Career Links
Careers
Engineering
Marketing
Web Design
Accountancy
Acc.
Technician
Courses
PLC
UCD
Openday
CERT
Exams
Post
Mock
Pre
Exam
Open Days in General
At this stage almost every third level college holds an annual open day. These days can be of enormous benefit to senior cycle students. For fifth year students, who are generally still gathering information and arriving at course/career choices, the open day is not just a day out. Sixth year students, who are aiming to glean the finer points about choices they have made or are about to make on their CAO forms, have all the more reason to attend the open day in a positive frame of mind. It is a day for conducting serious business and leaving your friends to conduct theirs.If you intend studying in a particular college it is essential that you visit its open day and gain as much information as you can from that visit. Some advance preparation can greatly assist you in getting the most out of your time in the college. Before arriving in the college you should have carefully studied the college's prospectus and all relevant course information. The questions that come up during your research should be listed for raising at the appropriate forum on the open day.
In addition, it is advisable to have studied the open day information, which will be available from your Guidance Counsellor. Acquaint yourself with the college plan and note the times and venues for the lectures, displays and demonstrations of interest to you. In a nutshell, arrive with your own particular agenda and make sure you get through it in the time available to you. The first item on this agenda should be the gathering of information on courses of interest to you. You can do this by attending the lectures and demonstrations, by visiting the displays and by talking to the members of staff and students who are there to answer your questions. It is also important to get the feel of the college, to examine its facilities and to figure out whether or not the particular college atmosphere would suit you.
UCD Open Day
On Wednesday 22nd and Thursday 23rd March, University College Dublin will host its tenth annual All Faculties Open Day. On these days the University opens its campus and facilities to second level students, their Guidance Counsellors and teachers. This year the college expects over twenty thousand visitors, from all over Ireland and some from further afield, to arrive in Belfield over the two days.There will be an extensive programme covering the full range of courses on offer in all faculties. Although the event takes place on the Belfield campus, for these days the faculties of Medicine (including Physiotherapy, Radiography and Nursing), Veterinary Medicine and the departments of Civil and Agricultural Engineering, which are located at present in other centres, bring an array of equipment and personnel to their exhibition areas in Belfield. Consequently every UCD discipline is available to the visiting students. There is even a shuttle bus service to the studios and facilities of the School of Architecture and an invitation to visit a show flat in the campus residences.
Visitors are advised to attend as early as possible so that they can take advantage of one or two of the many talks that are scheduled across different faculties and in different buildings. These talks give students a sample of the content of the degree programmes and also allow the visiting students to experience the atmosphere of university lecture theatres. Last year, the lecture given by the Law faculty was particularly good. The lecturer took a relatively recent high profile case and showed how the different types of law applied to that case. This exposition gave students a very good insight into what is involved in the study of law and an opportunity to decide whether or not it was for them. The question and answer session that followed showed how much students had gained from the experience. It also gave them the opportunity to ask questions about the new course - Law with French Law - which was to commence in September 1999.
"Other major components of the Open Days activities are the many exhibitions and hands-on demonstrations that allow visitors to get a better impression of what exactly one experiences in different courses than can be gleaned from merely reading brochures and course descriptions. However, probably the greatest benefit of Open Days is the opportunity to talk to staff and students at the different points, where the visiting second level students can get detailed expansion of the opportunities and state of knowledge in their own areas of interest," says Dr. Kevin J.Clancy, chairman of the organizing committee.
The Open Days exhibits will be in place from 09.00 to 16.30. All second level schools are invited to book in advance. If, however, there is no organized visit from a particular school, individual students are welcome to attend and, in that case, they should go to the introductory sessions in the Sports Centre. These sessions will be repeated every half-hour from 09.00 to 12.30 and later if bookings indicate they are required. Visitors arriving after these sessions can pick up the Open Day information packs at an Information point in the Arts/Commerce building up until 16.30.
There will be plenty of signs to direct visitors and the Programme will contain a location map for all activities. Dr. Clancy emphasizes the need for visiting students to take note of the Programme information and to observe the signs if they are to get maximum information from a relatively short visit.
The UCD Open Days involve planning on a massive scale. They fall within the area of responsibility of the Registrar and are organized by a voluntary committee of representatives from all faculties and services of the college. On the day, the success of the event depends on the efforts of somewhere between 400 and 500 staff and students functioning in a variety of capacities. Positive feedback from visiting students of previous years, regarding the excellent organization of the days, affirms the work of the organizing team. Reap the benefits - arrive early, have a well thought out agenda and be determined to complete it.
