Taking parents to university open days?

when i went to the open day everyone had their parents with them and a few had their friend/bf/gf .. i was on my own which i didnt mind it was just easier when i had to get lots of buses and get a flight back to ireland. so much cheaper with one person. the only time it would have been handy to have someone with me was when there was a bit of a wait before the opening day lecture. everyone else was chatting happily and eating biscuits drinking tea. i found that no one bothered to start a convo no one want to talk to other potential students when they had family around them. towards the end a few people got chatty though so it was nice :smile:

i basically asked every question i could think of .. i had nothing else to do and i wanted answers lol. one reply i got was rather irritating i guess i had phrased the question wrong (it seemed right to me) but the woman basically jumped to conclusions and assumed as soon as i had done the course i was going to declare myself a equine chiropractor or a therapist. all she said was for 5 minutes you cant manipulate a degree! i was trying to ask how long would a course be if i decided to get further qualifications. so i could become one of those. turns out its 2 years. seriously all she had to do was say oh it will be 2 years instead she thought i was going to be all shady and declare myself something i wasnt. which would open me up for lawsuits and everything else.. maybe i got ahead of myself thinking about something thats 3 years down the line and i have to do the course yet. i might not even want to go on after the 3 years, but there is no harm in asking about it and thinking ahead.

Reply 41

KJane

15

Original post by mollyf

Apologies if this has already been done, but I'd like to hear other peoples' opinions and experience on taking parents to open days, or rather not doing so.

I've seen a lot of support reassuring people that it is ok to take their parents, but would it make me 'weird' for going alone? My parents are happy to ferry me along so I don't get lost and then skulk off whilst I 'do my thing' at the event, or are equally happy to join in too. It's not that I don't want their opinions, they're pretty chilled about it all and are not pushy like I hear some are, it just might be nice to do it alone. I don't know really, this is why I want your opinions!

Also, if anyone has any experience at Manchester or Edinburgh schools of art (particularly for fashion design) any input on those would be great! Thanks.

ALSO ALSO
I'm new here so more apologies if I've posted this in the wrong forum! If I have could you please notify me of where it should be :--)

Although I don't do that course or study at them Uni's at my university I sometimes work on open days and register people, out of the 100 or more people I register in a morning a good proportion of them are on their own, it's completely down to what you would prefer to do, it's certainly not strange to be on your own.

One thing I notice when answering questions is that the parents think to ask questions what the applicant won't think of, I'll ask someone if there is something they want to know about and they shake their heads due to being shy, then their parents say 'oh you wanted to know this...' and then they seem pretty grateful their parents asked. If you think you're inclined this way then maybe you'd prefer to take them. :smile:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 42

Golden_Boy786

11

Original post by mollyf

Apologies if this has already been done, but I'd like to hear other peoples' opinions and experience on taking parents to open days, or rather not doing so.

I've seen a lot of support reassuring people that it is ok to take their parents, but would it make me 'weird' for going alone? My parents are happy to ferry me along so I don't get lost and then skulk off whilst I 'do my thing' at the event, or are equally happy to join in too. It's not that I don't want their opinions, they're pretty chilled about it all and are not pushy like I hear some are, it just might be nice to do it alone. I don't know really, this is why I want your opinions!

Also, if anyone has any experience at Manchester or Edinburgh schools of art (particularly for fashion design) any input on those would be great! Thanks.

ALSO ALSO
I'm new here so more apologies if I've posted this in the wrong forum! If I have could you please notify me of where it should be :--)

I went to a uni interview with my mum :biggrin:

. And guess what i wasn't the only one. Majority of the people had went went both parents.

I really don't see why you should feel uncomfortable with your parents, i thought it was a great experience with my mum. If the moment ever rises again, i know who i'll be taking with me :wink:

Reply 43

LettersFromTheSky

11

I took my mum to the Southampton open day but only cause it was a post offer open day and at the time Southampton was the uni I really wanted to go to, I didnt end up there but I thought that seeing as its so far from home, if its the uni I end up going to my mum might aswell see it. My dads never been into going to open days and stuff so he didnt come. Other than that I went either on my own or with my friends.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 44

*Joanna*

12

Original post by coolmushroom

If you want people to laugh at you then go for it, people will say 'How will she cope at University if she can't even go to an open day alone?' . Also you don't want to have a reputation BEFORE you even go to the university.

What a childish attitute to have. It's not about not being able to do stuff on your own, it's about wanting to share something exciting with your parents. You're not being supervised by them, you're sharing the experience so they can help you make a decision if you need it.

If people who you don't know from Adam judge you for being with your parents, then I doubt they'd be someone I'd want to be friends with anyway. Supposing I ever met them again that is, given the hundreds of people that go to open days who never even end up at that uni.

