Uni Open days

I’ve left it fairly late to book time of work considering i work in hospitality and it’s christmas period coming up.

I have a few open days mainly every saturday through november and im not sure what to do.

are open days worth it as let’s just say my manger isn’t the easiest to talk to and i’d probably get a lecture on why i haven’t booked it sooner.

however my shifts i work don’t come out till friday of every week so cant even plan in advance.

Any advice

Reply 1

unknownuser….

Original post

by Flower1234q

I’ve left it fairly late to book time of work considering i work in hospitality and it’s christmas period coming up.
I have a few open days mainly every saturday through november and im not sure what to do.
are open days worth it as let’s just say my manger isn’t the easiest to talk to and i’d probably get a lecture on why i haven’t booked it sooner.
however my shifts i work don’t come out till friday of every week so cant even plan in advance.
Any advice

theres so much Information online that is made available on courses on the unis but mainly at the open day you get to see the campus and get a sense of where you’ll be going but id say not going to the open days won’t severely affect you but it is good to go, however it’s your choice

Reply 2

Flower1234q

Original post

by unknownuser….

thank you
i think if i can get the time of work i am definitely going but if not i wont stress it too much.
with how well documented social media is now you can get a general gist from photos just didnt want to think i was missing out on key bits

Reply 3

unknownuser….

Original post

by Flower1234q

that’s also so true, social media’s got your back lol so id say the information u receive is things you can easily find online but if you want to ask questions then id say u should go but you could also email aswell if that’s not possible :smile:

Reply 4

UniofReading

Official Rep

Hi there, UoR has a thread about open days here, they are definitely worth it if you can come (while they do get booked our team can book you on and if you can’t make it no worries). We do understand that not everyone can come to an open day for whatever reason, so we do offer bookable campus tours as well as some online tasters sometimes, you can always reach out to our admissions team for more information, alongside this we have a unibuddy platform where you can chat to other students and read their articles on student life at Reading as well as an ‘ask a question’ feature when you can ask any questions to the subject departments here at Reading, we also have loads of information on courses and student life available on our website. All the info and useful direct links are below, do let me know if you have any questions, I’ll be happy to help!
UoR Open Day Info
Chat to our students - UoR Unibuddy
Reading Uni Website
Reading SU
Ask a question to our subject departments
Our Admissions Team: [email protected]
Kind Regards,
Sid

•

UoR Student Ambassador

•

LLB Law w/ International Business (Yr1)

•

Business Management (Foundation)

my working day is: thursday

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 5

LJMUStudentReps

Official Rep

Original post

by Flower1234q

I’ve left it fairly late to book time of work considering i work in hospitality and it’s christmas period coming up.
I have a few open days mainly every saturday through november and im not sure what to do.
are open days worth it as let’s just say my manger isn’t the easiest to talk to and i’d probably get a lecture on why i haven’t booked it sooner.
however my shifts i work don’t come out till friday of every week so cant even plan in advance.
Any advice

Hi,

Open days are definitely worth attending if you can, especially to get a feel for the campus, courses, and student life. However, you won’t be missing out unless you’re really unsure about your choices and would like to see the university in person.

A few things to consider:
•Check if the university offers multiple sessions or virtual tours — sometimes you can join online talks if you can’t make it in person.
•Access course information through websites and university ambassadors on platforms like TheStudentRoom or UniBuddy. At LJMU, you can also order a prospectus brochure from the website or use the CampusConnect app for applicants with an offer.
•Talk to your manager honestly — letting them know you want to attend an open day and asking if you could cover or swap a shift often helps. Even if it feels awkward, showing you’ve tried to plan responsibly usually goes a long way.
•Prioritise the Saturdays that suit you best — if you can only make one or two, pick the ones most important for your course choice.

Remember, it’s completely okay if you can’t make every session. Universities understand work commitments can get in the way, and there are plenty of other ways to get the info you need.

For more details on our upcoming open days or to order a prospectus https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/study/undergraduate-students/undergraduate-open-days

Hope that helps, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Tayba
Student Rep

Reply 6

Kingston Eve

Official Rep

Original post

by Flower1234q

I’ve left it fairly late to book time of work considering i work in hospitality and it’s christmas period coming up.
I have a few open days mainly every saturday through november and im not sure what to do.
are open days worth it as let’s just say my manger isn’t the easiest to talk to and i’d probably get a lecture on why i haven’t booked it sooner.
however my shifts i work don’t come out till friday of every week so cant even plan in advance.
Any advice

Hey @Flower1234q,

University open days are a great way for prospective students to find out more about student life at certain universities - however, if you're short for time (and if your manager is a bit tricky!), I'd recommend focusing on attending open days only for the universities you're strongly considering. Use the information available on university websites and online to try and narrow down your university choices; once that's done, consider which universities you'd like to attend the most and choose your open days accordingly.

Since I lived overseas, I only attended two Open Days when I was applying to university. Luckily, I felt like that was more than enough to give me a general sense of what university and student life was going to be like no matter where I went. 🙂

Hope this helps and best of luck!
Eve (Kingston Rep).

Reply 7

Uni of Kent 1

Official Rep

Original post

by Flower1234q

I’ve left it fairly late to book time of work considering i work in hospitality and it’s christmas period coming up.
I have a few open days mainly every saturday through november and im not sure what to do.
are open days worth it as let’s just say my manger isn’t the easiest to talk to and i’d probably get a lecture on why i haven’t booked it sooner.
however my shifts i work don’t come out till friday of every week so cant even plan in advance.
Any advice

Hi,
I would also say that attending an open day is worth it as you can visit the campus, have a look at the campus facilities, accommodations and speak to the uni in person which helps you decide if the uni is the right fit for you. You can find the dates and details of the upcoming open days of Uni of Kent here. However, we understand that not everyone will be available on the particular dates so we have Campus tours where the dates are more flexible and you can book at a date suitable for you. You can find the details here. The tours are done by a student ambassador so you would be able to ask questions along the way.

