Five tips to make your Open Day a success
On 25 February more than 6,500 prospective students will visit the Open Day to learn more about programmes in Leiden and The Hague and to get a taste of student life. Have you signed up yet? Five golden tips to make your Open Day a success.
Parking in the city will be difficult, so we advise you to come by public transport. It's a good idea to check your route in advance to see whether there are any delays. Once you're in Leiden, all the locations are within walking distance of one another, or, if you prefer, you can take the bus.
At key points in the city you will see our eye-catching guides in their colourful outfits ready to point you in the right direction. You can also get a copy of the programme booklet from them. The booklets have a map with all the locations marked, and the guides know all the details, so, if you've got any questions, don't hesitate to ask. If you like the idea of getting to your destination by water rather than on foot, just go to one of the pick-up points for the boats for a free ride to your next location. Going by boat is a also good way to hear more about the city and student life.
Before you get here, think about what's important for you in a student city. Whether or not you'll be living here, you'll be spending a lot of time in the city, so take a good look at Leiden and our students.
An ideal way to meet some students is to go on one of the special city walks. Student guides will take you to some student houses and they'll show you the student clubs too. The city walks start at 11.00, 13.00 and 15.00 hrs at the 'City and Student Life' stand in the Pieterskerk.
When you signed up for the Open Day you already had to choose from the different presentations. All the programmes will also have a stand at the Information Fair in the Pieterskerk. Bear in mind that the Fair covers over 1,500 sq.m. - so you'll need to make some choices there too!
Think in advance which stands you want information from. If you've already chosen your programme, visit that stand and talk to a student. If you've heard enough about the programmes, you can go to one of the pillars in the church, where you'll find more information about what it's like as a student living in Leiden and The Hague, and you can sign up for a taster day at the same time.
Whether it's at the programme department or in the student common room (De Fusie), you'll be meeting students the whole day. Make good use of the chance to talk to them. They are the experts who can tell you all about the university and about Leiden and The Hague. Just in case you're a bit nervous about approaching students, here are some suggestions for questions to break the ice - though most likely they'll do that for you.
- How did you decide on your study programme? Have you got any tips?
- What do you like about your programme/the city?
- Why would you recommend this programme to me?
- What's your favourite spot in the city?
- What professions do graduates go into?
- What's the contact like with the lectures?
For more ideas about questions, read here.
After all the presentations and questioning students, you're bound to have worked up a healthy appetite. Specially for visitors to the Open Day, a lot of Leiden's cafés and restaurants are offering a lunch menu for a maximum of 10 euros. For some of them, you need to book in advance, and at others you can just walk in. We've made a list of all the restaurants taking part, with the menu and price. The university restaurants in the Lipsius building and the Kamerlingh Onnes building will also be open for lunch.
Good luck with your preparations and see you at the Open Day on 25 February!