Disappointing offer holders day?

[InMyRoom]

Anyone else been disappointed by the offer holders days? Would you see lack of effort as a red flag?

DS was set on Warwick, course impressive, open day welcoming.

Could not have had a more disappointing experience on the offer holders day. Hardly any reps showing people around, most accommodation closed, barely any students on campus (term time Saturday). The place felt abandoned and frankly depressing. There were no seats or benches on the whole campus, not sure if removed during the pandemic or they never existed.

Compare and contrast to his potential insurance day today. Was buzzing. Student reps everywhere, students all around, accommodation tours. Campus beautifully cared for.

DS is a social beast and reasonably is wobbling that there will be no one around and nothing to do. I think he’d drop it but the course is much higher at Warwick. I just can’t work out why they made such little effort and why no one was around.

Just to say that my son’s friend started at Warwick in September. He is the nicest boy, and really funny. People just warm to him; he is a natural ‘comedian’ and popular with boys and girls. He has been subdued at Warwick and is not enjoying it socially. It’s definitely worth reconsidering if your son is a social animal. The quieter more bookish kids seem to be getting more out of it.

My daughter went to an OHD at a big city university. She was unsettled by the vibe and felt the students she saw were ‘odd’. She still went with it as it was her first choice. She is absolutely loving it now and has met her ‘tribe’. OHD are just a snapshot and I don’t know how much they reflect the actual experience.

My son recently went to an Oxbridge OHD. He said everyone was enthusiastic and nice, but there was lots of unstructured time just for chatting and no real talks other than a Q and A session at the end when people just wanted to go home. At least he met people doing his course though and I expect most will put it as first choice. Overall it was quite underwhelming though.

This!!
@InMyRoom I understand yours and DS’s concerns but given he’s a sociable type he’s very likely to find like minded party people wherever he decides. If he was quieter but wanted to be sociable that’d probably be harder. Sounds like he was impressed with the course itself? Is that not the main thing? Given his nature won’t he quickly find his tribe?

Is Oxford his first choice? and Warwick insurance? Where else is he thinking?

Jumping in to say that the accomm there is varied, quite snazzy and loads of it. It's a massive campus - I have no doubt all the parties are happening behind closed doors!

It's a campus Uni, so if your kid wants more varied partying go to a city centre Uni? (That said Cov is a really decent student city). Leam is more genteel but also loads of student pubs & clubs.

@Twwodoorsaway is Arthur Vick the one with the sliding door that either closes the en suite or covers the wardrobe space? I remember seeing somewhere with that arrangement and AV rings a bell (but tbh I saw so many places with DS1 and DD - particularly the latter- that it could have been in another block. Or at Exeter. Or Reading...). DS1 would possibly have gone for Rootes (rooms seemed bigger?), DD liked Claycroft, with the bathrooms shared between pairs of bedrooms.

DS2 applied, having engaged with 'his' department via online events through most of sixth form, but due to being a prospective entrant for 2021, never actually got near to the place in person to express an opinion on its accommodation.

We looked round most of the unis when they were deserted (mainly due to covid). You can get a decent idea of the uni just from wandering around as a lot of the course info is available online.

But I'd share your view if I'd bothered to go to an open day. Think we went to an offer holders' day at Exeter which was fine but not a thriller. Nottingham open day was good, particularly the sports stands.

Exeter was his favourite until crunch time when he swapped to Durham (he had an offer from Warwick but wanted one of the sportier ones).

Universities can be pretty grim at the weekends from my own and DS1s experience. Most student nightlife happens in the week also. University life is great but can be lonely at times.

Newcastle university is between some of the halls and the city centre so there are always plenty of students walking through the campus.

@InMyRoom I haven't read the whole thread, but term ended at Warwick on Friday 17th. Everyone had probably gone home. My DS1 went to Warwick and the campus was always pretty lively.

warwick.ac.uk/study/termdates/

DS1 is now reconsidering too. He went to the open days at Warwick, Durham and York. He liked Warwick best, then Durham, then York. Later also applied to Bath but hasn't visited yet, was intending to go to the offer holders day soon. I think he must have read some comments online about Warwick's offer holders day this weekend, because last night he announced he wanted to put Durham as his first choice now. The reason he was put off Durham initially was because he had read a lot in the press about 2nd and 3rd year students having difficulty finding accommodation. Course is Maths and I think Warwick's reputation for the subject attracts him. But he also wants to spend his time going out and partying and meeting some girls, which he hasn't done much of so far as his 6th form friends are the quieter types. He is keen to have some new experiences and build a good social life. Any ideas?

I think it was good you went to offer holder's day as they are there for your young adult to work out where they would be happy living and studying for 3 years. DS chose Swansea over Manchester for his insurance due to the OHD and DD rejected Sheffield after hers there. Sheffield had a great OHD and she loved the city and accommodation but she discovered the new Psychology facility was apart from all the other buildings. UEA was dismissed by DD from the open day as she realised she didn't like the out of city campus set up. Newcastle firm with Liverpool insurance worked for her and she loves Newcastle (the Uni area is busy all the time there!). It sounds like Warwick is not for your DS. He needs to go with his gut as where he feels he fits and will be happy. I'm visiting Warwick in June with DS2 and we will see what he thinks. We will couple this with a visit to Coventry to see what life for year 2-4 may be like. I think it is an issue with out of town campuses that you only normally live on campus in year one and after that you become a commuter.

We had a long chat with Ds last night about his choices. He loved Exeter first time around at the open days but actually following offer holder days (Lancaster amazing and very lively, Exeter very subdued and not much happening) he feels that Lancaster feels right for him. He also feels like they really want him since they lowered his offer and spent a lot of time chatting to him after the taster seminars. He thinks he was seduced by the prettiness of the surroundings at Exeter but really loves the community vibe at Lancaster.

Lancaster is rated higher and want lower grades from him so other than the fact that he would then have a BBB first choice and an AAA second choice (which in reality means he has no insurance) then it looks like a sensible choice