Why you should come to a Southampton Open Day

July is the season for university open days and this, of course, includes the University of Southampton.

This year the Open Days are on the 9th and 10th of July – this weekend! - and later on the 3rd and 4th of September.

Open Days are a great opportunity to experience campus life, meet what might be your future lecturers, see the halls and in general, hopefully, get a good taste of what it’s like to be a student at Southampton.

I wrote a blog post about Open Days last year, sharing what I still think are some good tips to keep in mind. To summarise it quickly;

• There’s no such thing as a dumb question, so prepare some questions and remember to ask them to the appropriate people. Keep hold of your bus ticket and program of the day.

• You will most likely only be shown one of the halls of residence on the Open Day, so remember if you’re not sure, there are loads of other halls to choose from. I dare to say Southampton has halls to fit everyone and every budget.

Before any of this, though, you need to book your place for the Open Days. It doesn’t take long and is essential in order to attend. When this is done, the University provides you with an online step-by-step guide to prepare you and make sure you have everything you need for your day. They help you with everything from planning your journey to campus including parking, viewing the program and planning where on campus you can stop for a coffee. It’s always good to be prepared.

The difference between the Open Day and just visiting the University independently is that on the Open Day you get to actually meet other students who are doing the course you are interested in and the staff who teach them. This is why the Open Days are the best option you have to get a proper taste of the student life and opportunities Southampton can offer.

However, as mentioned there is the possibility of visiting the University independently and getting a Campus Tour around the Highfield campus. If you want a guided tour outside of the Open Days, you will still need to register and these tours are not subject specific. Tours for your potential specific department need to be arranged separately. Although these options are there, if you have the chance, do go to the Open Day.

The great thing about a university like Southampton is that they like to be one step ahead – meaning that if you are unable to attend the Open Days in person, you can use their Vitrual Open Day. This is especially a good idea if you are a prospective international student and don’t have the chance to travel to England. It’s also good if you can’t get to Southampton very easily too! The Virtual Open Day takes you to see the different campuses and halls Southampton have to offer. Furthermore, it takes you through all the main topics such as fees and funding, your career after graduation, student life and the city of Southampton.

Universities are so much more than just international and domestic rankings. Choosing the right university is essential because it’s your new home for the next three or four years, so putting some extra time and effort into it will pay off.

There are also Open Days for the Winchester School of Art campus. If your chosen subject is located in Winchester, you can visit the campus on 3rd September this year! Again, booking is essential.

It is genuinely hard to find a picture which does justice to how beautiful our campuses are. Since Avenue Campus is being revamped, I thought I’d post a picture of what Avenue looks like in the spring without all the scaffolding!

If you’re coming to the Open Days this weekend, I hope you have a fantastic time!

Alexandra

Mark your calendar: September Open Days

September will soon be upon us, which means there are loads of exciting things coming up. Hopefully a lot of people reading this blog are excited because they have been accepted to Southampton and will be joining us in September. Or maybe you’re thinking of visiting on the Open Day and starting to apply to universities for next year!

The September Open Days for the University of Southampton are coming up very soon. Two weeks from tomorrow to be precise!

I personally did not visit on an Open Day and I honestly can’t say that I regret it tremendously. However, after being a student ambassador at a recent Open Day it struck me what a great opportunity an Open Day actually is. I know I learned a thing or two about the University and the campus that I didn’t know before, even though the Open Day was 5/6 months after I started uni!

Therefore, I have some advice and tips for the upcoming Open Day that I want to share with you.

During the Open Day you will be able to meet some prospective lecturers, attend taster sessions, go on campus and accommodation tours, meet with current students (student ambassadors), sometimes even alumni ambassadors show up and you can meet the staff who work within the admission team.

In other words, it’s a great opportunity to really get the feel of what the University of Southampton has to offer.

The first bit of this post is slightly obvious. I advise you to ask ALL of the different questions you have, no matter what! Stop a student ambassador and ask them about the course; what does he/she like about the course? What has been the biggest adjustment at university? You can ask about halls, nightlife, Freshers’ Week, optional modules, sporting facilities, societies, the library…anything! Make sure you also ask the lecturers and other staff about course content, readings, assessments, academic tutors, workshops, tutorials and optional modules.

Bringing a small notebook where you can write down your questions in advance or to take notes from the information provided on the open day is a good idea.

The whole purpose of the Open Day is for you to decide if Southampton is the university for you, so remember that there are absolutely no ‘stupid’ questions and you can never ask too many!

This brings me on to the next part, which I think is very important to remember, regardless of whether you are a prospective student or parent.

It’s important that you distinguish between the student ambassadors and the staff. As mentioned, you should ask all the questions you might have, but in order to get the best response, make sure you ask the ‘right’ person. For example, if you are curious about internships you can ask your student ambassador if they have had any internships or what they know about internship opportunities. But, to get the best response, you should also ask the staff/lectures. They have (probably) been around longer than the student ambassadors and they are connected to all the students regardless of what year they are in. This means that they can tell you about the current internships opportunities, but also what current AND previous students have been doing.

The same applies to questions about admission and conditional offers. If you are worried you might not meet your conditional offer, maybe something in your personal statement will secure your place. It might be a good idea to ask staff about personal statements, but bear in mind that all applications are different and no one at the Open Day can tell you if your application will be accepted!

Highfield Campus

Going on a Campus Tour is a standard part of the open day. So, when you first arrive, go on the campus tour! Touring around the main Highfield Campus is a good way familiarise yourself with the ‘heart’ of the University.

