Are university open days a good representation of the place?

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DS is Y12 and looking at universities (wants to do maths).

He is thinking about going to open days next term, but I recently read a thread about Durham where someone said it's absolutely bustling on open day. Are university open days a good representation of a place?

And I suppose the other question is, if he didn't attend an open day, is it useful to just go to the place and wander around (not in parts that you aren't allowed in), I meant the town/city. Or is that pointless due to the lack of access to the university.

Really not sure where to start with this - esp as some of the unis will require quite a bit of travelling.

Thanks!

I found them useful but if you can go back on a day when students are there it’s helpful to see the vibes of the place.

Open or offer days are a good opportunity to attend taster lectures, find out about subject structure, see accommodation, ask questions, generally nose about. Find out where local shops, clubs, pubs are.

We’ve just been to an offer holder day that was a bit disappointing compared with the open day. So we’re going back to have a look at the campus when the students are around.

I think it’s helpful to tour and see if it’s a good fit for them. It’s a long 3 years if they hate it. Having said that, I know plenty who didn’t visit and loved their universities.

My DS found them very useful, and if well organised they can be very interesting and a good day out. My DH particularly enjoyed going to an open day at the Uni he attended himself. They also have talks for parents about the finances etc.

Although thinking about it, when I went to Uni in the late 70s it was only for the prospective student, certainly my DPs never came with me.

They are all bustling on open days - that's part of the fun of it, I think. My ds went to 6 open days and they really helped with getting ducks in a row in his head for his UCAS application, then he went to offer holder days for three before Firming and Insuring. He hadn't even thought of putting one uni down but after the open day it became his first choice and that's where he now is. I went with him to some, he went with mates to others. I have to say the days out I had with him were just lovely times together exploring and talking and discussing pros and cons of places after but equally there were lots of kids on their own. Invest in a student rail card and off they go.

You'll get people coming on here saying he doesn't need to go; and he could just go and have a mooch round the town, but honestly, I think it helps to go on the open day, get to talk to students, see the accommodation, see the department, hear a talk or two. Well worth it for both ruling places in and out.

'Information is power'. Open Days are probably not particularly representative, but then not all students' experiences at a university are going to be the same, so you could argue there is no 'single true representation' anyway.

My DC found them helpful as one part of a wider 'decision mix'. You can also use them to look around the location more widely eg city centre, popular areas for student housing.

As other PPs state, you also have the option to visit, at least the exterior of buildings, at other times to get a different perspective.

Visits can expend time and money, so that can be a factor to bear in mind.

I think they are very useful. We went to several and DD ruled out quite a few because she just did not like the feel of a place. Living in a rural area she definitely did not want a campus university.

DD wanted to visit the cities (of her top couple of choices), but wasn't that bothered about attending talks etc, as most of the course info is available online.

Agree with @RampantIvy all three of mine ruled out certain universities on visiting them for a range of reasons including: a course not being right content-wise (although on paper it looked almost identical to the ones DC did like), hating the accommodation options, totally unhelpful re. DC in question's medical condition, a totally uninspiring course leader, and just generally not liking the 'feel' of a place.

I won't name the universities in question because of course all DCs are different and YMMV, but these were some of the things which came to light during open days.

I would say, it's good for DC to go to open days (with or without you). My DD also found it useful to mooch around cities even without an open day to get a feel for the place. She totally fell in love with one place, and is now there.

We went to several open days and treated them as almost a weekend away. Each time we stayed in a Premier Inn, got the train there and either before or after the open day spent hours wandering the local area and city. It was definitely worth it to get an idea of what sort of place she liked. A couple of placed looked great on paper but she hated them after spending time there. We started looking in the summer of year 12 and did our last one this month so spread them out a fair bit (she has nearly all her offers now). Yes they are quite busy which did give a different feel (we went back to Exeter a couple of weekends ago and it just felt like a ghost town!).

We found attending the talks really helpful as you got a good idea of what the lecturers were like and taster lectures were really interesting (almost made me want to enrol!). DDs top choice was chosen partially through meeting several of the staff at one of these talks.

A couple of placed looked great on paper but she hated them after spending time there.

Yes, this happened with Bristol. DD just didn't like it. It sounded exactly what she wanted online, but the reality simply didn't match up to her expectation. She really, really didn't like Warwick either.

My son found it useful for ruling places out rather than choosing one.

He ruled out campus universities once he’d seen a couple and realised he wanted a city based university. He also ruled out University of Surrey as there we no lecturers or tutors on the open day in the subject he wanted to study.