Even if you can't attend an open day or campus tours, you can still talk to ambassadors on the student room to have an insight about the uni life and the uni is also happy to answer any questions you have. Attending an open day is great but if you absolutely can't make it you can still know about the uni. If you have any other questions please feel free to ask away.

Best wishes
Srijita
uni of Kent student reps

Reply 8

UniLancashire

Official Rep

Original post

by Flower1234q

I’ve left it fairly late to book time of work considering i work in hospitality and it’s christmas period coming up.
I have a few open days mainly every saturday through november and im not sure what to do.
are open days worth it as let’s just say my manger isn’t the easiest to talk to and i’d probably get a lecture on why i haven’t booked it sooner.
however my shifts i work don’t come out till friday of every week so cant even plan in advance.
Any advice

Hi @Flower1234q,

There is definitely a lot of ways you can research into a university, it's courses and accommodation... There is plenty of information online on the university websites, social media accounts of universities and even YouTube. I do believe Open Days are super useful most importantly, to get a feel for university, the course and to see if you can imagine yourself studying there. You also get to chat with current students which you may not be able to do otherwise. Everyone is different but the Open Days definitely helped me in deciding.

However, some unis have virtual open days, campus tours or ways of talking to current students. Admissions team can also help you answer any questions if needed. I would recommend figuring out your top options or even if it's just 2 unis and see if you can prioritise visiting seeing them. However, equally there are many ways of deciding where to study without going to the open day. There are many students who are happy in their studies without attending open days, they aren't something everyone can fit around their days or if they live too far away etc. I'm sure you will pick the right course and uni for you. You've got this! 🙂

Hope this helps,
^Zac

Reply 9

hallamstudents

Official Rep

Original post

by Flower1234q

I’ve left it fairly late to book time of work considering i work in hospitality and it’s christmas period coming up.
I have a few open days mainly every saturday through november and im not sure what to do.
are open days worth it as let’s just say my manger isn’t the easiest to talk to and i’d probably get a lecture on why i haven’t booked it sooner.
however my shifts i work don’t come out till friday of every week so cant even plan in advance.
Any advice

Hi,

I know this can be tricky and it was the same for me when I was looking at going to open days!

I would say that going to open days is helpful and it did help me out in deciding where I wanted to go to uni. If you have one in particular that you are really interested in, I would suggest prioritising this one and then maybe make a list in order of which you would like to attend so you can see which ones are more worth booking time off for.

If you don't get to go to any of the open days, you can often email the course or module leaders and see if they can help you out with any questions you have. If you go onto the course page on the uni website, you can often find staff details on there and if they have time they may be able to answer a few questions over email.

I would also recommend just looking online. You can look on here, on Student Crowd, on WhatUni or just social media in general to get a feel for if people are enjoying at that uni or not and this can be very helpful. There is also a platform called 'The Ambassador Platform' where you can chat to current students too.

You can also sometimes book tours of the campus or accommodation on different days when they have availability so definitely look into this too as you may be able to look around the buildings still!

I hope some of this helps,

Lucy -SHU student ambassador 🙂

Reply 10

ARU Graduate

Official Rep

Original post

by Flower1234q

I’ve left it fairly late to book time of work considering i work in hospitality and it’s christmas period coming up.
I have a few open days mainly every saturday through november and im not sure what to do.
are open days worth it as let’s just say my manger isn’t the easiest to talk to and i’d probably get a lecture on why i haven’t booked it sooner.
however my shifts i work don’t come out till friday of every week so cant even plan in advance.
Any advice

Hey!

Honestly, I’d say open days are definitely worth going to if you can make it work. I was really split between a couple of unis, and after spending a day at an open day at ARU, my decision became so much easier. You get such a better feel for what the uni’s actually like in person…the atmosphere, the people, and whether you can see yourself studying and living there.

It’s also a great chance to explore the area around the uni. Sometimes a place can look perfect online, but once you’re there, you get a sense of whether it actually feels right for you! Things like how easy it is to get around, what the accommodation and town are like, and just the general vibe can make a big difference.

I totally get that it’s awkward with work, especially in hospitality around Christmas. If you can, maybe try mentioning to your manager that it’s something important for your future, even if you can only make one or two open days, it’s still super valuable.

But if getting time off really isn’t possible, a lot of unis now have virtual open days or campus tours online, which are still really helpful. In-person is best if you can swing it, but any way you can get a feel for the uni will make decision-making so much easier later on.

Good luck! Sophie 🙂

Reply 11

Manchester Met - Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post

by Flower1234q

I’ve left it fairly late to book time of work considering i work in hospitality and it’s christmas period coming up.
I have a few open days mainly every saturday through november and im not sure what to do.
are open days worth it as let’s just say my manger isn’t the easiest to talk to and i’d probably get a lecture on why i haven’t booked it sooner.
however my shifts i work don’t come out till friday of every week so cant even plan in advance.
Any advice

Hey,
Going to Open Days is not mandatory, but they are useful.
Open days are your best chance to get a real feel for the course content, meet the lecturers who will actually be teaching you, and see the campus vibe in person. If you're seriously considering a university, the physical visit can be the deciding factor.
However, since you have a difficult work schedule, you need to be strategic.

The plan:

•

Prioritise: Instead of trying to attend every Saturday, pick the one or two universities that are your absolute top choices. This minimises the time off you have to request.

•

Use Digital Options: If you absolutely cannot get the time off for some universities, look for virtual open days or course taster sessions online. These are a great, zero-conflict alternative for gathering essential information.