Is the OU the right choice (prospective student)

Thanks for posting this and sorry to hear you're having a tough time deciding what do to next. If it helps I did a lot of um-ing and ah-ing over what to do after college too and I'm pretty sure we're not alone.

I've just put a call out to some of our young OU students - there are lots of them in a smiliar position to you - and they'll be best placed to tell you why they chose the OU over a traditional university and how they're finding OU study. Some of them write blogs (here's a list of them) and you'd be able to contact them directly if you wanted to ask them specific questions; I'm sure they'd be happy to help.

Hope that helps a bit - best of luck

I can only speak from personal experience (obviously), but studying with The OU was undoubtedly the better choice for me.

For starters it's cheaper; fees are cheaper and you can study whilst living at home so as long as you get on with your folks you'll stop yourself having a massive debt when you leave. 

Employers look quite favourably on The OU because it takes that little bit more dedication and self-motivation to do (it doesn't really, but they seem to think it does), so in terms of future jobs it's a wise choice.

Fair enough you don't get the same sort of social scene as you do at a campus uni, but there's ways around that and our Students Association is undergoing a MASSIVE change at the minute so you'd be just in the nick of time to experience a renewed OUSA brimming over with students eager to meet up, and depending on your hobbies/interests you can join a more specific group.

The OU has a far greater support system than a campus uni - simply because it HAS to. So if you're struggling with something there's always a student, alumni or tutor on hand to help you.

I hope this has in some way helped, even if it's just clarified a couple of things for you. I, personally adore The OU so my opinion is utterly biased beyond belief!

 Hello! I have studied both at the University of Kent and with the OU, so I think I have a pretty good view of both the pros and cons.

Really, it depends what you want. I agree with Caz; the OU is definitely more supportive. No pesky office hours to deal with if you need to talk to your tutor! ;)

The OU is hard work, it's true. You have to be motivated. Then again, studying part time and working (if you want) is much nicer than being poor all the time! At Kent, I never took my studies seriously because I was living with my friends and there was always something going on. I didn't get on with the people on my course which made me skip rehearsals (I did Drama) so I could hang out with my housemates. And then I had the inevitable massive fall out with one of my housemates which was the main reason in me leaving in my second year. This also happened to my best friend but she has since gone to another campus uni and has had less drama! But with the OU that isn't a problem.

Campus university is a good experience but it's not something you're going to miss out on if you have friends who are going to uni; you can visit them and have nights out with the assurance that you don't have to worry about getting up for your 9am lecture ;) 

I've blogged a bit about campus unis vs the OU, you can find the entries here. Any questions about anything and leave me a comment; my comments are emailed to me so I will respond asap :)

Nikki

Hey!

The OU is a great place to study, it is so flexible and considerably more affordable than FT Uni (Also, there's great funding available for a lot of people). You're not isolated as there are always tutorials to attend, and in certain courses (Like mine), elluminate sessions, which are a form of e-conference! It's suprising how many people you meet in the tutorials, and pretty soon you'll be friends on Facebook/Twitter! Some other distance learning institutions offer absolutely no form of social interaction whatsoever, with the OU being effectively streets ahead of them.

The flexibility is a great factor too, as it becomes entirely up to you when you choose to study. This allows you to really plan your studies around your life, and there's always the time to catch up with your mates! It's a great opportunity to get a part time job at the same time as your OU studies, or even to fast track the degree programme so it takes the same time as any other Uni. 

Hopefully the OU will now attract more young students with the rising Uni fees, and that should place it as a real contender in the HE world - Both academically and socially!

Hope that helps!

 So obviously we're all incredibly biased because we love the OU and it was the perfect choice for us!

I haven't met anyone that studies with the OU that doesn't think it's fantastic! I think perhaps a lot of people don't think about the OU until they have tried another option and fallen out with it. Nicola explained how she fell out with her campus uni, I did a similar thing although I didn't last quite as long as her! I just didn't like the living arrangements and found the sudden social change very difficult to deal with.

The only thing that campus unis do better than the OU is the whole 'experience' ie hundreds of parties and being surrounded by people that are in the same boat as you and living away from home. As the others have said, the OU is very social and friendly but it's not quite the same.

