Thinking about going to uni in Queensland? You’ll probably want to go along to the 2021 Queensland university Open Days!
COVID-willing, they’ll actually be happening this year. 🤞
UPDATE: Since Queensland universities were cancelled irl, check out Online Open Days are the next best thing to checking out universities in person – career champ for a comprehensive list of online Open Day resources from unis like UQ, QUT, Griffith, ACU, USC, USQ, JCU and more!
When are Queensland University Open Days in 2021?
On-campus Open Days
Most Queensland universities are running in-person Open Days this year, which is fabulous news!
- Saturday, 24 July 2021 – Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Open Day (2021)
- Saturday, 1 August 2021 – University of Queensland (UQ) Open Day (2021)
- Saturday, 7 August 2021 – Australian Catholic University (ACU), Brisbane campus (2021)
- Saturday, 7 August 2021 – Bond University Open Day (2021)
- Sunday, 8 August 2021 – Griffith University Open Day (2021)
- Sunday, 8 August 2021 – University of Southern Queensland (USQ) Open Days – Ipswich & Springfield campuses
- Sunday, 15 August 2021 – University of Southern Queensland (USQ) Open Day – Toowoomba campus
Virtual Open Days
There are also still quite a few virtual Open Days happening this year.
- Sunday, 18 July 2021 – University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) – Virtual Open Day (2021)
- Saturday, 24 July 2021 – Bond University – Virtual Open Day (2021)
- Sunday, 25 July 2021 – QUT – Virtual Open Day (2021)
- Sunday, 22 August 2021 – USQ – Virtual Open Day (2021)
- Tuesday, 14 September 2021 – James Cook University (JCU) – Virtual Open Day (2021)
How can you prepare for Open Days?
Check the schedule and register for sessions (if you need to)
Most Open Days have a schedule of events. Have a look at this before the day so that you know which sessions you want to go to. Depending on the university’s COVID plan, you might need to register for some/all of these sessions ahead of time. Check early so you’re not disappointed.
Write down your questions!
There are probably lots of things you’d like to know about your future university, so start thinking about your questions before the day and write them down! It’s very easy to get caught up in the excitement of Open Day and forget to ask everything you want to know. If you have a list, you’ll be less likely to forget to ask something.
Here are a few questions you might want to know the answer to:
- What kinds of support services do you offer? (e.g. counselling, disability services, food bank, international student support)
- What kinds of career services do you offer? (e.g. careers counselling, help finding work or work experience, help improving your career management skills like resume writing, interview skills, assessment centre performance, etc.)
- What kinds of exchange opportunities do you offer? Do you have opportunities within Australia/New Zealand now that international travel is on hold?
The devil is in the details. Some universities offer very little support to their students, while others have heaps!
Remember, Open Day is when a university will try to look it’s best
Open Days are partly a marketing exercise, and (naturally) the universities are going to try to convince you that you should study with them.
To help you get a more impartial view before you make a decision:
- Talk to real students, not ambassadors: Try to talk to current students who aren’t “ambassadors” at Open Days (e.g. try your friends and family first). You might want to ask them about things like: How many of their subjects are online? Do they see their tutors and lecturers regularly? Do they know where to get support if they need it? How much help is there to prepare them for graduating and getting a job?
- Visit during normal semester: Consider visiting the universities you are interested in during normal uni semester time. Universities are open to the public, so you can just walk in. Visiting on a day that isn’t Open Day will show you what the university looks like when it isn’t all dressed up and packed full of visitors.
- Talk to professionals: (If you can) ask professionals who are working in your dream industry which universities they recommend. Again, if you can, try to get a few different opinions. Some universities have changed a lot in the last 10-20 years.
- Consider how you’ll get there: If you’re studying on campus, you need to be able to get there. Research public transport and parking to find out what your options are. For example, if you live on the northside of Brisbane, you would probably find driving and parking (for free) at ACU would be faster and easier than catching public transport to somewhere like QUT or UQ, and definitely much cheaper than driving and parking at either of these campuses!
- Research support services: Research the support services available at each university and compare them with each other. Consider: What kinds of support is there? Is the support offered by trained professionals or by other students, or both? Is support offered just once or can you see someone regularly if you need/want to?
- Research world rankings, if you’re interested in working overseas: You can research how highly the whole university ranks using something like the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. But also research how highly your study area ranks using something like the Times Higher Education World Rankings by Subject. Some universities are highly ranked as a whole institution, but may not be highly ranked for your study area (e.g. mechanical engineering or nursing). You might be surprised by which universities rank highly for different study areas!
Got any other tips for researching universities? Pop them in the comments!
Graphic by Online Open Days are the next best thing to checking out universities in person