Open University

iamadave

KILL_BILL wrote: »

yes i saw that but what checks do they do to assertain whether you have a computer or not already

i have a pc but a laptop would be very usefull for when i am away from home etc

If you apply for the PC grant you have to supply a receipt for a PC/Laptop within 2 months of the course starting then they will pay the grant into your account, thats what happened for me anyway.

Oldernotwiser

KILL_BILL wrote: »

OMFG



With that i thought may go into criminal justice / parole

The fee are more reasonable and it appears that you can get fundinig for the course undergraduate even if you earn quite a bit

.

I have you taken advice as to whether this would be the best way to progress your career? (I'm not sure from your above comment what sort of work you actually want to do.)

Don't forget that the financial assessment is based on household, not individual, income.

Becles

I'm doing an OU degree and I love it. I'm doing a BA in Business Studies.

Do get to the tutorials and do get on the forum as soon as you can. It's easier saying hello if you're one of the first.

I like it so much that I'm worrying about missing it when I finish next year, and wondering what I can do next with them.

SunderlandBlackCat

I'm also doing Business Studies.

As has already been said there are day schools, evening tutorials, online course & tutor group forum etc. & on the couple of occasions where I've needed a bit of extra support or clarification of an assignment question the tutor has been just a phonecall or email away. I've certainly never experienced anything like that with traditional classroom courses when I did my HNC etc.

The course materials are also among the best I've seen & its all included in the course fee whereas with other courses obtaining your reading list is on top of your fees.

For me though, the best thing about the OU is that you get to manage your own time much more than on traditional Uni courses.

SunderlandBlackCat

Becles wrote: »

I like it so much that I'm worrying about missing it when I finish next year, and wondering what I can do next with them.

:shocked: Wow Becs thats some going! :T

I think you only started abut 6 monnths before me IIRC & I've just registered for my 1st level 2 course starting in October.

asbokid

KILL_BILL wrote: »

OMFG. thats the one that i am seriously considering doing. With that i thought may go into criminal justice / parole

A lot of us done that course when we was in Feltham. Best career move, looks good on the CV they said and they was right. And very useful to know what your brief is talking about when you see him.

alyth

I'm going to throw a spanner in the works about the OU! I've done 2 courses, a 10 point and I'm just about to complete a 60 point level one, and I have given up with the OU and am going to college next week!

My mum got an MA in Maths through the OU last year, and this is kind of our joint experiences!

The tutors are absolutely hit or miss - my tutor this year is horrendous, I've met up with her to help me with the course and came away more confused than I started! My mum found this too, in fact on one part of her course she asked to change tutors. Yes all the material in included in the course fees, and maybe others can throw light on this, I've struggled and struggled to write 1500 words on whatever subject on the material the OU have supplied - and I've done journalism courses and been commissioned by the Times for articles, so I can write! My tutor has marked me down for doing outside research and including that in my essays, which i am still raging about months after!

I would advise going to the tutorials, I didn't and I should have, but then our tutor decided to stop them within a couple of months of the course - and she couldn't work out how to do the telephone tutorials!

The online forums are good but again i gave up with them - I was doing AA100, the arts past and present, and on my course forum it seemed as if too many people had too much time on their hands and were trying to prove that they were cleverer than others - this is a level 1 course, my mum was doing level 3 maths courses and she logged into my course forum one day to see what I was talking about, and totally agreed with me!

I'm single and I can study for anything up to 4/5 hours a day, but I found myself going round in circles as to what exactly the question was that was being asked, as I say I am not stupid and spend a lot of time writing but out of sheer frustrated I have slogged on with my course, mainly because it will enhance my uni application.

I suspect my tutor has a lot to do with my bitterness (!) as she kept putting up mad postings on the OU site about not being able to use the ETMA system and wished we could all submit our essays in paper form, I'm off to do my degree at a brick-uni and am happier with that.

Good luck, many many people including my mother have succeeded with the OU, I'm a rarity I think!

Oldernotwiser

alyth wrote: »

My tutor has marked me down for doing outside research and including that in my essays, which i am still raging about months after!

!

My ex was discouraged from doing any wider reading on his level 1 course which I always thought to be a terrible thing.

alyth

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

My ex was discouraged from doing any wider reading on his level 1 course which I always thought to be a terrible thing.

Thanks for that older, I am going to bring it up in my next assignment which is a critical assessment of how I think the course has gone, the whole point of studying I thought was research, and incorporating that into your work!

asbokid

alyth wrote: »

I'm off to do my degree at a brick-uni and am happier with that....

Good luck, many many people including my mother have succeeded with the OU, I'm a rarity I think!

The lecturers at the bricks-and-mortar universities can be dreadful, too!

I do feel sad to see the Open University slated. I think it is one of the best academic institutions in the UK. It has brought about huge changes in social mobility. The disadvantaged - single mums, prisoners, the disabled and even the Welsh - have all been given a second chance to enjoy Higher Education.

Founding the Open University was one of the few true acts of benevolence of a Labour government.

As for the OU's courses, the material is, unusually, written by teams of academics, rather than individuals. That's why the courses are typically of a higher quality than those presented at Traditional Unis...

I studied some OU courses in engineering. Years later, I still consult the course notes. I can't say that for the scrappy single sheets of badly photocopied paper that were routinely handed out at the Traditional Uni I attended.

Good luck with your studies, wherever they may be!

cheers,
AK