What to consider at open days

[mamabluestar]

Hi, my DD (Yr12) and I will be attending open days of her choosing over the next few months.

I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions of questions/things to think about?

I don't want us to get there, be flustered and not make the most of the time we have.

Thank you

Your DD might want to go to subject talks for their chosen subject(s) – these need to be booked ahead tho tbh no one ever asked for proof that we had booked and they were never full.

We also found it helpful to talk to members of the faculty – for example about topics or modules studied, methods of assessment, possibilities of year in industry if relevant.

A big plus is the chance to look at accommodation and talk to student ambassadors about which they like. You can also ask the students about social life, what people do and where they go, sporting opportunities or whatever you are interested in.

I would suggest going to a finance talk at one open day as that will be similar in all unis.

It's also a good chance to get a feel for the layout of the uni – is it all on one campus, spread across the city - where is the accommodation in relation to department, library, student union, shops?

Most unis also had a kind of marketplace with various stands – I recall spending ages at one uni talking about opportunities for musical ensembles as DD plays clarinet.

Best of luck!

Look beyond the glossy presentation. I remember going to Lancaster with DS four years ago. A fabulous talk by the Vice Chancellor (I think) about how it was the place to be and Eden project 2 would revitalise the area. This was of interest to DS as he wanted to study biology. There was no planning permission at that point and now they hope it will be built by 2028...

Agree with PP, check out options for recreational activities that she enjoys. DS wanted to play sport and it was important to him there would be opportunities for all abilities. DS didn't focus too much on course content because it's a degree most universities offer with similar modules.

Listen to your DD;s gut instinct. If she doesn't feel one would be right for her that's the decision made.

Ask about the teaching team. If they're practicing research-led teaching (which most do) then their research areas will alter the content. It's also worth looking at how many female profs there are in the department, it tells you a lot about how female students will be treated.

Most helpful were sessions with sample lectures in the relevant subjects, and the opportunity to explore the course content and different modules/choices/pathways available. Open days that didn't offer this were of limited use, as most of the other information can be gathered from other sources.

Following. My son is in year 12 and we have open days booked pretty much every weekend from late May to mid-July. He has a very long "short list" so I hope that visiting the universities will help narrow this list down.

Thank you to pp for their advice.

If you do a search in this forum, you'll find several really useful threads with contributions from university staff and parents.

Main thing is, step back - let your DC do the talking & asking questions. Go to talks put on for parents - on finance for example, but let your DC take the lead on the subject study stuff.

It can be useful to rehearse with them beforehand a few questions, so they can prepare to ask about what they really want to know, but don't ask for them (a plea from a university lecturer ...)

It’s worth checking out the city too, if the visited uni is campus based - and see how far it is and if they like it.
Talk to older students about private accom for 2nd/3rd year and prices and when people sign up.
Ask student ambassadors if they know anyone who got into their courses who missed the offer grade.
Before you go, research the accom and see the price range. Try to see a couple of different ones. It also helps if you tell your DC what a full loan would be so they can see how much would be left if choosing different accom options.
If it’s not covered under n talks ask about if semesters or terms and how much teaching in term 3. Also ask about assessment - coursework, group presentations, old style exams, open book etc.
Worth asking about the grade range accepted last year - ask about both offers and in results day
Ask if they tier applicants by predicted grades and then offer in order or in another way and what chance if an offer if meeting the standard offer with predictions.

Ask students what other activities they do. If you meet 3rd years, ask if they have a job and what support to fund internships and work is like.
Try not be swayed by being shown the newest lecture theatre or accom. Maybe ask about the oldest or ‘worst’ accom.

Check how many on the course this year. For smaller courses check if it’s at risk. Check the number of contact hours.

Worth noting stuff down after going, esp if you go to several open days as it all merges in your mind.

Take snacks with you. Schedule can be busy and it’s not always easy to get food at the moment you want it.

Get your YP to forward emails about open days if they are not v organised. You often have to book sessions ahead of time. Some places have car parking or accok available but it will go fast.