DD discovered one otherwise favoured contender was about to merge 5 departments into 1, along with associated building works which would have lasted her entire university life. Doubt this would have come to light in time, if she hadn't gone to the open day.
Equally, she loved a uni we were unfamiliar with. Went there and loved it.

Well of course their bustling places! I can't imagine why you would think they would not be beneficial. I think its crazy to not go to an open day! By all means do both if needs be.

Open days are big business. When we visited York the car park at the air museum must have had thousands of cars in it (it's on an old airfield). The shuttle buses were going to and fro all day.

It is a great idea to go to an open day, as someone said to get a feel of the place and apply or eliminate it from the list. However, just like we clean up before visitors arrive or the cleaner comes, remember that you'll see the uni on its best behaviour - maybe even during a quieter time than usual, with less students bustling around. Noise can be a real trigger for some students, so if you really like the look of a place, but feel you may not be getting the full picture, try to make an appointment to go back on another day. Good luck!

My DD has seen 3 unis so far: one when we visited with DS and she was dragged along, one when we visited DS at his, and one on an Open Day.

By far and away the best experience as you’d expect was visiting DS at his: we were there on a Friday afternoon so she got to see study areas packed, student Union bustling and got a really good feel for the vibe.

Contrast with the Open Day, where the SU was shut and apart from tour guides no students were in evidence. Yes, useful to hear lectures and meet staff but if you’re looking to get a feel of a place it’s hard to do that at an open day.

I think we will still plough ahead with open days - but if feasible will try and check out the favourite on a working day.

Useful once your DC has long-listed on other factors. Having done several over the past 4-5 years, I'd say you can't predict whether DC are going to love a place or get a bad vibe. Or something minor will put them off or make them fall head over heels.

Well, an open day is an open day - not a typical day at University. In the same way you probably went to the open evenings at local secondary schools before choosing a school.

They are very informative and really useful in helping dc make up their minds.
What seems one way on paper, sometimes just doesn't have 'the feel'. A bit like viewing a house - you can visit 6 houses that fulfil your criteria on paper, but you can often either say 'this is the one', or rule a house out once you've been there. It's the same.
Sometimes it is the reality of that 5 hours drive / 'changing twice train journey' / that makes them think they prefer the other option nearer home. Sometimes it is the fact that "campus University" sounds homely on paper, but they hadn't realised that particular one was quite a way outside the nearest town / city. Sometimes it is the lack of diversity, or something that can be really noticeable, but won't really be advertised anywhere and that your dc might not even realise would be an issue for them, until they are standing there. Sometimes it is the draw of being near the sea, or a National Park, or right in the heart of a City rather than anything specific to do with the course.

I know it can be expensive in travel costs, and time, but if you can, I think it is a really worthwhile thing to do, if you can.

yes, they’re useful, but make sure your DS judges the university itself and not some other influencing factor which can create a poor impression E.g. car parking nightmares, a particularly irritating tour guide, the weather, the food in the cafe!
We went to about 7 with DS1 and it helped him drop two (one of which was a surprise to us). Poor DS2 couldn’t go to any (covid generation!) but we did drive to his first choice and walk about the campus. He’d also been to stay with DS1 so understood the uni experience a bit better.

For those on limited budgets do check with school or college as some have access grants to pay for travel to open days.

Hugely important. DD made her mind up based on what she had read online/researched. When she visited she hated it.

Reluctantly viewed her last choice (encouraged by us) and came away buzzing “mum I can really see myself fitting in well here”.

They do give you a bit of insight into the uni and will vary enormously between unis. Dd and I visited 2. One was awful, there was no-one available to answer questions about the course, the information lecture about the course was one lecturer giving a vanity lecture about something she had developed that was incredibly niche and not very relevant to the main subjects. We went back the following year (as it was local we started looking a year early), and it was not much better. Dd hated it.
We went to another uni, on paper a very similar course, and had a very different experience. After attending an information session, we went for a coffee and while sat there one of the lecturers came and sat at out table and asked dd how it was going. Very friendly and open. Dd chose that uni.

DS and I went to most of them together by train and got a ‘Two Together’ railcard for the purpose.
I found it in a drawer recently and showed DS before throwing it out. He laughed and said ‘they were such fun trips together’ which was a pleasant surprise as I just remember finding them a bit stressful (probably because I was the one trying to pack in as much as possible on the day!).