19 year old International Student needs your help

[IReallyNeedADegree]

Statistics.com and TESU have a partnership for a reduced cost Data Science Analytics degree. A few people here have done it. The Statistics.com tuition and fees are $6K plus whatever you have to spend at other alt credit providers and for TESU tuition and fees, but might be worth it to you.

https://www.statistics.com/degree-progra...gree-tesu/

Another approach would be to get the BACS cheaply and quickly, then persue data analytics either independently, as some sort of nanodegree or cert or in grad school.

Georgia Tech as an online Analytics Master's that could be a good follow on:

https://www.gatech.edu/academics/degrees...-analytics

so you're saying I should pursue the BA in CS or the double major in CS and CIS and then go on to get my MS at GaTech?

---

So I did some research into other Universities that offer accelerated programs and stumbled upon CSU Global. As far as I have seen by skimming they accept SL and offer a degree in MIS and Business Analytics which is exactly what I was looking for. Does anybody have experience with them? Are they worthy of recommendation?

[davewill]

so you're saying I should pursue the BA in CS or the double major in CS and CIS and then go on to get my MS at GaTech?

I wouldn't presume to tell you which to do.

It really depends on your needs or wants. I usually suggest that someone work for a few years before moving on to grad school. If you are committed to working in Data Analytics, then I'd say get the bachelor's in that and start working. Obviously, if you want to work in software engineering or Info Systems, then do one of those bachelor's. Make the decision about grad school after getting a better feel for how your career is shaping up.

If you are confident that you want to get a master's (or need one for immigration purposes), then it would make sense to go straight on to the master's. In that case, doing the BACS then the Data Analytics masters would likely save time and money, plus I think having the CS bachelor's would be a plus for a career in analytics.

[IReallyNeedADegree]

so you're saying I should pursue the BA in CS or the double major in CS and CIS and then go on to get my MS at GaTech?

I wouldn't presume to tell you which to do.

It really depends on your needs or wants. I usually suggest that someone work for a few years before moving on to grad school. If you are committed to working in Data Analytics, then I'd say get the bachelor's in that and start working. Obviously, if you want to work in software engineering or Info Systems, then do one of those bachelor's. Make the decision about grad school after getting a better feel for how your career is shaping up.

If you are confident that you want to get a master's (or need one for immigration purposes), then it would make sense to go straight on to the master's. In that case, doing the BACS then the Data Analytics masters would likely save time and money, plus I think having the CS bachelor's would be a plus for a career in analytics.

thank you for your input and your quick response, have you seen my new post under this thread about CSU Global? they have a  BS in MIS and Data Analytics combined, sounds like exactly what I would want. Also thanks for the Grad school tip!

[LevelUP]

So I did some research into other Universities that offer accelerated programs and stumbled upon CSU Global. As far as I have seen by skimming  they accept SL and offer a degree in MIS and Business Analytics which is exactly what I was looking for. Does anybody have experience with them? Are they worthy of recommendation?

Any school that takes Sophia will likely take SL or Study.com.
https://www.sophia.org/transfer-credits/...-partners/

The idea behind getting a computer science degree is that computer science is the most popular technology degree and is the gold standard in the U.S. and other countries.

After you get a computer science degree, you can get certifications to do whatever you want such as data analytics, cloud, cyber security, or whatever. Also, I agree with Davewill that it's a good idea to gain 1-2 years of experience in your career before going for the master's degree.

---

have you seen my new post under this thread about CSU Global? they have a  BS in MIS and Data Analytics combined, sounds like exactly what I would want. Also thanks for the Grad school tip!

That CSU Global BS in MIS and Data Analytics degree is the same as the TESU CIS degree except it's missing a lot of really important business courses. 

The only unique courses I see are the Cloud computing and Data Mining courses though you can get those skills with an AWS cert and Google Data Analytics cert.

CSU Global has 60 max transfer credits from alternative sources.

[rachel83az]

One thing to keep in mind about TESU is that you have 30 credits of electives, if you choose to only pursue the Comp Sci degree. Want to get into Data Analytics? Transfer in more data analysis credits. Considering cloud computing? I think there are a few of those you could take.

