A quick question about college/University.

[similar.squirrel]

Is it possible to attend lectures at a college/University, even if you're not a student there?
On a basis that you just listen, and you're not graded or anything. Not a participant, so to speak, but an observer.

And provided there is room for you.
I live in Ireland, by the way.

I plan on taking a year out after school to earn money, and it'd be nice to dabble in this and that in my free time, to get a feel for whatever I want to study.

 

[Curtmiester]

Maybe. It all depends on the place. Some might, some won't.

 

[Pandalisk]

Is it possible to attend lectures at a college/University, even if you're not a student there?
On a basis that you just listen, and you're not graded or anything. Not a participant, so to speak, but an observer.

And provided there is room for you.
I live in Ireland, by the way.

I plan on taking a year out after school to earn money, and it'd be nice to dabble in this and that in my free time, to get a feel for whatever I want to study.

what university or college were you thinking of going to out of curiosity.

And no i dont think it is, you might be able to sneak in sure, but you have to be a College or university member i think

 

[Deleted]

Well you won't get the grade unless you pay. But yeah you can sneak in and listen in . don't know what good that will do you though.

 

[kiyeshi]

it seems like something that would be different from one college to another. some might let you in, some may not.

 

[Mad Maniac with axe-firing chainsaw]

I think you'd easily be able to get away with it. Its not as if they check to see if you are a student. It might well be frowned upon.

Why would you though? Are you just interested in the subject?

 

[similar.squirrel]

Is it possible to attend lectures at a college/University, even if you're not a student there?
On a basis that you just listen, and you're not graded or anything. Not a participant, so to speak, but an observer.

And provided there is room for you.
I live in Ireland, by the way.

I plan on taking a year out after school to earn money, and it'd be nice to dabble in this and that in my free time, to get a feel for whatever I want to study.

what university or college were you thinking of going to out of curiosity.

And no i dont think it is, you might be able to sneak in sure, but you have to be a College or university member i think

Galway seems to stock all the courses I'm interested in.
Aren't they called 'Universities' for a reason?A place of learning for everyone?

 

[Tossth Esalad]

It depends on the school and possibly the class as well. At my university the lectures are open for all.

 

[Aur0ra145]

I see no problem, especially if it's a big class. Just make sure to miss test days.

 

[Fulax]

I've never had my ID checked before I go to a lecture (University of Birmingham), so I don't suppose there is anything stopping you just wandering in and listening.

 

[Pandalisk]

Is it possible to attend lectures at a college/University, even if you're not a student there?
On a basis that you just listen, and you're not graded or anything. Not a participant, so to speak, but an observer.

And provided there is room for you.
I live in Ireland, by the way.

I plan on taking a year out after school to earn money, and it'd be nice to dabble in this and that in my free time, to get a feel for whatever I want to study.

what university or college were you thinking of going to out of curiosity.

And no i dont think it is, you might be able to sneak in sure, but you have to be a College or university member i think

Galway seems to stock all the courses I'm interested in.
Aren't they called 'Universities' for a reason?A place of learning for everyone?

I can see the sign now
"open to all!, EXCEPT YOU"
go ask them, give them an email or something.

Cork for me, arnt i reaching for the stars.

 

[similar.squirrel]

I think so. Its not as if they check to see if you are a student. It might well be frowned upon.

Why would you though? Are you just interested in the subject?

Working for a year would make me financially independent, more or less.
And I don't want to be stuck in a course that I dislike, so sampling different ones will give me an idea of what's for me.

 

[Lukeje]

Generally you would either need the lecturer's permission or to pay the course fees. Although I don't think there's generally anyone stopping you going in (of course, this does not include public lectures which you are free to attend).

 

[Archaeology Hat]

It is possible normally to attend one or two if you happen to have a friend on the course. Most lecturers will quite like it.

The problem will actually be more getting into the right part of the right building at the right time rather than actually them minding.

 

[crudus]

It really just depends on the size of the class mostly. A huge lecture hall you would be able to do easily. However, in a class with 20-30 people would be harder since it's more personable as well as the fact that the grad student (I don't know about your university but the professors at my university don't teach a 20 person class) has a roster of people who are supposed to be in the class. Although the first hurtle is figuring out when and where the lecture you want to attend actually is.

 

[Superbeast]

When I had mates come up to stay the weekend, and I only had 1 lecture on a monday, they'd just come along and sit-in. A register is passed around, they obviously just don't sign it.

If you were attending a single class long-time then someone might notice and get suspicious. It might be worth contacting several universities and explain you don't know what you want to do, but you really like their university and want to sit in on some lectures to get a feel for it.

Some will tell you to sod off, others will give you a visitor pass for the day/week so you can sit-in legitimately. At the end of the day they want your money, so want you to attend their university so should be open towards it (if it sounds like it's failing, say their competitor university has let you do it - even if they haven't - they might say yes then).

 

[Rednog]

Ive never had attendance taken in any class over 4 years no matter what the size, so it would be relatively easy just to walk in. Most schools post their quarterly schedules on their sites, so you could try to find where/when that way. I know in my school they had non grading options available, they called it "Taking a survey course" I think it cost a third or a fourth of the normal course price.

 

[Zamn]

I go to UCC in Cork and I can say for absolute certain that nobody would ever notice if someone not actually doing the course attended the lectures. For all I know some of them do. Nobody ever takes a roll, let alone check ID except for tests, which you would happily get to skip. I can't imagine it's much different in Galway. The hardest bit would be knowing when and where the lectures are seeing as you wouldn't be given a timetable, but you could just ask someone.

 

[Scrittore]

In Australia, or Victoria at any rate, lectures are open to the public but you need to be an enrolled student to attend the tutorials and workshops.
You can also go to the public lectures, which are probably more useful if you're sampling course content.