UCAS Applicant Days: What are they and how do you get the most out of them?
As I write this, thousands of you who have applied to UCAS relatively early will be beginning to receive offers from universities. Most of these offers will be accompanied by an invitation to go and visit the university, normally to an event called a UCAS Applicant Day, or something similar.
In this article we’ll be having a look at what these events are, how they differ from University Open Days, and what you should be looking out for if you decide to attend one.
How are Applicant Days different from Open Days?
First up, Applicant Days are by invitation only. For Open Days, universities are happy for pretty much anyone to rock up and have a look around. For Applicant Days, these are focussed specifically on current offer-holders. While Open Days are all about raising awareness of the university and its courses, Applicant Days (from the university perspective) are all about conversion; that is, they want to convert you from an applicant, to an accepted student!
For that reason, they tend to be quite a lot smaller. While Open Days may have thousands of attendees, Applicant Days could have anything from literally a handful of students, to a couple of hundred.
Applicant Days also tend also to be focussed much more on the department, and less on the university as a whole. At many universities, it will in fact be the department who does the organising, making all the arrangements for the Applicant Days.
What can you expect on an Applicant Day?
Whereas an Open Day will probably just have one, or two talks by each department, an Applicant Day will generally have a number of sessions focussed around the department you are visiting. They might well have an introductory talk, but then divide you into groups, depending on the specific degree or specialism you have applied for. They might then have a talk by some student ambassadors to give you a departmental-specific insight into student life.
In some cases they’ll do tours of the Department, showing you specific facilities, such as labs, studios or study space that you will use regularly as a student. And typically, there will be some unstructured time, over coffee, or even lunch, where you can chat informally to staff and students.
That’s not to say there won’t be any general university input at all. Some universities will offer broader campus tours, accommodation tours, and talks on things like student finance and careers alongside the departmental aspects of the Applicant Day. But generally, you’ll get much more time in the specific department than you would have done if you came on an Open Day previously.
And throughout the event, the focus will be on helping you to make a final decision. The university will be well aware that you probably have several other offers that you are considering, and will be keen to provide you with an experience that makes you choose them!
What should you be considering at an Applicant Day?
Let’s be honest here. You already think this university is pretty decent, and that the course looks of interest. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have applied and you wouldn’t be thinking about going to the Applicant Day.
So first up, this event isn’t about sitting at talks, listening to the university tell you what’s in the course and how good it is. It’s not about producing a long-list or even a short-list of universities to apply to. This event is about you deciding whether you are going to spend the next three or four years of your life living and studying there. It's a big deal.
Secondly, remember that as well as making one university your Firm choice (where around 80% of students will go), you also need to make an Insurance choice (where around 10% of students typically end up going). That Insurance choice is not to be taken lightly either. It too needs to be a place where you would be happy to live and study!
And thirdly, it’s really useful to see Applicant Days, not just as being about decision-making, but also about preparation. There will only be six to nine months between attending a visit, and starting at university. Most of that will be spent preparing for your exams, and it's pretty unlikely that you’ll be visiting again before you actually arrive to start your course. So treat the Visit Day as an excellent opportunity to find out everything you’ll need to prepare for, from budgets to study materials, cooking, travel etc.
What this means is that the Applicant Day is not the time to sit at the back and simply listen to how brilliant everything is. No, this is the time to question everything. To get out of your comfort zone and talk to people.
What should you ask about?
The details of exactly what you should ask about will clearly differ from person to person, depending on what you already know, what your circumstances are, and what is important to you. But I would suggest you prepare and write down a whole bunch of questions in advance so that on the day, you don’t forget any of the most important ones.
To give you a starting point, here are a whole load of things that I’d be asking about if I were in your position:
How many classes are there per week? Where are they held? When? What is the format? How many students will be in each class? What options will you have to choose different courses? How many assessments are there per term? What format will they take? Which assessments count towards the final grades?
Where do people study? What are the resources and facilities like, and when are they available to use? How does access to the library, laboratories, studios or other facilities work? What support is available if you don’t understand the course or a specific assignment? How can you get help?
What support is available if things go wrong? Is there easily accessible well-being, mental health and financial support?
And what about any additional needs you have? Is there a specific support service there to make the relevant assessments and provide you with the support, and potentially the additional funding you might need?
Where might you live? What accommodation choices are there? Do students normally get their first choice? How will you get from your accommodation to campus? What are the costs? Is food provided, and if so, what’s it like?
What are the daily routines of students? How will you travel around? Where will you normally eat, and how much does it cost? Where will you do your daily and weekly shopping? What will it all cost?
What about social life? Is social life focussed mainly around the student union, or clubs and societies? Or is there broader social life in the town or city? What is the cost of a typical night out?
What about sport and leisure? How much are sports centre membership fees? What else is available to participate in, and is it competitive?
Where do students typically do part-time work, how much do they work, and how well is it paid?
What are you going to spend your time doing on weekends? Do people generally spend their holidays in the city, or does everyone head home?
What careers and jobs do students go on to after they graduate, both in the short term and the long term? What help is there for you to help get you there, from the departments or from the careers service?
I know… that’s a lot of questions. You may not need to ask all of these directly, but you will want to have enough different conversations so that you can get insights into most of these different aspects of your future life.
So don’t just find one person and ask all your questions all at once. Instead, throughout your visit, find the right people to talk to, and just chat. In particular, make time to talk to current students and chat with them about their lives, and their experiences. Through these conversations you’ll probably find the answers to most of the questions I’ve posed above.
But if there is something that you don’t find out by the end of the day, don’t be afraid to ask directly.
And of course, it's also about the feeling…
Of course it’s not just about gathering information. At the Applicant Day you’ll also just get a gut feeling about the university. There’s not much you can do to prepare for the feeling you’ll get, but you’ll know. I can only suggest that you try not to react straight away to your first gut-instinct on arrival, but that you allow the full day before you let your feeling for the place take over. From my own personal experience, first impressions of universities are not always correct!
What next?
Well, armed with a whole stack of information, and of course your gut instincts, you’ll be much better placed to make final decisions. But you’ll also be way better prepared when you head to university in the autumn. And the better prepared you are, the more likely you are to succeed!
