Meet the stars of sport and TV at UCC's virtual open day
Meet Paralympian Mary Fitzgerald and actress Jennifer Barry, star of Young Offenders, when they talk about how they combined their studies with their careers at UCC's virtual open day on October 9th.
Home to over 22,000 students, UCC is hosting a virtual Undergraduate Open Day on October 9th, inviting people to explore courses, facilities and student services from the comfort of their own homes.Â
The day will consist of informative content and live interaction with current UCC students, and academic and professional staff.
 "We had almost 5,000 prospective students visiting our virtual platform during the last academic year, and the feedback from students, parents, guardians and guidance counselors was really positive. The platform is visually pleasing, very simple to navigate, and contains an incredible amount of useful and fun information – from videos, to live chat opportunities with our staff and students, to documents and brochures, and even sample lectures!" said UCC's Head of Recruitment, Lenka Forrest.
According to Lenka, by attending the UCC Undergraduate open day, that's when a student's journey really begins.
"When you begin your journey at UCC, you will belong to a diverse and vibrant community of over 22,000 students from more than 100 countries. We are a community and we will support you to become the person you want to be. #BeginBelongBecome," she said.Â
Those attending the open day will get to chat with the winners of the recent Olympic bronze and gold medalists, and Paralympian Mary Fitzgerald, to hear firsthand how they combined their studies with being an athlete.Â
Jennifer Barry from Young Offenders will also be talking about her experience at UCC, as well as the college's newly appointed president, Professor John O'Halloran: "Our aim is to showcase the University in the best possible digital light and show why UCC was voted the best Irish third-level institution for best student experience."
Watch pre-recorded videos including 360-degree tours and drone footage of the campus, "students will be able to get an idea of the place and the feeling of it and inclusivity our students experience here."Â
There will also be virtual booths with academic and professional services staff where specific questions can be instantly on topics such as course content, fees, accommodation, and career services. "These and more are all at hand to try and help our future students and families to navigate the complex landscape of third-level education."
Lenka said she would like to think college life will be as close as possible to how it was before, however, she said, technology is here with us to stay:Â "Our services are much more digitally influenced, that will be a good lasting legacy of the pandemic. With high uptake of vaccinations, also walk-in vaccination centres on campus, college life will slowly return to normality and student life will return as we know it, but with caution."
The last eighteen months have been challenging for all. Secondary school students as well as mature and QQI/FE students have been making exciting new choices and applying to universities, all from the four walls of their bedrooms.
"We have all learned a great deal about digital fluency, resilience, respect, compassion, and ambition – the five Graduate Attributes values that we see as the bedrock of our student experience at UCC."Â
Finally, after many months of remote learning and teaching, "we have the opportunity to welcome our students back to campus, and the place is buzzing since mid-September with a return to ‘almost normality’."
While there are some restrictions still in place on some large lectures, and some of the learning and teaching are still online, UCC is making every effort to facilitate as much in-person learning as possible within the public health guidelines.Â
Recently UCC held a special welcome fest for their second-year students as they missed out on that experience last September and the incoming 1st years had their Freshers fest last week. "The atmosphere on campus was electric!"
UCC is renowned for traditionally opening its doors to their beautiful campus and creating a festival-like atmosphere for their Undergraduate Open Day, which is traditionally held during the second Saturday in October.Â
 "Over 500 UCC staff and current UCC students participated during the event last year and their enthusiasm, professionalism, and passion delivered a memorable experience for all attendees—with a global reach as we had people dialing in from all over the globe!"
According to Lenka, the question is why wouldn't someone consider UCC.Â
The course offerings and the quality of academics are just a couple of the benefits of attending UCC: "Over 78% of UCC's academic staff hold doctorate qualifications, you're being taught by the experts," she said.Â
UCC has the best student retention rate in Ireland: "94% of our first-year students progress and continue into second year. It’s a high progression rate and it's because of our student services and supports. It's not just the quality of teaching."
UCC's library has the longest opening hours in Ireland, student health is paramount, there are disability services, career services, "if a student is having second thoughts our first-year coordinator will help them."Â
UCC also has a course called Nurturing Bright Futures on the importance of choosing the right course or career, what it's like to transition into college, budgeting, accommodation, and it's self-paced, meaning students can complete it in their own time.Â
"Anyone can complete this course, it's reflective, it looks at what they like, what they're good at, it really helps them chose the right course, we try to drive home to students to do the research. We want people to come to UCC but we want students to succeed and make sure they’re doing the right course for them."
At this year's Education Awards, UCC scooped up four of them; Best Student Experience, Best Student Campus, Best Green Campus, and Overall Excellence in Education.
Save the date to your calendars: Saturday 9th October 2021, 10 am until 4 pm, and sign up here to find out if UCC feels right to you www.ucc.ie/openday