Even if you go over the required number of credits, by taking the combined BSBA/BACS, the excess courses will still show up on your transcript to show that you studied them. This can be really, really useful for a country like Germany where "degree is everything" when it comes to tech jobs. (I've heard the joke about not even Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, being able to get a tech job in Germany - because he never finished university.) Being able to truthfully say "oh, yeah, I took that at university" can sometimes be a lot more useful than "oh, yeah, I took a certificate in that after university" - at least in Germany. In the US, that doesn't matter as much.

Depending on what your exact goal is, there are several Analytics certificates on Coursera that are worth credit at TESU: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Coursera There is one from Google, 5 from IBM, and 2 from SAS. Some of the credits duplicate each other, and I don't know if I'd recommend the non-advanced SAS certificate, so you should definitely sit down and consider exactly what you plan on doing and which of those (if any) might be worth it, even if the credit offered might be sub-optimal.

[FastTrackDegree]

If you study for a professional certification like AWS you can get a bunch of credits towards a master degree at Purdue Global. Pretty sure the Open University in UK will take a bunch of credits too. TESU and Excelsior will also give you credits for some of the certifications, not sure about UMPI.

https://www.purdueglobal.edu/alternative...ion-exams/
https://www.purdueglobal.edu/degree-prog...rsecurity/
https://www.purdueglobal.edu/degree-prog...gy-online/

[sarahmac]

I am also in Germany... I see Rachel mentioned me above. My honest advice is to be very careful which college you choose in case you ever plan to come back.

First, for Germany do not worry about secondary programmatic accreditations like ACBSP/AACSB etc. at the bachelor level. In Germany the saying is "AACSB or the Autobahn" for *MBA* (and sometimes MA/M.Sc. Business etc.). Specifically for American programs too, since these are American accreditors. Other countries can willingly get programmatic accreditation through them but there is no requirement to do so. Many choose to, others choose Equis or AMBA.

What you should really take into consideration, otherwise you could be stuck later, is the validity of the university.

A degree from WGU, for example, is not recognised as a degree in Germany. They are a terrible option in the case you ever plan to come back.

TESU is on shaky ground with Anabin (H+/-), meaning your individual studies completed must be looked at and assessed for comparability. This could go either way for you - it is a gamble. I love TESU and the idea of it more generally. But I am super aware of the issues people could face in Germany trying to use a TESU degree. I am doing TESU for fun, and because it is cheap for me (military Ami husband). I will probably never use it professionally, I have a normal UK degree and German postgrad degrees (Uni MA).

UMPI is also a public state university but it is perfectly fine to use in Germany (H+ in Anabin).

If your goal is analytics or computer science, I would seriously consider doing UMPI with the BSBA Management Info Systems but making sure to transfer in extra courses that you don't necessarily need for the degree so that they are on a transcript (i.e. Calc 1 from Straighterline/Sophia/SDC, Calc 2 from Straighterline, a couple of the Data Sci related Coursera certs etc. etc., maybe someone can chime in here if they take Discrete Math from SDC) then apply for Georgia Tech OMSCS or OMSA.

The cost of the OMSCS or OMSA would work out similarly to just doing the Data Science major at TESU, but a) it is a masters, and b) Georgia Tech is also recognised in Germany (H+).

[LevelUP]

Well if you want to go through some of the other schools we recommend then:
Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) is H+
Excelsior Unversity (EU) is H+
Charter Oak State College (COSC) is H+ (This college not currently recommended on DF due to alt credit restrictions)
Purdue University Global (PUG) is H+

[IReallyNeedADegree]

So I did some research into other Universities that offer accelerated programs and stumbled upon CSU Global. As far as I have seen by skimming  they accept SL and offer a degree in MIS and Business Analytics which is exactly what I was looking for. Does anybody have experience with them? Are they worthy of recommendation?

