Open Days

Open Days. They happen to be really great way of making that all important decision of 'Which Uni?'. Things I took into account when I was applying to universities was the distance away from home, the course itself, UCAS points and of course how the nightlife is (we know how important that is Haha). With that taken into account I of course did my research. Open days were not easy for me because at the time, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. All I knew was that whatever course I wanted to do, it was something that I would enjoy. So with that in sight, my best friend and I decided to go to some universities together and weigh up our options. At that point we both had not yet applied to university but here are some things we both learned whilst at open days;

1. Logistics-  For some, being really far from home is ideal, but for others perhaps being close to home is not a bad idea. Also, when looking at logistics I tended to look at how easy it was to go home. The kind of public transport available to me and the frequency. I did not want to be in a place that did not offer easy ways of getting into University and getting home.
2. The course- My best friend was looking at doing Law. He knew he wanted to do that from the word go, I on the other hand knew that as long as the course was business related chances are I would probably enjoy the course. Every university we went to had talks about the course and the kinds of avenues you could look at after graduation. 
3. Opportunities- By opportunities,  I mean the kind of opportunities you are given or are likely to take with your course. This may be placement opportunities or such like Placement year or Internships and even the likelihood of employment after graduation which is  really important.
4. University student vibes- So this is my term for how the university feels. Most university students that I spoke to you when I was going to these open days were so enthusiastic, fun and energetic. They also gave me lots of free stuff which was cool (who doesn't like freebies) but most importantly, it was vital for me to ask about the course and how they were getting on with their course and whether they enjoyed it.
5. Nightlife- I come from a small town. I wanted to be able to go out, have a good time and enjoy whatever the University nightlife had to offer.
6. Accommodation- Every open day allows you to have a look at their accommodation on offer. They show you a range of accommodation so you are able to make decisions based on your monetary situation. It's also a good way of analysing whether you would like to live in a sociable environment or whether you would prefer to be in the comfort of oneself.

After all the above, both my best friend and I weighed up our options. We then chose our choices based on the above criterion and funnily enough we chose different ends of the country but equal distances from home. He went to university in Sheffield and I went south of Home. It worked out for the both of us and look, we have both had a fun time at University.