Melanie Moorhouse, Careers and Higher Education Adviser at St. Clare's Oxford, has recently introduced a weekly careers newsletter for IB students. The newsletter includes important information about upcoming events, as well as hints, tips and advice for developing career ideas and management skills.
In the first edition, Melanie included the following article advising on importance of University Open days, which we thought would be useful to share:
Going to a University Open Day? What should you be finding out?
Open Days are a really important part of your research into what you should study and where. The majority of UK Universities hold Open Days at weekends enabling you to visit lots of different locations without needing time out of lessons.
Most Universities hold their main open days between March and November. It is a good idea to start making use of weekend Open Days in the autumn term as an IB1. It allows you to find out about the UK University system and gives you the chance to go to taster lectures and seminar. This puts you in a stronger position when you have to start making decisions about what to apply for and where from the summer term of IB1 onwards.
If you’re an IB 2 and unsure about where you want to study it is very important to make use of open days this term as they may be the last chance to visit the places you want to apply to.
Open Days give you the opportunity to ask questions you can’t find the answers to on websites. They also enable you to experience what the university environment is like, which no website can ever do for you.
Key areas you should be asking questions on are:
- The Course. Especially about teaching styles, course structure, optional modules etc. as these are often not detailed enough on web descriptions.
- The Accommodation. How many years can you use the accommodation? Can you use it during holiday time? What is the price range and what do you get for your money?
- Clubs and Societies. Do they have active societies for the areas you are interested in?
- Career prospects. Where have students gone on to? What kind of careers support is there?
- Living Costs. Outside of your rent how much does living in the area really cost?
Find out more from this great article from Which? University.