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Higher education

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

Original poster

How many Open Days?

48 replies

redskylight · 30/03/2023 10:07

DD has a longish shortlist of potential universities. I've told her we can't visit all of them. But wondered how many university open days people are intending to/have been on? How essential is it to visit somewhere before putting it on your UCAS form?

OP posts:
Villssev · 30/03/2023 10:11

Visited two

Go carefully through the course details and discard off list those that don’t appeal for a start

Comefromaway · 30/03/2023 10:18

We planned to start in the summer after GCSE's but covid hit!.

We got ds's longlist down to 8. We visited 6, however one of them was simply because we happened to be on holiday in the same city on the day of the open day. Also one of them was only a 30 minute train ride away.

Three of them were taken off the list after the open day. One of them on paper the course looked fantastic and it was very highly rated for the subject but ds did not like the town it was located in or the campus and said he could not live there for three years.

Original poster
redskylight · 30/03/2023 10:20

Villssev · 30/03/2023 10:11

Visited two

Go carefully through the course details and discard off list those that don’t appeal for a start

Unfortunately they all appeal :) I've told her we will sit down in the Easter holidays and I will make her be more ruthless.

OP posts:
Backflips · 30/03/2023 11:57

We visited 12! Ridiculous really. Bloody knackering and expensive

Backflips · 30/03/2023 12:00

and then DD missed her grades so ended up in clearing and is now happy at a uni we didn’t visit at all!

Fifthtimelucky · 30/03/2023 13:29

DD1: visited 5. She only applied to 2 of them. One of the 3 she hadn't visited ended up as her reserve option. She didn't attend any offer holder days.

DD2: visited her top 2 at open days and then the same 2 again for offer holder days, after which she firmed one. Again one of the 3 she hadn't visited ended up as her reserve though it wasn't really a proper reserve as the offer was the same as her top choice (top choice reduced their offer by one grade in order to persuade her to firm it).

We also had an early wander round a city which had a university she was considering (not on an open day, but just to see the city). She didn't apply there because although she liked it, she decided that she wanted a campus university.

Poepourri · 30/03/2023 13:32

Dd visited 2 , both through 6th form college. One was an open day, the other a visit to the department, so as good as an open day.

She overheard someone saying their mum had limited them to 10, which seems way OTT.

Dobbyismyabsolutefav · 30/03/2023 13:53

We visited six universities although this was during covid so not official open days. We walked round the campus, took a peak inside buildings and toured the area and nearby town. We only managed one official open day in year 12 before lockdown all others were on line.

I would definitely visit the town and campus of the university that your DC is going to firm and insure as a minimum.

Finesterre · 30/03/2023 14:05

DS had a shortlist of 7, we visited 5, his insurance was one of the ones we didn't visit and 2 were discounted after visits (one because of the campus although prestigious for his subject and one because of the course)

user56912 · 30/03/2023 14:07

We shortlisted to seven since you make five applications.

In the end however DS only applied to three places (double applications for alternative courses to a couple of places)

Villssev · 30/03/2023 14:13

redskylight · 30/03/2023 10:20

Unfortunately they all appeal :) I've told her we will sit down in the Easter holidays and I will make her be more ruthless.

Show quote history

How many is “all”?

user56912 · 30/03/2023 14:20

There are various ways to narrow down the list.

city v campus
London or non London
Scotland v RUK (4 year degree or 3)
Expensive town to live in or not
compulsory dissertation or not
distance from home
universities that have a known accommodation issue
course content/ modules on offer
ranking lists
student satisfaction scores
three term or two semester set up

Ideally you need a range of grade requirements. Its really difficult when your two top choices want the same grades since then you effectively don't have an insurance choice.

Catspyjamas17 · 30/03/2023 14:29

We visited all the ones DD1 ended up applying to- between us. We all went to two, DD went to one on her own, I went with her to another and DH another.

DD1 narrowed it down to those entirely by herself based on being good for the subject then some needed A-Level maths so that ruled out those institutions and she decided she definitely didn't want to go to university in London and wanted to spread her wings and be a bit further away. For her second choice she will probably put the more local institution with a slightly lower grades requirement. First choice currently Cardiff.

mondaytosunday · 30/03/2023 23:29

We have a rough list and will try and visit all of them, so five, snd if a visit rules one out will add another. Failing that, definitely would go to offer holding days, which are a totally new thing to me.

bguthb90 · 31/03/2023 06:50

@mondaytosunday don't bank on OHDs being available to your DC.

