Exeter Open Day

[Eeepsh]

What did people think?

DS seemed to like it - course talk inspired him, liked the green campus, good sports facilities. Not sure about the hills! And concerned at how expensive the accommodation is (and I guess will be more for 2025).

It's the first one he has seen so nothing to compare to atm.

Pretty shocked by the number of parents muscling in to the subject talks that were clearly targeting the students. Meaning that there wasn't room for all of the actual students who had tickets. The sound of helicopter parenting all around was very off-putting to me. DS liked the individual courses; they don't seem to have much of a strategy/ plan for joint honours students though.

They wouldn't let any parents in to DDs talk until all the kids were in. That was Friday- possibly busier yesterday?

I’m surprised that they don’t split prospective students from their parents and give separate talks.

I wonder if lots of parents were in the talks because it was one of the first open days? I won't bother at other visits- will just leave DD to it.

Only students are allowed into DS's talk - I just enjoyed a coffee in the sunshine!

That's my plan going forward!

Accommodation at Exeter is expensive - and in also years two onwards remember. Commendably, the uni does provide info on their website on first year accomm applicants-to-room ratios, room sizes etc which is very transparent. It would just be better if they also ensured a better proportion of budget options if they were serious about attracting a more diverse range of applicants.

My DC attended most of their Open Days on a solo basis and some unis definitely attracted more parental involvement/investment than others. U of Bath's Open Day had a very 'parent dominant' feel according to one DC. However, DC reported staff were good at giving space and time to them and fending off some parents attempting to cut across conversations. DC just 'looked through' some of the more excessive parental behaviour and reasoned the parents wouldn't actually be attending the relevant course when the time came!

I am sorry if your DC was unable to access one of the subject talks, Lemon. It is up to the uni to manage and channel overenthusiastic parents. One of my DC did give some critical feedback about their experience as a solo Open Day attendees to one uni and, to their credit, they did engage positively with that.

I graduated from Exeter some years ago now so sure others have more relevant views of the Open Day and courses but I wouldn't worry about the hills - keeps you pretty fit and if I remember rigntly there's a shuttle bus up and down for those who need/want it. It's also a lovely town, not huge variety of nightlife but still good fun and 20 mins to the train on Exmouth beach. Sports are excellent if that's his thing (though wasn't mine!)

Can you tell I miss it!

They have introduced a (small) accommodation bursary for certain halls for those on low incomes for 2024-25. The website states currently no plans to continue this but I guess this may change.

https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/accommodation/applyingandpaying/bursary/

Accommodation is expensive, it got more expensive every year,nothing cheap about living there so be prepared.

There are shuttle buses up 'cardiac hill' 😂

The bonus is that they can walk everywhere so no transport costs.

We went last year and I stayed out of the subject talks but my DD said she was the only one without a parent! Depends on the course - there were plenty of seats she said.
I was put off by the amount of empty bottles and beer cans at every bus stop, street corner with a wall on the walk up - didn't see that at any other uni. My DD didn't like the 'vibe' so didn't apply though I thought it was nice. I think the train delay outside Reading for two hours didn't help!

Both myself and daughter loved it. We went Friday.

We went to 2 subject talks - one loads of spare seats. The other was a little full - a couple of people sat on the steps. However there was another course talk where I did hear them say it was students only due to room.

How many open days are you all doing? We thought two would be enough.

I went to two when I applied backing he day, and ended up at a uni I hadn't previously seen, with no ill effect.

I was surprised by the lack of diversity at Exeter. But impressed by all the happy students.

When DS2 and I tagged along with DD in 2018 (also a Friday at the end of May and a horribly muggy one at that), DD's confirmation of talks that she had signed up for included a barcode, which had to be scanned to obtain entry, and her subject talks - not that I had the slightest desire to sit through them anyway - were definitely for prospective applicants only.

Seeing as cardiac hill is a footpath about 5ft wide, through a wood, that's definitely not the case re shuttle buses

Open days last year for us and I’d say
80-90% of students had parents with them for some or all of the day at every open day. Offer holder days are the the time when parents don’t attend.

Most prospective students have a parent accompanying at an Open Day these days; that's to be expected. PP's comment was more about the behaviour of some parents; my additional point, based on my DC's view of similar behaviour at another Open Day, was that you just need to look through that kind of thing and keep focused on evaluating whether it is the right uni.

I have visited with one DC outside Open Days. The campus is attractive and, even with expansion on the hill top and around the edges, pretty cohesive. Exeter have at least built extra accommodation within the campus (unlike U of Bath) but it is typically of the expensive variety (similar issue at U of York).

For my DC's subject area, there was a good range of 'with' courses (ie 2/3 major subject, 1/3 minor), which was an attraction. Exams were all in the summer term, if I remember rightly, and this particular DC generally preferred the semester Jan/June exam approach; not a 'higher order' point, but relevant for the dynamics of their subject area.

We really liked the course and the campus but found it really lacking in diversity and it felt like a private school. My teen really likes it but I worry about them fitting in.

Agree with the lack of diversity. Is that just Exeter or are there other unis that are similar?

It will be interesting to see if she still loves it as much after we have seen some more.

Yes be very careful with combined/joint honours at Exeter, it's a bit of a mess.

Yes, I'm interested to see other Unis and how they all compare. I am hoping for more of a mix at the others. However, the course content at Exeter and the teaching looked excellent.

@Berga That certainly seemed to be the case. Do you have experience of that? It seemed that the student floats between two departments, with no anchor anywhere. Other unis give you a named tutor to support you in the event of clashes/ choosing pathways, etc.

Exeter Uni is based in a small cathedral city in the prosperous south, a long way from most population centres. The uni has long been a favourite of affluent S/SE parents (and presumably their DC) because, for some, it is perceived as safe and has an aesthetically attractive campus. I can imagine Exeter Open Days attract a significant proportion of such parents and some may be particularly invested and this can affect the Open Day dynamic (one DC found this to be true at U of Bath for similar reasons).

However, it is important to look past all that; ultimately the parents do not attend the course and students make of their uni experience what they will. My comp DC who was interested in this uni is from a region far removed from Exeter (in every sense). Although they took a different path, they were sure they would have enjoyed their experience and the chance of meeting people of different backgrounds. This DC also felt it was a good uni for their subject; that was the bottom line.

Interestingly one of my DC did not know Porsche 4x4s or rugby shirts worn off the pitch were 'things' until their Bath Open Day solo experience (failure to educate on my part, clearly!). So, yes, I get that Open Days might sometimes feel slightly odd but, at the end of the day, they are not truly representative and more about gathering info.

We live in Bath and DD spends a fair amount of time up at the Uni for sport. We've also visited Bristol (during the summer heatwave last year) and Sheffield last October.

We took 2 days off and had a fab Thursday exploring the estuary(?) and city before we checked in to our hotel. DD loved it (I did try to "sell" the location). I nearly went there myself (but chose Bristol because their offer was nicer!).

IMO Friday's Open Day all felt a bit chaotic/disorganised, possibly because it was so busy.

Perhaps we should have joined a campus tour. They really didn't seem to sell student life (students union and clubs and mentors etc), whereas it was quite a big thing at Sheffield and Bristol.

I heard a few parents kicking up a fuss about not being allowed into the subject talks they had booked (we had a coffee - we had chatted to some staff earlier so had a fair idea about DD's proposed course).

@Madcats there was a specific talk on student life that talked about clubs and sports and stuff.