Starting an OU degree at 16
Discussion
Why don't more people do a degree with the OU instead of racking up university debt?
The son of a friend of mine is 16, and has just started A levels after a long list of excellent GCES. He has now decided to also start an OU degree this month just before he is 17. He has reserched and aranged it himself. He has dropped the A levels with the same content as his degree course and intends to leave college at 18 after A levels and get a job to contuinue his OU degree which by then will be more than half done. He has retained his lanaguage A levesl as he is already tri-lingual having come to the Uk from Europe at the age of 5 and lived in a bi-lingual house.
I think he was inspired by his sister who started university, dropped out after 6 weeks, got a learning support job in s school and started an OU degree. She used the holidays to catch up OU work and did 2 credits in the first year. She is now 21, nearing the end of her course with no debt, with money in the bank, a car and a CV of work experience which will blow most other graduates out of the water.
Both of them are bright kids but not the genius most parents believe their kids to be. They are both well adjusted, grounded young adults from a working class family, not home educated hippes.
As an employer I know which I would be more impressed with in terms of personal responsibility, application, foresight and fiscal responsiility than someone with £30K of debt and a beer belly from their uni days who has had the traditional 'uni experience'.
Cogcog said:
Why don't more people do a degree with the OU instead of racking up university debt?
Price of an OU degree is going up next year (courses starting in 2013). Can't remember exact price, but it will be something like £5500 per "full year equivalent" - the OU asks for 360 points for a full honours degree, so each year equivalent is 120 points. You can do an OU degree in three years but it takes a lot of self control.More information here
Because Uni isn't just about the bit of paper you come out with at the end. Leaving home, sorting out your finances (or not) mixing with all types, etc. has a huge impact on who you become IMO.
I wouldn't knock anyone with life experience from doing an OU degree, but at 16-18 you'll miss out on a lot of growing up.
I wouldn't knock anyone with life experience from doing an OU degree, but at 16-18 you'll miss out on a lot of growing up.
^^ not quite so sure about that to be honest as you just do things differently.
All of the things you say are generally true but with an OU degree most people have 'real' responsibilities. Maybe you wouldn't have such responsibilities at 18 but I was working well over 40 hours a week, paying a mortgage and associated overheads, raising two small children, maintaining my relationship with my wife and everything else that daily life throws at you.
Any 18 year old that could manage part of that (which is generally what you have to do with an OU degree) will undoubtedly learn a lot more about life than a regular uni student.
To the OP. I worked for the OU for quite a few years and bumped into my old Prof the other day. I was quite surprised to hear that they did some serious marketing last year to see if it would be worth marketing their degrees to a younger audience. The results that came back were that young people were not generally interested in the degree itself but all the socialising that comes with it. The qualification was only a small part of it. Thus, as a result they are continuing to target mature students (like me).
In some ways I find it sad to find that the younger generation are more interested in getting pissed but at the same time I can understand it. An OU degree is f
king hard work and quite a lonely pursuit. It certainly isn't for everyone even though it can save you years of miserable debt.
All of the things you say are generally true but with an OU degree most people have 'real' responsibilities. Maybe you wouldn't have such responsibilities at 18 but I was working well over 40 hours a week, paying a mortgage and associated overheads, raising two small children, maintaining my relationship with my wife and everything else that daily life throws at you.
Any 18 year old that could manage part of that (which is generally what you have to do with an OU degree) will undoubtedly learn a lot more about life than a regular uni student.
To the OP. I worked for the OU for quite a few years and bumped into my old Prof the other day. I was quite surprised to hear that they did some serious marketing last year to see if it would be worth marketing their degrees to a younger audience. The results that came back were that young people were not generally interested in the degree itself but all the socialising that comes with it. The qualification was only a small part of it. Thus, as a result they are continuing to target mature students (like me).
In some ways I find it sad to find that the younger generation are more interested in getting pissed but at the same time I can understand it. An OU degree is f
king hard work and quite a lonely pursuit. It certainly isn't for everyone even though it can save you years of miserable debt.rhinochopig said:
Because Uni isn't just about the bit of paper you come out with at the end. Leaving home, sorting out your finances (or not) mixing with all types, etc. has a huge impact on who you become IMO.
I wouldn't knock anyone with life experience from doing an OU degree, but at 16-18 you'll miss out on a lot of growing up.
I keep hearing that said, but cannot see the evidence. I see graduates who have lived away from home for 3 years at a cost of many thousands, still unable to wipe their own bottoms to be frank. Ok, he may miss out of sitting up all night, chillin' with his mates etc but I am not seeing that type of life experience transfer into employability.I wouldn't knock anyone with life experience from doing an OU degree, but at 16-18 you'll miss out on a lot of growing up.
Cogcog said:
rhinochopig said:
Because Uni isn't just about the bit of paper you come out with at the end. Leaving home, sorting out your finances (or not) mixing with all types, etc. has a huge impact on who you become IMO.
I wouldn't knock anyone with life experience from doing an OU degree, but at 16-18 you'll miss out on a lot of growing up.
I keep hearing that said, but cannot see the evidence. I see graduates who have lived away from home for 3 years at a cost of many thousands, still unable to wipe their own bottoms to be frank. Ok, he may miss out of sitting up all night, chillin' with his mates etc but I am not seeing that type of life experience transfer into employability.I wouldn't knock anyone with life experience from doing an OU degree, but at 16-18 you'll miss out on a lot of growing up.
That said, doing a degree away from home, does give you a lot of experiences that are hard to replicate whilst living at home.
I can only speak from personal experience, and those of my mates, but we all found that going away helped us to grow up and to be little more open minded and worldly wise.
aclivity said:
Cogcog said:
Why don't more people do a degree with the OU instead of racking up university debt?
Price of an OU degree is going up next year (courses starting in 2013). Can't remember exact price, but it will be something like £5500 per "full year equivalent" - the OU asks for 360 points for a full honours degree, so each year equivalent is 120 points. You can do an OU degree in three years but it takes a lot of self control.More information here
To get these fees you need to be an existing student or start a course before 1 September 2012. You will then keep payng cheaper fees until 2017.
Amateurish said:
The cost will rise to £5k per full year equivalent next September. However, existing students will retain existing pricing which is much much cheaper. You can currently do a 60 point course (one sixth of a degree) for £700.
To get these fees you need to be an existing student or start a course before 1 September 2012. You will then keep payng cheaper fees until 2017.
May be why he got in now!To get these fees you need to be an existing student or start a course before 1 September 2012. You will then keep payng cheaper fees until 2017.
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