Advice for my 17 year old daughter with over 100 credits done... Computer/IT Focused.

[EDUxplorer]

Hello community!

Thank you to everyone who has given feedback, it has been so helpful. We put together a "road map" that she is looking at.

Does it look solid? Does it make sense?

We know that UoPeople isn't very transferable however it has been able to open up some doors for her to move forward quickly and into the European-style Ph.D. program at Capitol Tech, which she is really excited about.

The University of Cincinnati plan enables her to have a regionally accredited degree, then move to an online master's degree. This could open the door to an alternative path to a Ph.D., something maybe more cost-effective than Capitol.

Thanks for the feedback!

[bjcheung77]

Nice Roadmap... Exactly what I thought, she's working on her Certs, Degree, Experience!  I would do things a little differently because she's starting off so young, there will be "repetitive" courses she's taking as some will overlap from her NA/RA studies, it won't really matter.  I would put it into 3 different areas for the roadmap, Certs, NA, RA (pretty much as you have done so already).

For Certs, in addition to the ones on the roadmap, I would get the ones she's interested from Coursera/TADA and if she needs, she can get ones that are part of the Coursera Plus membership.  These are inexpensive industry recognized certs from Coursera partnerships with Google/IBM, etc (IBM Cybersecurity, Full Stack Developer).  Link: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Coursera

For NA, as I mentioned in post #6, be open to CS/IT/Math/Stats, I also suggest continuing with UOP AS, BS, MS, ladder that to Data Analytics/Science with a WQU Masters Financial Engineering.  I would then use the NA/RA credentials to get an international Doctorate/PhD instead of an NA for cheaper, such as AMA University DIT for $6K USD.  If you have cash, change that to an Aspen Doctorate in Computer Science or something else from a DEAC institution.

For RA, continue with the same route as the roadmap, again post #6, open that to U of T-Austin, NYU, etc.  Also have a look at the options available on Coursera, EDX, that will provide similar Masters for the subjects mentioned, CS/IT/Data Science, etc.  You can then ladder that up to U of Cumberlands, or U Arkansas Little Rock, PhD.  Either will go for about $30K USD.

[EDUxplorer]

For Certs, in addition to the ones on the roadmap, I would get the ones she's interested from Coursera/TADA and if she needs, she can get ones that are part of the Coursera Plus membership.  These are inexpensive industry recognized certs from Coursera partnerships with Google/IBM, etc (IBM Cybersecurity, Full Stack Developer).  Link: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Coursera.

We had no clue that some of these certs could get college credit for them! This was something new we just learned reading this post. Thank link seems really useful.

For NA, as I mentioned in post #6, be open to CS/IT/Math/Stats, I also suggest continuing with UOP AS, BS, MS, ladder that to Data Analytics/Science with a WQU Masters Financial Engineering.  I would then use the NA/RA credentials to get an international Doctorate/PhD instead of an NA for cheaper, such as AMA University DIT for $6K USD. If you have cash, change that to an Aspen Doctorate in Computer Science or something else from a DEAC institution.

I wonder how international doctors from the Philippines look when being reviewed... However, they are accredited and the price point seems good...

On the flip side, Aspen Doctorate of Science in Computer Science is 30k, within budget, considering we have put out nearly no money yet for her education.

Per WQU. Ok wow! Never knew about this! Really, FREE? Or is there a catch?

For RA, continue with the same route as the roadmap, again post #6, open that to U of T-Austin, NYU, etc.  Also have a look at the options available on Coursera, EDX, that will provide similar Masters for the subjects mentioned, CS/IT/Data Science, etc.  You can then ladder that up to U of Cumberlands, or U Arkansas Little Rock, PhD.  Either will go for about $30K USD.

Yeah, we have looked at EdX, but not Coursera, for Masters programs and hoping to target some of these. The 2 schools you mention I thank you very much! Looking at U of Cumberlands seems decent and something we will look more into tomorrow.

I've spent DAYS looking for cost-affordable online Doctorate programs for CS/IT and have found next to nothing... This forum is truly a wealth of knowledge!

Thank you a ton!

[bjcheung77]

We had no clue that some of these certs could get college credit for them! This was something new we just learned reading this post. Thank link seems really useful.

Yes, so do the Coursera/TADA options in addition to what you currently have, but you may need to add a couple to top it off, such as the CISSP as that's the major one.  I would do that last to finish off the certs catagory...

I wonder how international doctors from the Philippines look when being reviewed... However, they are accredited and the price point seems good...

On the flip side, Aspen Doctorate of Science in Computer Science is 30k, within budget, considering we have put out nearly no money yet for her education.

