University visits

[Guest]

Originally Posted by DisneyDaffodil

Our DD is looking for Sept 2019 start so only just started the whole open days for this intake. Exeter is her favourite on paper, but this may change after the visits 😀. It is a very good uni though. Good luck to your son with his choice there

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Ah I see, sorry!
Yes Exeter is amazing .
Love the fact they have people to help with health and mental health issues onsite as a couple didn’t offer this .
He’s been working hard on his revision and has his first exam on his 18th birthday 😆 😭
Thank you and good luck to your dd with her choice , it’s tough!

[FSnug]

Definitely visit any contenders. What looks good as a course on paper may not be what you sense when you visit. The organisation of the open days can be a good reflection of the organisation within the university and the quality of the student guides can also influence the experience. Talk to existing students - ask questions. I went with DS and I sensed different things to him - he was rightly majoring on course content and structure and I was looking at everything else - from halls to finance to transport. At the end of each visit we would go for a coffee or meal and see if we agreed on the feel and course. We did every time! He has just finished his second year at Portsmouth doing Film Production and is loving it. Small city (lots of night life if you want it, though he doesn’t), good train link for us, is happy with the course and is doing well and lots of private rental accommodation - though there is also lots of halls accommodation, some very new, at a variety of prices, and most a close walk to the uni.

[MEZZA]

Went through this last year with DD whose now studying psychology.
We visited Manchester, birmingham and Nottingham her main question was to the current students of the courses she was interested in. Was the reality of the course as described/ live upto in their prospectus ? Those that didn’t were crossed off immediately

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by FSnug

Definitely visit any contenders. What looks good as a course on paper may not be what you sense when you visit. The organisation of the open days can be a good reflection of the organisation within the university and the quality of the student guides can also influence the experience. Talk to existing students - ask questions. I went with DS and I sensed different things to him - he was rightly majoring on course content and structure and I was looking at everything else - from halls to finance to transport. At the end of each visit we would go for a coffee or meal and see if we agreed on the feel and course. We did every time! He has just finished his second year at Portsmouth doing Film Production and is loving it. Small city (lots of night life if you want it, though he doesn’t), good train link for us, is happy with the course and is doing well and lots of private rental accommodation - though there is also lots of halls accommodation, some very new, at a variety of prices, and most a close walk to the uni.

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Thanks some great advice. My DD has asked me to concentrate on the accommodation, costs etc as it is a lot to take in. She wants to concentrate on the courses and the feel of the uni.

She has looked at the same course as your son and is still considering a visit to Portsmouth to look at this course so it's good to hear that it seems interesting and is a nice city. 😊

[sammykitten]

Originally Posted by BevS97

We did this 2 years ago. The first ones we went to lots of the talks about finance etc. But eventually we realised they were all very similiar. So we focused on the talks about the actual course. Walking around the campus and looking at the accommodation.

We probably spent about 3 hours at Nottingham which is where she ended up going.
Much longer at Newcastle and Edinburgh which were the first two.

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thats really helpful, thanks.

Our first open day is Greenwich, end of June, which is DD's current 1st choice. The week after we have Bangor, then nothing until September, when we have Heriot Watt and Edinburgh unis. Aston in Birmingham was on the cards, but that clashes with Bangor dates (and Aston is an easy 1-hour drive from us so we can put that one back until Autumn).
Of the 4 we've scheduled, one we will do round-trip on the day, the other 3 will be an overnight (Travelodge, PI and Air BnB here we come).

DD is really looking forward to these visits, she can't wait to get to uni.

[marypoppins38]

We have Cambridge, Nottingham, Liverpool and Edinburgh booked.

[Dayle]

DD is just finishing her final year in Leeds I was saying to her last night it’s 5 years since we did uni visits where has that time gone? This year she has worked for the uni and is now the student stood doing the talk etc on open days.
We are also in Wales and student finance is different but has changed again since DD started. Due to the fact that partial tuition fees are paid DD ( not sure if this has changed this year) was not entitled to any bursaries in lots of unis that she would of been entitled to otherwise which although understandable has had an impact on her living costs. Also trying to get advice about student finance for her year in industry was difficult as they were only geared up to English students.

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by Dayle

DD is just finishing her final year in Leeds I was saying to her last night it’s 5 years since we did uni visits where has that time gone? This year she has worked for the uni and is now the student stood doing the talk etc on open days.
We are also in Wales and student finance is different but has changed again since DD started. Due to the fact that partial tuition fees are paid DD ( not sure if this has changed this year) was not entitled to any bursaries in lots of unis that she would of been entitled to otherwise which although understandable has had an impact on her living costs. Also trying to get advice about student finance for her year in industry was difficult as they were only geared up to English students.

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I haven't looked into it thoroughly yet, but I believe that partial tuition fees are still paid. I hadn't realised that would affect bursaries, as her college has told her to look out for any bursaries, so that is useful to know. It does show that the colleges don't seem to have the full details of student finance in Wales either, so it isn't easy to know exactly how it works.

My DD really likes the look of Leeds but discounted it due to her self-imposed 3 hour distance rule. I felt she should look at Leeds as it was one of her favourite prospectus's. How did your daughter find the travelling, does she drive, or rely on parent's lifts, or has she used the train? Only DH drives, so we feel this may be awkward due to work commitments, and she would need a reliable back up such as trains to come home for holidays etc.

[ely3857]

I go to University of Leeds, albeit a mature student living in Leeds.

Leeds train station is very large and can get you to almost anywhere, depending on your local situation. There’s also a bus directly from the train station to outside Uni for £1 (I think). It is walkable but from train station to Uni it’s all uphill!

The Uni is situation directly next to Leeds Beckett University as well. they’re both on the edge of the town centre with an easy walk into town or to off campus accommodation in Headingly or Woodhouse. Bus routes for both also available.

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by ely3857

I go to University of Leeds, albeit a mature student living in Leeds.

Leeds train station is very large and can get you to almost anywhere, depending on your local situation. There’s also a bus directly from the train station to outside Uni for £1 (I think). It is walkable but from train station to Uni it’s all uphill!

The Uni is situation directly next to Leeds Beckett University as well. they’re both on the edge of the town centre with an easy walk into town or to off campus accommodation in Headingly or Woodhouse. Bus routes for both also available.

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Thanks ely, I think i will try and get DD to take another look at Leeds, and look at train links there.