Depending on your course, the majority of your lectures may be at another campus. For example, Ocean and Earth Science students will study at both Highfield Campus and the Waterfront Campus. Humanities students will be at Avenue Campus a lot, whilst Medicine students will be at Southampton General Hospital. Highfield Campus, despite this, is still extremely relevant for all students, because Highfield is more than just lecture halls. It’s where you find the Hartley Library, which is the largest of all the University libraries, as well as the connection point for all the Uni-link buses, and the location for the University Health Service and the Students’ Union (SUSU).

In other words, Highfield will always be relevant for you and it is, in my opinion, one of the nicest places in Southampton! A little ‘botanical garden’ within the city, as I like to call it.

One of my favourite buildings on campus – The Hartley Library 

The same advice goes for the accommodation tour, but I recommend that you visit the University’s accommodation pages and read about the different types of accommodation offered before you go. The University offers all types of accommodation within the different halls, but unfortunately you can’t view all of them on the Open Day. If the accommodation you see on the tour isn’t ideal for you, fear not! I guarantee you will find a hall that fits your needs.

You should ask your student ambassador about accommodation, because almost all of us will have lived in halls at least for our first year. For example, if you have seen a specific hall you like, but this is not the hall shown on the accommodation tour, ask your student ambassador about it! Chances are that the student ambassador has lived there or will know someone who has.

Some other questions you might like to ask yourself when looking at accommodation include;

• How far away from Highfield Campus will you want to live?
• Do you have a budget?
• Should I opt for catered or non-catered halls?

If you are unsure what the best choice is, ask the student ambassadors what they preferred and hopefully this will help you!

My last piece of advice would be to eat all the food offered at the Open Day! There is usually some really good food, with lots of refreshments available on campus - or you could visit the street food and general market down in the City Centre when you are done! There are plenty of place to eat when you visit.

The view from Mayflower Park in the City Centre

I hope those who are attending the Open day finds this helpful and that you enjoy your visit!

Alexandra

Why so far away from home?

It’s probably the most common question I’ve had from friends and family ever since I chose to come to the University of Southampton  four years ago, which somehow simultaneously seems both a short and long time ago! “Why so far away from home?” But, hailing from the North-West and thus a five-hour journey away, it’s a fairly good one as… well, you don’t get much more South than Southampton!

All jokes about moving as far away from my parents as possible aside (although they haven’t let me forget it!), this distance from home has been a defining feature of my University experience as a whole. And, as with everything, it has its advantages and, occasionally, disadvantages, but I’m glad to say it’s a gamble that was well worth taking. I’ve had a fantastic three (and two thirds!) years on the South coast, and am looking forward to a great final term there to boot.

Making the journey back last week to head back up North for some rest and recuperation did invoke a curious feeling. It’s not that I wasn’t excited; I’ve had more home-cooked food here in a week than I managed in the whole of last semester! But when the two lives you’ve led – the Northern life and the Southern life – have so little crossover (I was only one of two from my school year to go to Southampton!), it is an odd sensation to transition between them, well aware that the other one will continue on regardless. With five hours on a train, there’s a lot of time in which to ponder! But, to allay any fears you might have reading this, this curious feeling vanishes the second you see everyone at the station, at your house or in the city again; there’s nothing quite like seeing friends, family and, in my case, cats, again, sharing stories of what’s gone on (although there are different stories suitable for different people)!

In that sense, nothing ever really feels like it’s changed at all, and it’s amazingly easy just to slip back into old routines, friendships and groups and go bowling, see a film or grab a meal together. My school friends’ tradition of regular curry house trips well and truly lives on, and we appreciate it more than ever!

This week, as a break from revision, I’ve gone back to helping to stack hay bales on the farm – with a little help!

In that sense, I’m an extremely lucky individual, in that I have a brilliant set of friends both in the North and in the South of the country and so almost always have someone to call on. It’s not even that the two communities are as distant as I imagined they would be when I arrived so many moons ago – the wonders of webcam chats, texts and, most frequently, social networks, all go a long way to bridge that gap, keeping me ever-connected and chatting with people from all over the country, and making sure we don’t get out of touch. Well, not too often, at least - I do sometimes forget to text my parents back. Sorry Mum!

But the question remains: why Southampton in the first place? For me, I think it’s just because, ever since I visited on an Open Day and follow-up departmental day (which is definitely the best way to get a sense of any University, so I’d hugely recommend attending one here if you’ve a decision to make!), it’s just felt right. The course seemed (and has continued to be) brilliant, the facilities comprehensive, and, best of all, the campus homely.

As somebody who values their home comforts and who hadn’t had any experience of independent living before moving away, this was a critical factor for me. Once I got the sense that I could feel at home in Southampton, surrounded by friendly folk, a beautiful campus and great facilities (the Students’ Union shop remains one of my favourite buildings on campus!), I knew it was the University for me – largely because the well-stocked campus, surrounding area and community would make it nearly impossible to be lonely!

Although, nearly four years later, I still do once in a while find myself missing life at home ever so slightly (and vice versa when I’m back there, and I see there’s stuff happening in Southampton – stop having fun without me, guys!), it’s more than compensated for by the fact that, at both places, I feel like I have an incredibly inspiring, supportive and warm place in which to live every day: a home from home, if you will.

Although I knew from the start that I wouldn’t be able to pop home every other week with my dirty laundry, I’m hugely glad I took on that extra challenge and went for Southampton. If anything, it’s made me throw myself into the real world and learn even more than I probably would have done at a closer university, particularly alongside my flatmates in first year (the perfect time to experiment with stuff, as nobody really knows how to live independently!). Suffice to say we committed more than our fair share of cooking atrocities!

You’ll never know until you’ve seen for yourself how much distance from home, or indeed any other factor, should play a part in your decision, so if you’re considering universities now or for the future, I can’t recommend enough trying the virtual tour on the University of Southampton website or, better still, coming along and seeing the city for yourself! Who knows? Maybe your gut will point you to your home from home!

Robin