Bath Uni open day fully booked

[KeepOnCleaning]

We've had it in the calendar for months, but when I told my dd earlier this week to book the subject talks, we realised it now says the open day is fully booked and not to turn up if you haven't already booked. Putting aside the actual subject talks, does anyone know if we'll be ok just turning up anyway, walking around the campus and communal areas, without pre-booking?

We did the same @Ghilliegums. When you have to get on a boat or plane to get to uni open days it’s not always best for DC to travel alone so either DH or I went with DS to every open day, and the local ones here in Ireland we both went to. He went to all the talks by himself and if there was space at the back once the crowds had died down then we slipped in at the back. (Or in a couple of instances - DS went to one talk while a parent went to another because they clashed and he couldn’t do both)

It was actually really precious time to spend with him one on one, without his siblings around, to really speak to him and engage with what he cared about and what he was/is passionate about. We’re about to start the same cycle with DD1 and we’re looking forward to doing it with her too.

Like you, I mooched and drank coffee while the relevant prospective student attended talks, unless 1. a talk was very undersubscribed, 2. the DC in question indicated that they were happy for me to tag along and 3. I was interested in the subject myself. Happy to be there to act as a train buddy / sounding board / requisite over 18 for hotel check-ins and to pay for food and drink, but not to take up other people's space at sessions not actually intended for me.

Iirc, only DS1 was a possible candidate for Bath, but decided to give it a miss because that was one he'd have had to get himself to all the way from SE Essex, as both DH and I had prior commitments, and he decided that he had enough options already without, thanks.

I will very happily sit in coffee shops but DS1 does need someone to be the over 18 for check in at a Travelodge etc as most open days start too early for travel on the day.

We did the Bristol and Bath open days on the same day. That was a busy day!

We decided not to go. I took on board the comments here about getting there, traffic issues, and our original thoughts about the expense of accommodation. She has other options so we're going to exclude Bath from the shortlist.

We decided to come and the park and ride was fine. DS had no problems getting in to the talks he wanted this morning but it did look a lot busier as we leaving. He was really impressed with the course so worth coming overall.