Uni Open Days - Where to start

[reluctantbrit]

Full disclaimer, we aren't from the UK and have absolutely no idea and no friends with uni age kids. Hence we are absolutely clueless.

DD started Y12 in September and while talking to some people I know I was asked how many unis we already visited. I was kind of "Huh, she won't go. until 2025".

She wants to do history but I think she doesn't really know in what direction, she is torn between medival and social/criminal history,

We know the school takes them to a university fair in London next Spring and I did mention to DD that she needs to start looking at the courses and put down some names she can then look at more closely.

But were can she look? Is there some central website where you can search which unis are offering courses.

Ds2 is in year 12. I’ve learnt my lesson from ds1 and we are spreading them out. We are doing Surrey next weekend and UEA in a couple of weeks’ time.

UCAS.com is a good starting point! It is the central site for (nearly) everything university related in the UK. If you're completely new then sitting and reading/watching some of the stuff linked to on their front page would be a great idea. Then there are plenty of sites which produce league tables etc. You might also want to look into how university students are funded and parental contributions, it can surprise folk who don't know the system.

I did history at uea and loved it

OP there is another good thread on this - let me link...

Process for applying for universities (open days etc) what do you wish you knew now! | Mumsnet

But basically you need to research unis individually - so it makes sense to narrow it down - criteria she could use:

• What level of uni - is she going to achieve AAA - in which case RG and RG+ might be where to look; or more BBC in which case unis like Sheffield Hallam, Kent, Leeds Beckett and NTU
• City or campus - if campus, near or in a big city? So city might be Bristol or Leeds; campus might be Warwick or Loughborough; campus near a city might be Brum or Nottingham (etc etc obvs)
• Close to home or further away - I think this is key but some disagree. My DD was relieved for many reasons that her uni was close; ds's closeness means I can go and watch him play his sport (which matters to him and me)

OBVIOUSLY the course is really important, perhaps more important than any of the above (though perhaps not!), but history is done in many places and may not vary that much (I know that eng lit does not IME) so the factors above may help narrow it down. HTH

BTW meant to say that there's no harm in looking at open days this term - there might be one at a local uni that would give you an idea, even if it wouldn;t be on the list. And deffo next summer. Open days are often mainly in summer and September and the dates will clash - there are only so many Saturdays!

We have just finished looking at DDs choices of uni.

She wants to do a creative subject but hadn't completely nailed down which one so at some unis we went to 2 course talks, and once they talk through the course it gave her a better idea of what she was drawn to. (You'd prob have to narrow down to 2 talks as also good to look at the campus/town and accommodation- its a lot to take in in one day)

Thanks all.

There is just no time this year anymore, we didn't plan it so we are basically booked out until Christmas with a variety of things.

I will have a look at the links mentioned, thank you.

@PhotoDad we are in a lucky position to be able fund DD's living costs, she may just have to swallow the tuition fee loan.

I would add that a place that ticks all the boxes on paper might just not 'click' with you. DC is applying to 2 places they had barely heard of (one I didn't know even existed), but both places would be 'right' for them.

DD is autistic so this might be a bit much for most people, but once she had chosen her subject, she went though every university rating chart she could find and made a spreadsheet to find the ultimate top scoring one 😂

Ds applied to his favourite three and then once he had offers from them he was able to think about whether he wanted to make any other applications. He did put in an application to St Andrews once he was already holding offers. He had three A star predictions but school advised him not to pin his hopes in an offer as an English non contextual applicant. He didn’t get an offer but wasn’t really bothered by that because he already had the offers he really wanted. I would make the point that things can change. In the end DS picked what he thought would be his insurance over what he thought would be his first choice following the offer holder day. Lancaster offer holder day just blew him away and he’s now so happy there having the time of his life.

Some universities still have virtual open day videos up on their websites, also there are 'walk throughs' of many on YouTube- try searching for 'campus tour X University'.

You can also visit most universities informally and do self-directed or student-led tours (look on the university's website, usually under 'Visiting Us' or something similar.

DD is also autistic and I think she is totally overwhelmed. She also changed schools for 6th form and isnt' yet that comfortable to speak to the staff dealing with uni applications.

We sat down yesterday and decided to use the Christmas holidays (will be quite for us this year anyway) to have a good read through all websites and do a spreadsheet. This also means DH is happy who is an absolute Excel nerd.

Yes it is overwhelming. DD school didn't have 6th form so she's at a college. She really struggled with the timetable changes and making friends. I've had lots of phonecalls on her behalf!

She's so clever but the real life side of it is really worrying me.

@reluctantbrit is she able to ask if the school has access to Unifrog?

We started off not by doing Uni tours but by taking DC1 to a couple of places at the weekend. So if you have a Uni nearby and the weather is nice, take her for a walk around or maybe go to places like York or Oxford for a weekend.

De Montfort Uni has excellent support for Students with ASD. DN has ASD and is studying there currently.

