[smartieslover]

Hi everyone!

I didn't know where to post this, so I hope it's okay here. Anyways, what are open days like? What were your experiences? Did you go with your parents? Did they ask too many questions lol? Where the other 'prospective student's friendly? Did you get to talk to random other people? If you settled for the uni, what made you decide that?

Any other year 12s already booking open days? Where to? Parents or no parents?

Sorry I'm bursting with questions because I dont know what to expect! Hope people answer :-)

[Beebumble]

All universities do them differently. Most people go with their parents. Once you register online they usually send you an invite which tells you what time to be there and where to go. You go where the invites instructed you to go. Some may give you tea and coffee and some snacks others let you fend for yourself but all the ones I've been to allow you to at least buy stuff in their canteen.

Most (but not all) will give you a tour round campus lead by current students where you get to look into the accommodation, library, lecture rooms, su bar. Then you may be able to sit in some talks where they discuss what the course you're interested involves and there are usually other talks on student finance and university life.

I decided on my firm when I went on an open day because I liked the feel to it and felt it suited me.

[Unsworth]

I'm also very excited to go visit some uni's! Went to Queen Mary on wednesday for a law taster day thing so I got a tour of the uni there, didn't like it at all! Booking for King's College tomorrow and Warwick's booking goes live soon too!

[smartieslover]

(Original post by Beebumble)
All universities do them differently. Most people go with their parents. Once you register online they usually send you an invite which tells you what time to be there and where to go. You go where the invites instructed you to go. Some may give you tea and coffee and some snacks others let you fend for yourself but all the ones I've been to allow you to at least buy stuff in their canteen.

Most (but not all) will give you a tour round campus lead by current students where you get to look into the accommodation, library, lecture rooms, su bar. Then you may be able to sit in some talks where they discuss what the course you're interested involves and there are usually other talks on student finance and university life.

I decided on my firm when I went on an open day because I liked the feel to it and felt it suited me.

Aah so it'll vary depending where I go! Ahh dear! And I was hoping to get free food . That sounds pretty cool.

Out of curiosity which you do you now go to?

[smartieslover]

(Original post by Unsworth)
I'm also very excited to go visit some uni's! Went to Queen Mary on wednesday for a law taster day thing so I got a tour of the uni there, didn't like it at all! Booking for King's College tomorrow and Warwick's booking goes live soon too!

Looool you're just like me! Its just that I'm not too sure what to expect! But judging by what beebumble has said, it just sounds like a typical uni fair thing! Still exciting tho! excuse my nerdiness

Oooo cool ! Your choices are quite close to London.. Live around?

Im planning to book Oxford Brookes! Already booked Sheffield ! Ooo and Kent

I take your doin law? What subjects dya take?

[Unsworth]

(Original post by smartieslover)
Oooo cool ! Your choices are quite close to London.. Live around?

Im planning to book Oxford Brookes! Already booked Sheffield ! Ooo and Kent

I take your doin law? What subjects dya take?

Nope from Dorset so a fair way away.. They sound good, what are you interested in doing there?

Yes I will apply for law, English Lit, Biology, Psychology and PE, yourself?

[Beebumble]

(Original post by smartieslover)
Aah so it'll vary depending where I go! Ahh dear! And I was hoping to get free food . That sounds pretty cool.

Out of curiosity which you do you now go to?

I'll hopefully starting at the university of Essex in September.

[|Alex]

(Original post by smartieslover)
Hi everyone!

I didn't know where to post this, so I hope it's okay here. Anyways, what are open days like? What were your experiences? Did you go with your parents? Did they ask too many questions lol? Where the other 'prospective student's friendly? Did you get to talk to random other people? If you settled for the uni, what made you decide that?

Any other year 12s already booking open days? Where to? Parents or no parents?

Sorry I'm bursting with questions because I dont know what to expect! Hope people answer :-)

I went with my parents because I'm really shy. Even if you aren't I'd still recommend it as they are prepared to ask the awkward questions you need to know but don't dare ask, though it can end up with you having a face like and walking away sheepishly.

I didn't really talk to other prospective people, only those who I saw who I knew from my school. Don't be afraid of talking to the helpers though. From my experience they were really nice, generally.

All you end up doing on an open day is looking round accommodation and going to various talks. The talks I'd recommend (most unis do these) are the talk regarding your subject, student life talk, accommodation talk and maybe finance if you are unsure.

