A levels 2021

[Tinkers]

DD only had 4 unis on her list and had two clashes. We managed by doing two in October of year 12 and the other two in June of year 12. I think after a couple at a time we were partied out, but it did allow for her to possibly see them again or others at the beginning of year 13. She had gone through a paper exercise first to narrow down her choices first.

[kenyancowgirl]

Dd came up with a shortlist of universities over Christmas. Annoyingly most of the open days seem to be during the year 12 exam week. There's a UCAS meeting at school in a couple of weeks so hopefully we'll be told a bit more about the process then.

Most unis run them in the summer and then again in September, over a mixture of week days and weekends, so she should be able to mix and match to avoid that week if not entirely but mainly.

Yes there were some but lots of the ones she likes seemed to be on the same dates so to go to both she needs the summer ones and the September ones! (And she only has 7 or 8 on her list!)

Ah...OK - DS1s shortlist was 4....

[loobylou]

Maybe she needs to narrow it further. I've just counted and she has 7 on the list.
Three of them are campus universities and she didn't think she wants a campus but she's never seen one so I'd like her to at least look at them and see the reality. And she was really excited about the course at Exeter so she probably ought to go there.

[Tinkers]

All the unis DD has got offers from so far have givens dates for offer holders days, so even if you miss out on an open day there should be another opportunity to visit later.

[kenyancowgirl]

Maybe she needs to narrow it further. I've just counted and she has 7 on the list.
Three of them are campus universities and she didn't think she wants a campus but she's never seen one so I'd like her to at least look at them and see the reality. And she was really excited about the course at Exeter so she probably ought to go there.

In reality, Open Days are a nightmare bun fight! There is totally no point, for example, in looking at accommodation on an open day, as you would, frankly, be a fool to choose a uni based on the accommodation you see - they only show you the nice stuff and most unis have a ballot or first come first served or choose 6 and you'll get one type arrangement, so there is no guarantee you will get what you want. Honestly, most unis do virtual tours on the website which are uncluttered by other people - and if a department has something that makes them stand out, you can bet your bottom dollar they are siging about it online!

Offer holders days are far more useful - at this point you have a (hopefully) real choice to make as it is a tangible offer - if you are lucky you have 5 offers and already know which 2 or 3 you are likely to be choosing between for your firm and insurance (often based on higher standard offer - firm/lower standard offer - insurance).

[2childmum]

Both my children found the open days really useful - in both cases the unis they thought they would like best they really disliked when they saw them, and didn't even apply. Yes they are very busy, but it is possible to gain a 'feel' for a place which you can't get just by looking on-line. DD in particular was certain that one uni was her first choice, until she visited the department and really disliked the general attitude of the staff there. She has re-visited (or will do) 4/5 of them, either for interviews or on applicants' days, which, interestingly, has confirmed her initial feel about each place.

[Surferfish]

Honestly doesn't matter where you go these days - used to be that Oxbridge / London (and/or) was the key to great success but times change. Yes there is lots of travelling wherever you go and it is a case of just getting on with it.
Can try Oxbridge and see what happens, if you like London have a go there - otherwise it is a bit of pot luck, one friend decided she wanted to be near the seaside and that was the criteria used in selecting - seemed to work.

Yes I think geographical location is a very important factor that students should perhaps take into account more. It sometimes seems to be drilled into students that ALL that matters is the course they are going to study. While obviously this is important its not the be all and end all IMO. Studying a particular course is only part of what going to university should be about (IMHO). Most of our lives we have little choice about the area of the country (or world) that we live in. Its largely dictated by family, work etc. Choosing a university is one of the few times in their life when people are free to make a pro-active choice to live in a place they want to. Its also worth remembering that many people carry on living and working in the place they went to university after they graduate so its a choice that may impact a large part of your future life rather than "just" the next 3 - 6 years.

If you've always wanted to live near the sea and fancied learning to surf or sail then you'd be better off going to Exeter rather than Birmingham. If you like the idea of going walking in the hills and mountains at the weekend maybe consider a university in Scotland. If you love clubbing and going to music gigs a university in a major city would be better than somewhere more remote. I even know people who've chosen their university based on the fact that it would allow them to go and watch their favourite football team at home. If that's your passion in life then why not, so long as the course is also a reasonable fit?

(Of course, it goes without saying you might not want to be completely honest about your reasons for choosing a particular University if you get asked to go for an interview. If you want to study physics at Manchester it would probably sound better to say that its because of their fantastic course, world class research tradition, and proximity to Jodrell bank observatory rather than its coz you want to spend your weekends going clubbing and watching United at Old Trafford! )

[ToadMum]

Your exams must be very late? I have suggested to DS2 that we could do a Birmingham - Nottingham - York marathon the last weekend in June, since York helpfully seems to offer Sunday 28th. When DD was looking, Birmingham shared the same Friday and Saturday with Warwick, so we had a couple of nights in a hotel near the station in Coventry and did Birmingham on the Friday and Warwick on the Saturday, while our little trundle case had a bit of a holiday of its own in the storeroom behind Reception . (I can also recommend places to stay in Exeter, Norwich et ses environs, Leeds and Birmingham, should anyone require this . Wasn't so wild about the Premier Inn we stayed in in Bristol, I have to say, but it had been a very long day on the open day trail by the time we eventually got there via several hours in Reading).

[loobylou]

We were going to do York/Nottingham that same weekend (Friday/Saturday) then Cambridge the following week. Exams start the Wednesday of the last week of June according to the calendar. I suppose the exam dates might not be accurate as they must have been set last summer.
I suggested she might not need to visit everywhere (we have friends with a year 13 ds who has only coated 2 of his 5 options) but she's adamant that the place is really important to her and she wants to get a sense of whether she will like it.

[ToadMum]

We were going to do York/Nottingham that same weekend (Friday/Saturday) then Cambridge the following week. Exams start the Wednesday of the last week of June according to the calendar. I suppose the exam dates might not be accurate as they must have been set last summer.
I suggested she might not need to visit everywhere (we have friends with a year 13 ds who has only coated 2 of his 5 options) but she's adamant that the place is really important to her and she wants to get a sense of whether she will like it.

I'm with your DD there, although of course it is very difficult if funds won't run to multiple visits. Some universities have arrangements allowing discounted rail travel. I think Exeter did, but we only discovered this after booking to go down for the open day. Not needed for an applicant day visit, though, as DD decided that she had gone off the place in between application and offer . Think it may have been the reality of all that hill-walking from anywhere to anywhere slowly sinking in...