What questions should I ask at open days?

Choosing a university/college is more than just about location and the courses taught. Ask the right questions to help decide whether an institution is right for you.

Before you start looking at open days

Before attending a university/college open day, you should make some basic decisions:

Decide or shortlist what subjects you want to study; and
Make a shortlist of where you want to study that subject

Research your shortlist and create your open day visit schedule

Use the Opendays.com Open Day Calendar and Search pages to find out when the institutions on your shortlist are holding open days. Create a schedule and plan your travel.

Does the open day at your chosen university or college cover the subject that you want to study?

It's important to check what type of open day you are attending. Some institutions hold specific open days for each particular faculties or subjects, others have a general open day that covers everything. This information can be found on the open day detail page here at www.opendays.com. Select the institution from the search page, and go to the 'open day dates and details' section.

Questions to ask at the open day

When at the open day, think about these questions:

Is the institution too far from or too near to home? Do you like the area? Can you cope with being there for at least three years?
Is the university/college campus-based - all confined in one area or spread over a town?
Does the university/college have clubs and societies that suit your interests?
Does the university/college have sports facilities, and can you see them?
Does the social life appeal to you?
Can you imagine yourself here?

Don't worry too much about where your friends are going - despite the bad train services they can still come and visit, and you can visit them. You are guaranteed to make new friends when you get to university too. It's your life, so make it your decision. Just make sure that you've visited enough places and thought things through carefully before you make that decision.

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