How many open days?

Scroll to see replies

Possibly a slightly different perspective for my son too given some of the subject areas he is considering (ie planning, human geography) where the location of the university is more relevant than usual as visits in the local area are part of the course. I do feel that going to university offers an opportunity to see new places (not that students necessarily take it up in any meaningful way...)

Sheffield will be our 'local' to visit (and yes, does seem to do a good relevant course) - the nearest doesn't offer any courses in the areas he's considering and although the school do a visit, there are other Open Days elsewhere on the same day that he should probably be considering.

It's really the time and the expense (and his willingness to drag himself away from a screen) - this is almost a pleasant diversion from the business of securing my other child's post-16 provision for *this* September and the nightmare of SEN tribunals, getting expert assessments and reports etc etc. The consequences of Number 1 son not getting exactly the right university/course are not quite the same as Number 2 not having his needs met... at least I don't *think* he'd get clobbered/clobber anyone else!

Reply 21

Folion

Given what you've just explained your younger child is in more immediate need of most of your time than the elder.

If you haven't already done so (but I expect you will have because you personally seem pretty organised :smile:

) you need to sit with your eldest and discuss deadlines for uni applications and when he needs to get things done by. Explain why in the short term you can't be at his beck and call because of his sibling but he must always speak up if he needs to. Then the onus is on him especially if Oxbridge is in the equation. If he personally is keen on Oxbridge he needs to pull his finger out and do research on his own (once his exams are out of the way of course). He needs to think hard about what subject to apply for as his Personal Statement will have to reflect this and do some serious online searching for courses at unis that he would seriously consider attending. Nobody gets into Oxbridge half heartedly and if he can't be bothered to do the spade work on his own then Oxbridge isn't the set up for him anyway. I had a child in a similar situation (ie possibly bright enough) but he said he neither wanted to go to Oxbridge or London so fair enough.

Whilst you're busying yourself with his sibling it would be a good idea for him to draw up a list of about a dozen unis to visit given the strength of the course. The usual pattern is a few that are ambitious and hard to get to, most within his grade range and maybe a couple or so that would be a consideration as insurance should his grades slip. Just personally I wouldn't spend time visiting places that he had no intention of going to at all as that might end up confusing matters rather than clarifying.

We can never be sure that their final choices are 100% right but I think it is important to ensure that the most is done possible to try. I know from personal experience that them getting their grades they need on results day and packing them off at the beginning of semester isn't the end of it. Things can go wrong academically or emotionally and parents have to step in to help sort it. Trying to get it right first time reduces the odds of problems especially as now courses command whacking great fees and it is they who will be burdened by future debt.

Having got two sons myself and having had times when they both needed attention because they were at critical educational points I do feel for you.

Reply 22

dirtmother

Thanks Folion...the frustrations of having a child who is passionate about books but can't read them and one who can read fluently but doesn't and thinks he has achieved an amazing feat if he has read a slim volume of Feynman on physics...

Things may all fall into place once he has visited Cambridge/Land Economy and decided a) whether it floats his boat and b) whether he's going to make enough effort to make it worthwhile using up one of his options on it. If not then we have more time to play with... and then of course the AS results...

One thing I hadn't realised until a day or two ago (assuming I have understood correctly) is that university admissions don't know what other places and courses you have applied to.

Reply 23

dragonkeeper999

For me, the key factor was the course - and I'd really recommend he figures out what course he wants to do first, it will simplify chosing universities a lot (since some won't offer the course, and others he will look in more detail at the course structure/ modules and decide they're not for him either).

Just by looking at which universities offered my course (Natural Sciences) and knowing I wanted a uni that gave me the option to pick particular modules (e.g. Southampton only offered BioNatSci subjects so I wouldn't be able to do Physics) cut it down to around 8 or so unis. I then thoroughly went through their prospectuses, looking for things like the opportunity to take language modules/ a year abroad/ a placement year etc. to work out which would be particularly good courses for me. After this, I considered the league table rankings and entrance requirements, which crossed off another couple of courses (I didn't want to go to a uni with too low entrance requirements since the first year would probably be rather boring A level revision, I wanted to go somewhere that would challenge me). Eventually, I was left with five I was particularly keen on, and another couple I might consider.

At this point, I considered open days. I was only able to visit four universities, and also visited another during a summer school there - this crossed off UEA (too grey/ miserable, terrible chemistry department) and I was left with four unis I would be more than happy to go to. I ended up picking the fifth uni based just on the research I'd done beforehand.

