The University of the Sunshine Coast will put out the welcome mat this Sunday 23 July for its annual Open Day.

Thousands of prospective students and their families from across the state are expected to attend the event from 9.30am to 2pm at USC’s main campus at Sippy Downs.

This year’s Open Day has the theme, ‘First year starts here’, and aims to provide students with all the information and tools they’ll need to make the most of their first year at uni.

Visitors will be able to inspect the campus, get questions answered, and learn more about the study programs they’re interested in by chatting one-on-one with USC academics.

They can sit in on real lectures across a wide range of disciplines to see what uni life is like, and attend information sessions that outline study programs and career opportunities.

Hundreds of people have already registered online for special forums that will be run throughout Open Day.

The most popular are the ‘Make the USC Experience work for you’ session that highlights the study, career, networking and social opportunities available at USC, and a ‘Careers of the Future’ forum that will consider how people can prepare for jobs that don’t exist yet.

Plenty of interest has been shown in a ‘Please help me choose’ discussion that will outline how people can determine which study programs and career paths might best match their interests, strengths and goals.

There will be other forums on: how to support a child, partner or friend when they start university; how to plan for a successful gap year; choosing the uni that’s right for you; and how USC’s High Performance Student Athlete Program works.

— Terry Walsh