Uni open days

Anyone else doing the rounds at the moment? Missed out with the eldest due to Covid so it’s our first time.

MrsMC took her to Warwick and Keele last week, I’ve done York today, Lancaster next Saturday,  another one the week after.

York uni has changed since my best mate was there 35 years ago! Disappointing lack of free tote bags to put all the pens in. Interesting range of accommodation, not got a clue what was happening in the physics course presentations. Great work by the lads with the huge “We ❤️ hot moms” banner in their kitchen window near the bus drop off  🤣

MrsMC took her to Warwick [and Keele] last week

Might have seen my daughter then, she helps co-ordinate the student tours. Would be an interesting if you’d known moment ‘we’ve never met but we’ve both ridden the same bike’

My neice started at Keele last year. Only wanted Keele, Hull was last resort back up plan. She went to every single Keele open day available, I reckon 7+ times. Even took her grandparents one visit. 🤷‍♂️

Contrasting, my daughter went to Man Met open day, the only one she bothered with. Asked her what she thought of the facilities.  Didn’t know, hooked up with some people she vaguely knew and went for a ‘dayer’.

hooked up with some people she vaguely knew and went for a ‘dayer’.

Start as you mean to go on! 😆

Taking mine to York tomorrow for her 1st one.

My son did two open days both after applying as he didn’t decide to go until the last week of applications.

My daughter on the other hand will have done 13 open days and a summer school by the time she applies after deciding on taking a gap year, all have been marked against a number of criteria she has and then put in a spreadsheet.

Taking mine to York tomorrow for her 1st one.

If you’re a Hot Mom you’re in for a great time.

Did Sheffield with No1 4 years ago. He’s just finished his degree. N02 took herself off to Edinburgh 3 years ago. She’s just finished year 2

No1 has just moved back home 😳

Used to help build and run them, best work I ever did :) 3 months spent building a big clockwork firework to be operated by enthusiastic amateurs then you put it in a room with like 5000 people and explode it for 6 hours. Too safe? Add alpacas for some reason.

Oh yeah and spend all day flirting with hot moms. Or hot dads, if you prefer. Hot older siblings if you’re brave.

Would be an interesting if you’d known moment ‘we’ve never met but we’ve both ridden the same bike’

“Our dad’s once met on a cold night at Trowell services, money changed hands….”

When did parents start accompanying their kids? Back in the 80s I did Liverpool & UMIST on my own, travelling up from Kent

Yeh, ’87 I did Kingston on Thames from Teesside on national express. But as my wife says now that you’re taking out a mortgage for a degree you maybe want to be a bit more choosy?

When did parents start accompanying their kids? Back in the 80s I did Liverpool & UMIST on my own, travelling up from Kent

When public transport became a lot more shit?

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When did parents start accompanying their kids? Back in the 80s I did Liverpool & UMIST on my own, travelling up from Kent

Basically once it became the second biggest or biggest financial decision most people will ever make, and you make it while your brain’s still not ripe.

now that you’re taking out a mortgage for a degree

not a thing. And a degree is cheaper than a mortgage and more fun.

edit. #1 child just finished robotic engineering at Essex (Colchester). A bit of a trek from manchester, but a lovely campus. Apparently the 3 years were ‘ok’. Results July 3 🤞. I expect they’ll be better than that Sunak chap’s on July 4.

Bristol last weekend, Sheffield today. Very enjoyable and informative and a couple of great choices. Bath and Southampton in due course and my kid is on a college trip to Cambridge too.

I’d recommend letting them wander off on their own to make their own choices.
And also going seeing the city itself. Pointless going to a uni if the city itself is awful, regardless of the standard of course.

Disclaimer: I chose university based upon 1. The Nightlife, 2. Quality of Mountain Bike club, 3. The Course (in that order)

We’ve been checking out cities as well.

my kid is on a college trip to Cambridge too.

Cambridge open days are the first week in July, we’re going on election day. Eldest has just finished there,  gets his result tomorrow, graduation (hopefully) on Wednesday.

If anyone has questions about Hogwarts/Cambridge I’m happy to try and answer or pass them on.

Eldest has just finished there, gets his result tomorrow, graduation (hopefully) on Wednesday.

