Universities Fayre

[NMA]

AA,

or some other appropriate name.

Ok, heres the (pretty ambitious) rough plan...

We host somewhere a big 'university fayre' sort of thing... where prospective students (that would be sixth formers, usually) can come and ask questions, find out about the courses first hand, get advice for UCAS forms or whatever they have these days (!), maybe a few mock interviews for the bold...

The aim is to get reps from as many london unis as possible, plus as many courses. and of course, we invite the oxbridge lot.

The advantages of this working are too many to list.

Ok, the minimum is an open day for RUMS... for that we need no one else but ourselves...

The timing should be in summer before term starts: we have more time, and those who got accepted can come and meet their respective isocs early...

WS

NMA

[Ahmir]

AA,

I was reading a magazine for students and came across an article which gives an insightful account of a similar event already held at another university:

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CAMBRIDGE HOSTS OPEN DAY FOR MUSLIM APPLICANTS

Scores of Muslim students thinking of applying to Cambridge attended a special open day held by the university's Islamic Society.

As well as learning about the wide range of courses available and the admission process, the day included Friday prayers and information about practising Islam in Cambridge and the availability of halal food, mosques and prayer rooms.

Arshima Dost, of the Islamic Society's Access Team, said that the event which was widely publicised in schools, mosques and by e-mail, aimed to encourage Muslim students to apply to Cambridge and to reassure them they would be able to practice their faith whilst on campus.

She said: "We wanted to dispel any fears they may have about the facilities available for Muslim students at Cambridge and the support they would get from the Islamic Society and from university and colleges."

The day included talks on student and Muslim life in Cambridge by members of the Islamic Society and the students' union, interview skills and a tour of the colleges, faculty buildings and prayer rooms.

The university's Islamic Society has 800 members, 300 of whom are not Muslim.

Smaart Talent, Summer 2005

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AA

[NMA]

AA,

Yeah, i know, Cambridge rock.

Even 6 years ago, they were like 'yeah, come over a few days before your interview, we'll put you up with someone from that course AND college, and they can prep you for it.'

By comparission, my email to UCL went unanswered (and is still viewable in the UCL ISoc email archives, I am told).

Basically, following the ULU ISoc meeting, where something very similar to what I wrote to them about was discussed- an opne day, etc. we will be discontinueing with these plans and instead allocating those efforts to that one. As you can read in my original plan, this needed a ULU level co operation, so we'll see how it goes. If anyone wants to get involved with the organisation of this or any other ULU ISoc event, you can always email them on [e-mail].

Incidently, ULU ISoc and RUMS ISoc run practically the same structure.

wasalaam,

NMA

[NMA]

AA,

I'd like opinions on this one quite soon please.

The ULU team proposition has now been downsized to attract 200-300 applicants.

They have asked us to book UCL for the event. I have no problem with this.

They are aware that RUMS is thinking about an open day/ mock interviews session, and suggest we not only host them, but integrate our plans into theirs.

Some members of UCL a while back mentioned they would like to do something similar to our open day thing aswell, and maybe we could do the common ground together and then break off into different subject groups.

so whats the problem? Like i said, we chould host the ULU event if we can, but whether we shoudl integrate into theirs is another question. They plan to do all this audio visual stuff, that although it may look impressive, is in itself unnecessary IMHO- as is some of their proposed content- completely unneseccary in this setting. I'm also not happy that we get 20 lousyt minutes to give an estimated 50- 100 students a mock interview. I think we gave ATLEAST that much time to EACH student last year. Also, they plan to focus the day towards specific schools in East London: we would prefer to be open to all of London. The timing now means that we will have to just go with whatever dates we can get. Ideally it will be a saturday in sept. otherwise a wednesday.
The hassle of doing our own is exactly that... confusion due to multiple adverts for different things, and lots more work.


The general plan of covering different subjects stays the same, also inviting people from other colleges is now on the plan.

Finally, do you think we should involve UCL (not ISoc, UCL itself) which is linked with certain sixth form colleges, but also has an outreach programme (or something) where they try to encourage candidates from weaker schools/ groups to apply. So potentially it's of interest to them.

Post your thoughts here

wasalaam

NMA


Here is the most recent ULU plan.

PART ONE:

• General introduction (Lecture theatre) = 10 mins. Talk on ‘University and Islam’, ‘The importance of Unversity’ (encouraging & motivational).
• Talk by Abu Muntasir = 20 mins: getting involved in ISOCs and wider student life as responsible muslims.
• Talk by useful organizations = 15 mins: e.g. Muslim Youth Helpline, MPACUK, Utrujj, any sponsors.
• A – Z of careers = 10 mins: powerpoint list of some degrees. Instructions about workshops.
• (Move into separate workshop= 3 mins).

PART TWO:

Choose one workshop = 70 mins:
• Medicine
• Dentistry
• Law
• Business and Commerce
• IT
• Science and Health
• Arts and Humanities

Each workshop will comprise (specific to field):
1. Student and professional life = 20 mins.
2. Personal Statement writing = 20 mins.
3. Interview role plays = 20 mins.
4. Light refreshments and a chance to talk to university students or professionals = 10 mins.
5. A comprehensive handout.

PART THREE:

• (All move back into Lecture theatre for end = 3 mins)
• Study skills = 10 mins. The importance of A- levels, optimizing the chances of success.
• Miscellaneous = 5 mins): Issues of accommodation, finance etc at university.
• Conclusion (Lecture theatre) = 5 mins. Goodbye and Dua.
o N.B.- For the event there will be two prayers= Zuhr & Asr, so we have to allow time for these, at least 15 mins.

[Shayan]

AA,

The ULU plan seems ok in outline but it appears to be aimed at students who havn't yet applied (namely 1st year A-level, maybe even GCSE students). This is because it is an intro to uni e.g. the UCAS process, personal statements, uni life for a muslim etc. Integrating (along with UCL) would be good to have a general careers day.

I thought the idea with the RUMS open day and indeed any other where interviews are held is to help people who have applied or are about to apply soon.

In this regard maybe we could have a general medicine open day with ULU, and hold interviews later or on another date? I agree with you that EACH candidate needs about 15-20 mins if they are going to have a decent mock and feedback.

Maybe we could break off from the ULU thing after the intros and hold separate interviews on the same day for those who've applied or are doing so this year?

Either way, I will be abroad in September so I'll leave it to you to decide what the best format is.

WS,

Shayan.