Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
How Offer Holder Days are different to Open Days
Hi everyone, Abi here, and in this blog, I’m going to tell you a bit about Offer Holder Days and how I found they are different to Open Days. I’m a second year Events Management student at Beckett and went to an Offer Holder Day before making my choice.
So, you’ve applied, got some responses, you’ve maybe shortlisted your choices (or you can’t choose yet – totally fine, it took me ages to decide!) and you are looking to get some more info and insights into your course…an Offer Holder Day is what you should look for.
What actually is an Offer Holder Day, isn't it just like an Open Day?
An Offer Holder Day is tailored for you to get a more in depth feel for your course with some more personal experiences of teaching and facilities throughout the day. Whereas an Open Day is open for everyone and anyone studying literally anything and gives you a really good feel for the uni buzz. They are usually held at a time before you complete your UCAS applications so they are to help you get a broad overview of the courses and uni, therefore are less tailored and detailed.
On an Offer Holder Day you are likely to get more course specific talks that are timetabled for you. The Offer Holder Days here at Beckett are a good simulation of how you are likely to learn. On my Offer Holder Day I went to a class room where we did a workshop activity in groups – students against parents! Which as you can imagine was competitive.
It was a really good way to get to meet potential students that are more serious about coming to LBU and meet your lecturers on a more personal level. My best friend now, was who I was sat next to in this group activity, so it is definitely worth doing!
I also made the most out of speaking to my potential lecturers and got one of their emails. This was really helpful as I had a bunch of questions that typically I didn’t think of at the time and she was really helpful even after the Offer Holder Day.
The workshop activity was one of the things that made me choose Beckett. It was personal and made it a fun day.
Should I bring anyone with me?
If you get the opportunity to, I would advise taking someone who knows you, and what is going to suit you as a person, as they can generally get a good vibe for how the university fits you and support you in that decision. For me this was my mum. I would say to avoid taking anyone who you find may try to change your mind about something perhaps just because they don’t want you to leave your home town or they don’t like the course. I know that sounds perhaps a little harsh, but it is about being able to see yourself studying there and you need to be able to make that decision yourself without any outside input.
What should I bring with me if anything?
You don’t really need to bring anything other than your e-ticket to event. However, I would always advise bringing a bag with a notepad and pen. On your way travelling to the Offer Holder Day (or even the night before if you’re organised) try and think of some questions that you want to ask current students, lecturers and other teams like finance and study abroad. With the whole buzz of the day, it is really easy to forget what you wanted to ask until you are half way home, so write it down as soon as you think of it. You will get a prospectus on the day, so you don’t need to print one out or bring it with you, but take five minutes to look through it to check where all the sessions are, at what time and how to get there.
I haven't been to an Open Day; can I still go to the Offer Holder Day?
YES! You can absolutely do this and in fact this is what I did. I never managed to get to the Open Day at Beckett (although I have worked at them since, so I know what they are like). I applied anyway then got an invite to this Offer Holder Day and thought it was too good of an opportunity to miss! You still get all the normal stuff that you would on an Open Day like your campus tours, accommodation tours, welcome to Beckett talks, all your finance, placement, residential, travel, disability advice teams are all still there too. However, at an Open Day you will be used to walking into the hall and seeing all the subject stands, which aren’t at an Offer Holder Day as they aren’t so much trying to advertise the courses, they are trying to give you more info on the ones you’ve already applied to help you make the right decision for you.
Overall, Offer Holder Days are different to Open Days in some ways and similar in others. The main purpose of an Offer Holder Day is so that you get more of a personal feel and more information about your course, the type of people on it, what the students think of it and what some of your potential lecturers may be like. So, make the absolute most of the opportunity and get to know your university!