Blimey, thats quick! Most places it’s a couple of months between results and certificate ceremony.

Blimey, thats quick

£9k a year is quite good value for money at Cambridge  😆 Get his results tomorrow ahead of the formal graduation dinner tomorrow night.

Done Aberdeen Edinburgh and Glasgow. Eldest decided on the latter and starts studying medicine in September

Did Bristol and Bath last weekend with EpicJnrII as well. Will do more in the autumn.

Didn’t seem to do open days back in the early 80s, just went to a couple of subject specific events, and then an interview at my first choice.

EpicJnrII was able to attend multiple subject talks, get a feeling for the content and faculty styles and has refocused what he thinks he wants to do. So a successful couple of days. I don’t think he’d have wanted to do it on his own for his first couple, maybe in the autumn now he’s a bit more aufait with what happens

I’m pretty sure my college did coach trips to a selection of open days, so no parents!  I remember thinking how lovely Bristol looked in the sun, the downs must be a lovely place to relax etc…. Little did I realise that the truth was far far wetter and muddier and the Downs was actually closer to the trenches, but with more dogging and muggings.

I’m presently sat outside York Uni halls picking up Binnerette number one to take her home after her first year. It seems about 5 minutes ago when we came here for the open day.

How the hell has she accumulated so much stuff?!!!

To anyones offspring thinking about York, she’s had an absolute ball here, loves the place and her course (English) has been fantastic, so that’s a massive thumbs up from her. She definitely made the right call

When did parents start accompanying their kids? Back in the 80s I did Liverpool & UMIST on my own, travelling up from Kent

I remember back in the mid 80s travelling to universities by train to size them up (and do interviews, remember them?!), but recently for my son we took a trip together over to Scotland from NI by ferry/car to visit Stirling, Aberdeen and Edinbugh, and took the bikes with us and had a couple of fantastic days in the Cairngorms as well, it was great, and a plus from this is that he took to Aberdeen having seen it for himself–so a couple of positives there.

Hull was last resort back up plan

My mum took our kid to Hull Uni open day. She got out of the car, took one look at Hull, got straight  back in the car and said ‘not a chance am I coming here! Let’s go!’ 😂

I was at Lancaster Uni and one of the offshoots of Leeds Uni recently.  Both seemed nice.  Lancaster is its own self-contained village with everything you’d ever need and miles away from bog all else, which is something of a double-edged sword.  Plenty of people love it but it wouldn’t have been for me.

Back forever ago when I was looking I remember being pleasantly surprised by how nice Liverpool was.

Hi Longdog I went to Kingston in 87, no national express I borrowed my mother’s car as had nowhere to live.  At the induction meeting everyone was saying hi, I was saying, hi I m poolman can I kip on your sofa.

Now a landlord in kingston, accom shortage is still as bad despite all the massive building going on.

Hi Poolman, I managed to get a crap room in Wimbledon, but then ended up living on a shared knackered old boat for two years behind the Hogs Mill in Kingston. I was actually looking on street view around the places I used to live and go recently and it’s unrecognisable now with all the fancy new developments. I did geology.

Did the rounds a few years back because daughter had to go to the same uni as stubborn boyfriend.

Fortunately due to his dithering she went to a local Uni in Manchester to do the course she wanted. He then decided to go to Sheffield, lasted a month and packed it in. Did nothing for a year then picked a course where daughter was. Guess what, lasted a month and is still doing nothing.

She’s on track for a high First (final year in Sept) and wants to do a Masters.

Thank god she didn’t get stuck on her own in a course that wasn’t exactly what she wanted.

Bumped into my old boss (he lived in London, I was in North East) taking his daughter round Glasgow last week while we were doing the rounds. Maths lecturer was disapointed that not many wanted the free USB pen drives these days (and she did admit the Masters degrees were cash grabs from foreign students!)

And when did a ‘full time’ course become a lecture or two a day (same lecture repeated morning and afternoon for ‘those who like a lie in’!) and a couple of labs a week.

Home Newcastle leg this weekend, then Sheffield next week. Train fares starting to tot up…

out of the car, took one look at Hull, got straight  back in the car and said ‘not a chance am I coming here! Let’s go!’

Missed out on seeing the pool table Sarah Greene shagged her drama tutor on then!