However, one thing I regret is that the four unis I visited all had the same entrance requirements - so basically I hadn't visited any potential insurance choices. After receiving all my offers, I went to a post-offer open day at Lancaster, realised I really didn't like the location and general feel of the place and so ended up with no insurance choice. I had to put down for my insurance choice a uni with the same grade requirements as my firm.

Basically, I'd recommend doing LOADS of research beforehand, narrowing it down to a few choices, then visiting these - making sure that you have visited not just his preferred unis, but also potential insurance choices.

Reply 24

Folion

Original post by dirtmother

Back in the day, ie my day the stone ages, unis did know which other unis you'd applied to. These days one uni doesn't know which other unis you've applied to. This means that unis can't take a guess as to whether they are the likely firm or just an insurance etc. If you've applied to Oxbridge though and had to get in by the early deadline other universities might take a guess that you are an Oxbridge candidate although it could just mean you're super organised :biggrin:

. If he decides not to go for Oxbridge I'd be tempted to put in the UCAS application after the Oxbridge deadline for this reason but also I think it has been confirmed further back in the thread that you do not have to submit all your UCAS entries at once (I'd double check that). That would mean he could get in his Oxbridge application and then take a little time to consider the rest (again don't 100% take my word for it). What I do understand to be the case is that the Personal Statement submitted early would have to apply to all subsequent applications.

Can relate to your first papragraph as I have one son who is ambitious and go getting but mildly dyslexic and another who was a high grade achiever at school but doesn't seem as driven. Fortunately the former has found coping mechanisms and the latter is waking up a bit now.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 25

returnmigrant

Original post by Folion

If you've applied to Oxbridge though and had to get in by the early deadline other universities might take a guess that you are an Oxbridge candidate.

We don't.

And even if we did, we know that the vast majority of Oxbridge applicants wont get an offer and even fewer of those will get the high grades required and actually walk through the gates in October. So the vast majority will end up at 'ordinary' Universities - like ours.

PS. One advantage with applying slightly later in the autumn term (ie. between half-term and Christmas) for non-Oxbridge applications is that often they will a) have thought things a bit clearer/deeper, b) probably written a more polished PS and c) have a better idea of what their likely A2 grades might be - and therefore can target their choices more effectively. Btw, they can apply to just Oxbridge initially and add the other 4 choices later, but just remember they have only one PS for all choices.

Reply 26

Gerald DGrilla

Original post by dirtmother

I had indeed been thinking of a visit to Nottingham simply as it is one of the nearest... but given that we hope he'll stretch his wings a bit more and go beyond the Midlands where he's always lived, perhaps that's just an academic exercise as in 'here's an example of a university in a city' - and since they are all different, will it help?

I went round Nottingham when my sister was looking at unis and I loved it. Big, open, friendly and it has a great reputation.

Gerry

Reply 27

parentlurker

another possibility as he seems undecided is to finish A levels, take a gap year and then decide where to apply. Oxbridge expect higher grades from reapplicants (because most of the people there exceed their offers) but if you actually get over the standard offer and apply a year late you're going to stand a pretty good chance of a place. He could work for a year and have some spare cash to spend at uni.

Reply 28

dirtmother

We did six in all. And now have perhaps another couple to do in the Autumn... wasn't going to bother as he'd definitely be applying there and go on an offer holder/interview day if he got through to the next round as it were. However, since his AS results were not quite as good as predicted (not to my surprise) and the typical offers are tightly bunched (AS results still good enough) I rummaged around to come up with another place with lower offers to think about just in case he remains as complacent and comes unstuck. Although I haven't mentioned the place to him yet, still pondering on whether that would be a good move or a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Very few places offer the course he has now confirmed he wants to do, which in many ways makes life 'easier' at this stage. Cambridge did not float his punt - he still thought their course was interesting (whereas I thought nice staff but dull course) but it would not be as direct a route into what he wants to do, without the right accreditation, and I just don't think he really 'got' what else being at Cambridge might offer him personally.

He absolutely loved UEAs campus... but realised within 5 minutes of the subject talk starting he booked that he really didn't want to do that subject.

By the end of our uni day season, he was no longer interested in going to a variety of subject talks (a good sign that he was still happy to hear the 5th almost identical talk on his chosen course... professionally accreditations seem to have resulted in a relative lack of variation) Very interesting to hear what questions *he* asked when I made him talk to staff... not the ones I'd've asked but work experience this Summer has shown their salience for him.