Is an OU Open degree worth much or should you aim for a named degree?

[said]

I've done 3 courses with the OU so far just because I fancied them. Is it best to try and consolidate these courses into a named degree? I worry that there will be courses I'll have to do but not want to do. With an Open one (in fact, is it called that?) I've a lot more freedom. But, is it viewed as a bit nothingy and vague?

i think it is a bit nothingy!

but its the ou's most popular degree

and you do have to do some level 3 study to gain it,so you will be a little restricted

i have 1 at level 1 and 3 at level 2....

Hmm, the nothing bit worries me. Am shallow and so prefer the little of everything option

nothingy

I think it depends on what you want to do with the degree afterwards, really. If you want to teach, you might need a named degree, for example.

My feeling is that the Open degree does look a bit "jack of all trades, master of none" on the CV, yet I know that isn't necessarily true at all. For example, a friend of mine is doing a mix of politics and philosophy. Politics is a social science department, philosophy is in the arts and humanities, therefore although the two disciplines are manifestly linked, he'll end up with a definitely not jack of all trades Open degree.

Personally I've decided to go for a named degree because I want it to be clear that I have specialised in certain subject areas. But really I don't think it should matter.

Yes, that's my feeling as well.

Could your friend not do the PPE one? Just realised how bossy that sounds now I've typed it

He's not interested in the content of the OU's economics course (he's a marxist ). And frankly he doesn't care about the whole named degree issue: when I asked him about it, he just said that he'd put "(Politics and Philosophy)" after his degree on his CV for the benefit of employers. My understanding is that university admissions offices are more concerned with what's on your academic transcript than the name of your degree. So I really don't think it matters very much.

Oh, good idea about making up your own name. But easier if just concentrating on 2 subjects - trickier if need to list about 9.

True

I honestly don't know how Open degrees are viewed by others, so I'd be interested to hear what feedback you get about this. I've asked the same question and most people seemed to think named is best, but only for the same vague reasons we've mentioned already (about it sounding a bit nothingy etc).

If you're doing the degree primarily for your own interest and enjoyment, I reckon you should just go for whatever courses appeal to you the most. Ultimately disciplinary boundaries are arbitrary anyway and you're bound to end up with a fashionably interdisciplinary view on the world

I'm doing an open degree and have done a mixture of science and maths courses, but mainly maths as I want to go into teaching maths. I love the flexibility the open degree gives. I did speak to the careers people at the OU and they did say that the open degree is great for teaching. I did start off with a named degree in mind but I wanted to study different courses in the end, so open it is .

Ah, I was wrong about needing a named degree for teaching then - thanks for the correction, VJay