A book that I recommend is :
HEAP 2019: University Degree Course Offers Paperback – 18 May 2018
By Brian Heap
Edited by moderator

Heap has been around for years - he has modernised and is available online which is, of course, massively more uptodate than any print publication.

Reality is though that with uni websites, student alternative online guides, UCAS information online, Heap isn't really necessary/relevant anymore - I certainly wouldn't purchase a physical copy, myself.

Just back from Loughborough Open day. DD has now seen all four she shortlisted. One is very much ‘OK but last place’. The other three all have something going for them.

I did my first university open day last week- Reading University. DS loved it and wants to put it down as his one and only choice.

DD refused to do any and applied blind to her 5 choices. She did one offer day and put that as her UK first choice. She has her heart set on studying in Europe.

Young people are all very different. Both my DC have chosen niche courses that are only offered at 1 or 2 universities.

We did both Loughborough and Nottingham yesterday which was a bit of a marathon in the heat. DS liked Loughborough, wasn't so keen on Nottingham. Have been to Warwick which DS loved and next weekend we have Cambridge on Friday, Durham on Saturday and Southampton on Sunday. I think it retrospect it would have been a good idea to look at some in year 11

I think finding out what you don't like really helps.

Both of my dds did a lot of taster courses and this was very very helpful in the campus versus city debate and the style of teaching. Dd1 took against campus unis very emphatically and this really did help to narrow it down. Dd2 went to a taster day at a uni and really liked the staff and their specialists subjects.

My dd2 is doing History and it is taught quite differently in some places. If you go to a London University for History you can do courses at any other London University as part of your degree which is fantastic. The taster days really helped her identify the unis that were strong in the areas that she was interested in.

Did you hear that 90% of Y9 has chosen History as a GCSE option? I think it will overtake Maths as the number one A level shortly. Edited by moderator

There are (edited by moderator) a huge range of options at uni.

I would suggest looking at ones that offer a wide range of joint courses.

Over half of the students reading History at Manchester are doing a Joint Honours degree with International Relations. DG

Not sure we would have coped with all that.
We did two last Autumn and two this time.

Having had 3 DC's we have this down to a fine art! We don't bother with the "Welcome to x university" talk or the finance talks. We don't do the accomodation tours as they only show you the best accommodation and the chances of getting that are slim. Campus or city, accommodation on campus or off are the important things. Go to the course talk, meet some students studying that course (one we went to said they had a 20% drop out rate. Why??). Do the campus tour, talk to people about clubs if a particular activity is important. Job done. The most important thing is the course content and assessment methods.

We’ve defintely not bothered with the finance talk or the generic ‘why pick this uni’ talks. Subject talks and presentation/stand only, with a quick look at accommodation. At One uni we did get to see the oldest, grottiest halls only. Most websites have virtual tours anyway. One had a 3D cardboard mock up of a room to give a sense of scale but we couldn’t have seen any real rooms as it was still term time. It did mean we could see several all in one go without walking all over campus.

Given our experience yesterday compared to other days, we found that it helped DD to have friends with her (for reasons I don’t understand we ended up taking two of them yesterday). It may or may not be an option, and may not actually help others though. They also need to want to see the same ones, but worth considering.

Dd has chosen five universities, but wants to do medicine, but doing the UKCAT exam restricts her.

She found looking at accommodation and listening to the talks on medicine the most useful. She also noted the other students applying. One university had about 90 per cent girls at the talk ... which put her off.

She is very aware of the cost and thinks it would be cheaper to live in the north. She also wants to be in a city. Sports facilities are important to her (although she is not very good at sport - she wants to stay fit and find a way to make friends). So she wants a running track if poss and a cycling club! She does not want to be close to home.

It's tiring! Her predicted grades are a few marks off the 3 x A's required ... but she is adamant she wants to do medicine and nothing else. I keep pointing out the disadvantages as I'm not sure this is the right career for her.

So biomedical science is a back up for her fifth choice.

I think she will get a feeling which she prefers ... she already prefers one out of the two visited. It's big!