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Uni post-offer open day advice

I'm meant to attend an open day next week, although I live faraway so my dad is driving us there. There aren't any programs for parents on the day and so I don't really know what to do at this stage (I don't want him sitting around for the whole day doing nothing). I've been to the area but never to the uni before and so I really want to go the open day as I'm considering firming it. Any advice on what to do?
Original post by goldenshades
I'm meant to attend an open day next week, although I live faraway so my dad is driving us there. There aren't any programs for parents on the day and so I don't really know what to do at this stage (I don't want him sitting around for the whole day doing nothing). I've been to the area but never to the uni before and so I really want to go the open day as I'm considering firming it. Any advice on what to do?


Maybe your dad could sit in an on campus restaurant
Why doesn't he just go for a bit of shopping / sit in a cafe and do some work?

Or you could just get the train / taxi?

I'd also be surprised if they didn't have something for the parents to do. It's quite common for them to join on open days so I would have thought there would be a talk - perhaps give the department a call to check?


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Does your invitation explicitly exclude anyone other than the prospective student? Or is your concern that it won't work well if he attends everything you do? (Two sets of eyes and ears can be useful, and in informal sections if you split up then the two of you can talk to more people)

'Day' may be a bit of a misnomer anyway and you might well only be talking about a few hours really.
The university will know that parents will turn up, unless they have specifically said that parents cannot come along (very unusual - they know that parents are 'key influencers', and also know that they tend to get arsey when forcibly separated from their kids at an open day because they get worried about what the uni will say to their little darlings in their absence)

It's likely that the uni is just anticipating that he'll go along to the same sessions as you rather than having a parent-specific talk.

If he wants to go along, that's fine unless they've said he can't, but if he wants to go and see the local sights then it's absolutely fine to go solo!
Original post by goldenshades
I'm meant to attend an open day next week, although I live faraway so my dad is driving us there. There aren't any programs for parents on the day and so I don't really know what to do at this stage (I don't want him sitting around for the whole day doing nothing). I've been to the area but never to the uni before and so I really want to go the open day as I'm considering firming it. Any advice on what to do?


At all the offer open days I went to, if there wasn't a separate schedule for parents then they joined their children, there were more prospective students with parents than without.

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