I work for a uni. Get the names of the unis she is interested in. Check dates for pen days and when to register. Mark in diary and register for them. Also look at on term visiting as this can also be quite helpful as you can get a tour with a student and a 121 with student recruitment

A note on History as a pp states all courses are basically the same. This is not true for history. You will find that when you deep dive into modules each university has it's speciality in historical offerings. So, for example, no university offers "medieval history", you have to find one that covers that off in individual modules offered.

@reluctantbrit Ds did a spreadsheet, it was a thing of beauty. It had unis, courses, entry grades (lowest grades they take applicants in on) train journey times, car journey times.

Ds2 is year 13 so this is our second go round. Be aware of dates and deadlines. Ds2 had to have a draft personal statement in July of year 12. The personal statement part of the uni application process will be changing in terms of format but just know to document any stuff your DD does outside of her A levels, it could come in handy later on. If she watches a TED talk on Youtube, reads articles or books, listens to podcast, note it down as it may be what she talks about in her personal statement. Ds was also booked on a couple of summer schools to expand his knowledge of his subject, google summer schools for year 12 and you can see lots of interesting subjects come up. Some are in person, lots are online.

If aiming for top universities some have entrance exams that take place mainly in November of year 13 but some are earier. The more you know about those the better if you think that might be the cast.

Even if you cannot attend official open days try visiting the towns/cities they are in. Some places are dead on open days because the students are on break. It really changes the feel especially for campus unis.

And any questions, just post and ask.

Get yourself on a nice thread. I'm on one and it's lovely, also been priceless in that many of the posters have older dc so been through it before, so I've benefitted from their experience.

I'm glad we visited a couple of places. Eg Durham was a very long way, and we all liked it, but the course wasn't quite right and that only became apparent from questions asked by others at open day. When we did go to dc1's final choice, we just both 'knew', it was perfect.

Plus you do you find out things? Unless you speak to other parents in the know? You don't necessarily find out that Durham nearly always offers really late, or that Nottingham accommodation opens really early, unless you know!

What I can tell you from experience is that schools vary A LOT! Re how much support they give. I am on Year 10 (first year of GCSE's thread) and am reminded how schools are so different.
Some do practically nothing and offer little support. Ours is fab, it's support of all students not just Oxbridge is superb. The HoY and seperate Uni applications teacher are always available. They hold sessions to go over personal statements early on and they are reviewed by 2 teachers, if you want. Not all offer such.

or that Nottingham accommodation opens really early, unless you know!

Both in time and date! Yes, we were the ones that stayed up until midnight waiting to book...

Just remembered that we found TSR useful for information on things like what percentage of the modules were online.

Narrow it down due to quality of life too. Have her think about whether she'd prefer to be in the capital city with access to all the museums, libraries, talks, shows etc on top of what uni offers, a lively provincial city which is easy to navigate and cheaper to live in or a quieter town with quick access to countryside or campus uni with everything on site in a little bubble of its own. Does she want old-world harry potterish charm or sleek modernism?

How prestigious and academic is she aiming for?

Once she has a better sense of what lifestyle she prefers, and what uni level she seeks, she can look at the modules and courses at shortlisted unis and also at what student accommodation and social life is like.

If she likes big cities, she might shortlist a London college, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Edinburgh etc. If she wants prestige, she might look at Oxbridge, Durham, St Andrews. If she likes gentler, quieter places, Chichester, Canterbury etc.

From these she will find some courses appeal more than others and make her short list from there. DS turned down an offer from a prestigious college and went for a slightly less famous one because he preferred the course. He definitely made the right decision. The course is very important.

@reluctantbrit You can visit a university city or town at any time. You don’t have to do an open day at all to get a feel for a place. Many are scrums and don’t always tell you much. Therefore use the rest of this year to have a look around possible cities.

My advice is to look at the league tables for History. The Complete University Guide is a great place to start. This ranks unis but gives lots of useful info. If you can have a stab at her possible grades, you can start looking at suitable unis as they give entry tariffs. Look at each shortlisted uni and core modules. Usually they are on line. Then look at options but they might change! Narrow areas of history will probably be options. Then make a shortlist and plan your open day visits. Consider city vs campus. Many cities have distinct uni areas. Eg Sheffield, Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol etc. Warwick is campus and not in Warwick! Some are campus but near the city, eg York, Exeter, UEA at Norwich etc. So decide which might be best.

Many unis will require you to book open days and talks. So do not leave it late! Start looking now. Put dates in your diary re booking. Don’t do loads. Just gets more confusing! I would say don’t do more than 4 open days. They are hard work and not always productive. Consider uni distance from home too: if she might need to see you.

That was me and I am happy to bow to your knowledge.

I was rather flippantly basing it off multiple Eng lit open days where we got really fed up with another lecturer wittily quipping “we go from Beowulf to Beyoncé!” Sigh.

In any case, always worth a look at modules. Dd was able to structure her Eng degree, certainly in years 2 and 3, to favour her faves and avoid all Beyoncé

Just wanted to add that you might not want to discount Uni's further away at this stage. I know more than one student who has had their heart set on a particular Uni, only to visit and realise it's a day's travelling if they ever want to come home and have changed their minds.

Much better that they come to this decision before the application is submitted so that they aren't wasting a choice.