OU degrees... how long in reality does it take to complete?

[juicychops]

im sure it says somewhere in the OU prospectus or somewhere that it says it should take about 4 years to complete.

But for my Psychology degree ive done my level 1 course, and i started my first level 2 in Oclober so il be finished that by June 08.

So that will be 2 years already!

and i will still have about another 4-5 courses to do to get the full degree.

So have they just got it wrong, or am i supposed to be doing more than 1 course at a time?

i need to have i think 360 points for a full degree and most of the courses are worth 60 points each

It's 6 years if you do a max of 60 points a year (which is 1 course per year... there are 10 and 30 point courses so it could take longer).

You could also double up and complete in 3 years (2 60pt courses per year).

To complete in 4 you would need to double up for a couple of years. hth

i am thinking about doubling up next oct when i start the next one but i have only been doing this level 2 one for 2 months and already so behind.

is it do-able to double up and still get good marks on both courses?

Yes but you have to be totally committed (or choose an "easier" second course). I did 20th Century Novel and a French course last year. The French was a 30 pointer and the Lit 60 points. Am doing Creative Writing (60) and the next French (30) this year.

I opted to do the French online so that I didn't have to go out to tutorials which would have added 3 hours to my week (travelling time there and back). That meant that instead of being out 2-4 evenings a month at tutorials I was only out 1-2 times.

I would think seriously though if you are already falling behind with your course. Falling behind on 2 is not pretty.

hth

Thats a good idea doing a 60 point and a 30 point. I think i'l just have to see how i go with the rest of this course and take it from there.

i also dont go to any of the tutorials as its too difficult getting babysitters for the times i need them.

i just dont want this degree to drag along for another 4 years. i want to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel

ive just had a look at the course start dates. there is a 15 point one starting in Oct 08 so il do that straight after this one. Then the next courses dont start until Feb 09. There is a 60 point child development and a 30 point studying the brain one so il see how this one goes to weather i do them both together or not

A uni part time degree usually takes 7 yrs, so 6/7yrs OU is in line with "normal" part time courses.

Good luck with it all

Do you still have to do 4 particular 60 point courses for a psychology degree? Introduction to psychology, cognitive, social and child dev? I wouldn't recommend doubling up level 3 courses as Social psychology particularly is a lot of reading. Cognitive is not so bad but still quite heavy going.

I think you need to be looking at 6 years minimum realistically although they are varying start dates a lot more now than they did 10 years ago when I started my Post-grad conversion in psychology so you might be able to overlap the end of one course with the beginning of another a bit more now - almost all udergrad courses, without exception, ran February to October then.

Niecie, yes they are still the compulsory 60 point courses. i dont think i would attempt to do 2 60point courses at the same time as i know i couldn't do that as well as i could doing them seperately

hi just wanted to say iam due to start my post-grad conversion in psychology in feb. i have to do 4 60 point courses & originally (& imho unrealistically) planned to do 2 60 point courses per year completing the conversion in 2 years. however i have established that i have 3 years before i can apply to do my psych masters so i am going to do the 4 courses over 3 years. i will have a 5 or 6 month period in the second year when i will have an overlap of 2 courses but hopefully will be into the way of studying by then & not find it too taxing! i suppose it depends on what other commitments you have-how many children, work etc.

Fucking forever

6 years in reality. I am half way through.. IF I've passed the past year's one.. (find out on Fri... [blows raspberry into pants ]

are you doing DSE212 juicy??
(cos i'm doing that too)!

I think 6 years is about average.
I will hopefully finish mine in 2010 - that will be seven years for me

controlfreaky2 yes im doing DSE212

Finding it really interesting but quite tough. There is just so much reading before TMA02

How are you getting on with it?

pretty much same as you i think! interesting (mostly) but tough. didnt find the first etma too bad but am rather dreading tackling the second one..... my tutor is v good but it's not easy for me to make the meetings..... will be a long hard slog. let me know how you get on. where are you based (i'm in london). good luck with it.

Im in Dartford my tutorials are i think in Orpington but i cant make them as i have no one to babysit. It is tougher than i expected it to be. Im reading through chapter 3 still and the stuff about conditioning im really struggling to fully understand.

There is just so much to take in!!

I'm taking on 120 points this year - two 30s and a 60. I'm not working and the children are all at school now so I am going to treat it like a job and study from 9-3 every weekday and then evenings from 9-10.30 when the pressure is on.

gosh your brave!!

i wish i had more free time to do this. i dont feel like im giving it my all at the moment. work part time and single parent to a toddler so its not the easiest to find spare time. by the evenings im knackered

Mine are all over five now Juicychops and I can't tell you what a big difference it makes. I didn't even attempt OU until my youngest was four.