When you get to the age where you can’t hide away from the fact that your future is on its way and you need to start choosing universities, you start looking into courses that interest you, and start visiting the universities for open days. Going to uni open days are quite important because if you are making the commitment to go to university, you surely want to know where you may spend the next few years. I went to my first open day a little bit ago, and these are the things I wish I’d have known before going.
1) Be prepared
Make sure you know you can go, can get there, and what you want to see when you are there. This means, make sure you book going on the day (you can find the instructions on how to do this if you need to on the university's website). Make sure you can travel there, so transport or maybe you can go with your parents who can drive you! Lastly, have a look at what times the talks you want to see are and maybe make a little schedule so you know what you want to see and when.
2) Make sure you know what you want to see and when
This can include talks, campus tours, and accommodation tours. Again, a schedule might be useful or at least be aware of when these are taking place so that way you can catch them. Also, be aware that there may not be time to do everything you want. For my first one, I planned to see three talks, go on an accommodation talk, and get food. I saw one talk, properly spoke to one more lecturer… and that was it. Make sure that your plan can be flexible but make sure if something is important for you to see, go out to see it.
Pro tip: Take a snack! In case you don’t have time to eat.
3) Ask as many questions as possible
During a subject talk, make sure that you note down questions when they come to mind, then make sure to ask as many of them as possible. That means you’ll get the answers to all your questions to start off with, but also the lecturers will see how interested you are and that’s brownie points.
Enjoy it, don’t be too scared for the future because going to see things and asking questions will allow you to make the most informed decisions you can.
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