What to Ask on a Postgraduate Open Day

Postgraduate open days are exceptional opportunities to discover more about a university, but you might not know what questions to ask to get the most out of them. Having your questions ready in advance will help you make sure you find out everything you want to know. We’ve assembled a selection of important questions you might want to ask at a postgraduate open day, or adapt to fit your own needs. We recommend that on the day you bring a notebook with your questions written down so that you don’t forget any of them, and you can jot the answers down in there too. You’ll also be able to note any useful email addresses or phone numbers should you want to ask more questions later. Being prepared will help you have a great postgraduate open day experience, and eventually make the best choice for your continuing academic career. 

CONTENTS

• Course Questions
• Application Questions
• Assessment Questions
• Facilities and Faculty Questions
• Accommodation Questions
• Funding Questions
• Careers Questions

Course

What is the balance between lectures and independent study or research? 

Look back to when you were studying for your undergraduate degree and think about which parts of it were the most valuable to you – when you were interacting with an academic in a lecture, or given a task or research to go away and complete. If you prefer either of these, it’s good to confirm whether the course at the university you’re visiting focuses on one or the other. 

How much contact time with my lecturers or supervisor should I expect? 

Supervisor time is a finite and sought-after resource. That being said, you should expect to have enough time with your tutor, lecturer, or PhD supervisor to receive enough guidance and feedback to complete your course. Finding out how much time on average students get to spend with their supervisor, with a mind towards how involved the subject is, can be a slight indication of how the teaching will go. 

What have previous students built their research around? 

Should you fancy being a bit nosy and checking you’re on the right track when talking to a course specialist on a PhD open day, it can be interesting to find out what previous students have based their research on. It could well confirm that this would be an appropriate institution for your research topic, but it’ll also likely be quite interesting in its own right. 

Application

What will admissions officers be looking out for in my application? 

Trying to semi-covertly gather information of what you could put on your course application or in your personal statement to impress whoever might be reading it is a huge advantage to taking part in open days. Whether you get suggestions for how they want your CV structured or what achievements they would like to hear about, we’d say this is one of the most vital questions you can ask when you meet people from your potential university. 

How quickly does my course usually fill up? 

This will be a useful bit of information for figuring out how long you have got to contemplate university choices. If a course rarely reaches capacity, you could be able to take a little longer to consider your options. Conversely, if you discover that it fills up quickly, you’ll know that you’ll need to decide somewhat swiftly (we always recommend getting your application in early whatever the case, of course!). 

Will my undergraduate degree/workplace experience count as a relevant qualification for my course? 

This question will help you get a good bearing on how you can use your past experiences to help build your case in your application. If the admissions officers are looking for a certain grade in specific subjects rather than any undergraduate course, you’ll know to focus on how it relates to the one you’re applying for. Similarly, if your relevant workplace experience is being considered, your personal statement will be a great place to show that off.  

Assessment

How will I be assessed? 

It’s good to know what to expect when it comes to assessment ahead of time, as this can help give you an idea of whether it’s the sort of course that you’re looking to take, as well as set up you with some information for writing your application and personal statement. Say your course is assessed predominantly with coursework, and the coursework you did on your undergraduate degree was particularly well-graded – this would be a good time to mention it. 

Will I be expected to make any presentations? 

This is another excellent question to ask on a postgraduate open day if you’re thinking about what could be impressive to include on your personal statement. Presentations can be a key component of degree assessments, so if you have experience with public speaking, whether that be on panels, lectures, or even stand-up comedy, you’ll know to mention it in your application.  

What feedback will I receive? 

Just like how supervisor time is a limited resource, feedback can also be in short supply sometimes. Knowing you’re going to get constructive, useful, bespoke feedback to your carefully crafted dissertation drafts instead of a simple score out of 100 can give you faith that your tutors will have the time to properly go through course information and the like. 

Facilities and Faculty

What facilities are available for use on my course? 

