WHAT NOT TO DO ON YOUR OXBRIDGE OPEN DAY

Nervous about meeting real-life dons? Worried you´ll be the only student with a Cumbrian accent or parents from Sierra Leone? If so, it is tempting to treat the Oxbridge Open Day as a mere sightseeing trip. Some students spend the whole day walking around town alone or with their parents. Others roam Oxford or Cambridge with classmates, comparing turrets, quads and gardens in search of their perfect college.

While Oxbridge streets indeed have the wow factor, this is not what you're there for. The Open Day is a great chance to suss out your course. So, try to attend a course-related event (not all need to be booked in advance). Do you find the way in which the academic expert present introduces it stimulating, even if bits of it leave you stumped?  Can she perhaps recommend a book? Does the university offer an introductory master class or online lecture?

If you are getting doubts about the course by now, don`t just give up yet either. Instead ask the friendly Oxbridge students helping out about their course. What do they like best about it? Does it match any of your interests? Is there an online journal that will tell you more?

Be brave, too, and talk to fellow sixth formers from other schools, even if some sound odd to you. You will discover that prospective Oxbridge applicants come from all over the country and the world. Some are certain to share your enthusiasm for biological sciences, history or maths. Chances are you even like the same music. This could be the beginning of a life-long friendship...

Meanwhile, relax if you find that a fellow sixth former has read terrifyingly obscure books or spent Christmas doing a language course on the French Riviera. Most admissions tutors accept that there are other, cheaper ways for a hard-working student to develop their knowledge base.

Above all, don´t make college choice the sole focus of your visit. For a start, you may be allocated a college other than the stunning one you picked. Even if you aren´t, two equally beautiful colleges can have quite different academic standards or student preferences. So, try to keep an open mind until you´ve consulted a teacher or done some research. You´ll find detailed guidance on both Open Days and college choice in OXBRIDGE ENTRANCE: THE REAL RULES .