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Higher education

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Original poster

Thoughts on Southampton uni open day

35 replies

NamechangeChelsea · 25/06/2023 01:13

We went to Southampton uni open day today (stayed over last night) and just back (8 hour drive home). What were your thoughts? DS seems very underwhelmed but it was his first open day so has nothing to compare it to. I kept my mouth shut but I found the uni very disjointed tbh - so spread out

OP posts:
Original poster
NamechangeChelsea · 25/06/2023 01:18

DS doesn’t want to go to any more open days btw. 16 hours travelling plus overnight stay in Southampton (that cost me £240 for two rooms). He is gonna do virtual open days from now on and then go to actual offer holder days.

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Original poster
NamechangeChelsea · 25/06/2023 01:22

seriously? Parents share a hotel room with their 6th former? He’s 17 not 11!

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Fiddlersgreen · 25/06/2023 01:29

Yes why would you pay double the price when you could just get a twin room?

ReeseWitherfork · 25/06/2023 01:57

Southampton Uni isn’t particularly spread out at all. The vast majority of the university is on the Highfield Campus and yet he’d still get the benefit of being a stones throw from a large city centre with plenty of nightlife, shopping, leisure facilities etc. There’s a couple of other smaller campuses but he may never need to visit them depending on what subject he’s doing.

Sarahtm35 · 25/06/2023 02:06

Probably because it’s 8 hours away. What is he studying? Can it not be studied closer to home? I live in Southampton. It’s ok but I’m not sure I’d want my 18 year old moving here on their own with the crime and nightlife especially being 8 hours from people that care about him.

booksandcats22 · 25/06/2023 06:58

If we're talking about uni of southampton and not Southampton Solent, it's not spread out it's a great campus uni, as previous posters have said it's mostly all on one campus. Although there is obviously some crime around as it's literally in a city, it has great standing as a Russell Group uni. I remember the uni making a big effort to include everyone in freshers so it always felt there was support there regardless of which subject your son would be studying. There was decent career support during and after as well.

redspottedmug · 25/06/2023 08:12

My DC found Southampton open day a bit meh, and chose more exciting cities.
8 hours is a lot of travel! What subject?

Piggywaspushed · 25/06/2023 08:43

8 hours is a long long journey. Unless there us something very niche about the course there must be open days closer. I think physical open days are miles better than virtual ones. As you observe, a physical one taught you some things about Southampton.

I hate sharing rooms in a hotel, even with DH(!) but I'd absolutely do it for one night , and I have done when we visited Aberystwyth.

PerpetualOptimist · 25/06/2023 09:16

I think a point for your DS to consider is, if he had attended a virtual Open Day at U of Southampton rather than in person, whether he would have fully appreciated just how far it is and that he was not really developing a positive gut feel about the place.

If he restricts himself to virtual events, he may use some or all of his 5 UCAS slots on unis that he then realises belatedly, at Offer Holder Days, are absolutely not right for him. In person Open Days are as much about ruling things out as they are about ruling them in and it might help your DS to see it in that way.

Last night he might just have felt very tired and a bit deflated (as you might have done). A bit of rest today might restore him to an even keel (Soton/ maritime related pun alert!) and the willingness to entertain the idea of in person Open Days going forward.

ODFOx · 25/06/2023 09:17

As a general rule I'd say that physical open days are better than virtual but the ones in the summer after all the students have gone home are nothing like the ones in the autumn when the students are there.
It makes the autumn term quite hectic but I'd recommend doing as many of your visits in October/November as you can.

Original poster
NamechangeChelsea · 25/06/2023 09:49

Yes, 8 hours is too far - yday taught us that much. DS is going to rule out all those that are more than 4 hours away - other than Aberystwyth which has really caught his interest for some reason. As to the hotel rooms, DH went with us to split the driving (DS doesn’t drive yet) and there was no way DS would share with both of us so we have to book two rooms!

Good point @ODFOx - we will do more in autumn term x

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Reddog1 · 25/06/2023 09:54

A number of DS classmates are keen on Aberystwyth, having visited. I’ve never been but it seems to be popular. The head of the legal department at my workplace read Law there and loved it but that was in the 1990s. It’s a long way from us too so I’m glad that it is not on DS radar!

HewasH20 · 25/06/2023 10:04

What does he want to study? 8 hours is a seriously long trip. Aber is likely to be just as difficult to get to.

