My Guide to an Open Day

Going to an open day is in my opinion the most important part of your selection process.
It really creates a Juxtaposition between how the Uni sells itself online and how it actually is in person.
Personally, after attending open days my first choice fell to second or third. So here is my advice on attending open days.

Which to Attend
With Universities in every part of the UK, it can be near impossible (or at least quite expensive) to visit every university that does the course you want.
I am currently studying Computer Games Design & Programming, and after completing my GCSEs and A-Levels, I knew I didn’t want to do a course that had loads of exams.
So, to narrow it down I only looked at Universities with courses that fitted a teaching style I was compatible with. Mainly coursework-focused courses, and courses that allowed for independent learning.
My course at Staffordshire depending on the modules you pick was 100% course work, with increased independent learning each following year.

Attending an Open Day
Now when visiting your short-listed Uni, I would recommend taking the whole day off. As you might end up living there or near for the next few years of your life. So, you need to have seen enough to make a balanced decision.
What I did attending was:
1. Register your attendance
- Here you are usually given your course-specific schedule for the day
2. Go to your course’s welcome talk
- This is usually an overview of the entire school your course belongs to and what you can generally expect to do while studying.
3. Go to your course-specific Talks
- This is the most important as they go through what YOU specifically will be doing

After this, you might be interested in other courses adjacent to the one you picked. A lot of talks repeat multiple times a day so you can return back to registration to get the schedule of the other talk that piqued your interest and intend that.
This process usually takes a couple of hours.

Tours
If you’re happy with your course. I would then recommend you to return back to the registration and find an organised campus tour. This will usually show you all the accommodations and their associated costs. You also get a better feel for the opportunities and resources available on campus. Here you can usually ask about your concerns for safety and social life.

Seeing the Uni City/Town
At the end of my open days, I would usually go into the respective Uni’s city or town and find a place to eat. This is just to get a final sense if I could picture myself happy here for the next 3 years.