For anyone just starting to think about it, get the calendar out to check for any clashes. Aim to do most in spring of yr12 and don’t leave too many u til autumn of yr13.

Massively help us if you have an idea of likely predicted grades before planning it all as you want to be looking at the right range of places.

Ask if they read the Personal Statement and how important it is for getting offers.

Know most middling Russell Group courses for all but the very competitive courses (Econ, comp sci etc) will take students who have the predicted grades, but miss by a grade on results day.

And be on ucas and uni websites on results day if your DC is currently in yr12. Screen shot what is available in Clearing and at what grades for the course they are interested in. Popular courses fill by lunchtime and you will then not be able to see the grades they were accepting in Clearing. It gives a hugely useful indication of it they tend to take people who miss their offer and if they go into Clearing - although it can vary year to year.

Find out what the actual contact time with academic staff for Y1 students is. How much of this is in large lectures vs small, interactive groups? How much is with PG students and postdocs vs core staff?

Are students assigned to personal tutors/academic advisors?

Is there a possibility of study abroad? If so what are the financial arrangements? (They are often very favourable) How do the industrial placements mentioned by a PP work? What are some examples of companies where students get placements? (Finding placements can be difficult)

The generic talks (i.e. student finance, subject summary talks, accommodation talks etc) are very similar at different Unis, and most of the information is available on their websites anyway, so don't spend too much of your days in them. Once you've seen a student finance talk, you've seen them all!

Spend your time talking to current students, tours of departments/labs etc, tours of accommodation, etc - the kind of thing you won't be able to do remotely via their websites!

When we did the Uni open days (we went to about seven), so much time was wasted queueing for the talks, waiting in the lecture halls for them to start, lots of waffle, and then queuing to leave and rushing to the next one to queue again, etc. After the first 2 or 3 open days we stopped wasting our time on them and had a far more relaxed day at each just chatting to students at subject/dept stands, having tours of engineering and science labs, chatting to students at club/society exhibitions and doing tours of accommodation - far more useful and more enjoyable. After those latter open days, our got on their websites to research accommodation options/prices, subject options/entry requirements/modules, etc to get the detail.

A lot of this is available online in the webpages for specific departments, so I would check there first before making the mistake of asking for readily available information.

My DD went to subject talks at Bristol and Bath for Psychology. She said they were wildly different in terms of what they voiced as the expectations they had for graduates, which made a big difference to her perception of how effective studying in each place would be, given her own ambitions.

On the WIWIKAU Facebook group there have been some shocking examples reported of group assessments where everyone in the group gets the same grade regardless of contribution or lack of it. I think it's therefore well worth asking some probing questions about whether assessments take the form of group work and, if so, how the university avoids this favouring the lazy at the expense of students who do work hard.

Thank you for all of your replies - it is massively appreciated

@poetryandwine

Are students assigned to personal tutors/academic advisors?

Excellent point, and definitely something to ask "real" students on an open day rather than vague promises on a website. My son ostensibly had a "personal tutor" - one was allocated when he first started. But they never met, never had any kind of communication and certainly no "advice" from them.

I suppose people would say that it was his own fault for not reaching out himself, but sadly he had poor experiences with reaching out to other staff/departments, and didn't know what the point/use was of a "personal tutor", so he just muddled through in his own way.

But he never had "one to one" tutorials with lecturers either - none were offered - the only time he saw lecturers where in lecture theatres and they'd scuttle away straight afterwards and more worryingly, some never even appeared on campus in person as they were still doing "remote" online teaching one from abroad! Group tutorials and seminars were taken by older students (masters and PHD students etc).

So that's something else to ask "real" students at the open days, i.e. how much time and support is available from the lecturers/professors themselves. It does seem to vary massively between different Unis. One of my son's friends went to a different Uni and had regular "one to one" sessions with his lecturers and his allocated personal tutor.

