Do people consider OU degrees

[EverythingRightNow]

I was wondering do people consider OU degrees real degrees? One thing that gets me is I'm into arts and crafts, you essentially get a brief & work from it, why don't they do Arts OU that are funded the same way?

It would work in a similar fashion where you touch base with a tutor periodically.

My friends laughed when I suggested getting an OU degree as I should aim for a real one instead. Is this general consensus?

If you want advice from people who are knowledgeable and impartial then I would speak to someone at the National Careers Service. They will be able to explain to you the different options and help you to make an informed choice that suits you..

It's a different experience to a bricks and mortar uni but no less valued. It also acts as a statement of you as a person if you can study a degree whislt working etc. It is a different way of working.

I did an OU course 10 years ago and had nothing but positive feedback. My studies contined at a top uni after.
It's not comparable with the judgements people might make over where an 18 year old mighy go (which I think is what some people are sort kf doing)

Absolutely! My degree in primary teaching in learning was done over 9 years part time. Trust me no one will laugh when they see how much hard work you have to put in!

I don't know about arts but OU MBAs have a good reputation

If you're in London and want to study part time you should consider Birkbeck

Personally I be more impressed with someone having the drive to complete an OU degree than someone who had been more 'spoon fed'.

A top law or accountancy firm may think differently but there are lots of other employers out there.

My tutor for the final year of my OU degree was also a lecturer at an actual uni for the same subject, he said that the OU content was touching on post grad in places and more in depth than the 'real' course.

I enjoyed my course and I'm very proud of my 1st!

I have an OU degree and several family members in academia who speak highly of the OU, both for the academic rigour of the degrees and the research output of the institution. However, if you are interested in the arts, have a look into the Open College of the Arts. It's not connected to the OU but is similar in concept, distance learning with the option of doing individual courses or a full degree. There are courses covering various disciplines across the creative arts and much of the assessed work is practical.

I got my degree in a STEM subject from the OU. Now I'm in my dream job. I beat many candidates from traditional unis to get where I am. The OU degree did not have as much lab work as non-distance degrees do and I do feel I missed out somewhat there but in terms of materials, teaching and the additional skills it taught me (determination, organisation, perseverance) I found it to be far superior over the 2 red brick degrees I have (I'm a career changer and OU was my only option, which I am very grateful for as otherwise I might have picked a different uni and probably not ended up where I am now).

Oh and I have several friends who did degrees with the OU, followed by PhDs and who are doing extremely well in the academic world...

My degree is from the OU and I have always found it is treated equally if not better than other degrees. The in depth knowledge thing mentioned above is valid to a point in that you can have a general degree that covers lots of different subjects as well as a specialist one.

Unless you are wanting to apply to one of the last bastions of snobbishness like the Magic circle law firms (check your soul in at the door as you enter the building) most firms don't even look at where your degree is from. They see you have a degree and look at your experience. I am proud of my degree and I have no debt as you can afford to pay as you go along. Go for OU its a very valid qualification.

My uni lecturer had a degree from the ou.

I work in HE. OU degrees are highly respected.

I've heard OU degrees are more desirable to employers because studying is done in your own time often alongside a full time job and shows discipline and commitment. Surely it's easier to be a full time student in a regular university as opposed to squeezing a full time course into partime hours.

I have two degrees from Russell group universities. I then went on and did study at the OU. The OU was superior in so very many ways. I don't doubt my degrees got me to where I am now in my career however in terms of experience and satisfaction and study materials, the OU was better. I work in Europe and the OU is considered as highly as any other academic institution- if not more highly as it is more known. The OU is absolutely top notch. Yes, I was amazed too, but honestly you can't knock it. In fact I'm going back to do more.

There is an online world wide uni ranking website- Russel group uni's are all in the top 100 world wide, I believe OU is about 300 in the world (so very good) and ex polytechs start at about 1000, so if your choice is between an ex polytechnic and ou, go ou everytime. I work at a Russel group uni and and some of the academics who lecture there obtained their phds from OU, so it is obviously well respected. However my DH got a masters from OU and tried to use it abroad and they said it was worthless, but I think its because, from my limited research, a lot of online universities are complete crap and are ranked about 20,000 in the world and they don't realise how good OU is.

I know someone who did an OU degree, then went on to a PHD.

He's now a lecturer at Cambridge University - so I think they are well respected by the people who count.

Nettletheelf there are many industries that would be happy with either degree. In the software industry I noticed that Oxbridge graduates don't interview particularly well and often don't integrate into teams well. In general they have a habit of thinking they know best.

OU degrees are equivalent in terms of awarded degree and qualification to brick unis. They are not equivalent, nor are any others, in terms of research expertise, exposure, uni experience etc.

The more important question is probably what are you wanting to study at degree level for? Why that subject? Why at degree level specifically? What will the qualification give you? Once you've answered that, then the applicability of an OU degree over other options, and hence its value, can be properly considered.

Laughing at the idea that degrees from Oxbridge etc are worth more than other degrees!

Laugh all you want, but I can mention quite a few companies where the CVs go on top of the pile. Why do you think so many companies bother sending staff to encourage Oxbridge, Imperial and others to apply for them?

If you were looking at the CVs, you would understand why, so many of the students are very interesting people, not just limited to (very good) degrees.

Here is another vote for the ou.
Started a msc at a much lauded uni but discontinued as poor quality and didn't learn anything.

I have a degree from the OU and employers have only ever been positive about it. I also accrued no debt (though the fees have gone up since, the level of debt will still be a lot lower than that of other universities). Anyone who wants to be snobby about that can, quite frankly, fuck right off. I worked bloody hard for my degree and I enjoyed it immensely.

On MN I notice people will talk about having to go to Oxbridge if you ever want to have a career. Clearly you will fail at life if you don't and anything below Oxbridge is not even worth contemplating. But in the real world a degree is a degree, employers will see you have been educated to a certain level and respect that.

God knows what they would make of DP, he didn't even do A levels .

Most people who do OU degrees do so at the same time as working (or raising a family full-time). Most people who do B&M degrees are probably straight from school and do it at the same time as drinking & socialising. Do you think an employer is going to give higher regard to someone who's actively chosen to fit it in to their already-busy life or someone who couldn't decide what to do after school & figured university would be a good laugh? Anyone who belittles an OU degree obviously hasn't actually tried it for themselves.

Admittedly I used to work for them but have done many OU courses over the years and the quality of the materials and contact time has been better than at the red brick I got my first degree at. Their MBA is or at least was, triple accredited, which I understand is pretty impressive. Personally I'd always choose OU over other distance learning courses as it's so well established.

But their are other firms that don't rate Oxbridge at all and its seen as a black mark...