Having said that, that's not why most people go to uni and everything else that you need you can get from the OU, in terms of cost, flexibility, friendship, support and career progression it's certainly the best thing I've found.

Did I mention we're incredibly biased..?

Hi Amy!

Looks like we've all chipped in with advice and hints and tips! But I faced exactly the same situation as you so I hope my advice helps. I would suggest you write a pros and cons list, covering ALL things, academic and personal to you. For example, the quality of the courses/degree you are interested in, finance, student life etc. Once you sort something like this out, you will hopefully begin to find out what takes priority in your life, and hopefully the decision will become clearer for you.

I really don't regret my choice of higher education, and every other OU student I have met (old and young) has said exactly the same. The course material and literature they provide is very clear, professional and detailed. You are also given 24/7 access to your tutor which is something that campus universities do not cater for and thus you I think you have a much more thorough learning experience than you would at campus universities. 

The ultimate plus point I think most people would agree on is the flexibility of studying with the OU. You can attend any relevant tutorials in the UK and you can study when and wherever you want! It's also a brilliant opportunity to earn some money whilst you learn, giving yourself a bit of a financial boost and opening up your social life and working skills too!

Don't be afraid to get in touch if you would like to chat! My e-mail is hmotteram@gmail.com.

I hope all goes well and I wish you the best of luck!

Hayley x

Hi,

Amy again. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has responded to my post, in regards to my choices, and consideration of the OU. It's great to see that everyone has such good feed back to give on their OU experiance; it is a credit to the system and has clarified a lot of things for me.

I have always been very accademic and I love writting, even long essays when I get going :) with my other love being observing people, even subconsiously, picking up on their body language and trying to desifer what they are thinking; I tend then attempt to help them with their problems lol! ( If you haven't guessed I'm looking at physcology as my degree choice.)
A degree is definately what I want to challenge myself, and from reading your posts I  think the OU is the perfect way for me to do that. I am an absolute stress head and so trying to decide weather to go to a campus university or not, was sending me into a panic spiral lol. I think that the OU could be my saviour; since begining to consider it my stress has lowered a great deal for which I am thankful lol, so I think I'm on the right track.

I really appriciate the support you guys have shown, and I have to say being new to forums, and so a tad reserved about them, everyone has made me feel very comfortable about talking and socialising using this method, especially considering how careful we all have to be these days. (wow how old do I sound.) It would great to get to know some of you OU youngsters a bit better... :) 

Amy

Hi Amy,

That post was very sweet, and you said a lot of kind things, so thank you! I'm really glad that you've settled and become more content with your decision as to which path to take. I get stressed easily too, so to have the flexibility the OU offers is fab for challenging times.

I think it's great how these forums have taken off, and more and more people are saying hello and getting involved. It's a great place to meet and greet! And yes, you're right about being careful on the internet and after hearing all the bad press on forums it can be scary, but the people on here are genuine, and it is a great way to socialise considering OU students don't see one another frequently compared to campus university students.

You mentioned you were interested in studying physcology, have you decided what course you would like to do?

Hayley

Hi Hayley,

That's quite alright. There seems to be lots of good things going on inside the OU and is very encouraging. Thank you. I am feeling much better now than I was and the more I look into things, and speak to people like yourself, the more comfortable I get in my feeling that this is the route for me!

I agree. It's great that there is somewhere for everyone to get envolved with something even if it's outside of their usual peramiters. It is also fantastic for people like me who want to get a feel for what they are getting themselves into, and what kind of community is out there. So far it seems lovely.

Yes I'm always a little bit wary, but I'm very comfortable talking here, and it's nice to see everyone supporting one another.

My interests are with Psychology yes. They began in counselling but I have found that at 18 it is a very difficult industry to break into, so starting with psychology will at least broaden my horizons and give me more options. It is a bit of a jump though as I have just finished a National Diploma in Animal management, so the subject is quite differnt from what I have been studying, but, having said that I study it everyday when Im just watching everything. It fasinates me! :) I am looking at starting the Discovering Psychology module DSE141 starting in November for the first part of my degree :)

How long have you been doing your degree? Much longer left to go? How old are you by the way? I've noticed most of the younger students here are in their early 20s.

Amy