How to Use University Open Days, Virtual Fairs and Alumni Networks to Shortlist Abroad

Why open days and fairs matter before you apply

A program page and a prospectus show you the university's best version of itself. An open day, virtual fair or a direct conversation with an alumnus shows you the reality: how crowded the library gets before exams, how approachable lecturers are, whether the international student community is active or small. Use these events to narrow a long list of possible universities into a realistic shortlist before you spend time and application fees.

Research before you show up

Walking into an open day or fair without preparation wastes the limited time you get with a representative. Read the program page and module list beforehand, so your questions go beyond information already published. Bring a short list of universities you actually intend to shortlist, rather than trying to cover every booth at a large fair. A focused 15-minute conversation with three target universities gives you more useful information than a rushed two minutes at fifteen booths.

In-person open days: what to do while you are there

If you travel to a destination country before applying, or you are already there for another reason, book an open day directly through the university's admissions page. Once there:

• Sit in on an actual lecture or seminar in your intended subject, not just the general campus tour

• Talk to current students outside the official tour group, ideally students from your country or region

• Visit the accommodation options you would realistically afford, not just the show flat

• Ask the department directly about contact hours, class sizes and assessment style

• Check the commute from affordable housing areas to the teaching buildings

Virtual open days: the same information without travel cost

Most universities in the UK, Australia, US, Canada and across Europe run virtual open days, aimed at international applicants who cannot travel before applying. These typically include live Q&A sessions with admissions staff and current students, recorded campus tours, and subject-specific talks from department staff. Register early since live Q&A slots fill first and give you the chance to ask a direct question.

A virtual fair covering multiple universities in one sitting, run by an agency like QS or the IDP network, lets you compare 5 to 10 universities in a single afternoon. Prepare a short list of standard questions before you log in, so you get comparable answers across each university rather than a different unstructured conversation each time.

Plan around time zones for virtual events

Most virtual open days and fairs run on the destination country's business hours. A UK afternoon session lands in the middle of the night across most of Southeast Asia, and a US session often falls even later. Check the event's listed time zone carefully before you register, and look for a recording option if the live slot is unusable. Some universities run a second session at a more Asia-friendly time specifically for international applicants, so check the registration page for alternate slots before assuming you must attend at 3am.

Education fairs that visit ASEAN cities

The British Council , IDP and QS all run in-person education fairs across major ASEAN cities, typically Jakarta, Manila, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, at set points in the academic calendar. These fairs bring representatives from dozens of universities to one venue, so you can ask direct questions and sometimes get on-the-spot conditional offers or fee waivers for application. Check each organization's events calendar for exact dates, since they change year to year and by city.

Alumni networks give you the most honest read

Current students at an open day want the university to look good in front of a prospective applicant, which is natural but limits how candid they can be. A graduated alumnus, especially one from your own country now a few years out, gives a more distant and often more honest account: how the degree translated into a job, whether the international support office was actually useful, what they would choose differently.

Find alumni through university alumni association pages, LinkedIn searches filtered by university and your home country, or your school's own alumni who studied at your target university. Ask specific questions: what surprised them most, how long it took to find part-time work, whether they would choose the same city again.

Ask the same questions at every university

Comparing universities only works if you ask each one the same set of questions. Fix your 3 to 5 questions before you start attending events, for example:

• What is the average class size for my intended major in year one

• What percentage of international students find part-time work in their first term

• What specific support exists for students from my country

• What does a typical week look like for a first-year student in this program

Write down each answer immediately after the conversation. Answers blur together fast once you speak to representatives from six or seven universities in the same week.

Turning what you learn into a shortlist

After a round of open days, fairs and alumni conversations, rank your list against the concrete answers you collected, not the general impression of which campus looked nicest. A university that gave vague or evasive answers to direct questions about class size, job support or costs is a signal worth weighing against one that answered clearly, even if the second university sits at a lower ranking.