How many university Open Days did your dc attend?

[wildfellhall]

I am interested to know what parents think is an ideal number which will, of course, vary from family to family.

Also how much & what way did the open days impact the dc's first choice?

I did two with ds which, on reflection, was not enough really. I think even just one more visit would have helped him.

dd is in gcse year now.

My niece's experience of horrible and extortionately expensive accomodation is making me wonder about finding out more about accomodation. It's made her uni experience fairly grim.

None - as we couldnt get her there ( we live overseas and the trains were not compatible) . She did do a couple on line We then drove her to Bristol , Cardiff and Warwick ( not on open days) to see the places / and suss out some of the locations of the accomodation - She then turned down Bristol as she did not like the city and didnt think she could live there.

I’d love to live in Bristol nearish to the uni. Need a few £million though! Where did you look? Warwick isn’t in Warwick so it’s Coventry or Leamington Spa.

Omg I'd love to live in Bristol! Never knew anything about the place until DD started uni there.
It just shows how different places suit different people.

We did a couple in lower sixth to get the feel of uni, campus v town uni etc, plus a couple as we were in the area, (non- open days). Then went to around four, I think, in upper six.

He ended up doing a degree apprenticeship (so didn’t go to uni) in a completely different town, and the only time he visited was on interview day! Still lives there five years later.

Must admit, I quite enjoyed the visits.

I quite liked the cities but the uni bun fight wasn’t great. Exeter had huge queues for transport (we waited well over 1 hour for a shuttle coach to the campus) and then huge queues for food, which then sold out. Didn’t feel like fun and put DD off the campus uni.

and the only time he visited was on interview day

Back in the day, you got paper copies of the university prospectuses, chose your courses and applied (paper form, you had to rank your choices and all the universities could see them), and then visited for your interview.

I went so long ago I don't even remember what I did. I seem to remember an interview.

Also I only ever went to and from my red brick uni by train. I took a trunk.

Not one lift ever.

In total, I think we will do 5. Our first was very helpful and we're going back for a second look at a slightly different course. Our second was dire - glad we know not to waste any time there. Our third was a solid 2nd choice option. We are going to 2 more but I feel content that we know our first choice and then will have a range of 2nd choices.

Back in the day, there was no internet and in the US everything is quite far flung so I went off to university sight-unseen. I loved it!

Dd looked at 8 in total. 5 were official open days (including revisits for offer holder days and interviews). And the others were just a wander around the city/campus to get a feel for the place. Just visiting the cities meant that we also managed to squeeze 2 in one day that were along the same train line so that made it worthwhile… especially when time is so limited in Sixth Form. I was amazed that you could just wander through a campus university (not on an open day) but it really did help her to narrow down her wish list!
As a med applicant Dd felt quite strongly that she had to have a positive feel for the city that she would end up spending 5 or more years at! She was lucky enough to be able to decide which type of course she liked the look of before visiting the unis in person from her shortlist.
It was really good to see the difference between a campus and a city uni and in the end she chose a city (Bristol) and is so far loving it!
I think open days are often just so overwhelming and so busy that it was really lovely when we just trotted around by ourselves!

My DS has done two and will look at one more, he went with his friends but he already had a firm idea about where he wanted to go and he loved it when he visited, he is staying local to home so knows the uni well already.

I took my DD to 4 open days at different unis and we visited 1 other campus, but not on an open day. It helped her make up her mind, also looking round the city outside the uni was important too and getting an idea of what student accommodation is available beyond halls in the first year is a good idea.

none

when are the next open days normally? Dd has just started 6th form and we’ve just started looking but they all seem to be in the next couple of weeks and feels like we’ve missed the boat
Also it’s hard to know where she should look when she hasn’t got a sense of what her predicted grades might be yet

Son 1 went to 5. Son 2 also 5 (different ones). One of each organised with school. Son1 also went on a weekend to Oxford with school (he didn't apply)
I'm going to miss going this year. Am wondering if would be weird to go without children, just.fir the free pens and canvas bags...
The process was very helpful in choosing courses as well as choosing unis.

@User364837 my two are in year 13 and we've done most last month and this month. They do have them in June/July but most seemed to hit their exams. DD went to one in June but all of DS choices were too close to the exams.

It's worked for us. DD has known what course she wants for years but DS only decided once he was well into his A levels, so I think visiting a year back would have been wasted on him.

There's quite a few around now

There should be more open days in June as well for those in Year 12.

If you can’t manage any others, it is still helpful to go to a couple of local ones even if you don’t intend to study there - it gives a sense of what university is about and what you may want to avoid/look out for.

Sorry didn’t ready properly - I see you have just started sixth form. You have time. Go to a couple this year and then when you have a bit more sense about what you want to apply for you can go to those in the summer/autumn next year.

If you can’t make the organised open days, don’t be afraid to contact the school/department directly and ask if you can arrange a visit. With luck, you might be able to do several in a couple of days.

This is not uncommon. A term time visit will be the most productive.

We did five campus walk arounds in the summer and he did four proper open days. One he had his heart set on and the other three to decide insurance.

@User364837 We didn’t look local. DDs would never have gone there. Don’t waste your time if it’s precious! Most open days start next spring or summer so make a judgement on where DC should start looking based on grades and interests. Town, city or campus? Spend the time getting a short list. Lots of unis didn’t do DDs subjects so no point looking at them or local! Lots of info on line and look at uni residence costs.

Only four local Uni open days. DS isn't massively academic so wasn't bothered about travelling far. It's been enough to inspire him though.

Mine went to KCL, Bath and Bristol this summer, to open days. They also visited York, Edinburgh, Oxford and I think Birmingham on regular days (couldn't make the official open days).

For me, I only visited for interviews, I really loved UEA, York. Didn't like Sheffield or Lancaster at all.

Students love Sheffield though. DH went there. It’s a fun uni.