OU maths and stats question

PoleStar

Hi

I plan on starting either pure maths or maths/statistics with the OU with a view to achieving a BSc.

Just a query to anyone who has done so. I am wondering if I need to do MU123 before I do MST121. I have seen the test quiz and the one for MU123 was no problem. The one for MST121 I couldnt answer but it all looked very familiar.

Basically I did get an A1 in honours maths without much difficulty when I did the leaving certificate. But to qualify the "when", that was in 1994. I am in a profession which requires a lot of brain work so learning will not be an issue.

Just wondering if MST121 does require a good foundation or would I pick it up quickly with quick revision prior to the course if I look through the recommended books. I dont want to start it and find it too hard but on the other side I dont want to do MU123 and find I have wasted my time and energy and end up feeling bored.

What maths standard (using the Irish system as reference) for entry to MST121. The UK standards in terms of GCSE/A levels etc mean nothing to me!

PoleStar

Bumped!

Ok, so I got onto OU, they recommended starting at MST121 level (based on my good maths leaving cert result, although that was 16 years ago!).

It was recommended that I do MST121 only and not combined with MS221 for now as it might be a bit much for first time with OU. Problem is, MS221 only starts in October, hence it will take a long time to get going on this course if you get me.

Anyone else planning this course?

Do you think both are possible at the same time?

BaronVon

I'm planning on starting MST121 in October. I was debating whether to do it alongside MS221 as well.

I've decided not to do both, as I was never particularly good at study, and I don't have as natural grasp of maths as you seem to have.

It sounds like you'd be able for both, bearing in mind they suggest you'd need 16 hours per week study to do both.

You seem to be in a rush to complete them, but it could prove to be costly if you take both on and its too much for you.

PoleStar

Hi infacteh!

Well I am definitely starting MS121 in October, just trying to decide about doing the second.

Its not that I am in a rush per se, its just that overall I would like to do 60 credits per year. There is no Jan or Feb start date for 221 so it would mean doing just 30 credits in year 1.

BaronVon

Well I'm hoping I'll fairly fly through 121, so I'd presume you'll do the same. You could have that wrapped up by Christmas - there's no exams in it, and then you could start 221 in the new year.

Providing you can make the time, I reckon you go for it!

I can't, getting married at the end of May, so can't do anything with exams!

PoleStar

infacteh wrote: »

Well I'm hoping I'll fairly fly through 121, so I'd presume you'll do the same. You could have that wrapped up by Christmas - there's no exams in it, and then you could start 221 in the new year.

Providing you can make the time, I reckon you go for it!

I can't, getting married at the end of May, so can't do anything with exams!

Problem is though, MS221 only starts in October

Ouchette

I'm about to start MST121 too, so that I can get started on a Diploma in Statistics.

MS221 isn't needed on my course and the recommended next module is M248 (Analysing Data) instead. That starts in Feb, so it might be another option for you.

Best of luck!

PoleStar

Awesome!

That is my plan so!

I am gonna start MST121 as planned then do the next stats module in February and MS221 the following October to maximise my efficiency!

Thanks!

Ouchette

Bear in mind that that module isn't part of the pure maths degree, so you'd be doing BSc Hons Maths and Statistics this way. If you were leaning towards pure maths, timetabling might not be the best reason to change... on the other hand, if you were torn, then problem solved!

Lehla

I am interested in doing MST121 starting in October. I have never done distance learning before, does anyone know if the OU is all online or would you have to attend any lectures or tutorials in person?

Ouchette

Lehla wrote: »

I am interested in doing MST121 starting in October. I have never done distance learning before, does anyone know if the OU is all online or would you have to attend any lectures or tutorials in person?

Some modules have exams you'd need to attend, or occasionally even residential parts, but not MST121. The assessment is through assignments marked by your tutor and online exams.

There might also be optional tutorials to attend. The web page says this:

You will have a tutor who will help you with the study material and mark and comment on your written work, and whom you can ask for advice and guidance. If you are new to the OU, you will find that your tutor is particularly concerned to help you with your study methods. We may also be able to offer group tutorials or day schools that you are encouraged, but not obliged, to attend. Where your tutorials are held will depend on the distribution of students taking the course. Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.

