6 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Skip Open Day

If you’ve just started Year 12, or you’ve just been on a gap year and are thinking about starting uni, now’s the time to start checking out when each university is holding their Open Day. 

If you aren’t familiar with what’s involved, Open Days are basically a big fair universities hold so people interested in studying can attend the uni for a day and see if they like it. There are usually events like campus tours, lectures, trivia and even art classes.

Or if you can’t make it on the day, some uni’s, like Canberra’s ANU, livestream all the good stuff so you don’t miss a thing. 

It’s definitely worth heading to at least one or two Open Days, but there’s no limit to how many you attend. Here are a few key reasons why. 
 

Check Out Some of the Facilities

Knowing the best spots to eat or grab coffee on your first day of uni can be a major boon. I had absolutely no clue where to go on my first day and I ended up going to the first cafe I saw, and that was the same cafe I went to for the rest of that year (it wasn’t very good). Plus, you can go on a full tour of campus, so you’ll actually know about the campus gym on your first day, unlike me who didn’t realise we had one until half way through my third year. 

Explore Your Options

Picking a degree is tough, but universities want to make that decision easier for you. Open Days are designed to leave you with as much information as possible about your study options. There will be a bunch of people on campus the entire day, waiting to answer any questions you have about degrees, majors and everything in between. You can ask questions about the logistics of doing a double degree, or find out which units you should take so you finish your degree with as many career-relevant skills as possible. 

Look At Some of the Clubs You Can Join

It isn’t easy to make friends after high school. And finding people you click with at uni can be tough. Luckily, there are so many clubs you can check out at Open Day which will help you meet like-minded people who love the same things as you. Uni clubs can range from recreational activities to groups based on cultural background and even a Kanye appreciation society (that one didn’t age too well). But either way, there will be one that is the perfect fit for you. 
 

Check Out The Sports They Offer

On top of the clubs, there are a heap of sports you can play at uni. Why not try your hand at AFL, join the frisbee team, or you could give quidditch a go if Hogwarts Legacy has got you in the mood to run around with a cleaning utensil between your legs. If you’re the type of person who’s looking for a bit more of an adrenaline rush, ANU also offers mountaineering, snow sports and scuba diving. Check out the full list of sports they offer here. 
 

There’s Sooo Much Free Stuff

Just in case you needed a sweetener to convince you to head into O-Week, you’re pretty much guaranteed to walk out with a tonne of free stuff. You could genuinely play “freebie bingo” and tick off a box every time you get a free energy drink, some stationary, a coffee voucher, a study planner, etc. So even if you’re pretty set on which uni you want to go to, you can score yourself a free lunch at a few Open Days, and you might as well check out the facilities while you’re there!
 

You’ll Be in the Know

At any Open Day, you’ll find out some key info about your degree as well as meeting the tutors and lecturers who are likely to take your classes. Plus, you’ll also have the chance to ask heaps of questions, and learn about some of the uni jargon that would otherwise send your head spinning in your first week. I was so out of my depth when they started talking about Census dates on my first day. Like what?! I thought this was a university not the Australian Bureau of Statistics?!? One semester I even missed the Census date and it meant I had to wait a whole extra semester before I could finish my degree. 

The best thing about Open Days is that you can go to as many of them as you want, so it’s definitely worth checking out the key dates for each uni you’re considering. You’ve got nothing to lose from heading to a few unis you weren’t considering originally, even if you have to travel. You could even make a weekend of it and head down to Canberra and check out what somewhere like ANU has to offer.