@poetryandwine Just a note of caution on study abroad. The money is very limited in some universities as it’s geared towards full loan students and it’s effectively means tested. It’s a great thing to do but not necessarily well funded.

On the broader subject, looking at halls of residence takes forever. Web sites are good enough at this stage. Talk to staff (if you can get near them) and, as a parent, don’t dominate. Let dc ask questions. Let dc go to subject lectures. If there’s not enough space for young people, you don’t go in. Get a feel for the site and faculty. It can be a bun fight - suss out coffee options!

Peer assessment is usually used to avoid the issues you raised.

If the proposed subject is a bit left field / creative ask as many people as possible if the course will actually go ahead / is threatened due to financial reasons. I fear many applicants will find their course non existent in the next couple of years

@taxguru has made great points. Since the pandemic you need to dig deep to learn the reality of contact hours.

And of course @TizerorFizz is correct. It is the potential students who will be interacting most with the current students and who are best placed to get realistic answers to these questions. I also suggest that DC join the online forum The Student Room where students who are not being paid to represent the university will give less …. varnished answers

@poetryandwineDD1 volunteered at open days! Not sure she varnished anything. More likely answered honestly but I think any student giving up their time when the vast majority don’t says something about them and their desire to help others.

Based on some of the examples on WIWIKAU, it appears that peer review for group work is by no means universal.

Being selected as a student ambassador always says something good about the student. In these more mercenary times ours are paid and I know of others who are, also. They aren’t dishonest but they aren’t as frank as what one finds on The Student Room.

I just wanted to say thank you again for the time you've given to provide advice and information.

My DD has been involved with student voice type events since Y7. She is not naive (and can be rather vocal at home) about the best resources etc being brought out for events and then hidden away again - so thankfully I know that she will be looking past this.

Good luck to everyone heading off to open days soon.

I would strongly suggest looking up the academics in the department she is interested in and having a good hard look at their track record and interests. It's so very important to do a course that meets your specific interests.

Unfortunately you won’t have much idea if the academics you think you like are good at teaching. Some never get near undergrads either. Some disappear overseas and some go and write books and others go on maternity leave - just to highlight a few of the issues students can encounter. You don’t know what modules might disappear. DD found one eminent professor a big disappointment - no doubt great research but a cold distant person who didn’t seem to like students. Be careful what you wish for.

Register with your email or pester your child to forward everything to you. We nearly missed to book a parking space at one uni.

It also means you see if you get an email with the actual Open Day programm, this contains a time table of sample lectures, meet and greet with the relevant department, talks about practial things like admission, student support, finance, general introduction of the uni.
Be on time, while they run most talks several times, they can also clash with a sample lecture.

Have a look beforehand at the accomodation options on the uni's website. If you consider a catered accomodation, you can often find out beforehand what is actually covered.

Speak to student ambassadors, we had several nice chats about where to go for food shopping, what to do at the weekends, price of taxis after night outs, how much a private house share is on average.

Ideally take some time and have a look around the town as well, how far is it from the uni to the center, some cities have free transport or subsidised but otherwise how much is a monthly ticket.

Take snacks and water and wear comfortable shoes.

There is normally a "fair" with stalls from the different departments like finance, admission etc. Talk you your child beforehand what they want to know. At the first uni we took charge and pulled DD into the conversation but at uni no. 2 DD managed most on her own, especially the subject chats.

Lots of students have very little interaction with the "academics" these days. My son never had a single "tutorial" or one to one with any of his. To him, they were just faces on a screen or a distant face in a lecture hall. The seminars and tutorials were taken by older students, mostly phd students. Although our son had a "personal tutor", they never met - in the entire 3 years, DS said the only contact was a couple of emails - his personal tutor wasn't even on campus!

That's probably more of what to ask, but probably best to ask existing students, i.e. just how accessible their "academics" actually are. It seems to vary massively between different universities, but I really don't think it's the kind of regular contact that is often portrayed in the media etc where bright eyed students have weekly tutorials with their professors - may some Unis do that, but probably very few.