[rojabuck]

I am just about to begin a part-time open university mathematics degree (mature student) as part of a process to get over my fear of mathematics. I have a GCSE in higher mathematics but sometime between being a school kid and starting a PhD I got the fear. I messed up 2 attempts at AS level, mostly due to other priorities of being a 17 year old, I mucked up my PhD due to the fear (who would have thought robotics & vision needed maths huh?) ignoring important papers simply because they were impenetrable to my maths reading skills. I am currently spending 2 hours a night reading through GCSE, AS & A level revision guides to prepare for the start of the university course, however any additional help would obviously be superb.

[timruffles]

I'm doing this right now - MST121 and MS221. I'm finding it a pleasant challenge without having done anything more than GCSE maths. It's finding the time to do the study that's tricky. Say hi if you've got any questions about the course - doing the revision you've mentioned sounds a great idea.

[rojabuck]

You mention that your doing both 121 & 221 at the same time. When I was reading up about the course they recommended only doing this if you had A level (or above) and could commit 16 hours per week. How does that stack up to your experience? Does the course have a good staring gradient? I spend my life coding (in the finance industry) and am un-fazed by the mathematical challenges it throws up daily but am utterly petrified of starting out on the course (maybe combined?) and being presented with a sheet of impenetrable symbols and vast amounts of expected ability, knowledge of processes, terms etc... It's the notation and vocabulary, the superior knowledge of superior men, that worries me the most.

[stg]

I had that fear too (like yourself, the last time I touched mathematics was during my GCSE's and I wasn't exactly a prodigy then) and it was exactly why I did MU123 first rather than jumping into MST121 despite that fact I think I could have handled it.

I reasoned that by being thorough and starting from the beginning (i.e. the most basic module) that I was not likely to encounter any concept later on in the course that had not previously been introduced to me. Hence no ambiguity. Rather convoluted logic I know, but it worked for me.

[rojabuck]

Given that the course starts in October I thought that a good old concerted effort on revision might get me past the need for MU123 (would be nice to aim for a 6 year degree not a 7 year one) now wondering if it is an incorrect assumption... I wonder if they would let me see some past papers from MU123 to make sure I followed it all (again, the hard work is never a problem it's the fear of not even being able to read the damn question!)

[stg]

So you are studying both at the same time? How do you manage that?

I'm currently working through MST121 myself, it takes a surprising amount of work (compared to you I'm obviously a slow studier as my total commitment is about 2 hours a day, luckily my commute consists of two, one hour train journeys) but I'm finding it really enjoyable, if not therapeutic, a chance to get away from the real world... sadly very much an attitude I wish had when I was younger.

I was actually so rusty I had to take MU123 initially, it was a bit mundane in parts but I was glad I did, there was so many of the basics I had forgotten.