Southampton is a lovely university and a lot of students stay on in the area after graduation. It often gets ruled out because it isn't in a pretty location like Bath or York.

YerAWizardHarry · 25/06/2023 10:07

8hrs travel? I’m in the NE of Scotland and my maps is saying it’s “only” 9hrs drive… where were you coming from exactly?

Brintons · 25/06/2023 10:13

Southampton was our 6th and final uni visit last year ( not an open day as we missed them just a student led campus tour). Though on paper there was a lot in its favour neither of us liked the campus.

Piggywaspushed · 25/06/2023 10:51

Agree, October ones are way better.

boys3 · 25/06/2023 11:42

NamechangeChelsea · 25/06/2023 09:49

Yes, 8 hours is too far - yday taught us that much. DS is going to rule out all those that are more than 4 hours away - other than Aberystwyth which has really caught his interest for some reason. As to the hotel rooms, DH went with us to split the driving (DS doesn’t drive yet) and there was no way DS would share with both of us so we have to book two rooms!

Good point @ODFOx - we will do more in autumn term x

Now Aber really is a long way from anywhere. Idyllic. But remote. DS3 loves it.

Piggywaspushed · 25/06/2023 11:50

Some unis offer travel expenses, by the way,for open days and offer days so do look into that. Aberystwyth did when we visited, and Hull. I think Birmingham did too.

SabrinaThwaite · 25/06/2023 12:05

We didn’t do any open days, but DS picked the courses that he really liked the look of, Southampton being one of them. We visited ourselves rather than on an open day - it was rainy but really busy and he got the chance to see how it felt on a busy (and rainy) day.

I think you’re wise to look at a 4 hr travel
time limit if you’re looking at road or rail - we did move a 9 hr drive away when DC1 was at uni but it became a short flight rather than a 2 hr drive.

I’m in the NE of Scotland and my maps is saying it’s “only” 9hrs drive…

Trust me it wouldn’t “only” be 9 hrs in practice - more like 11 hrs.

hellsbells99 · 25/06/2023 12:16

Both DDs chose universities within a couple of hours of home and were so glad they did. I was quite happy to give lifts at beginning and end of terms and trains easy too. Daft picking universities where travel is difficult unless it’s a niche subject etc.

poetryandwine · 25/06/2023 12:24

Former admissions tutor here. IME in person Open Days give a much more vivid impression, even if it is of a vivid meh-ness. They can serve to rule a choice in or out. Online Open Days often contribute less to decision making. Your family has already learnt that DS doesn’t want to be 8 hrs from home.

Agree that Autumn Open Days are likely to be livelier.

mondaytosunday · 25/06/2023 12:38

We went to one last week and it was plenty busy! Maybe because it was a lot smaller. But we got to talk to students and faculty and get a sense of the place.
It was one hour drive, the closest. I liked that. We are going to one a seven hour drive (staying two nights). That is the biggest issue with it for me!
I definitely think visiting it in person is essential. And as he's crossed that one off his list - it was a good open day to go to!

WombatChocolate · 25/06/2023 15:58

The trouble with Oct Open days, is many schools impose a late Sept deadline for getting the UCAS form in. Any Oxbridge applicants will have had to decide before some of those Open Days.

I knew one or two who went in autumn of yr12, but to be honest, they’d just got their GCSE results and were just starting 6th Form so thinking about uni was just too soon for most. By June, many have their predicted grades at least provisionally and so can visit appropriate places and spend the summer thinking about it a bit more. I guess you might not visit all 5 you put down, and if your favoured choices don’t make an offer, you could visit an Offer Holders Day for the last one if you’re having to turn to that.

I agree it’s better to see places when students are there. However, June and September are the times when most are thinking about it and in a position to visit more appropriately for what’s viable for them and still useful ahead if submitting the form. Perhaps those who do t start thinking about it until yr13 and who do all their visits in the autumn and then get their form in by the deadline get to see the unis at their best with students around….but that timescale isn’t great for people Hopi g to plan ahead a bit more.

TizerorFizz · 25/06/2023 19:09

That’s what dd did. Visited 3 in June. Did another as a private visit and did an offer holder day. So one was rejected after an open day and one was never visited!! Got offers from all 5. So when offers are in, offer holder says can fill in any gaps. Dd just applied to the best places for her subject, plus an easier option which never got visited!!

Littlefish · 25/06/2023 19:55

Not the point really, but why can't you tell your ds that you're paying for one room only.

If he wants his own room, he has to pay for it himself.

His choice.