The best and worst things about university open days

In a site wide survey carried out March 2009 we asked 1144 students what the best and worst things about university open days were. The top answers are below:

Best things

• The best thing about attending university open days is the friendly atmosphere. The universities obviously want to make the visit as beneficial as possible.
• Freebies!
• Being able to get a feel for the place. You can use the internet to look at halls/check the course out/see the departments, but you can only get a feel for the place by going there.
• Meeting new people and feeling more independent (I went to each open day alone)
• getting to talk to students and lecturers there

Worst things

• Being alone and with people you don’t know!
• Probably the worst thing would be that the events do not give you much time to explore the university yourself
• Limited access to the full range of accommodation.
• Being nervous, and not really having enough time to find out everything you want to know, forgetting questions you want to ask
• Travelling – “Driving with the parents”
• It gets crowded and long queues.