When did you start going to open days?

[mushmallow]

Dd is doing GCSEs so we still have a good while yet! But then again, she’ll be year 12 in September.

At her school they start ucas early and have them all sent by November of year 13.

When is the best time to go to open days? I’m thinking summer term of year 12?

@Bufftailed Our local one (no bus service though) was a college of HE. Way down the pecking order from any poly. I just think dc looking for AAA type courses are wasting their time looking round. Parents can get finance info from elsewhere. I, nor dc, sat through any other generic talks. Subject focus mattered so visiting a uni that didn’t offer the subjects was utterly pointless. On the actual porn days we did not visit much accommodation either. That info is all on line. Subjects and a general look around made more sense for us. If dc liked it, we delved deeper on line. Visited one on a day we had spare and they were great.

Why the comment? My dd aspires to go to an RG. What’s possibly wrong with that?

Does your DD know what RG is and what it means?

Yes thank you. An impressive group of 24 universities which rank highly world wide, have pioneering research and are particularly employable compared to most other non RG. I stress “most” because Bath and Loughborough are exceptions. However, of these two examples only one offers the course my dd wants to do.

Sounds like you gave a plan now which is sensible. Definitely spread them out over as long as possible because they do clash and years 12 and 13 are busy already. We relied on going to an offer holder day for one and it clashes with an exam so ideally go early if you are available.

Russell group is an indicator as you say but a little bit arbitrary based on who pays to be in it. Have a look at the rankings for your DD’s particular course as well and use that to narrow down more so than just whether or not they are Russel Group. (The Times, The Guardian and Complete University guide).

@mushmallow Some people believe all universities are equal! You could add in St Andrews to non RG and I think Lancaster. These are commonly referred to as the RG plus universities. They might as well be RG. Then you have another raft of universities mostly established in the 60s and you would find Surrey, Essex and Kent in this group, however they are quite varied group and some are RG. Also some RG have very varied offerings too and positions in league tables. Few academic courses are ranked more highly at ex polys. The CUG does subject rankings and they are always worth looking at because even within RG there are differences in quality and employability.

What subject does she want?

We visited a couple in the summer after GCSEs, a couple more in the autumn of Y12, several more in the summer of Y12 and the autumn of Y13. I think maybe 8 or 9 in total.

The earlier visits didn’t make it onto the form, but were very useful for narrowing things down: out of the last 5 places we visited, four went on the eventual application.

I think spreading it out was very useful - they do clash a lot if you leave it to Y13.

My Dc changed their mind a little about what they wanted to study too - partly due to listening to talks at open days, so I think they were a very good use of our time.

Dc didn’t go to any offer holder days, they’d already made their mind up at that point.

I second those saying start early year 12, partly because of clashes and partly to ensure the course is what they want or to explore options if they’re not sure. I also agree with the local uni recommendation; we took DS in year 11 to give a baseline and, as Covid hit, it was the only one he did. Year 9 DD went to the subject talks for the career she had planned at the time and was completely put off so it turned out to be more useful for her!

Yes, that's why we were glad we started in year 11! Our DS changed his mind about absolutely everything, the type of Uni (city or campus), the subject, type of accommodation, etc. You really can't experience/understand all the options online via the Uni websites as many aren't that good and usually, say for accommodation, just show "library" pictures of their best rooms rather than the reality of average rooms (and you get real life benefit of talking to the students doing the tours!). Our DS ended up doing a degree in a subject he initially rejected to even think about once he'd explored the reality of studying his two preferred subjects. As he was so undecided, we visited A LOT of universities over the two years which we couldn't have done had we left it a year later. As others have said, the sixth form years are often very busy with coursework, assignments, etc and there were some weekends where DS literally couldn't have gone on a day's jolly as he needed to spend both days on homework/assignments etc, then of course, lots of open days clash.

Thank you everyone. I’m glad we’ve got some booked for autumn of y12 then and will then have time for another flurry in summer y12 too. Now to just get through the GCSEs…

February holidays of Year 11 - this was a great time to visit IMO as very low stakes.

