Warwick Uni Open day

oystercatcher

Have been doing the rounds of Uni open days with youngest for entry in a years or so. Over the summer he decided he wanted to look at Warwick so in mid August I booked train tickets for the open day, this Saturday 26th Sept, the uni website did say they weren't taking bookings for the openday until Sept 1st so I planned to go back and do that........ life got busy and I forgot until earlier this week, went to book ourselves in only to find that they are saying booking is closed, can't take any more due to health and safety blahblahblah !! :eek:

I emailed the uni to say we'd bought train tickets and would we be turned away and all we got in return was a copy of the same , can't take any more bookings , health and safety etc. etc and encouraging us to come on a 'visit day' which doesn't actually let you see around the departments so seems pretty pointless to me anyway !

Because I went the money saving route and bought single, advance booking, train tickets there's no point in getting a refund as there is a £10 charge per ticket for changes which almost exactly equals the price !

So, what I need to know is, has anyone been to a Warwick open day, will we be turned away if we arrive without the booking pack? As I'm not particularly well at the moment I don't really want to spend a day sitting in Coventry with nothing to do and only allowed to get the 17.10 train home !

I've been to loads of uni open days as went through the same process last year with older son and none of them has closed bookings or limited the number of visitors so I am really puzzled, confused and annoyed by this.

carlislelass

there`s plenty to do in Coventry, we found Warwick can be a law unto themselves at times

DrScotsman

In September 2006 the bookings definitely didn't mean anything, although I imagine they might mean something if you wanted to park (I took the train too).

They never asked for bookings to listen to any of the talks, or to enter any of the buildings, and they can't stop people coming onto the campus. If they haven't changed it, you should be fine.

Btw, you don't need to go to the open day, all you'll do is confirm how awesome Warwick is

oystercatcher

DrScotsman wrote: »

Btw, you don't need to go to the open day, all you'll do is confirm how awesome Warwick is

I need to know if they are good enough for my son ! Can't have him going to any old dump

Lokolo

oystercatcher wrote: »

I need to know if they are good enough for my son ! Can't have him going to any old dump

Then why are you sending him to the midlands?

HopeAndDriftWood

They do check for booking packs, they also frequently ask for your 'booking number'. I wouldn't risk it if I was you, there was trouble at the last one for people entering without having packs, and the University didn't look kindly on those who had entered. It probably isn't worth the hassle.

oystercatcher

SaucySecrets wrote: »

They do check for booking packs, they also frequently ask for your 'booking number'. I wouldn't risk it if I was you, there was trouble at the last one for people entering without having packs, and the University didn't look kindly on those who had entered. It probably isn't worth the hassle.

That's useful to know. Thank you

HopeAndDriftWood

oystercatcher wrote: »

That's useful to know. Thank you

No worries. Have you phoned the university to ask if they could arrange a meeting with the department your son is interested in on the visit day? They might be able too, they are usually keen to help!

clozza_90

I don't remember how strict they were about people having booked or not, but I seem to remember you only booked to receive the open day book in the post beforehand which told you all the times talks and things were happening. it might be worth contacting the department/looking on the departments website as I think they do departmental open days throughout the year as well, hth

Kess

I'm in the same boat. We missed the chance to register for the open day, but have already visited Warwick anyway and had a tour of the department. However my son is keen to pop up there tomorrow just to look around the accommodation blocks. I'm concerned that parking will be virtually impossible on the open day.

According to the FAQ, for registered open day visitors "a code to allow you entry into the car parks will be emailed to you in advance of the day". Does anyone know this mysterious code, or know if there is any other parking in the area that we might be able to use?

oystercatcher

My son wants to take a chance and go anyway and since I have paid £40 for train tickets which can only be used on that day we might as well use them.
I missed the very cheap train tickets on some other open days by not buying them early enough so it's sod's law that when I remember to buy them early something else goes wrong and we can't book the open day.

I would imagine parking is one of the most restricting things at the open day. I'm hoping there will be a regular bus service from Coventry rail station so why don't you park in Coventry and get the bus Kess?
Uni accomodation is all much the same and they only open up the nicer blocks for the open days, to my mind it's not really worth looking at as there's not much choice as to where you get allocated in the end. Far more important to make sure the department has all we want!

I haven't considered phoning about a separate visit to the department as I am still hoping to use the tickets we have. If we can't get in and son is still keen to look then we will rethink. To my mind I am put off already as they are so unwelcoming. Maybe they feel they don't need to be as they are so elite ??