Travelling to uni interviews....costs

Derivative

silvercar wrote: »

interestingly they then made him an offer without interviewing. Friends of his say the same thing, you can sometimes phone up and ask if they will consider offering without an interview

This is interesting, I hadn't really considered that as at the time I was scared noone would even take me

About the transport costs, it's no problem paying to get to and from Uni. I was just a bit miffed at being forced to pay for open days, didn't get any of my offers until after my bottom choices had interviewed me.

whitfreak

I'm not sure I'd want to commit spending 3/4 years somewhere without at least having a look around the uni and the area. I mean spending £9k a year with only the prospectus to go on? Although open days are just another sales pitch, so make sure you ask questions.

I'd admit formality interviews were annoying, but I think is allows the uni's to decide who is actually going to chose them. And it gives you a chance to look around.

In answer to the question. It maybe worth asking the university. Hopefully some of them have realised that if they are going to widen their intake, some of potential are going to need support to get them there. Not just while they are there.

Derivative

whitfreak wrote: »

I'm not sure I'd want to commit spending 3/4 years somewhere without at least having a look around the uni and the area. I mean spending £9k a year with only the prospectus to go on?

I think it really depends on what you want out of University. Work life balance, I guess you could call it.

Having a look around can be done any time with a bit less pressure though. I didn't bother with open days not due to the expense but simply because it's not really something on my radar - my choices were based on reputation only, I can have nice surroundings when I'm earning enough

kazzah60

my son went to 3 interviews ( Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff) and one open day at Liverpool where he was chatting to one of the course lecturers quite informally for about half an hour asking him about his work experience stint in our local hospitals cancer unit ( he is studying Radiotherapy) she asked his name and made a throw away comment to him about keeping a look out for his application

he was quite pleased by this and was looking forward to being invited for interview - I told him not to get his hopes up as she probably said that to all the students!
lo and behold he had an offer from Liverpool with no formal interview.

My BIL who worked at a Russell group uni in the admissions department said that she probably HAD kept an eye for his application and that rather than a chat - this was likely to have been an informal interview, which he said many vocational course lecturers do as they get more of a "feel" for the applicant and that the most important part of any interview is the informal bit- thats when they are really testing an applicant !

not sure if it's true - but Liverpool definitely offered him a place with no formal interview and he has been there very happily since Spetember

WolfSong2000

kazzah60 wrote: »

my son went to 3 interviews ( Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff) and one open day at Liverpool where he was chatting to one of the course lecturers quite informally for about half an hour asking him about his work experience stint in our local hospitals cancer unit ( he is studying Radiotherapy) she asked his name and made a throw away comment to him about keeping a look out for his application

he was quite pleased by this and was looking forward to being invited for interview - I told him not to get his hopes up as she probably said that to all the students!
lo and behold he had an offer from Liverpool with no formal interview.

My BIL who worked at a Russell group uni in the admissions department said that she probably HAD kept an eye for his application and that rather than a chat - this was likely to have been an informal interview, which he said many vocational course lecturers do as they get more of a "feel" for the applicant and that the most important part of any interview is the informal bit- thats when they are really testing an applicant !

not sure if it's true - but Liverpool definitely offered him a place with no formal interview and he has been there very happily since Spetember

I had the same deal with St. Andrews university and my masters...went for a visit and an "informal chat" with a member of staff...seemed a bit more like an interview, but it got me a place. Personally I think, for me at least, being able to have a face-to-face talk with a member of staff made a big difference. I was able to ask all the questions I had about the course, and they were better able to assess whether I'd be capable of doing it.

faith2468

In reply to the comments about the cost of travelling. I do not think that my son was offered an interview although when he was sent a chance to look around the uni's he explained that they were all more than 250 miles from home. He still got offered places at all the uni's he applied to. It is worth talking to the uni's to see what options are available. Although one of the uni's offered to pay for my sons travel it would not cover the cost of staying overnight.

He chose to travel from Essex to Aberystwyth for uni and I was concerned about the cost of travelling. But with a 16-25 rail card and advance booking we have managed to get tickets for just under £16 for a single rather than the £65 you would have to pay if you buy at the ticket office on the day.

NRTurner

If travelling to visit a university in person for an interview is prohibitive, I would suggest contacting them. Most probably won't reimburse travel costs but may offer a telephone interview (the university I work for does this for some courses where an interview is required, and we call the applicant so we pay for the call); others may be willing to make an offer without an interview if getting there in person is too difficult.

It will very much depend on the university and the course; if you're applying for a competitive course at a high-ranking university, they probably won't show as much flexibility as a less-renowned university which needs to actively recruit to fill its courses.

I would still strongly suggest visiting in person if you can - some universities may even be willing to do a personal tour at a time to suit you if you can't make their open days or want to be able to book further in advance for (but this will vary between universities and courses). That way you can see the campus and be sure that the university is right for you, as you will be spending at least 3 years and quite a bit of money there. When making choices a few years ago, the visits influenced me, leading me to decline an offer from a university I initially thought to be good and accepting as insurance one that was better than I expected.