If you're going to do it, I suggest you apply very quickly because the UK students are getting their A level results today, and that means those that didn't get the grades they needed will be considering alternative options.


Looks like we'll have a nice little group of us doing MST121 in October!

PoleStar

I am finally settled on my plan. Gonna plan towards BSc Maths/stats with diploma in stats along the way.

Just signed my registration agreements and sending them off today!

BaronVon

PoleStar wrote: »

I am finally settled on my plan. Gonna plan towards BSc Maths/stats with diploma in stats along the way.

Just signed my registration agreements and sending them off today!

I think that'll be my plan too....

There's no need to do MS221 if you don't have to.

The OU provides "bridging material" for free which bridges the difference between MST121 and MS221.

They say it takes about 4 weeks to go through.

Ouchette

infacteh wrote: »

PoleStar wrote:

I am finally settled on my plan. Gonna plan towards BSc Maths/stats with diploma in stats along the way.

Just signed my registration agreements and sending them off today!

I think that'll be my plan too....

Meh. You're all copying me now :P

Swifty_N

I've completed the Maths and Stats degree doing 60 points a year.
I started in 2005 with MST121 and MS221.
I then did M248, MA290 (this one's not available any more), M208, M249, M336, M337, M338, M343 and M346, finishing up in October last year.
I'm starting a PhD next month in Statistics in UCD.
If you've any questions about the degree or about any of those courses, please feel free to PM me.
Good luck with your studies.

Kaluza

Wow, Swifty N, congrats!
It's great to know the open university is so well recogised as to lead to being able to study a PhD with UCD.
I'm starting myself with MU123 this Oct and really looking forward to it.
Continued success to you.

Ouchette

Got my revision pack through now! How's everyone else getting on with theirs? I've got a couple of areas I need to revise, but nothing too daunting at all.

I can only compare to the UK education system, but this bit seems like it's generally very simple examples of most of the higher level GCSE maths syllabus (16 year-olds), so presumably it's below Leaving Cert standard.

gazzer

I am planning to start a BSc(Honours) in Computing/IT and Mathematics from October.

Im hoping to get an credit exemption for level 1 of the Computing/IT strand (My Digital Life) as I already have a Diploma in Business Studies and IT from the IPA.

However I want to get Level 1 and Level 2 of the Compulsory Maths modules studied in the year (MST121 and MS221).

I had a look at the test questions for MST121 and I can do them, however MS221 is harder and even though a lot of the stuff looks familiar I cant answer any of them(Im sure I could with a refresher course).

Has anybody studied the 2 subjects together and how hard was it?

I am used to setting aside time to study from my previous course and Maths is something I like so I reckon that is half the battle.

I am going to head up to OU open day tomorrow anyway and see if I can get any answers.

Swifty_N

I studied them together in 2005. They are designed to make this a seamless as possible. I even had the same tutor for both, and the tutorials obviously didn't clash or anything.
My advice would be to follow the combined timetable but get ahead if you can. Also, with MST121, do the bits of TMA04 and CMA02 as you go along. It saves a lot of time at the end! Remember you have to hand up TMA04 to pass the module.
Go to the tutorials if you can. It helps to be in touch with other students. They'll be your study buddies on various courses for the next few years. Also use the forums on line. You can get some helpful advice, although I used to find the MST121 forum a bit too moany for my liking!
Finally, do lots of past exam papers for the MS221 exam. I found it horrendous, probably the worst of the 10 OU exams I did, but that was mainly because it was the first proper exam I did in decades! Exam technique and time management went out the window! Try and do at least one practice in timed conditions.
Feel free to pm me if you think I can help,
Good luck with your studies.

gazzer

Swifty_N wrote: »

