Why is your Business Management offer-holder visit day important?
Nervous about choosing your uni? Discover how Birmingham’s Business offer-holder day turned uncertainty into excitement and helped Grace picture it as home.
When you first receive news of your university offers, it’s an amazing feeling, but also a massive one. Everything feels real for the first time, and suddenly you’re having to make one of the biggest decisions of your life. That’s where offer-holder days come in, and honestly, they’re so worth it.
Before I even went, I didn’t really know what to expect or how it would be different from an Open Day. Instead of walking around campus and asking yourself “Should I apply here?”, you’re asking yourself “Could this actually be my home for the next few years?”. An offer-holder day allows you to start picturing yourself there in a much more serious way. The campus stopped feeling like this huge unknown place and started feeling familiar. As someone that was very nervous about moving away from home, finding out where I could get coffee between lectures, how long it takes to walk from halls to campus, and even where the bus stops are, was invaluable for me.
Who will you get to speak to?
One of the biggest things that helped me with my decision was meeting current students. They offer real insights – which modules are their favourites, what each accommodation offers, where the best study spot is – things you’d struggle to find in a brochure; make sure you have a few questions prepared! These things seem small, but when you’re deciding on where you see yourself the best, they suddenly feel super important.
Another reason to attend an offer-holder day is that it is much more specific to your course compared to a normal open day. You can speak to the department members that will be teaching you over the next few years. I attended a sample lecture with one of the module leaders, and it ended up being a real turning point in my decision. He didn’t just talk through the course content, but about why he teaches, what previous students have gone on to do, what opportunities the course provides. At one point I looked over and my mum was actually tearing up (which we still laugh about now).
Afterwards, my parents and I went over to thank him and ended up speaking for a few minutes. He was kind and smiley, and even though I was just one prospective student out of a hundred, I felt genuinely supported. For me, the offer-holder day turned nerves into excitement and I left feeling that Birmingham was the place for me.