unfortunately every single one that he's interested in is during/the weekend before mocks!

OP posts:

MarchingFrogs · 18/04/2022 18:16

@Thepaintedgarden is your DS going for the October deadline for Oxbridge or for Medicine etc? If the former, he can submit his UCAS form eay with just O / C (plus any he is already sure about), but delay adding more choices until he has had a chance to attend some autumn open days. If the latter, he can at least hold off on his fifth choice, if he needs more time.

Kite22 · 18/04/2022 18:31

Another who found them very useful with my dc.
You need to narrow it down, and not be aiming to go to loads, but sometimes there is just a "feel" .
I guess a bit like when you are buying a house, there is an unscientific bit when you just "know" sometimes.

We generally found that most universities had open days in the Summer Term and again in the early Autumn, so for most we managed to view.

Original poster

Thepaintedgarden · 18/04/2022 18:46

[quote MarchingFrogs]@Thepaintedgarden is your DS going for the October deadline for Oxbridge or for Medicine etc? If the former, he can submit his UCAS form eay with just O / C (plus any he is already sure about), but delay adding more choices until he has had a chance to attend some autumn open days. If the latter, he can at least hold off on his fifth choice, if he needs more time.[/quote]
For Cambridge (that's where his older sibling is).
That's a great point. I knew that and had forgotten. Thank you! Really really helpful.

OP posts:

Darbs76 · 18/04/2022 21:44

My son applied this year so we did open days last Autumn and out of the 5 on his list only Warwick had an in person open day. We went to Scotland to look at Edinburgh and St Andrews and that was valuable, but he didn’t go inside (outside tours only). We got a good feel for the place. But even though Warwick was 4th on his list pre visits it’s now his firm choice. Whether that’s due to the open day. Maybe? But also based on reputation for the course he’s doing. We also had a whole day open day with a lovely lunch and chat with students / lecturers. We felt very welcome there

Flip