I studied them together in 2005. They are designed to make this a seamless as possible. I even had the same tutor for both, and the tutorials obviously didn't clash or anything.
My advice would be to follow the combined timetable but get ahead if you can. Also, with MST121, do the bits of TMA04 and CMA02 as you go along. It saves a lot of time at the end! Remember you have to hand up TMA04 to pass the module.
Go to the tutorials if you can. It helps to be in touch with other students. They'll be your study buddies on various courses for the next few years. Also use the forums on line. You can get some helpful advice, although I used to find the MST121 forum a bit too moany for my liking!
Finally, do lots of past exam papers for the MS221 exam. I found it horrendous, probably the worst of the 10 OU exams I did, but that was mainly because it was the first proper exam I did in decades! Exam technique and time management went out the window! Try and do at least one practice in timed conditions.
Feel free to pm me if you think I can help,
Good luck with your studies.

Thanks a million for the reply and the info. I really appreciate it. I have no problem going to the tutorials whenever they are on. I have most weekends free anyway. I used to go to tutorials for my Diploma in Business and IT one weekend out of every 6 so thats not a problem.

Im really looking forward to stuying mathematics

johno0341

Hi all,

Just after registering with the OU last friday (last minute decision to get credited with the teaching council to teach Maths) and il be getting my materials this week in the post.:rolleyes: I was originally registering to do 2 modules (MST121 and M208 i tink) but decided to do just mst121 cause it was a last minute decision. Ive been charged 930 euro to credit card, just wondering is that right what ye might have paid or have i been charged for 2 modules (cause 400pounds for one module on the website comes to 465euro)???

BuffyBot

£400 is the UK price (subsidised for UK students by the UK Governement).
£780 is the price for Irish students. It sounds like you didn't read the course page clearly in your hurry!

artvanderlay

Swifty_N wrote: »

I've completed the Maths and Stats degree doing 60 points a year.
I started in 2005 with MST121 and MS221.
I then did M248, MA290 (this one's not available any more), M208, M249, M336, M337, M338, M343 and M346, finishing up in October last year.
I'm starting a PhD next month in Statistics in UCD.
If you've any questions about the degree or about any of those courses, please feel free to PM me.
Good luck with your studies.

Well done Swifty_N. Very inspirational! I'm aiming to finish the BSc in Maths; i've got MST121 & MS221, and some credit transfer, and I just did my M208 exam yesterday. I'm gonna take MST209 and a level 3 course in Jan/Feb and then take the last 3 level 3 courses in oct. Can I just ask you did you do a Masters after your degree or did you just go straight into the Phd?

To the original poster, I'd say doing MST121 & MS221 together is very achievable. There is a lot of overlap between the 2 courses and they are a natural progression from leaving cert standard maths. Best of luck.

murpha34

Hi,
Same as I did last min.com decision to do modules MST121 and MS221 in order to get recognised by TC.

Mst121 is much easier than ms221 but they were originally the same course so I'm hoping i can keep up.

Its a pain to have to do so much to add on to qualifications,, but i'm hoping that there will be a teaching job out of this.

Courses are very dear €930 per module and I will also have to do M208 which is £1350 SO PROB €1500 as well. If I get alot done over the xmas might register for it in jan if not working.

Thanks for tip about doing TMA04 as going along - now that you say it seems obvious ;-)

Swifty_N

artvanderlay wrote: »

Can I just ask you did you do a Masters after your degree or did you just go straight into the Phd?

I just went straight into the PhD. Nearly finished the first semester and I think it's going pretty well. I have used my OU notes A LOT!!!

feet of flame

is this you swifty?
http://www8.open.ac.uk/platform/news-and-features/ou-gets-the-thumbs-in-ireland

Swifty_N

feet of flame wrote: »

is this you swifty?
http://www8.open.ac.uk/platform/news-and-features/ou-gets-the-thumbs-in-ireland

Yes, it is.

Coriolanus

That's really encouraging. I'm starting a BSc and it was one of my worries if I wanted to pursue postgrad outside of the OU.

BaronVon

Hi all, hope all the studying is going well.

I have a dilemma that maybe some of you learned people can help me with, and a problem some of you may be in as well!

