Why come to an Open Day?
If you’re a prospective student, you might be planning to come to one of our Open Day events in the next couple of weeks (head to https://warwick.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/opendays/ to find out more details). If you’re on the fence and not sure it’s worth the trip, I would highly recommend coming along. Of course, if it’s not possible for you to come in person, there are plenty of great online resources (such as virtual tours and videos) available. But I’d like to share today why I think it’s a great idea to come to an Open Day.
- You get a feel for the place
I know this sounds vague and a bit unscientific, but I really think you get a strong feeling of whether or not you can imagine yourself at a uni when you visit. I visited some universities in Sixth Form which I was sure I would love, and on paper sounded like exactly what I was looking for, but just couldn’t imagine myself there when I visited in person. It wasn’t something I could put my finger on, but I knew I had to really like the place if I was going to commit to spending the next three years there. I didn’t know anyone at Warwick or much about the uni at all before I came. It ticked a lot of the boxes though, so I thought it would be worth a visit. When I looked around the campus, I could picture myself there quite easily. It felt like a welcoming and friendly place to be, so I knew pretty early on that day that I would be putting Warwick on my UCAS form.
2. Seeing the campus
I would strongly recommend going on a tour of the campus. You’ll get to see where you’ll be studying, spending leisure time, and some of the campus accommodation. It’s great to look at pictures and read a list of the facilities, but seeing them for yourself can make a big difference in your decision. There might be something about the Sports and Wellness Hub that swings you, maybe the Piazza seems like a great spot to hang out with friends, or perhaps meeting Rolf the Campus Cat in the flesh is the deciding factor!
3. Asking questions
You’ll undoubtedly meet lots of current students on an Open Day, and who better to ask about life at Warwick? They’ll be able to answer your questions about the uni in general, as well as more specific things about accommodation, sports clubs and societies, social life, the location, and courses. Make the most of that opportunity, as the students will be more than happy to share their experiences to help you make an informed decision.
You might also attend some talks, maybe subject-specific or about big topics like funding and wellbeing. You’ll have the chance to ask the people running those sessions your questions too, and it can be really helpful to speak to your future lecturers and university staff if you have any questions or concerns. They will be the most informed and able to help you, so be sure to look at the timetable for those talks in advance as you usually need to book onto those.
If you can make it to an Open Day – whether that be at Warwick or any uni – I’d definitely recommend making the trip. I think it’s difficult to know what you want from a university until you see one for yourself. For example, I didn’t know that I wanted to go to a campus rather than city uni until I visited them, and that really helped me to whittle down which unis I would apply to. Visiting Warwick when I was in Year 12 sealed the deal for me – I have really fond memories of looking around campus for the first time, and knowing that this was where I wanted to come to uni.