A lot of us have missed these this year due to DC receiving offers too late, e.g. Durham only do theirs in mid February and mid March

IheartNiles · 31/03/2023 08:20

We did 9 (2 were repeat visits due to offer holder days). Some she did alone. DD still hasn’t made her mind up…

I think they were useful. It’s expensive to drop out because you hate the place.

Original poster
redskylight · 31/03/2023 09:09

Bit of a mixed bag of opinions then.

DD has started with the CUG list ordered by subject and is working her way down :) She's ruled out Oxbridge (doesn't like the course, doesn't want the pressure), London (too expensive) and Scotland (too far) but likes just about everywhere else. She's up to about 15 on her list so far so we do need to go back and look more critically.

Her favourite (based on course) is a long way away and logistically difficult for various reasons. Might be bonkers logic, but I am thinking we might go to the Open Day so DD can work this out for herself (it's also somewhere that we are happy to go for a weekend break, so can combine the two :) ) Of course this might massively backfire and she'll end up loving it.

OP posts:
Seeline · 31/03/2023 09:20

I did 5 with each DC and then went back to 2 each for offer holder days at the 2 favourites. These became firm and insurance for both. However, the course was withdrawn 2 weeks before results day at DDs insurance choice so only ended up with one anyway - luckily she got the grades for her firm!

redspottedmug · 31/03/2023 09:32

All ruled out Scotland and lived in London so didn't bother visiting.

Pre-pandemic, DC1 managed 6, with two overnighters, plus an offer holder day for their firm (and actual).

DC2 did none due to pandemic. Did a day trip by coach to visit their firm (and actual) city. And a second for a campus tour to their proposed insurance, which immediately ruled it out!

DC3 came on the campus tour with DC2, loved it but ruled out due to course. We called in at another in the summer, which was immediately added to their list. Returned for open day and offer holders day, and they are there now.

With hindsight, the trips with DC1 were as much for my benefit as theirs, and we did use this knowledge with DC2 and DC3 to inform their shortlist.

Violetparis · 31/03/2023 09:40

We did 5 and have been back to 2 for offer holding days which will be the firm and insurance offers. The visits are really useful and you do get a feel for what would be a good fit/choice.

ShanghaiDiva · 18/06/2023 15:24

With ds we visited a grand total of none! We were living in China, he wanted to go to Warwick, very close to Birmingham airport and the required grade (IB 38 points) was considerably lower than his predicted grade (43 points) so no visits required.
with DD we will look at Cambridge and Bath. She had a week’s work experience in a lab at Exeter university last year too.

UsingChangeofName · 18/06/2023 16:12

IT depends on your situation really.
If you drive, and the cost of the fuel is affordable, and you have the time, then I think it's true to say it can be really useful to go and look at all the Universities that might be on the shortlist. Of course, those conditions don't really apply to many folk, so you have to start being a bit realistic.

I actually enjoyed doing the open days that I did with each of mine - I think at that age / stage of life it was quite a nice "day out" to spend a whole day together, just the 2 of us, or just dc and dh, but we were fortunate in that we could absorb the petrol cost and both were able to be a bit flexible with our work hours. I don't think it would be particularly helpful to do more than about 6 though - I suspect they would begin to blur after a while.

Once you've been to a couple of quite different ones, I suspect some people can then rule out others that might be on their 'long list' , having concluded they do (or don't) want to be in a big City, or they don't want to be more than 3 hours drive or whatever.

That said, one of mine went through clearing, to a City none of us had ever been to, let alone looked round the University, and she was very, very happy there and didn't really want to leave when she graduated. Smile

EwwSprouts · 18/06/2023 17:23

I took DS to five in two days on non open days just for a wander round in the summer holidays, to help him decide campus v city etc. We went to an open day at Lancaster. Then three offer holder days - York, Sheffield and Durham. The feel of the place was quite important to him...and sports facilities.

InspectorGamache · 18/06/2023 17:28

DS1 was a Covid year and we managed two offer holder days and they were very helpful.

DS2 is entering year 13 and told me he’ll sort it all on his own. He and a friend have a multi stop trip via train planned at 3 unis in a couple of weeks. He’ll apply in the autumn this year. I am glad he is independent- but secretly disappointed as I was looking forward to the road trips.

lanthanum · 18/06/2023 17:39

We've just done our first two, and have four more booked - DD is lucky that it is relatively easy for us to take her. There are other universities still on her list, but we're hoping that visiting some will help her clarify what she does and doesn't like, and hopefully we can narrow down some more without visiting.