OU Students Past, Present and Future

OUStudent

juno wrote: »

My StudentHome has updated to say my finance application has been received!

Current course really not going well, and I'm not enjoying it

My finance app is about to go off tomorrow quite straight forward as we receive one of the qualifying benefits..........................

Sorry to hear your not enjoying your course which one are you on at the moment? Are you hoping to change it to something else?

eveie189

I haven't posted on here before as I have only just definately decided to do a course. Can anyone tell me if when I do my financial support application I need to put both the courses I want to do on my first application (as they will be completed in the same year) or can I apply for help when I register for each coure?. I am not sure how it works so any help would be aqppreciated.

Thanks

olly300

mr887 wrote: »

I

I've got the sign-up paperwork for M150, T175 and MU123 in front of me now, but keep putting it off. The prophets of doom at work insist that it's a waste of time and money, and that I'd be better off doing more Cisco or Microsoft certs. I concede that doing the degree may not help me in my day-to-day work, but keep telling myself that it will make it easier to move to a managerial (or non-IT) role in the long-term.

Decisions, decisions ...

To make it even harder for you, once you have done your modules if you can fit in studying at a bricks and mortal university as you have industry experience you can do a Masters degree instead. This will take you one year full-time or 2 years part-time.

Your OU modules won't count towards your Masters degree but will allow the university to see that you have recent vigorous academic study.

juno

OUStudent wrote: »

My finance app is about to go off tomorrow quite straight forward as we receive one of the qualifying benefits..........................

Sorry to hear your not enjoying your course which one are you on at the moment? Are you hoping to change it to something else?

Current course is DD201. I'm just gonna put up with it and hope it gets better.

mr887

OUStudent wrote: »

It is amazingly difficult to decide, it has taken me all in all about 2 months to decide on these 3 courses and I still have not decided for definate which degree I want them to count towards!

I am trying to predict the future lol what is going to be the next big thing in IT about 4 years from now, as from past experiences and research the "big" players in the industry always seem to get there when the particular part of the industry they work in is in its infancy this seems to be where the money is.

I am leaning towards maybe something to do with robotics or virtual reality but need to do a lot more research legwork to figure out how an OU degree can then spring board me into this area.

I know what you mean though all of a sudden it seems like an incredibly important decision and the thought of getting it wrong is something I dont want to do, I have wasted too much of my life already this next chapter needs to be done correctly

If you think it is right for you then go for it, you have one up on me already as your CV will reflect your current IT experience so logic would say this experience sat along side a degree can only be a positive thing, when I was deciding I went onto the employment boards to ask existing IT professionals basically what are they would train now if they could to earn the best salary and the general consensus was to stay away from Microsoft stuff and look more towards Linux based courses, I can only go off what I have been told where as you are there working away already in the industry so must have a much better idea than me

Whatever you choose I hope it all works out for you and if you do go for the same 3 courses as I said to another poster it would be cool to get our own thread going for a bit of moral support if nothing else

I have stayed away from Microsoft certs myself, and gone mainly for Cisco ones. I've self-studied a few this year, but can't seem to get going on my CCNP (keep starting and stopping). I think I find it difficult because of the lack of structure and support involved in self-study at that level, which I suppose is another reason I want to do something with the OU.

As much as I like being an IT engineer, it is a frustrating and unrewarding career at times, and I think my ultimate goal would be some kind of technology management MSc (maybe with the OU, maybe with a brick and mortar university). Although an achievement in itself, the BSc will be a stepping stone towards this.

Personally, I find Solaris to be easier to get to grips with than Linux. It doesn't feature heavily in my day-to-day job, though, so I haven't had a go at any of the certs.

I am definitely in favour of creating a thread for people doing these courses (if we choose to do them).

mum2one

eveie189 wrote: »

I haven't posted on here before as I have only just definately decided to do a course. Can anyone tell me if when I do my financial support application I need to put both the courses I want to do on my first application (as they will be completed in the same year) or can I apply for help when I register for each coure?. I am not sure how it works so any help would be aqppreciated.

Thanks

I honestly can't remember, (sorry), I know with my courses I had to do the financial applications seperately for each course, so I think its that was from the start
Good luck with the studying xx

BeenieCat

I am doing M150 & T175 and you two are gonna fit right in. The majority of people on the courses are already working in IT and are very knowledgeable about it.

I on the other hand, am wondering what have i got myself into and was i missing something when i enrolled and have i walked into a secret techies club lol! Yes it is only level one stuff, but judging by the chatter on the forums, i am a total novice in comparison.

I am struggling to keep up at the moment. I've never studied before so it's really hard to get into it. I am weeks behind on both courses, not a good start!!

OUStudent

eveie189 wrote: »

I haven't posted on here before as I have only just definately decided to do a course. Can anyone tell me if when I do my financial support application I need to put both the courses I want to do on my first application (as they will be completed in the same year) or can I apply for help when I register for each coure?. I am not sure how it works so any help would be aqppreciated.

Thanks

Hello

Sorry I have only just noticed your question I really must learn to read thoroughly especially considering what I am about to embark on!

Anyhow in case you did not find the answer I had the same question so I called the finance people, they told me that I only had to make 1 application and list all of the modules on the form as best I could, which is what I did.

Now my delay is getting all of the photocopies f birth certs and everything else certified, proving to be an absolute nightmare my GP wanted £10 per document!!!!!!!!!!

Going to try popping into te polic station today and asking whoever is on the desk to certify them for me, if not I can only then think of the town hall

Unfortunately my local OU centre is far from local at about 100 miles away!!

OUStudent

BeenieCat wrote: »

I am doing M150 & T175 and you two are gonna fit right in. The majority of people on the courses are already working in IT and are very knowledgeable about it.

I on the other hand, am wondering what have i got myself into and was i missing something when i enrolled and have i walked into a secret techies club lol! Yes it is only level one stuff, but judging by the chatter on the forums, i am a total novice in comparison.

I am struggling to keep up at the moment. I've never studied before so it's really hard to get into it. I am weeks behind on both courses, not a good start!!

Hi BeenieCat

Im sorry to hear you are having troubles with this One of my main concerns is what it is going to be like studying again after all these years and in 1 way it is probably even harder with the OU as to a certain extent it is down to "you" to get yourself motivated to carry on.

Is it the course material you are finding difficult or allocating enough time to study? When you start looking at these course you think to yourself 2 courses 16 hours a week I will easily squeeze that into my life, in reality it is much harder my courses will take around 24 hours a week I have already began a study timetable and it was incredibly difficult to squeeze enough time into the week to to do it, I have now managed it though so am prepared.

The only thing I can think is you speak to your tutor and explain the situation your are in, I know each course has its own online forum as well have you been to yours? There maybe other people in the same boat as you who you could work with?

I think your tutor might be your first port of call and see what they suggest, dont let it get to you though there is nothing wrong in asking for help when you need it I am sure the tutors will be well experienced in this area and probably have lots of solutions they can offer to help you out

I hope it all works out for you chin up you will get there

amiehall

I got a random policeman in my local police station to certify mine if it makes you feel any better