The unis I visited were Keele, Nottingham and Lancaster. The people at Lancaster I found were not particularly helpful, nor very enthusiastic and almost being on the point of rude. Then again, I only spoke to like 5 of them so maybe I just got unlucky.

The people at Keele and Nottingham were really nice and it is what made me decide to put Keele as my firm. Plus they are both beautiful campuses.

Just as a heads up too, when you finally get round to applying in year 13, you'll be invited to attend an Applicant Open Day at the universities you've applied to. These are really just exactly the same as a normal open day, just with a bit more focus on your subject. I only went to one as I found they weren't really useful.

[smartieslover]

(Original post by Unsworth)
Nope from Dorset so a fair way away.. They sound good, what are you interested in doing there?

Yes I will apply for law, English Lit, Biology, Psychology and PE, yourself?

Yeah that aint too far, thanks . Im hoping to do architecture . Im slightly worried about choosing the course though because people either seem to get depressed and well the job market... But either way , best to do what you're passionate about! (:

Sounds cool ! I do maths, art, chemistry and graphics (: why didn't you like queens btw?

[smartieslover]

(Original post by Beebumble)
I'll hopefully starting at the university of Essex in September.

Awwww! I hope results day goes great for you! My friend wants to go there next year for psychology ! What you planning to study?

[smartieslover]

(Original post by |Alex)
I went with my parents because I'm really shy. Even if you aren't I'd still recommend it as they are prepared to ask the awkward questions you need to know but don't dare ask, though it can end up with you having a face like and walking away sheepishly.

I didn't really talk to other prospective people, only those who I saw who I knew from my school. Don't be afraid of talking to the helpers though. From my experience they were really nice, generally.

All you end up doing on an open day is looking round accommodation and going to various talks. The talks I'd recommend (most unis do these) are the talk regarding your subject, student life talk, accommodation talk and maybe finance if you are unsure.

The unis I visited were Keele, Nottingham and Lancaster. The people at Lancaster I found were not particularly helpful, nor very enthusiastic and almost being on the point of rude. Then again, I only spoke to like 5 of them so maybe I just got unlucky.

The people at Keele and Nottingham were really nice and it is what made me decide to put Keele as my firm. Plus they are both beautiful campuses.

Just as a heads up too, when you finally get round to applying in year 13, you'll be invited to attend an Applicant Open Day at the universities you've applied to. These are really just exactly the same as a normal open day, just with a bit more focus on your subject. I only went to one as I found they weren't really useful.

Ahhaha! That's exactly how my mum and me are gonna be like. Glad to know I'm not the only one with parents like that. :P
But I get what you mean,

Erm. Well that's all good then, I was dreading the idea of already having to make friends with people, I can get quite shy around new people too

Omg Nottingham! I wanna visit there, is it really like country side though?

Oo good luck with keely!

Btw did you only visit 3 unis because you already had an idea on where you wanted to go? Or would you have gone to more if you could go back in time?

Lancaster doesn't sound so good. Dang. :/

Thanks for the heads up !

[Beebumble]

(Original post by smartieslover)
Awwww! I hope results day goes great for you! My friend wants to go there next year for psychology ! What you planning to study?

Thank you! I'm planning to do English Language and linguistics.

What universities are you looking into and for what course?

[smartieslover]

(Original post by Beebumble)
Thank you! I'm planning to do English Language and linguistics.

What universities are you looking into and for what course?

Oo English! A part of me wishes I had taken it for a level . What are linguistics? (Sorry if it's a silly question )

Hoping to do Architecture and I really want to go uni outside of London! My choices are quite limited because not a lot of places do the course, and Im worried that a lot of the places I'm looking at are solely AAA. Sigh! I have my heart set on Sheffield and Kent though

[Beebumble]

(Original post by smartieslover)
Oo English! A part of me wishes I had taken it for a level . What are linguistics? (Sorry if it's a silly question )

Hoping to do Architecture and I really want to go uni outside of London! My choices are quite limited because not a lot of places do the course, and Im worried that a lot of the places I'm looking at are solely AAA. Sigh! I have my heart set on Sheffield and Kent though

Linguistics is basically the study of language.

I was the same live in London but wanted to study out. Hope you get what you want and enjoy the open days. A lot of people do just fine without them but for me it was a really great way of knowing if the university was right for me!

[AshleyB1]

Me, me, I'm in Y12! My Dad's coming to Birmingham with me for a nostalgia trip but otherwise I shall go alone. Mainly because I quite fancy a chance to go out and wander around England alone, but partially also because my parents have lives to live and stuff.

