Open days, in my eyes, are what really seal the deal in deciding whether a university is really for you. No matter how good the uni sounds from other people’s words or from a prospectus, actually visiting the uni will tell you everything you need to know. The experience of visiting the university can tell you what the staff, the students and what the campus(es) are like, so I would really recommend going to open days. Now here are a few things I think are important to do when you visit a university on an open day.
Ask questions
In my opinion, this is the most important thing to do. Before you go to the open day, maybe make a list of the top things you want to ask. No matter how silly you think your question is, ask away. The people representing the university at the open day are meant to answer your questions. If they aren’t willing to answer your questions, aren’t really approachable or cannot back up what they’re saying, then is that really a university you would want to go to?
Go to subject talks
If you are interested in a certain subject or perhaps you have a few degrees you are interested in, go to the talks. These are prepared to provide you with all the information regarding that subject being provided by that university, and usually a lecturer is providing that talk. There may also be a student present to answer your questions. This is really useful as you can ask the lecturer about how the course is run, but you can also speak to the student who can be really honest about their experience.
Go on a tour of the campus
If you want to study at this university, it’s probably a good idea to have a look around to see what the actual campus looks like. You can find out how close it is to other things and by actually being there, you can decide whether you feel like you fit into that place. Personally, I only went to open days of three of the five universities I applied for, and all these campuses I felt like I belonged there. Weirdly enough, these three universities I visited are the ones I got an offer to study from, so this really helped me to choose my firm and insurance choice.
View the accommodation
If you’re thinking about moving into halls of residence, then it’s important to actually view the halls. I’m sure all open days have time slots to view the accommodation. This is a good way to actually see where you may potentially live, and there may be students there who you can talk to. Also seeing the accommodation and knowing the price you’re paying for it will help you to decide whether it is really worth it.
Take the freebies
I am always guilty of this, but my mum is even worse. I always take the pens, the sweets and the canvas bags because you know, it’s free so why not?!
I hope this helps you to have an idea on what you can do when you go on your next open day. The open days at Staffordshire University are very informative and everyone is really friendly. It’s crazy that last year I was at an open day at this university, and now I am a student here and I have actually worked at a few open days. Anyway, enough rambling for now!
Ann 🙂
