Hey guys! Hope you're having a great day. I'm back with another post on this beautiful sunny day. I don't know if it's hot where you are but it definitely is in the UK and that is very rare. I have my cold water and my music playing, whilst I'm sitting in the sun, so I'm pretty happy right now. I thought I may as well take my laptop out with me and do my first uni post of the summer.
If you are new here, I am actually starting university this September and I plan on sharing all my university experiences with you all. From moving preparations to story-times (if anything interesting goes down). I have done other uni related posts which you can read after this post!
Being fresh out of year 13, I thought I would do a post related to the actual application process. One really significant and beneficial part of applying for university is going to open days. Today I am going to share with you the reasons why you should go to them before you begin your UCAS application.
Here we go!
Gives You An Initial Idea Of The Course
I found that going to Open Days before applying to Universities made things less overwhelming and gave me some sort of idea what I would be studying if I attended that particular uni. I knew what course I wanted to do already but I know that this isn't a decision made by everybody during the early stages of applying. By visiting Universities before you start your UCAS, you have an idea of what each university specializes in, what modules are taught, course options etc. My first open day was actually 2 days after my last AS exam in year 12. I am glad that I went that early on, as I considered doing a joint honours which I didn't really know was an option just by looking online. After talking to course leaders, I found out that I could do a joint honours and learnt about the benefits of it.
Open days really invite a fresh perspective and new options that you wouldn't be exposed to if you didn't go to open days.
Get A Real Feel
If you are like me and have always wanted to move away from home for university, this is important. Going to Open Days allows you to get a real feel for the new city or location that you could potentially be living in for the next 3-4 years. You will never know whether a region feels right for you unless you visit. I went to cities that looked amazing in pictures, but it didn't feel right when I visited in person. It was still very beautiful but I just didn't get the vibe I wanted. This made it so much easier when it came to the UCAS application as I could already eliminate certain options and narrow my choices.
Things I considered were the culture, population, town centre and distance from home. My mum drove for all of my open days so we were able to see how far it actually was from home (Important).
Speak To Real Students
For me, one of the best things about the open days I went to was the opportunity to speak to some of the students. The university staff and course leaders are ALWAYS going to try and paint the university in the best way possible, for obvious reasons but the students are more likely to be completely honest. This is exactly what you need. I went to one university and I spoke to one girl who's flat we went to look at. I loved that she was super honest about her first year experience and she gave me loads of advice. She talked about the work load, the small flat she was able to work with and what it was like to live in the town. Speaking to people who really understand and remember what it is like to be in your position is really beneficial. I hope to be a massive help to future students once I'm in first year.
Saves Time
I know that it is pretty common to visit universities throughout the year (which is totally fine- I did it too), but doing it early saves you so much time. TRUST ME when I say this. You are going to need all the time you can get in year 13, so make the most of it. One thing I found was that no matter how much work I did, it never felt like I had enough time to do everything I wanted to do. By visiting universities the summer before year 13, or between Sep and Dec, it allows you to have more time for your actual A-levels/course.
There are so many benefits to going to open days before doing your UCAS application. Hopefully if you take my advice on board, you will be pleased with your experience and carry a lot less stress.
Thanks for reading,
Have a great day x
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