Exeter uni open day fully booked…

[Fruitflylady]

Would we be daft to turn up anyway for a general look around?
We’re visiting family nearby anyway so wouldn’t be going out of our way. I’m guessing we wouldn’t get into any of the talk etc but we could get a feel for the place at least. Are there staff ‘policing’ entry dues anyone know?

I guess folk just rolling up adds to the overcrowding.

I think part of the reason for the overcrowding by families, dogs etc is that Exeter is known to be such a green campus with trees, lakes, statues, wooded walks etc so I see why it appeals as a family day out, bring a picnic type campus visit.
Very different to Bristol where the lectures are in a very urban environment (we didn’t bother viewing the accommodation) which either appeals or not depending on personal taste.

She's crossed it off her list now. Her Head of Sixth said why apply if you don't want to go? She just did t get a good 'vibe'. I though the vibe was fine but I'm not the one going!

Good luck @Fruitflylady DC with the application - and well done for going. It's not like you took someone's pre booked place in a subject talk, so I don't see any problem with just showing up and looking round what is a public space.

@mondaytosunday best of luck to your DC with the application - great that they are narrowing down their list. It's so important to pick the right place for each individual - it's such a personal decision. Horses for courses as they say !!

Overcrowding is an issue for toilets, taking up time with student ambassadors, speaking to staff, getting drinks and food, generally making the site too busy etc: not to mention parking or use of shuttles. Why bother with a uni open day booking system if people just rock up anyway? I would never have done this when we were looking. It does go some way to explain why Exeter has overcrowded open days though which clearly still need better management.

We went to the Open Day last weekend. Glorious weather and a lovely campus. Spoke to some great student ambassadors. It seemed however incredibly southern and well heeled, and as DD said “all the girls are very well put together”. She also said though that everyone seemed really nice.

The deptartment talk was slightly intimidating and not very friendly compared to others we have been to. One of the students who spoke in the talk pointed out if freshers had forgotten anything they could get it from John Lewis in town. That it didn’t raise even a mutter in the packed room perhaps shows the audience.

We parked and had no issues with this or queuing for anything although we did take our own food and noticed that when we bought some drinks at about 1.30pm there weren’t any sandwiches left in Pret.

Not sure it’ll make it onto short list because of the weird predicted/offer grades policy they have, the lack of diversity, location and most importantly how comfortable DD felt there.

Haha, interesting observations. We have been to lots of Open Days in the last few months for DS. DD who is just a year younger came too. She observed that the potential applicants looked different in different places and commented on varying levels of attractiveness and most popular styles of clothing in different places…..without us making my comment about such things. She also noticed varying levels of diversity. DS hadn’t noticed these things at all!

For us, these were just observations really and not something that made any of us feel more or less comfortable in each place. However, I can see that they would impact some people more than others and switch people on or off the place. DD who is a year behind so will be thinking about this before too long said she felt she’d like a place that was quite different to home and had different types of people…I was interested and surprised to hear her say this. DS didn’t seem to have an opinion!

@WombatChocolate I agree with you. One of my DC is a current student at Bristol. They purposefully chose a hall of residence that didn't have a reputation for being popular with those from private school (avoided Stoke Bishop!) and was keen to be in a city setting, where very little revolves around the Students Union and you can be relatively anonymous. Another one of mine wanted a campus uni, with a rocking Students Union, on campus bars and clubs and everyone living close by in different halls. They both had/are having a great time. Where the others go, we will see !! As I said before, Horses for Courses and the only right answer is what feels right for each DC.

My great soap box topic! Horses for courses or the great divide of John Lewis and Stoke Bishop! Oh dear. Back to stereo types yet again. Can young people seriously not get on with others who use different shops and went to a different type of school? What about rich overseas students with the money to pay overseas fees? Are they ok? Or not? Take as you find and don’t harbour prejudice. It doesn’t translate well to work.

Bear in mind too, that Exeter is pushed as an option to lots of kids from Devon and Cornwall as their local Uni. DS is at Uni there and its only an hour from home so we nipped up last weekend to drop off some things for him and take him out for lunch not realising it was an open day! We had the dog and grandparents with us and lots of his flatmates families often pop by at weekends which probably added to the numbers.

