Is it worth studying with the Open University? How is their reputation?

jonnyd281

whodathunkit wrote: »

Except, as a couple of people have mentioned, some OU tutors discourage students from reading outside the materials provided. This was certainly the case with one tutor who taught my ex husband who was totally dismissive of the idea.

Mine never discouraged it, and one unit positively encouraged it. My thesis required me to do a lot of research, selecting appropriate journals, articles and books to read, the only guidance was how to do the literature searches for that one.

BillJones

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Oxford is not the same as 'most' traditional universities, which was the wording I used

But you said

the final-year courses are probably MORE rigorous than those offered by most traditional universities.

With which I was disagreeing, giving a data point from both Imperial and Oxford.

If there is data showing that it is rated more highly than Russel group universities in terms of academic ability, I'd be interested to see it, but from what I've seen so far, I don't believe that you are right.

The rankings definitely don't bear out any suggestion that academically the OU is near the top. As I said above, completing a degree from there says something quite impressive about a candidate, but I do not believe that it says that they are academically at a higher level than someone from Manchester, for example, in an equivalent course.

kingslayer

BunnieJ wrote: »

Hi OP,

I can totally sympathise with you! Everything you've said (apart from the subjects you're interested in) is almost exactly the same for me!

I went to uni at 18, after my A-Levels (which were really, really bad) so I ended up gaining a place through clearing. I spent the whole of my first year hating my degree, missing lectures, partying like a typical student etc and royally f***ked up my course! Now, 6 years on, I deeply regret my decisions and the fact that I dropped out after failing my first year. All except one of my housemates ended up dropping out of uni and getting jobs instead.

We're all now stuck in "dead-end" jobs with little career prospects and limited earnings. People will often tell you that you don't need a degree (then list a load of obscure examples of successful people - usually Dragons Den types and Lord Sugars) Unfortuately, all the experience and training in the world doesn't seem to get you anywhere in the job market today. Degrees are much less exclusive than they used to be, so more employers expect applicants to have a degree level of education. I've seen office admin/junior roles that I know I'm more than capable of doing only being offered to graduates. In my previous company an internship was advertised; the salary being just above minimum wage for non-graduates, but around £16k for people who had degrees. IT WAS THE SAME JOB! :mad:

Ignore your parents, do what's best for you. When I came back home I started looking into going back to study and my parents said it was a waste of time. It really knocked my confidence and I haven't gone back.

Sorry for the rant If you really think that gaining a degree is the best for your career then go for it (whether it's with the OU or otherwise) or you may regret your decisions when you're older! If you have the time and the funding, what's stopping you?

Yeah, i totally agree with what you said. A few years ago i was close to attending university, but i got to the accommodation and had a walk around the town, but decided i was doing the wrong thing. Not just that, but i was in a similar situation to you, i didn't have the best of results and i spoke to one of the tutors and explained my situation, but just felt i was being accepted for the course out of pity lol.

Another reason i want a degree, is mainly to prove to myself that i can cope with degree level study. I do enjoy studying and it would be a fulfillment for me.

I think it's the confidence that is stopping me. I worry that i will fail.

unlikelyheroine

kingslayer wrote: »

To be honest, a degree would be a primary goal for me. I would certainly take it serious that's for definite. The other stuff I would do in my spare time and see how far I can get with it. The thing is, i enjoy studying and I love learning new things, and I also enjoy being the atmosphere of being amongst the other students. but I just have so many interests that I cannot study them all at a high/degree level. It seems that every interest I have, or almost every interest, i need some kind of higher education diploma for people to take me seriously.

for example:

Directing - Film school
Acting - Drama school
Drawing - Art school
Animation & games production - Attend a game design/production course at university.

For almost every other interest i have - a degree/university is required to reach the top. That's the problem, i have so many interests that it's impossible to learn them all to a significant level without having to go further and train at a specific school/university.

Unless i want to run my own business, it seems that a degree is essential to compete with other prospective employees.

I think another issue that I have, is my self confidence or lack thereof, as well my self belief. I've had hostility from family members before who don't put faith in me, even my own father. They will say "why do you wanna do that for?" and put me or my choices down. This has just caused me to go into a shell and believe i'm not good enough.

I know I have the ability, it's just in the past, especially these last few years that my mental state has taken a battering and I no longer feel motivated as i used to. On top of this i'm not getting younger and I fear being in this same position by the time i reach 30. I just want more out of life! I want to do so much and seeing people in their late teens/early 20's doing more in a year than i've done my whole life just brings me down.