As per longdog, my visits were by National Express too!

@tractionman- my nephew graduated from Aberdeen c5 years ago (mech engineering degree & masters) he loved  the place. He didn’t travel for an open day as he’s Spanish so applied and did any interviews/meet ups on line (pre covid obviously).
He even coped with the temperature difference from Valencia to Aberdeen! Seems  a far cry from my day travelling home from Liverpool by National Express or BR and he’s flying!

Doing the rounds with my eldest currently….they are very different places these days and wish I had my time again.

 took one look at Hull, got straight  back in the car

We took our twins to the open day at Hull, which at the time was “city of culture”, and as we drove into the city centre and approached the station we had to stop for a pedestrian crossing. As the lights turned to green we were about to set off when a woman on a mobility scooter rolled off the centre refuge into the path of a car to our right that was also in the process of setting off.  She was hugely overweight, with very long straggly grey hair, had a fag firmly clamped between her teeth. The car next to us leant on his horn and she simply gave him a vigorous V-sign, let out a huge cloud of cigarette smoke and trundled across the crossing. We dissolved into a helpless fit of laughter, and I mused aloud that  she was probably the Hull Cultural Ambassador.

Aside from that my daughter went on to do a BA in Special and Inclusive Education, plus a PGCE and still lives in Hull teaching at a truly wonderful Special School. She absolutely fell in love with the place.

“And when did a ‘full time’ course become a lecture or two a day (same lecture repeated morning and afternoon for ‘those who like a lie in’!) and a couple of labs a week.”

My “full time course” in the 1980s was about 2 lectures a day, probably about 8 per week on average. No labs (maths). A couple of tutorials/classes a week too.

You’re supposed to think for yourself and organise your work, at least that’s how I understood it. It’s not school.

Most of the course talks we want to last week had a slide or mention on contact hours. One said that while contact hours were 14ish per week, the expectation was of each student making that up to 40 hours work with reading and assignments, to think for yourself, and to treat it like a full time job (at least from your 2nd year)

Envied the arts students with their 8 hours of contact bitd. I had lectures every morning from 9, and labs each afternoon except Wednesdays.

“And when did a ‘full time’ course become a lecture or two a day”

Too many years ago I had 12 hours of lectures a week….including one year with one lecture at 9 on a Monday and another at 2 on a Friday.  It was tough getting to those I can tell you.

” And a degree is cheaper than a mortgage and more fun.”

Have you seen the interest rates on student loans? And now they last for 40 years, it’s basically a tax of 9% on everything you earn over 25k for 40 years as most students will never pay off the debt. 25k is only a little over minimum wage. If you want a laugh use one of the student loan calculators to show the debt growth over time after all the payments.

I feel for kids from “less financially advantaged” backgrounds cause they are the ones most affected.

My lad is going to the Uni of Nottingham to do maths this year (assuming a levels went ok – and I have one eye on the aqa physics paper 2 when I say that) and I’m not convinced university is worth it these days. Apprenticeships are the way forward. No debt and decent cash to have some fun.

And I’m saying that as someone who went to uni and had a blast….before student loans were a thing and opportunities when you left were a plenty.   Kids are getting screwed left right and centre these days and student debt is just one more in a long list they have to deal with.

Just picked up my eldest daughter from end of 1st year in Durham. She is absolutely loving it. The college system works really well there. She’s determined to still get a first but still socialises loads too. She’s just received the 1st yr Philosophy prize for highest marks, which she’s really chuffed by, and hoping to get onto the university challenge team next year.

We visited with her, but left her on her own for the whole day to wander the departments and colleges she was interested in. The biggest negative about Durham is Y2/3 private accommodation prices. Next year is £220pppw and that is on the cheaper end!!

Did the rounds recently including Bangor (nice university and surroundings but dire, boarded up town), Royal Holloway (nice mix of old an new campus uni), Queen Mary (nice but a bit too much for my small town girl), Exeter (my favourite – nice campus and town with bonus seaside proximity) and Durham (charming city but a long way from home).

All put on decent taster (law) lectures. Daughter has chosen Durham as her first choice – now just waiting for the grades.

@dants13 – good to hear your daughter likes Durham. Please can I ask which college she is in and is the £220 figure quoted for live out private accomodation?