Open days are fantastic times to ask about facilities available on site, because you too, at that exact moment, are on site. If there are any facilities that you get told about, you very well could go and visit them right away. Of course, getting even more specific and finding out which ones will be available for your particular course is a great idea too, as while it might be cool that the university has an olympic-sized swimming pool, you may not get unrestricted access to it as part of your Occupational Psychology course, for example. 

Are there opportunities to be involved with further research at the university? 

Feeling particularly ambitious? Find out what sort of opportunities that you might be able to take advantage of when it comes to further research either during your degree or afterwards. If there aren’t any available, you might get pointed in the direction of somewhere that you could help, which would be good for planning ahead and making contacts later down the line. 

Will there be any guest lecturers? 

This question isn’t so you know to bring your autograph book to lectures, just in case. Hearing about what guest lecturers have spoken at your university, or which ones will be attending while you’re there, can inform you about what sort of skills you might expect to learn on the course. 

Accommodation

Are there postgraduate exclusive accommodation halls? 

If you’re concerned that living with undergraduate students will be a bit noisy and distracting (maybe you remember this from your own first year in university), some universities will have halls that are exclusively for postgraduate students. If you discover that there aren’t any halls just for postgraduate students, you can also ask if there are sections in the existing halls that are designated for postgraduate students instead. 

Is there accommodation for families? 

Some universities will even have accommodation for postgraduate students who have a family, whether you’re living with just your partner or your partner and your children. It’s best to find out about this early on, as they will most likely fill up fairly quickly, and could well be a deciding factor in where you choose to study for your postgraduate degree. 

Are there any advantages to living on campus compared to living elsewhere? 

This would be a good question to ask if you get a chance to speak to a former or current student at the university, as they will likely have firsthand experience of interesting advantages to living on the campus. This could be anything from campus community activities to access to on-site support teams, or perhaps a recommendation for good places to eat and quiet spots to study. Getting that insider information from someone who has done it themselves is a great advantage to visiting universities for open days. 

Funding

Are there any scholarships or bursaries available that I should be aware of? 

Funding may well be at the forefront of your mind when it comes to picking a university, as it’s an incredibly important part of the whole situation. While you’re on campus, if you get a chance to speak to any financial support team members, we recommend asking them about any scholarships or bursaries that you might be eligible for.  

Are there any research councils or organisations that the university regularly works with that provide funding for students? 

If you’re looking to find out about funding options outside of the traditional scholarships, research councils and charitable organisations also regularly help students with grants for their postgraduate studies. Some universities will work with certain groups every year, so it would be good to find this out on your open day and go away to get in touch with them to introduce yourself if you’re seriously considering st udying at the university. 

What course materials will be provided and will any need to be bought? 

Knowing how much course material you will be expected to buy is particularly handy information to have when putting together a budget for your postgraduate year. Some universities will provide you will most of what you need, and others will expect you to bring a fair bit of it yourself, so chatting about it with a course lecturer on an open day is a wise move. 

Careers

What careers have students of my course gone on to do? 

Whether you’re talking to lecturers or current students on your course, this is a hugely intriguing question to ask, as it can give you an idea of whether you’re on the right track for the career you’re after. It could also introduce you to new possibilities for where you could use the degree in the future, which would be useful if you know that you want to study a certain subject but don’t know how it can be used in the workplace. 

What are the careers services available at the university? 

Most universities will have careers services available to students to help them when it comes to finding jobs after graduation. They may also offer training when it comes to CV writing and interviews. Finding out about this on an open day will give you the chance to ask follow up questions about how long after graduation the services will be available to you or if you can access them online and the like. 

What difference will it make taking this course compared to going into the workplace? 

If you went into the workplace without studying the degree you’re thinking about, would you be able to get a similar level of experience? If you did do the course, would you be more hirable to employers or be able to get a more senior position? The tutors available to talk to you on open days may also be industry professionals who will have a lot of knowledge about the sector you’re hoping to enter after graduation, so this would be a great time to find out the advantages of taking a course at the university. 

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