I think I said this on your other thread, but I think you are barking up the wrong tree if you are trying to find a job that exactly reflects what you are most interested in in life. For example, I love writing and I write novels and film scripts in my spare time. I am hopefully making an amateur film this summer. Can I make a living out of this?? No (certainly not at the moment). Neither can I personally make a living from video games which are one of my favourite ways to chill out. That doesn't mean the career that I have isn't rewarding or that I don't like it, or that I shouldn't pursue my interests in my spare time and see where they take me. It means that I want to progress in something and earn some money and the creative arts are hard to do that in, so it is best to have a day job (which might be more fun than you think anyway). You can't think that every single, for example, office administrator out there thinks "this is exactly what interests me in life! Score!" No, but they have chosen something, worked at it, learnt a skill, enjoyed the end of a hard day's work for its own sake, paid the bills, paid off debts perhaps, contributed to society via their taxes, maybe earned some recognition or the respect of their peers if they are lucky, been able to buy that new whatever or go on holiday, and gone home to work on a potential artistic masterpiece - or whatever else they enjoy.

I'm not saying don't have your dreams, but your day job might not be your dream job, and that's OK. I'm not saying do something you hate either, but most jobs are compromises. You might find a more "mundane" job can be rewarding and remunerative and give you time for what really floats your boat.

cazziebo

I have a Russell Group first degree, a post grad from a redbrick and an MBA and MSc from the OU. I also do some lecturing at a traditional uni. (and have to confess to doing some OU modules "just for fun"!)

I understand where the criticism comes from regarding the OU discouraging external research. Because it is designed to be distance learning, the course materials are way more comprehensive than anything I've come across in traditional universities. As for spoon feeding, in my experience OU tutors do tend to become more involved and are more supportive than in traditional universities. I also think it's a plus in many courses that OU lecturers tend to be working out in the real world. The OU tutors I've had who were also working in academia were weaker imho.

The OU is very tough. It has a huge drop out rate. From reading your previous posts, OP, I don't think it's for you. I think you have to be clearer about what you want to do. I came across a great diagram for career guidance



As Unlikely Heroine says, you need to earn a living . Not everyone can do their dream job, especially not early in their career.

eamon

Completing an OU degree as a muture student perhaps holding down a part/full time job, family commitments etc speaks volumes for most prospective employers. They see wrapped up in this process; dedication, commitment, ambition, time management amongst many desirable workplace characteristics. Sure level 1 courses are not that difficult, likely to be weekly tutorials and much more interaction with the tutors and fellow students. After that the student is much more independent and expected to be so. Tutorials may only be monthy if at all, contact with tutors might only be ny email or via online discussion groups. OU students need to be resilient and self reliant. I get the criticism re the rigidity of the supplied course work. But it has to be that way in order to be fair to all the students. Access to outside materials is not always equally spread. Though saying that in many essays you are invited to use external sources and if you do so then referencing your work correctly becomes a skill in itself.
To the OP if you have never studied at 3rd level before then can I suggest a taster 10pt course before you sign on the line for a degree proper.

Sncjw

You mentioned in previous posts that you don't really know what to do and that you lose interest in things. You have also mentioned you would like to be in the mix of other students. With ou you won't be in mix of other students as it's distance learning in situation,

Also think about how your going to fund the cost of course, living expenses and course materials, I thought you were looking into radiology. What degree are you looking into. Why not look at something you really think you could do as a career then work backwards to see what the requirements are to reach that level . Such as the highest level you want to be might need certain qualifications or have been working at a certain level. Look at these qualifications or the level of experience you need then see how you would attain those. Then you can work out the course to do. It's following a path . Write the path down to make it easier for you. Then you can look how to do such qualifications.

I think you really need to sit and think what you can do any responsibilities you need to take care of and likely to be still there during your pathway. See if it's still manageable to upkeep these responsibilities during course. Such as rent. Morgate, paying bills, general living expenses. If you can't do the everything planned do it in small manageable steps which still allow you to take care of responsibility. Your young and you still have time to fall back onto path if you fall off it.

Sncjw

Distant learning courses need commitment maybe even more than stand Uni courses as your not kind of badgered by lecturers to do the work or tutor to do the work. You have to have good time planning skills and to be focused on doing the work. It can be easy to be distracted by life when doing distant learning courses and thus could forget you are due to hand in assignments . You need this commitment throughout the course to pass it

whodathunkit

jonnyd281 wrote: »

Mine never discouraged it, and one unit positively encouraged it. My thesis required me to do a lot of research, selecting appropriate journals, articles and books to read, the only guidance was how to do the literature searches for that one.

Which is why I said "some".

It was certainly the case for a course my ex husband did and others have found the same. I don't think that it's true for all units, particularly at the higher levels.

bauhaus_modern

If i had the chance again, i wouldn't study any higher than a degree level, regardless of quality of course or institution.
The economy is in a terrible state right now, and competition for jobs is really high. Employers prefer to take on folk with experience rather than qualifications unless the qualifications are required for the job (social work/nursing/teaching/medicine/vet etc).

My advise to anybody about to study at undergraduate or postgraduate level is to only study something practical.

Criticising quality of degree - at any uni, lecturers have a vested interest to pass folk, and if folk who are paying for their education are failing, there'd be an outcry. Papers are generally externally marked anyway.

I'd recommend looking at employability for course and employability stats for uni before picking up the study books.