Open Days can give you the opportunity to get information that is either hard or impossible to obtain any other way. The very fact that you have an opportunity to meet and talk to people, be they staff or students, can be your key to successful research. The key is to figure out what you need to find out before you go on an Open Day.

Before your Open Day

What can you find out before going on an open Day? The web is most probably your most useful tool; both the prospective university’s own site, as well as others. Besides researching your course of interest, you can usually also find out other potentially important information. The name(s0 and contact details of relevant course tutors; possible grants, bursaries and scholarships; fees; and accommodation choices and costs.

However, you will almost certainly want to know more detail about your course(s) of interest than is easily accessible online. Things such as minor subjects, project options, relevant field trips or work experience; as well, as are you likely to be accepted.

Open Day Appointments

It is often a good idea to make appointments with people you really want to speak to, rather than rely on door-knocking on the day. Firstly, a pre-arranged short one-to-one meeting with a course tutor can allow you to ask prepared questions, such as what happens if your grades aren’t as good as the university website (or UCAS) say are needed for entry. Secondly, taking pot-luck can see you waiting around for hours, or even miss getting a meeting all together.

Other personal visits can include going to see Halls and chatting to a few students, as well as going to the university accommodation office to talk to an actual accommodation officer about alternatives, costs and when you have to make a commitment to be sure of getting a certain Hall of Residence.

Make sure you book your attendance at an Open Day (usually online at the uni website), and get a proposed timetable of events. This will allow you to arrange any personal appointments around events, or choose which ones to prioritise or miss. You can always walk around a library on your own after a meeting with a course tutor, rather than go on the organised visit and not have that meeting.