Open Days are a really good chance to go and have a nose around your prospective future university.

Be aware though, that the way they are run can be quite unhelpful in your quest for finding your preferred choice of learning establishment. Essentially, as with the official prospectus, Open Days are a marketing tool used by the university to show off how good they are to you - the prospective future students. Universities want lots of students as this means they get more money from the government, which in turn, hopefully makes the university better, or at least increases the wage packets of those in charge.

Normally they can be pretty good, but the problem comes with universities that aren't that good, or have things to hide (which just about covers all of them, in one way or another).

The people in charge will naturally try to make the university seem better than it actually is, which can mean you leave with a false impression of what it's like to be there. Sure, it's the same campus, the same buildings - but if you're kept away from the people that are there, i.e. the other students, you'll know dick-all about what it's really like.

GET UNDER THE SURFACE

The open day will probably be highly structured, with talks, group exercises and tours of the campus. Make sure you get the chance to look at other things!

Be aware of open days:

1. When they occur in the university holidays (different to A-Level holidays). If there aren't any students around, you might as well not bother going.
2. Where you are kept away from the actual students, and the hustle and bustle of the main campus.
3. If you are only given the chance to talk to academics (i.e. teachers) and they don't let you anywhere near the students.
4. If you aren't given a proper tour of the campus, especially the halls of residence.
5. If you aren't shown the student union.

If a university has a great reputation, is proud of its campus, and is proud of its students, it shouldn't have anything to hide, and should be prepared to give you the full tour. This is the kind of university to which you should be applying.

THE CHECKLIST

Whatever happens, you need to get the chance to talk informally to students already doing the course, out of earshot of the tutors. Only this way can you find out the truth. Again, this is another reason why we created the site, so that you could get the chance to read what students thought of a university from direct experience.

To make sure you find out all you can about the university on the open day, follow this guide and checklist of things you must do and see.

Make sure you get a chance to wander off on your own to look around. This might be before or after the official 'open day'. (The structured part of the day should normally be say, 10am to 3pm - so use the time before and after this while the students are still around).

Talk to people. Especially the uni students, but also those on the open day with you. They might have been to other Uni's that you haven't and so could offer a comparison/supply some info about a place you haven't been to.

THE ACADEMIC SIDE OF THINGS

Go to your chosen department, and nab a student who is sat on the steps outside having a fag. They can't run away and are good for a few minutes of your time. Have the questions ready, and go for it!

1. whats the timetable like?
2. how hard is the course?
3. how much work outside of class is there?
4. how do they assess your progress?
5. do you have to do homework over the holidays?
6. practical stuff, or always in the lecture hall?
7. what happens if you fail?
8. how are the lectures? do you need to write stuff down?
9. do you need to turn up/are they boring?
10. tutorials? how do they work? are they worthwhile?

What about the university?

1. how is the course respected?
2. how many people on the course?
3. is it easy to get a job afterwards?
4. do people continue their career into their degree subject?
5. or do they go back to stacking shelves?

Next, look at the learning facilities.

1. whats the library like? (go look for yourself)
2. can you get the books that you need, or is there one book between a whole year?
3. how many books do you need to buy (expensive!)
4. what are the computer rooms like? internet? email?
5. can you get a computer in uni when you need one?
6. are the course notes on the intranet?
7. if your doing science, go and peer through the window to the labs.
8. what are they like? and more importantly how often do you get to use them? some labs are so amazing, that they wont let you anywhere near it until PhD.
9. if your doing design, what kind of facilities do you get to use? drawing boards etc? or do you have to buy your own???
10. what kind of projects do you get given? is it purely theoretical? or do they teach you some practical stuff?

NOW LETS LOOK AT NON ACADEMIC THINGS...

Halls

1. possibly the most important stop on your visit
2. though it could be one of the hardest to arrange.
3. take a look at all the halls you can, remembering that each one will be different.
4. if you can't get to look at a room, ask everyone about them.
5. how big are the rooms?
6. how many people in each kitchen?
7. if its catered, whats the food like, and how often do you get it?
8. how good are the kitchens for cooking yourself?
9. whats the social life like in each?
10. how easy is it to find a house/flat after halls?
11. is it noisy/quiet?
12. any rats/mice/cockroaches?
13. do you get internal and external phones?
14. are internal phones free?
15. do you get internet access?
16. how many single/how many double rooms?
17. do you get ensuite?
18. how many people to a shower?
19. do you get tv? pool table? sky?
20. is there a bar?
21. how safe is the area at night?
22. how long does it take/how much does it cost to get to university
23. can you get back here easily from a night out in town?
24. WARNING: pictures of halls in prospectuses will be the nicest of the lot.

Other Stuff.

1. Check out the student union
2. What are the bars like? What about club nights?
3. Do they do things like comedy?
4. How many people go to the bars/clubs?
5. Are they any good?
6. If not, where else do people go out?
7. How much are the drinks, How much is it go get in?
8. What Clubs and Societies are there?
9. Are the sport teams any good?
10. What kind of people are there here? What cross section of cultures?

It's worth visiting at least a couple of universities. If there's lots locally, try to look round them too, even if you're not applying there. The more you see, the more you'll be able to spot the differences between them, and be able to reasonably compare them to each other.

Look around the town as well as the campus. Remember you won't be spending the whole three years on the campus, so there better be some other things to do!

Try to get opinions from students in all years. Their views will change as their time there progresses. Also, different years can have a different structure, so some might be good, some might be bad. Different people will give different answers though, so get a spectrum if possible.

Take a look at the people that are there - are they like you in any way? Do you see yourself fitting in here?

To find out more about University and College Open Days, we recommend that you visit www.opendays.com by clicking on this link:

Read on to find out about doing well at interview.
Or go back to applying to uni.