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Where Did Your Tour of University Open Days Take You ?

Well I applied to 5 different institutions:

Last June (02) I went to a Pre-Application Open Day at Durham, travelling from Mansfield by National Express, to Durham, staying up there for the full 3 days, to get a general feel of the place.

Make no doubt, it is a 'nice' place, very picturesque, and as an institution is accomplished, and going there for those 3 days, made the decision that I should at the least apply there.

The other places I applied to blind, simply looking on the internet, and reading opinions.

So in February, I jumped on a plane, leaving East Midlands Airport, and flew upto Edinburgh, stayed up there for the night (in the youth hostel, where I got no sleep at all, due to snorers in the room), and the next morning, at 7 AM, got on the train up to St Andrews, another nice place, by the sea. I came back, and it was all quite positive, however I hadn't been to any of the more city (proper cities, Durham is a city in its cathedral sense I know)based Unis.

Southampton was next, by National Express, (7 hours each way via London), for a 5 hour scheduled open day, I didn't stay overnight there, just got plenty of kip on the way back up. Modern Uni, and clean.

Then came the two that my dad wasn't at all keen on me going to - (he didn't go to any of the open days however), Leeds, and Sheffield, he looked at me in horror when I came back from the last Open Day, Sheffield, and told him that was the place I would indicate as Firm. Don't know what impression of the city my dad had, or whether it was just too close to home, but he tried every which way to discourage me. Didn't work. Sorry Dad !

Where did every body else end up on their grand tour of the UK ?

Reply 1

PHIL

9

Went to Southampton with my school (not bad), LSE for the day (nice, but incredibly competitive for the course I want (25:1) and expensive accomodation and living) and Oxford for 2 days, spendig the night up there (loved the uni and the town, a real good laugh),

Phil

Reply 2

Ollie

10

i went to exeter (train), surrey (local), nottingham (girl friends dad :smile:

), loughborough (friends dad :smile:

), warwick (friends by train) and bristol (girlfriends mum :-))

isnt annoying how theres always 2 open days u wanna go to on the same day!

Reply 3

lou p lou

2

i've only just started my tour of the country! 2 weeks ago i went to newcastle on the wednesday then oxford thursday + friday.

september i think i'm going to dundee, st andrews, reading + keele.

i'll let people know how my tour goes.

Reply 4

PHIL

9

How did you find Warwick?

PHIL

Reply 5

Chicken

12

I went to Leeds - thought it was quite nice but very cold!!! I didn't stay at any of the places I visited - I went to Loughborough on my own by train (£50 can you believe it!), and went to do the same thing for Birmingham, except they seemed to cancel every train going that way that day, so I couldn't get there at all!!! I still appliedm but when I had to go up for an interview I got my dad to take the day off work to drive me incase it happened again. In fact, I got him to do it for all my interviews and open days after that!

Reply 6

Expression

OP

14

I wanted to apply to Nottingham, its a quality place, if not a little out of town, but because of my proximity to it (14 miles), they couldn't guarentee 1st year accomodation - and I didn't want to be living at home commuting everyday.

Ah well.

Reply 7

PHIL

9

That would suck, being forced to live at home. (no offense intended to any who are in this position)

Phil

Reply 8

Chicken

12

Just read that you were planning to come to visit Reading lou p lou - its a nice place really I have lived here all my life and I don't find it too bad. I have never been bored really here got loads of shops and nightlife. Have been to the Uni a couple of times to for various events although it is the opposite end of town to me but I think its a good place to go, and they've just done a revamp of the student union. Only thing is Reading is generally quite expensive.

Reply 9

Dam

2

I only went to exeter last june, because it coincided with a holiday to dawlish in devon, and lancaster in february.

I didn't like lancaster at all, the only good bit was that during the course there is a group project to build a racing car, but that is only in the 4th year of MEng.

I got offers from Reading and Brunel also, but decided not to visit, as I couldn't be bothered.

