OU maths and physics?

[Trickedbyadoughnut]

I have been umming and aahing about taking a second degree for a couple of years - it's been on pause as DH has been retraining, but in the next year, I should be able to finally start!

Because of the time spent thinking about it, I keep changing my mind. At first I wanted to IT generally, then cybersecurity specifically. I'm in a profession that will be under threat from AI in the next few years (linguist). It is such a lot of money to retrain and I am early forties, so feel like I really need to do something that could lead to a job. I play around with coding/capture the flag stuff online already.

But if there were no other considerations what I really would like to do is maths or maths and physics (was put off doing them at A level by a not-very-nice teacher, whereas my chemistry teacher really wanted me to continue and I got A* in all maths and double science at GCSE, so it's a bit of residual frustration). I do a lot of maths and science stuff online, read a lot on these subjects, so not just totally taking a swerve.

Anyone done OU maths/physics and changed career? What sort of things would it qualify me to do? I might need to take a coaching session, but MN can be so wise, I thought I'd come to you guys first!

I saw that the OU are planning to launch an MA in Linguistics (Artificial Intelligence) in 2024, not sure if that might build on your current expertise whilst also dealing with the AI threat to your current role? Postgraduate fees are less than undergraduate fees too.

I can't answer your maths/physics question unfortunately, I just like daydreaming about studying! 😂

My friend just packed in teaching and did a 9 week course in cyber security and got a job in it straight away! Could you do something like that?

I did Maths, and so did 90% of people I work with (finance / credit risk / analytics). It is a really useful degree but I guess not directly into a career as such so wonder if it's the best thing to do at your stage in life?

That is interesting and it would make sense on many levels ... but just not sure I'm interested enough.

Sometimes I can make decisions in my life, promise 😝

If you haven't got Maths A level then I would take maths and further maths a levels first.

Yes, that's exactly my thoughts - it doesn't really have a clear career paths and I'm thinking I'm too old to faff around for long.

I am keeping the bootcamps as an option if it looks like my job is imminently under threat, but I'd prefer something I can do on the side at the moment and something that I can spread the payments. And something I enjoy so that I'll really properly commit the time!

The more I post, the more I'm realising I'm being difficult ...

What are you salary exceptions, what would you plan to do after the maths degree?

Salary expectations - would need 30k plus to make the leap realistically.

Possibly would go on to a masters in AI or cybersecurity.

I think I might be talking myself into maths and computing/IT.

Gah, I am annoying myself now with my indecisiveness!

I guess you need to ask yourself if you are doing it because you want to study on the side or if it's because you want to change career?

I think that's the crux of my problem - it's that I want to stretch my brain and study something I enjoy, but realistically, if I have to work another 25 years, my profession is going to be long gone by then. But I really like my job, so it's hard to be realistic.

The free courses on OpenLearn are often based on samples of the OU's accredited paid courses. If you're feeling indecisive, maybe start with some free courses to see how you fare with motivation vs enjoyment vs difficulty when it's lower stakes?

Or FutureLearn? There's a fee structure for some of them but many offer free access if you're not bothered about a certificate at the end. They have microcredentials you could potentially put towards a qualification, but those incur a fee (and transferability of credit varies).

Or Coursera, Udemy, etc. MIT publish lots of their courses for free online too (but obviously no accreditation).

Or Code First Girls Kickstarter courses? They're lower key than the bootcamp type things. Or are you above that level already?

Your existing job might evolve as the tech involves?

Thanks @swanling I have done quite a few free online courses, Code Academy, Free to Code Camp, TryHackMe but they didn't help me decide 😅

Thanks to everyone's help, I've taken a deep breath and registered for Computing and Maths - I just feel, despite my interest, that I am very unlike to ever use physics in a professional context.

For the final module, it looks possible to pick AI/cybersecurity modules, so hopefully I'll be a bit clearer on what I want to specialise in by then.

Thanks all! Just got to try to not think about the cost now. Yikes.

Ha ha you sound a bit like me 😂

That's an exciting update - I hope you enjoy the course!

😅 thanks!