Hi there,

I am thinking of joining the open university and first would like general information on this if you have dealt with the university.

Also I am thinking of studying for a BA in social science and would like to know if this is really interesting in your opinion, and just hoping there won't be too much about politics involved in the course!!

Many thanks!

If you study with the OU be prepared with the fact they are not a University in the conventional sense where theres loads of support and an adequate library.

For instance if you study with the OU in Sheff you can use both University libraries but only as an external user, so not a full member of anywhere... it can get frustrating.

did you study with the O.U??

Hi there,

Did my MBA with the OU and it was hard work but fun.

The materials I got from them were excellent on the whole - I started my course when they were reviewing parts of it so the IT module was a bit outdated on the MBA course, but it was adequate.

The stuff about the libraries mentioned above - anyone used to be able to join the University libraries as an external borrower for a yearly fee, but anyone can go in and read and research stuff there for free even without OU studentship. To be honest I doubt that the difference between 'full' membership and what you get from being in the OU or being a paid reader for the duration of teh course is a major issue.

The support was good - I had a tutor and tutorial groups were held reasnably regularly. I was also put in touch with other people doing the MBA locally, and had a number of summer schools. The support gained from the OU was as much or as little as I wanted; I was quite self contained so I didn't use anything near the full range of support I had offered me.

Joe

Hi Sony,
I have just finished my first year of a social science degree with the OU.

The coursework materials are excellent. Videos, audio tapes, books and study guides. The tutorials are really helpful if you can get to them, chance to meet up with other newbies and chat about the course.

If you are doing social science, then you will be probably starting with DD100 or (DD121/2), the same as me.

If you have any questions or worries about the course, pm me and I will see if I can help.

Good luck with your study - I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Loopy.

As a tutor on DD201 Sociology and Society [I also teach at Liverpool University] with OU I can definately recommend the experience. Students with OU get greater access to tutors and help with coursework than do their counterparts at "traditional" Universities. Tutors can be contacted by students, within certain civilised limits, via post, telephone or email. The course material is excellent, and the University itself is very high in the league tables re teaching quality. Give it a go.

My daughter hopes to start a BA in business and spanish with the OU and when I spoke to my friend about it her response was - OU, are you sure that there qualifications are accepted?

She's the first person that has raised this issue, although I think its more of an 'elitist' perspective [for eg Sheffield Uni vs Sheffield Hallam Uni] I would be interested to know what other people's experiences are. Is there some level of snobbery out there from employers and other Universities about accepting OU qualifications?

What do you all think?

most employers that I have spoken are impressed with OU degrees because generally OU students have had to motivate, plan and work mostly on their own - showing high levels of comitment and personal drive. I dont meant that regular students don;t do this either, just that OU students are 'usually' fitting studies in along side full time roles elsewhere.

My next course is DD201......timo, starting in Feb

I am just finishing my English degree with the OU, my first 2 years were brilliant and very well supported but I have found the last 2 years to be a bit of a nightmare due to the OU's lack of communication and the fact that they do not actually track what you do - I had told them what degree I wanted and thought I had chosen all my modules correctly, I thought someone in admin or my tutor would be double checking that I wasn't wasting my time with my choices but they weren't, so consequently I have had to do another year.

Also some of the tutors are fantstic and very helpful and supportive but others are not and that can make it hard - another example of lack of communication - last year my tutor left his job, moved to Newcastle and left the OU with all our course work - the OU didn't realise this until about 3 months later when I phoned and asked them if I had my work!

Aside from the admin and communication problems though, the course content and materials for all modules which I have done have been very interesting and overall I have enjoyed studying with the OU, you meet some very interesting folks in the tutorials too as it is not just a class of 18 year olds - it is all ages and all different backgrounds.

If you have the self discipline and motivation you will be fine.
Good luck

Phoned the OU helpline this morning and they told me a BA in social science would last 6 years!!!:loopy:
Is this true???

Originally posted by JoePritchard
Hi there,

The stuff about the libraries mentioned above - anyone used to be able to join the University libraries as an external borrower for a yearly fee, but anyone can go in and read and research stuff there for free even without OU studentship. To be honest I doubt that the difference between 'full' membership and what you get from being in the OU or being a paid reader for the duration of teh course is a major issue.

Joe

I found only being allowed to borrow 3 books (as an external member) instead of 15 (as a full Uni library member) very frustrating when studying for my MA.

Of course anyone can go in and read but when you work 9-5 and the opening times are only 9-5 in the Summer, doing your research is difficult to say the least.

Most people do take 6 years to do an OU degree, you can do it in 3 though.
They don't really encourage it to be done in 3 years, not sure why.

It is up to you - if you have to pay for it then it can be quite a financial strain doing it full time, it also depends what other commitments you have.
To give you some idea of time requirement you would need about 10-15 hours per week for a module, so to do it in 3 years it would be about 20-30, but this is quite variable and there are ways to cut out a lot of the work they give you if you are wanting to do it quickly!

Originally posted by Sony
Phoned the OU helpline this morning and they told me a BA in social science would last 6 years!!!:loopy:
Is this true???

It can be done in 3 years, but the amount of study required would be equivalent to a full-time degree. 6 years is the norm for OU students since they tend to be studying only part-time.

i've just enrolled for my 4th year of an OU social sciences degree and i've really enjoyd it so far. although some OU graduates have experienced some snobbery, the qualifications are recognised and carry as much weight as qualifications gained at a traditional university.

the social science degree consists of 6 modules, which can be chosen from a large selection of related subjects. depending on the combinations that you choose to study, you may also be eligible for certain diplomas, as well as your final degree.

the courses are generally self-contained - i've never had to borrow any book from any library for the courses i've studied so far.