I haven't booked anything yet but I plan to book places at all the relatively nearby (i.e. Wales, the North and the Midlands. So far the list is Scotland and London would be too much hassle, really) universities with strengths in the relevant areas (plus a couple which are practically next door but which I don't want to go to, for the sake of practice. I'd hate to go to an open day to a uni I really liked, then come away without having asked a really important Q because it was my first open day and I hadn't thought about what I wanted to say). I'm also a little ashamed to say that one more factor is that my mum was really annoying when we were looking at colleges. :c

Good luck uni hunting OP!

[Unsworth]

(Original post by smartieslover)
Yeah that aint too far, thanks . Im hoping to do architecture . Im slightly worried about choosing the course though because people either seem to get depressed and well the job market... But either way , best to do what you're passionate about! (:

Sounds cool ! I do maths, art, chemistry and graphics (: why didn't you like queens btw?

You will do better in a subject you're passionate about, so it sounds a good choice regardless of the job market!

I hated the location of it, definitely in the rougher part of London and the campus although it was quite modern I didn't really feel much of a vibe from it - but that may just be me. Also, Queen Mary require A*AA for law, with such a high entry requirement I would rather go somewhere else that's amazing in my eyes!

[beansprouts]

I went to Queen Mary last Wednesday and although the information they provided was poor, I absolutely loved it! Back last year I remember being adamant on Leicester and completely changed my mind after visiting it. So Open Days are definitely useful as, apart from the various talks and what not, you can get a vibe for a particular place.

A friend went with me to Leicester but tones of people go with their parents (going with a friend is more fun though :P). Will be visiting UCL in a few weeks. Probably won't take my mum though as she tends to to either fall asleep or get lost at these things

[TurboCretin]

(Original post by smartieslover)
Hi everyone!

I didn't know where to post this, so I hope it's okay here. Anyways, what are open days like? What were your experiences? Did you go with your parents? Did they ask too many questions lol? Where the other 'prospective student's friendly? Did you get to talk to random other people? If you settled for the uni, what made you decide that?

Any other year 12s already booking open days? Where to? Parents or no parents?

Sorry I'm bursting with questions because I dont know what to expect! Hope people answer :-)

They're usually fairly informal, and usually parents accompany you though I went by myself. I went to open days at UCL, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol and Oxford (some time ago now) and they were just relaxed days wandering around the universities and departments. Any students that you're likely to talk to will have volunteered to be there, so should be friendly and willing to answer any questions you might have. The best thing to do is to think about any questions you'd like to ask current students or tutors about the course or university so you can get the most out of the visit.

[smartieslover]

(Original post by Beebumble)
Linguistics is basically the study of language.

I was the same live in London but wanted to study out. Hope you get what you want and enjoy the open days. A lot of people do just fine without them but for me it was a really great way of knowing if the university was right for me!

Oh! I knew it was a silly question lol,

Thankyou! Don't worry I'll defo be visiting unis on open days !

[smartieslover]

(Original post by AshleyB1)
Me, me, I'm in Y12! My Dad's coming to Birmingham with me for a nostalgia trip but otherwise I shall go alone. Mainly because I quite fancy a chance to go out and wander around England alone, but partially also because my parents have lives to live and stuff.

I haven't booked anything yet but I plan to book places at all the relatively nearby (i.e. Wales, the North and the Midlands. So far the list is Scotland and London would be too much hassle, really) universities with strengths in the relevant areas (plus a couple which are practically next door but which I don't want to go to, for the sake of practice. I'd hate to go to an open day to a uni I really liked, then come away without having asked a really important Q because it was my first open day and I hadn't thought about what I wanted to say). I'm also a little ashamed to say that one more factor is that my mum was really annoying when we were looking at colleges. :c

Good luck uni hunting OP!

Lool ! Go us year twelvers!! Ooo I hear Birminghams quite good but there's like 2 main unis there, it gets me confused...
Eeek! Dude.. Aren't you worried you'll get lost... Aha, Ive been forbidden to go by myself because I get lost easily.. Got lost in a supermarket car park once LOL

I've booked only one so far, so don't worry! That's quite a smart thing ra do! I take you live midlands/north ish? I live down in London and I wanna travel out quite a bit.
I'm more scared that I'll read up on a uni and really like it... Then I'll visit the actual uni.and dislike it! :'(!
Got your heart set on a particular uni yet?

Give your mum a break... Invite her... You know you wanna .