Advice: Associates

[Chilow]

Hello,

I’ll try to keep it short and sweet. Was never into college and focused on working an actual job. I’m at the point now that I want to get at least an Associates degree as a checkbox for potential new job. I may eventually get a Bachelors, but my priority right now is to get an Associates as quick as possible. I researched heavily on this topic and it appears that Pierpont AAS and Sophia is the way to go. I understand that Pierpont has gradations in May and August so I’m hoping I can achieve this by May 2024. Including some information below.

Your Location: Texas, USA
Your Age: 35
What kind of degree do you want?: AAS
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 0
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: 0
Any certifications or military experience? No
Budget: No real budget, but if I can get it cheaper that would be better.
Commitments: Full time job
Study timeline: As quick as possible. Hoping to meet the Pierpont May graduation so I don’t have to wait for the next graduation.

I’ve read the Wiki and found some great information. If I understood correctly, I’ll need 15 credits in general studies, 1 credit ASU course, and the remainder in electives, for a total of 60 credits. There was a section in the Wiki that mentioned 15 credits for a Google IT Professional course. Is this a faster and easier way to achieve the 15 credits? I believe I read somewhere that I need to avoid Touchstones because it takes forever to grade. My main goal is to finish as quickly as I can before the May graduation deadline and hoping someone here can provide a list of courses I need to take and preferably in which order.

[ltw900rr]

Welcome fellow Texan!

I think you are on the right track. Congrats on starting your journey!

link for sophia class list

I used this list to figure out what classes at Sophia did not have touchstones. If they do not have touchstones you can normally finish them faster because you are not waiting on someone to grade the final project. You may have some classes you need to take with a touchstone, since Sophia will allow you to have 2 classes open at once, only take one class with a touchstone at a time.

link

We are talking to our oldest son about going this route, getting his Associates at Pierpoint, and then continuing on to TAMUC for his Bachelor's.

Once you get started, keep the forum updated on your journey!

[bjcheung77]

@Chilow, Welcome to the board, that's a compact and concise addendum plus template, it's got the basic details and extra info you've provided. I agree with the advice above, I suggest the Pierpont BOG AAS with Info Systems emphasis with Coursera, Sophia.org, TEEX cheapies/freebies and then ladder up to the TAMUC BAAS Organizational Leadership or the UMPI BAS with a minor or two/three.

Basically... It really depends on what you're looking for after the Associates, you can take Sophia.org classes without touchstones that hit both degrees... With a Sophia.org subscription, I would try to get as many credits as possible using those classes that do not have touchstones first, use them for the BOG AAS, then take the ones with touchstones to add credits towards the Bachelors.

[Chilow]

Thanks for the replies so far. I don’t have an emphasis in mind so the Info Systems is not an issue. Is the Google IT course quicker to do versus doing 3 separate 3 credit Sophia classes?

[Darknigh7]

Thanks for the replies so far. I don’t have an emphasis in mind so the Info Systems is not an issue. Is the Google IT course quicker to do versus doing 3 separate 3 credit Sophia classes?

I wouldn't say the Google IT Certificate is quicker than a random handful of Sophia classes, no. A lot depends on what background you bring into it. If you already know everything in the class it is obviously much faster to complete.

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[bjcheung77]

It really depends on the person and their study habits, I recommend a balanced mix/match of the trifecta of certs, degree, experience. I highly suggest doing the Google and other Coursera classes for credit, since you're completing the 1 credit ASU class for $25, these build on top of the info you learn. Some people can finish the entire cert in less than 7 days, I suggest doing that in addition to the other cheapies/freebies such as the TEEX, whatever else is on the wiki and etc... You need & want these as they're all non-proctored goodies that accumulate elective credits, it'll be faster if you multi-task with dual monitors! Everything can be done without proctoring for the BOG AAS using these cheapies, freebies, again, you can then ladder up to TAMUC BAAS or UMPI BAS.

[allvia]

Thanks for the replies so far. I don’t have an emphasis in mind so the Info Systems is not an issue. Is the Google IT course quicker to do versus doing 3 separate 3 credit Sophia classes?

I wouldn't say the Google IT Certificate is quicker than a random handful of Sophia classes, no. A lot depends on what background you bring into it. If you already know everything in the class it is obviously much faster to complete.

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Keep in mind that the Google Certificate can be used for credits towards the associate degree AND a 'bonus' line on your resume  

[Chilow]

I was able to successfully complete my first Sophia course and it asked if I was enrolled in a school yet and I selected no. Should I enroll in Pierpont now or wait since I have a bunch more courses to go?

[ltw900rr]

I was told the same thing about Sophia, don't tell them what school your going to. If you do, it will only want you to take classes for that school.
From what I have read, people took care of the Sophia classes before applying to Pierpoint.

Look at the wiki and once you get some Sophia classes done, you can post back up with what you have taken, or plan to take and get feedback from forum members.

You could also make a google sheet and share it with forum members for feedback while you work on your classes.


Congratulations on starting your journey!

[LevelUP]

Here is a Pierpont BOG plan if you think you might go to UMPI. Though this can work for any school.
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pi...egree_Plan

The Google IT cert can be done quickly if you jump straight to the quizzes. It helps if you take Sophia's networking course beforehand since a large part of the Google IT cert is networking.  But be warned, this can take a while for some people to do, so you might be better off with Sophia if you are pressed for time. 

You can take all Sophia courses for the Pierpont BOG IT concentration.  I would do it in this order.
1. Intro to IT
2. Introduction to Networking
3. Introduction to Web Development
4. Introduction to Relational Databases
5. Introduction to Programming with Python  (You can also swap with Java, though Python is easier)