Ds wobbling about insurance choice.

[Leniriefenstahl]

He’s an early applicant as his aspirational choice is Cambridge for maths. Visited Durham and Warwick which he really liked. We were very impressed by the organisation of the open days but also the enthusiasm and engagement of the students, really helpful, enthusiastic and approachable. Lots around to help and point us in the right direction, answer questions etc, particularly in the halls of residences and also taking part in the subject lectures.
Yesterday visited potential insurance if he underperforms and although the campus was probably the nicest we’d seen, the organisation was meh and lacklustre. We asked a couple of students for help getting somewhere, they either didn’t know or frankly couldn’t be bothered. He’s now thinking of swapping this choice. On paper it’s a decent uni but we feel kind of disappointed. Not sure whether that’s justified
though ?

add my 2 peneth, IMO Open Days are somewhat helpful, esp if you get time the staff / students of the course / dept you are interested in - but they can give a bad impression (or good) based on limited interactions

Offer Holder Days are possibly more informative (maybe because there is more academic / student involvement and less marketing?), but again it can depend who you bump in to - ultimately you are still guessing a bit because you wont know til you get there

From my experience though, a poorly run Offer Holder Day would be a worry now - because of recent experience . . .

My youngest was set on a joint degree at one of two unis. Both unis did 'okay' Offer Holder Days but one department at one uni was pretty poor- they where disorganised and sessions run by uninspiring staff - Grades on results day meant she ended up going there and that one department proved to be pretty badly run and has caused her a lot of grief as a student, to the point she was looking to leave but decided to stick it out