Reply 10

Unregistered

I went round manchester, manchester met, salford with college during revision conferences - we went a few hours early so we could all look round the uni's. I was offered a separate open day for salford but didnt attend as i had seen it many times.
Central lancs I applied to after just reading the prospectus and lancaster i went on an open day, it was good but a long tour, i liked it as it was a city but not as big as the likes of manchester.

Reply 11

Nylex

10

The only pre-application Open Day I went to was Cambridge's.

After I got my offers, I visited Birmingham, Sussex and Durham (I chose not to visit the other two). I had to stay the night at Durham because it's so far from London, lol. I had already made my decisions before visiting Durham, with Durham as my firm offer and Birmingham as my insurance, so going there was just a formality really. Durham's a really small place and the university is obviously good, but I changed my mind and had Birmingham placed as my firm.

Reply 12

emom100

8

Got offers from durham, cardif and exceter but couldn't really be bothered to see them. Also i could't afford the £80 train fair to Durham. Had a couple of days free at Downing cambridge which was cool. The only ones i went to see properly were Bristol and Nottingham because those were the ones I wanted as my firm and insurance choices. Also went to see Bournemouth and Southampton (the 2 nearest uni's to me) with my school for general days on applying to uni.

Reply 13

Unregistered

Havnt started looking at uni's yet as dont know where 2 start?? how r u sposed 2tell if u r gunna like a uni just from the prospectus, n i cant afford 2 visit them all.... so any1 who's visited good psychology dapartments reply n tell me what there like so im saved the journey... Cheers mi dears xxx

Reply 14

Tigger1986

Unregistered

Havnt started looking at uni's yet as dont know where 2 start?? how r u sposed 2tell if u r gunna like a uni just from the prospectus, n i cant afford 2 visit them all.... so any1 who's visited good psychology dapartments reply n tell me what there like so im saved the journey... Cheers mi dears xxx

Hi

I've been to visit the Psychology department at Bangor University and it was brilliant!!

Reply 15

Kates

Went to surrey(too close to home!), sussex(ok), nottingham ( very nice), warwick(wasnt too impressed) and exeter (firm choice). oh and bristol (great law department, but didnt like the rest of the uni)

Reply 16

ickle_katy

11

last summer my school took my untire yer to bristol so we could all see what a university was!! and how an open day worked!

i hated bristol. that stoopid hil was enough to put me off.

after id applied to reading, keele, york and durham, i was invited to visit them.

i went to reding first, and although theyre psychology and statistics departments are excellent (theyre in the middle of building a new psychology department- so if your looking for 2004 entry- consider reding), i didnt like the feel of the place. just about the only thing i can remebe from the campus was that its really really muddy.

i then went to durham to stay over night. i instantly fel in love with the place. everything went amazingly. and so i was decided in where i wanted to go.

i then half heartedly went to keele. the departments wre nice but the tour guy did my head in. he keept making stoopid statements like "no university offers catered accomodation anymore" - which i know is untrue because both reding and durham offer it. also he said that 24 people share a kitchen thats smaller than my bathroom - and im not lying when i said it had 8 cupbords - that means you didnt even get a cupbord each! how are you supoes to be self catered- when you cant make your own food!

i should have really gone to visit york, but my heart was set on durham, and id put it into my head that it was possible for me to get 3a's. looking back i wish i had gone to visit york, because i'll never know if id have loved it, then i would have had an insurance.... and wouldnt be soo scared now!!

love Katy ***

Reply 17

Expression

OP

14

ickle_katy

i then went to durham to stay over night. i instantly fel in love with the place. everything went amazingly. and so i was decided in where i wanted to go.

love Katy ***

Where at Durham did they offer you ?

How many other Universities can you be based in a castle (University College). ?

The place is gorgeous, and I would have liked to have been based there, but they closed the course I applied to (Maths with Economics), offering me plain Mathematics, and they couldn't get me in Castle, and offered me Cuth's, and there was no way I was going there.

When I stayed there for the pre-app open day, they put us up in Greys, which was pretty nice, if not a little out of town.

Where Did Your Tour of University Open Days Take You ?

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