To be honest it wasn't any busier than other open days I've been to. I just felt sorry for the dogs who didn't seem to know who the heck all these people were and why they were getting pulled hither and thither!

There were lots of dogs at the Warwick open day on Saturday too so don’t think it’s confined just to Exeter.

When we went to the open day at Sheffield, they had water bowls for dogs at various places around the campus so were clearly expecting them! Most thoughtful

Why don’t Unis cap students so that everyone gets accommodation. That is was most Oxbridge colleges do.

It’s all about money. Unis need the fees, Oxbridge less so because of all their wealthy donors.

I would advise parking at the squash club on Prince of Wales Road, probably your closest parking option. It's cheap and about a 10 min walk. St David's station is about 20 mins.

Nothing to add to this thread but it's made me very wistful for those days as both of mine are several years post grad. Didn't enjoy it at the time though, just lots of stress. Mine ended up at Chelsea College of Arts, then Hertfordshire, the other went to The Royal Welsh in Cardiff. Good luck to all new undergrads x

Ha @YoghurtCoatedMeerkats looking forward to a time I can look back at this! Not sure with any wistfulness though.
I have been approved for a refund of £100 for our train tickets due to the two hour delay on our way home though!

I’ve enjoyed the trips with our DS this spring and autumn. We’ve had several weekend away staying in a Premier Inn and visiting an Open Day (or even 2 one weekend) or getting up at the crack if dawn to drive somewhere that’s within 3 hours! Lots of lovely conversations whilst looking and hearing what he thinks as the world opens up to him. And some nice lunches or meals in the evenings.

But it’s been very time intensive and has cost a lot. It became a family project for about 3 mo the. One Open Day cost us about £500 once 3 train tickets had been factored in, a night in a Premier Inn and a couple of cheap meals. Makes you realise this isn’t accessible top all. Some kids will have access to the support and resources for this, but lots won’t. It’s not an equal playing field and those who have no support but gather the open day info, book their places and find the money to get themselves there on their own steam, certainly deserve recognition and extra support in their offers.

So Exeter saying they have enough accommodation on campus seems like a plus (I do not have a DC at Exeter btw !) Maybe they've realised this is a selling point and that's why it got mentioned in a talk
That's a complete lie from them unless they've reduced their student numbers in the last couple of years.
Even with the new accommodation blocks and dd meeting all requirements for guaranteed accommodation, she got allocated a room in a block off campus run by another organisation.
She didn't get any of her 5 accommodation choices.

@Snozzlemaid it was said during a subject talk at the open day last weekend. It was a student ambassador, but she was standing in front of the whole group and the subject professor did not contradict her. She actually said 'we have more rooms than [first year] students'!
I'm sure the official line is different, and I was surprised when she said it, but she was using it as one of the reasons to choose Exeter.

We were told they are reducing numbers compared to the TAGs/pandemic years so maybe that is why it’s better now.

Just commenting on the accommodation issue at Exeter. In 2021, due to grade inflation, so many students got their firm offer and this caused a real headache for lots of uni's, Exeter included. Some at Exeter did end up in less desirable accommodation but in recent years they seem to have given out less offers to combat this but at least the freshers are in Exeter!

I know that accommodation is important but it is such a small city that all the students walk everywhere so although Streatham campus is the most desirable not everyone can be housed in Lafrowda, East Park or Birks. For those that are disappointed there is always movement first term as people do drop out, my DD had a new flatmate just before Christmas in 2021.

Good luck to all the freshers at Exeter and for those with YP considering Exeter my DD would definitely recommend it.

Thanks all! This has been a useful read as DD added Exeter to her UCAS application at the last minutes without having seen it, along with Bristol based on just a quick look round the city and campus. After traipsing round various open days she went off-piste at the end - York withdrew her course and she decided the course at Lancaster wasn't right for her, so Exeter and Bristol got added. She already has an offer for Bristol and I'm guessing she will probably get one for Exeter, so hopefully offer holder days will fill the gap.