Coming to a university open day can feel like a daunting experience.  For many people it is the first time they have ever been to a university campus. There might be lots of questions: ‘where do we need to go?’, ‘who will be there?’, ‘what am I going to wear?’… and those are just the ones from mum and dad!

Luckily we’re here to help you out.  We’re sending out our open day and travel guides to everyone who has booked for the open days. They’re sent out in the post (provided you book a couple of weeks or more in advance) and we also send them electronically to everyone who has booked, so keep an eye on your inbox.

Here you can read about some of the people that you may meet at a Manchester Met open day, to help you prepare and feel more at ease…

Course Tutors

You can definitely expect to see lots of our course tutors at our open days. They’re on hand to answer any questions you have about the courses you’re interested in.  They’ll be available to chat to you in the Courses Fair on their respective stands, where you can pick up course brochures. You’ll also see them at the course presentations that are running throughout the day.  All the stand numbers and presentation timings are listed in your Open Day Guide, so make sure you take a look.  We spoke to Course Tutor Neil Wilson, who is the Academic Lead for Adult Nursing about his role at open days.

What do you enjoy most about open days? 

“I enjoy meeting candidates and their families. There is nothing more satisfying than being able to support the aspirations of people wishing to pursue their chosen course. Being present at an open day at the start of their journey and working with successful candidates throughout their studies provides the University staff with great satisfaction.”

Do you have any top tips for people attending a Manchester Met Open Day?  

“Plan your day carefully so that you are able to move through the generic university presentations, to being able to visit course specific buildings and also view the range of accommodation facilities.”

Support Staff

The university experience isn’t just about going to lectures and studying, there’s a lot more to discover and experience. Which is why our open days have a Student Life Fair, where you can meet lots of support staff from across the university. For example, here you can:

• get information about the University’s green credentials from our Environment Team.
• chat to staff from Residential Services about where you will be able to live whilst your studying.
• find out more about how you can finance university by speaking to staff from Recruitment and Admissions Team at the Finance Stand.
• talk to staff from MMU Sport about the sport opportunities available to our students.

We had a chat with Sean Threlfall from Recruitment and Admissions and Darren Waldron from MMU Sport about the open day experience.

What’s the best thing about open days?

Sean:  “The thing that I enjoy most about open days, is the buzz of excitement around the campus. Open day season is an exciting time for students who are thinking about progressing onto the next step of their education, and open days allow them to find out about the opportunities that studying at university brings.”

 

What is your favourite thing about living/studying/working in Manchester? 

Sean: “I’m lucky enough to have done all three. Studying in Manchester was the best decision that I have ever made, it allowed me to become more independent, meet lifelong friends and expand my cultural awareness. Living and working here still excites me and it really has something for everybody. There’s an amazing community spirit, great career opportunities and the social life isn’t bad either.”

What is your role at the Manchester Met Open Day?

Darren: “To promote our ever-growing sport and physical activity offer to prospective students. We provide over 60 hours of free activity through our active campus programme, we offer courses in your favourite sports to develop your coaching knowledge and we have over 40 student led sports clubs that represent the university at BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) level. We also enhance our talented athletes through our Sport Scholarship programme, which last year helped 62 students across 22 sports.  The programme is home to Olympians, Paralympians, National champions and International level athletes.”

Do you have any top tips for people attending a Manchester Met Open Day?

Darren: “Ask our friendly student ambassadors what they love about being at Manchester Met. As staff we can tell you why we think you should study here, however, it’s great to hear from someone who is studying here now and who can give you their opinion on their experiences.”

Which leads us nicely on to … Student Ambassadors

You will definitely see lots of our Student Ambassadors on campus at our open days (they are very easy to spot as they have student ambassador printed on their uniform!). They’re on hand to help you have a great open day experience, so don’t be afraid to ask them any questions, whether it is ‘where is the Geoffrey Manton Building’ or ‘what is your course really like?’.

We chatted to a couple of our student ambassadors Ayan who studies BA(Hons) Textiles in Practice and Michelle who studies BA(Hons) Primary Education about the open day experience.

What do you enjoy most about open days?

Michelle:  “Getting to know new people and being able to speak passionately about my course.”

Ayan:  “I also like interacting with prospective students and getting to know their background and what they potentially want to study. As well as reassuring them if they have any concerns. I was once at their stage of the unknown, but after coming to Manchester Met it has helped me lay down the foundation for my future.”

 

What is your top tip for anyone coming to a Manchester Met Open Day?

Michelle: “Plan your day out so that it best suits you and use the map in your Open Day Guide, but don’t be worried about asking questions. We’re here to help!”

 

So there you have it, that wasn’t too scary was it? Unfortunately our expertise doesn’t stretch to fashion choices for your mum and dad if they are struggling with ideas of what to wear for the open day, but you might want to suggest they steer clear of anything lime green or see through!

If you do have any more questions about our upcoming open days, you can contact our Course Enquiries Team on 0161 247 6969.  They’re open Monday-Friday 9am-4.15pm.