Reply 45

Madmia

I would quite like to go on my own but I'm getting my parents to come as I want more than just my perspective of the different uni's ^^

Reply 46

Lovefoxxx_93

12

I went to a post-offer open day last week by myself and the vast majority of people seemed to be there with their parents or friends.

I think I would've preferred someone to have been there but we couldn't afford it and besides I felt very mature travelling around and staying in a distant city by myself. :biggrin:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 47

Plutonium

Original post by mollyf

Apologies if this has already been done, but I'd like to hear other peoples' opinions and experience on taking parents to open days, or rather not doing so.

I've seen a lot of support reassuring people that it is ok to take their parents, but would it make me 'weird' for going alone? My parents are happy to ferry me along so I don't get lost and then skulk off whilst I 'do my thing' at the event, or are equally happy to join in too. It's not that I don't want their opinions, they're pretty chilled about it all and are not pushy like I hear some are, it just might be nice to do it alone. I don't know really, this is why I want your opinions!

Also, if anyone has any experience at Manchester or Edinburgh schools of art (particularly for fashion design) any input on those would be great! Thanks.

ALSO ALSO
I'm new here so more apologies if I've posted this in the wrong forum! If I have could you please notify me of where it should be :--)

My mother came alone to every single open day I went on. I really appreciated having her there, as sometimes open days are really overwhelming! As long as your parents are willing to support you, then I would take them along. It might be nice to have some company and they sometimes think of questions to ask that you hadn't even thought of. Plus, if you fancy a quick 15 minutes on your own to get a feel for the place, just send your parents to get coffee.

Reply 48

Plutonium

Original post by coolmushroom

If you want people to laugh at you then go for it, people will say 'How will she cope at University if she can't even go to an open day alone?' . Also you don't want to have a reputation BEFORE you even go to the university.

I'm sorry but this is a silly response. A university will not judge you for taking your parents to an open day. If anything, it shows that your parents are interested in your education and are willing to support you.

Reply 49

Ryejd

Considering they're probably paying, why wouldn't they go? lol

Reply 50

Grenville

1

At the Durham open day I'd say 2/3 of people had a parent or older person with them. I even remember some guy had what looked like his whole family with him :tongue:

However

A) No-one is going to judge you on whether or not you go alone/with other people.
B) They're unlikely to remember you as the person who brought their parents to the open day if you do end up going.

Don't worry about it!

Reply 51

confusedexcited

9

Original post by mollyf

That's actually worth considering, thank you! I understand what you mean, and I can actually see that kind of situation arising. I think I'll take them to the first at least, and perhaps actively try to avoid that. I'll see how it goes. Thank you!

no worries, have fun :smile:

which open days you heading too?

Reply 52

rawragee

11

I have to take my mum to open days with me, I'm not old enough to stay overnight in a hotel by myself haha :colondollar:

Reply 53

BooAlphie

I'm going to one today and my dads coming with me... To be honest I'm glad because I get a lift :smile:

Reply 54

05038bj

I took at least one parent to open days/ interviews and certainly for open day so did most people. It's always good to hear their opinion of the uni too- I found that the parts of the universities I visited that I liked matched what my parents liked and the parts I didn't, they didn't also.

On a side note, I always used to try and take my Dad not my mum- he would always by me food in the SU (win) whereas Mum always insisted on taking sandwhiches...

Reply 55

Sisko_197

Apparently it was very rare 20 years ago, interesting how things change...

Reply 56

Bubble87

13

In my experience I found lots of people took parents to general open days but the majority went to interview and selection days alone. Your parents will probably want to be happier if they can see where you might end up living too, but I guess you could just show them round once you've accepted an offer somewhere.

Reply 57

StevenKnott

I haven't read what's already been said, so I apologies if I repeat anything.

I'd suggest go with your parents, the reason for this is;
A) They might ask questions that you wouldn't have even considered.
B) If they've been to uni's themselves, they know what things to look for.
C) There's a lot of information to take in, the more minds to take it in, the better!
D) It will reassure them that your going to somewhere safe
and many more reasons!

Nevertheless, if you want to go alone, there is nothing wrong with that at all; a couple of my friends go alone, but they often come back saying they got lost, found it boring, felt a bit overwhelmed etc and therefore didn't really get to take it all in.

Hope this helps! :smile:

Reply 58

MusicTechnologyStudent

4

I help out on open days.

Going alone will not make you stand out. But, I'd highly recommend that you make sure that you actively participate in discussions and demonstrations. Some students are shy and will only really join in and participate if their parents are egging them on.

Reply 59

Muddy_Hands

I didn't take my parents to any of my interviews and when I got there pretty much everyone else had there with them! I felt like some sort of unloved orphan :frown:

Taking parents to university open days?

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you