I'm nearly finished MST121, my first course. Originally I planned to do the Diploma in Maths & Stats, and then go on to complete the degree.

However, the Diploma course finishes in Dec 2014. Therefore, I need to do the next two compulsory modules, Mathematical Methods and Models (MST209) & Pure Mathematics (M208) next, both Level 2, 60 point modules, whereas the logical route would have been to do Exploring Mathematics (MS221) first, another Level 1, 30 point module.

The crux of the issue is:

• Do I do M208 and M209 first, get the Diploma and then go back to do MS221 is 3 years time, by which I assume the module will prove to be fairly rudimentary, or
  
  
• Do I attempt to do either M208 or M209, together with MS221 in one year, ie 90 points in one year?

Any thoughts or opinions shared would be much appreciated!

Also, as they are discontinuing the Diploma course, does this infer that it's not even worth doing to begin with?

Monkey61

How much time do you have on your hands for studying? I'm doing 120 points this year as well as working full-time. It is a bit annoying, but totally possible unless you have children, or other massive commitments outside of work.

As M208 leads directly on from MS221 I would probably advise doing MST209 and MS221 together and then M208 the following year. Unless you have a fairly decent grounding in pure maths already and think you would be happy enough to jump straight in. Also once you have done M208, you will be bored as hell going back to do an easier version of the same thing afterwards.

I loved MST209. Loved it. And with a bit of effort in the last month ended up with 100% in the exam, so it is totally doable. It wasn't overly time consuming during the year and I am sure I could have managed to do MS221 simultaneously as the TMAs for that weren't hugely time consuming. It might be a bit tricky to study for two exams at once though... but if you are happy doing that, then go for it!

BaronVon

Thanks for the reply.

Monkey61 wrote: »

Also once you have done M208, you will be bored as hell going back to do an easier version of the same thing afterwards

That's what I'd be afraid of!

Getting married the end of this month, so should be no kids til the end of the course!

Just for confirmation, you recommend doing MST209 (Mathematical methods and models) together with MS221 (Exploring maths), and then doing M208 (Pure Maths) the following year?

If you've done MST121, there's no need to do MS221 unless your degree specifies it as complusory.

Instead the OU have "bridging notes", which take a few weeks to study.

I've MST121 done and doing MST209 in Oct.

Monkey61

Monkey61 wrote: »

How much time do you have on your hands for studying? I'm doing 120 points this year as well as working full-time. It is a bit annoying, but totally possible unless you have children, or other massive commitments outside of work.

As M208 leads directly on from MS221 I would probably advise doing MST209 and MS221 together and then M208 the following year. Unless you have a fairly decent grounding in pure maths already and think you would be happy enough to jump straight in. Also once you have done M208, you will be bored as hell going back to do an easier version of the same thing afterwards.

I loved MST209. Loved it. And with a bit of effort in the last month ended up with 100% in the exam, so it is totally doable. It wasn't overly time consuming during the year and I am sure I could have managed to do MS221 simultaneously as the TMAs for that weren't hugely time consuming. It might be a bit tricky to study for two exams at once though... but if you are happy doing that, then go for it!

100% in the exam?

I know plenty of people who've done MST209 and it's far from easy. Plus, they said it was quite time consuming.

Depends on your level of Maths I guess.

Monkey61

Sorry for length of time to respond infacteh, but yes, MST209 and MS221 together one year and then M208 the next year.

rarnes1 wrote: »

100% in the exam?

I know plenty of people who've done MST209 and it's far from easy. Plus, they said it was quite time consuming.

Depends on your level of Maths I guess.

Yeah it was a fairly straightforward exam with a total of 115 marks awarded. Every mark over 100 is rounded back down to 100% so you can lose up to 15 marks and still get 100%.

I am by no means a brilliant mathematician (cannot handle pure maths to save my life), but I am good at doing sums. The exam is straightforward, in that it is predictable and once you learn how to do each type of question and practice them over and over again, you can perform quite mechanically on the day and don't have to waste loads of time thinking about how to approach a question.