Any school that takes Sophia will likely take SL or Study.com.
https://www.sophia.org/transfer-credits/...-partners/

The idea behind getting a computer science degree is that computer science is the most popular technology degree and is the gold standard in the U.S. and other countries.

After you get a computer science degree, you can get certifications to do whatever you want such as data analytics, cloud, cyber security, or whatever. Also, I agree with Davewill that it's a good idea to gain 1-2 years of experience in your career before going for the master's degree.

---

have you seen my new post under this thread about CSU Global? they have a  BS in MIS and Data Analytics combined, sounds like exactly what I would want. Also thanks for the Grad school tip!

That CSU Global BS in MIS and Data Analytics degree is the same as the TESU CIS degree except it's missing a lot of really important business courses. 

The only unique courses I see are the Cloud computing and Data Mining courses though you can get those skills with an AWS cert and Google Data Analytics cert.

CSU Global has 60 max transfer credits from alternative sources.

Couldnt I as a german use the trick in which I transfer in credits from the finnish University to get to 90 credits? I guess since CSU Global is part of the CSU system its a much better choice for me when I return.

---

I am also in Germany... I see Rachel mentioned me above. My honest advice is to be very careful which college you choose in case you ever plan to come back.

First, for Germany do not worry about secondary programmatic accreditations like ACBSP/AACSB etc. at the bachelor level. In Germany the saying is "AACSB or the Autobahn" for *MBA* (and sometimes MA/M.Sc. Business etc.). Specifically for American programs too, since these are American accreditors. Other countries can willingly get programmatic accreditation through them but there is no requirement to do so. Many choose to, others choose Equis or AMBA.

What you should really take into consideration, otherwise you could be stuck later, is the validity of the university.

A degree from WGU, for example, is not recognised as a degree in Germany. They are a terrible option in the case you ever plan to come back.

TESU is on shaky ground with Anabin (H+/-), meaning your individual studies completed must be looked at and assessed for comparability. This could go either way for you - it is a gamble. I love TESU and the idea of it more generally. But I am super aware of the issues people could face in Germany trying to use a TESU degree. I am doing TESU for fun, and because it is cheap for me (military Ami husband). I will probably never use it professionally, I have a normal UK degree and German postgrad degrees (Uni MA).

UMPI is also a public state university but it is perfectly fine to use in Germany (H+ in Anabin).

If your goal is analytics or computer science, I would seriously consider doing UMPI with the BSBA Management Info Systems but making sure to transfer in extra courses that you don't necessarily need for the degree so that they are on a transcript (i.e. Calc 1 from Straighterline/Sophia/SDC, Calc 2 from Straighterline, a couple of the Data Sci related Coursera certs etc. etc., maybe someone can chime in here if they take Discrete Math from SDC) then apply for Georgia Tech OMSCS or OMSA.

The cost of the OMSCS or OMSA would work out similarly to just doing the Data Science major at TESU, but a) it is a masters, and b) Georgia Tech is also recognised in Germany (H+).

Thank you so much, what do you think about CSU Global? Couldnt I technically transfer in 90 credits from Finnish Universities and SL? I guess its much better to get a degree there since its part of the CSU System

[Personherebb9]

As someone currently busy taking classes through a Finnish university, please note that some credit evaluation agencies are very weird in regards to Finnish evaluations. From what I understand ACEI is the most accepting of Finnish transcripts and you can have the evaluation done electronically. However, not all universities accept ACEI evaluations. From what I can see CUS global only accepts evaluations done through a member of NACES, you'd have to check individually if those members will evaluate Finnish transcripts.

Using Finnish university courses as transfer courses can also be tricky, since there's no guarantee whether or not your course will come in as you want it to. As an extra, all American universities have a general education section, which from what I can tell is a purely American thing and you'll struggle to find courses from a Finnish university that would fill these requirements. (For eg: English Composition 1 and 2, US history, etc.)

If you're looking for RA credit requirements for your degree AND your university accepts Finnish evaluations, I would recommend Finnish courses, however I would not recommend Finnish courses if you're hoping for them to fill specific course requirements since they are not guaranteed to transfer in.