My dc just were not fussy about accommodation and as long as you visit, you know where the halls are. We just didn’t have time for 8 plus. We encouraged DDs to be clear about type of uni and quality of courses. Luckily they are decisive!

Start visiting in Autumn of Year 12, especially if your child is undecided on which subject they may study. It took my son a long time decide between maths, physics & engineering. Visits to numerous universities & comparing facilities & courses helped. The whole process can be really onerous and you may find that open days clash with other universities or worse with Year 12 exams so the more you can do as early as possible the better.

@maturemummy It really should not be onerous. We need to encourage dc to start thinking about interests much earlier. My dh had an interest in architecture but the pull of Engineering was much stronger. He did various clubs and activities that supported his application. Not knowing what interests you until you peruse a university makes me wonder what actually makes dc tick. It’s only mn parents who have all this time, dedication and money.

You? Surely your DC? Please don’t go with them! Or, if you have to, stay well out of sight. I’m a tutor at Oxbridge and I always end up feeling very frustrated by the parents who insist on coming into my open day. It also makes me remember the potential students negatively when I interview them — always the slight sense (we interview on Teams) that pushy mum or dad (usually mum) is hiding just off screen.

Most applicants come to the open days alone and we never hear anything from the parents or meet them during the entire the degree. I much prefer it this way. You might be paying, I do understand that, but you’re not the customer — very different in that sense from a private school.

Parents are paying for university and they have as much right to as full as possible information about the momentous financial decision they are going to make as their DC have a right to as full as possible information about the momentous personal decision they are going to make. Who the customer is is a moot point but there are no circumstances in this world where you pay the invoice and there is no customer.

While it was undoubtedly all a lot easier for universities when Local Authorities covered the costs of meagre university fees and parents were required only to top up LA grants, those days are very long gone. Suggesting that momentous life decisions such as where to go to university should be researched by 17 year olds without parental involvement verges on the criminal.

I 100% will be going with my daughter. Firstly because she wants me to go with her. But mainly because I want to know that the campus/ area is safe and she’ll be happy there. Apart from the huge financial impact I’m not going to wave my child off as they go and start a new life potentially hours away without me having a level of involvement in the decision making.

DS is our youngest child of seven, all his siblings have been to university, as have my husband and myself. A question was asked, I have provided my answer. No need for lessons in how to suck eggs.

@MeetMeOnTheCorner regularly shares her strongly held opinions based on outdated information about higher education, as if the passing of time conferred elder status.

DC1 didn’t actually manage to go to any open days. We were living abroad and we never got it together.

Just in case anyone is worrying that this is something you absolutely have to do - it’s not.

Of course it’s a good idea, but if you can’t manage it for time or money, you can choose on the best information that’s available without visiting.

There's RG, then there's RG... The way you dismiss a 'poly,' shows lack of knowledge. DD gained straight As in maths, physics and chemistry. She looked at far more than just the university and on paper could have attended a much higher ranked university.
DD chose an integrated Master with a year in a university abroad. Yes, it's still a good RG (old red brick), in a wonderful city, but it's not top 5.

@mushmallowYou simply cannot judge what is “safe” on any open day. It’s not possible. Frequently safety is about student behaviour and the behaviour of others. You probably think your dc won’t get drunk or be vulnerable, but you won’t be the first thinking this and being surprised! Never leaving a campus is probably safety first but there are limits to that experience. My DD volunteered at open days and would have said everyone was perfectly safe but you never ever know if there’s someone awful around. It’s far more important to ensure your dc has antennae, makes appropriate friends and does not go mad when let off the parental leash. Plenty do.

Im ignoring the jibes about my age. Ageism and being rude lives on MN!

I agree with starting in Y12. Expect them to change their minds a fair bit about where they think they’d like to go though.

We started after GCSES, not with formal Open Days but by going to walk around a couple of Uni Campus and visit a couple of Uni towns.