Cost of looking around universities on Open days

Mummy_Moo

Ohh dear. Sounds like you need to put your foot down or the next three years are going to be seriously expensive for you.

This is a great opportunity for your child to start learning about living within their means, sometimes we can't go everywhere we want and have all the easy options. I suggest limiting the number of Open Days they attend to a number you think is reasonable (to be honest 1 or 2 is probably adequate) and giving them a budget for the day (say £100) to cover all costs. That way your child can decide if they really want to go, or if getting up at 5am is worth it.

As much as you love your children spending this much money on open days is crazy, and will lead your little darlings to expect a fortune in handouts once they're at uni.

Prothet_of_Doom

Final Open day completed on Friday

Nottingham Uni is nice.

pelirocco

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

Final Open day completed on Friday

Nottingham Uni is nice.

Surely the main criteria for wanting to go to Uni is the course ? not how nice the halls are

Dare we ask what she wants to study ?


My brother still recalls leaving home at 17 to go and work in London . Parents went to work, he made his own way there .

[Deleted User]

I remember my uni open days fondly. It was the first time I had travelled anywhere on my own by train - I think the centre of Manchester on the metrolink was the furthest I'd gone at 17.

I made it to Leeds and Nottingham all on my own... good experience. I wouldn't have wanted my mum and dad there. I still ended up going to Liverpool on clearance (and had a damn good time there too).

I didn't give a damn about halls when I was looking around - it was about the departments and the facilities. It was quite a growing experience to go on my own.

PS. Nottingham uni is nice. Nottingham isn't. Get your kid a student rail card and teach them how to get from A to Z on their lonesome.

Savvy_Sue

pelirocco wrote: »

Surely the main criteria for wanting to go to Uni is the course ? not how nice the halls are

I actually think both are important - not necessarily how 'nice' the halls are, but the whole setup.

I went to a collegiate Uni, which suited me - walk to lectures, but everything else in one place. DH went to a campus Uni, fall out of bed and into lectures - his was within easy reach of the town centre, with plenty of accommodation within an easy walk. Two of my siblings went to campus Unis out in the middle of nowhere, without a decent bus service in those days. I would have hated that!

Two of my boys went to a campus Uni like their dad, the 3rd is in a city: no campus, halls a couple of miles away from all the Uni buildings, but a vibrant night life. Two of my nephews have done the same, a 3rd has gone for the campus approach.

I'm not saying none of us could have been happy in any other kind of Uni, but I do think that more than the course is important, and it IS worth thinking about!

Prothet_of_Doom

For the subject she wants to do, Nottingham is ranked number 1 in the UK, due to it's links with Boots. (Pharmacy)

Anyway, she now has a list of 5 to put on the UCAS form, and has discarded Manchester and Bath, from her list.

celyn90

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I actually think both are important - not necessarily how 'nice' the halls are, but the whole setup.
!

I agree, it doesn't matter how good the course is, if you hate the environment you'll have an utterly rubbish time. I'd actually say it is more important (and I've worked in HE for a long time!). It's easier to fix deficiencies in the course than in the place IMO - you need to be happy and comfortable to get the most out of learning.

TerryMI5

TheEffect wrote: »

Let her go on her own. I did. Think of it as initiation into student life/growing up/becoming an adult.

I second that!

toadhall

With DD1 who is now in her 2nd year in Canterbury, I took her to Swansea (stayed overnight £10 travelodge,cheap takeaways) then Canterbury (got up at 6am, there and back in one day 7 hours driving) and Nottingham (there and back in one day). I am totally bemused by the amount of money spent by the OP.
Now DD2 is starting to look around and we will do the same, then DD3 in 3 years time.
I do not begrudge travelling to where they want to go as we all need to know that where they are looking at has decent lecturers, nice halls (they are definitely not all the same) and if the "feel is right.
We do the travelling on a tight budget and I use up my holidays to do it.

southoftheriver

I do think that with uni now being 9K students do need to investigate a bit more, but no-one forced you to spend all that money! I think its great that you're so supportive (my mum came to one uni with me on the National Express and was impressed enough at that) but I also went to places alone and that was an important part of doing my own thing.