Per WQU. Ok wow! Never knew about this! Really, FREE? Or is there a catch?

AMA University is in the WES directory, they'll be equivalent to RA.  I would skip Aspen, I didn't recommend UFairfax as it's twice as expensive and just NA.  WQU doesn't have a catch, you just have to pass the entrance exam, which I failed as my calculus/stats is a bit rusty.  

Yeah, we have looked at EdX, but not Coursera, for Masters programs and hoping to target some of these. The 2 schools you mention I thank you very much! Looking at U of Cumberlands seems decent and something we will look more into tomorrow.

I've spent DAYS looking for cost-affordable online Doctorate programs for CS/IT and have found next to nothing... This forum is truly a wealth of knowledge!

Thank you a ton!

No worries, I saw your other thread asking about graduate programs but didn't want to put this in there, it's already got so many good recommendations.  I also have other doctorate or PhD options in that area too, a few threads for other universities and slightly different programs and all under $30K, so that's why I would skip the NA Aspen option.

My nephew and niece are 15 and 17, they're doing something similar to your daughter and we couldn't get them started with dual enrollment until grade 10.  Some states only allow grade 10, 11, 12 to have dual enrollment options, but that doesn't stop them from doing CLEP, AP, IB, Sophia.org ... I got them started a couple of years ago with CLEP/Sophia.org as they were free!  They even took the $149/year from Sophia.org to get up to 90 credits each of alternative credits...

For certs, they're doing the Coursera/TADA options along with non-vendor specific CompTIA certs.  For NA/RA, they're doing a slightly different combination, but will end up very similar to what you have planned.  As they're into Business, Education, IT... Even though they also are into Cybersecurity and Law, they are using the certs to get the cybersecurity knowledge instead of an extra degree, and just taking some law classes as electives, not a degree either...

[EDUxplorer]

Follow up on this thread since so many people gave feedback and this forum has been such a wealth of knowledge in how to handle serval things to get her to where she is. She just turned 19, 2 months ago.

My daughter has completed the following, in (reverse) order:

------ SPRING 2024 ------

University of Cincinnati
• Bachelor of Science Information Technology - Software Development

------ FALL 2023 ------

Started a Cyber Security and Data Compliance company.

------ SUMMER 2023 ------

Worked paid internship for Fortune 50 company in Secure Cloud Dev Ops.

------ SPRING 2023 ------

Graduated - High School
• Ohio STEM Honors Diploma

Cincinnati State Technical & Community College
• Associate of Science (AS) with Honors
• Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Software Engineering (SET)
• Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Computer Information Systems (CINS)
• Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Computer Software Development (CSD)

Certification - EC-Council
• Certified Encryption Specialist (ECES)

Passed Entrance Exam for:
WorldQuant University - MSc in Financial Engineering
* She was recognized from the Ohio Department of Education as the first High School Student in the State of Ohio to also be a Masters Degree Seeking student, while still in high school. However she completed a couple of classes with GPA of 4.0, but dropped the degree as she realized it didn't align with her future goals as much as she has hoped.

Worked paid co-op as a database and encryption developer for the same financial company.

------ FALL 2022 ------

University of the People
• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with Honors

Worked paid co-op as a database and encryption developer for a financial company.

------ SUMMER 2022 ------

Worked paid internship as system designer and web app security engineer for a 501c3 Nonprofit.

------ SPRING 2022 ------

Certification - EC-Council
• Certified Secure Computer User (CSCU)

University of the People
• Associate of Science in Computer Science with Honors

------ SUMMER 2021 ------

Worked paid internship as the lead web app developer for a 501c3 Nonprofit.

------ SUMMER 2020 ------

Worked paid internship for Fortune 50 company in IT Product Development.

------ 2019 ------

Started college classes in summer.
Started high school in the fall.

[Mint Berry Crunch]

Follow up on this thread since so many people gave feedback and this forum has been such a wealth of knowledge in how to handle serval things to get her to where she is. She just turned 19, 2 months ago.

My daughter has completed the following, in (reverse) order:

------ SPRING 2024 ------

University of Cincinnati
• Bachelor of Science Information Technology - Software Development

------ FALL 2023 ------

Started a Cyber Security and Data Compliance company.

------ SUMMER 2023 ------

Worked paid internship for Fortune 50 company in Secure Cloud Dev Ops.

------ SPRING 2023 ------

Graduated - High School
• Ohio STEM Honors Diploma

Cincinnati State Technical & Community College
• Associate of Science (AS) with Honors
• Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Software Engineering (SET)
• Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Computer Information Systems (CINS)
• Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Computer Software Development (CSD)

Certification - EC-Council
• Certified Encryption Specialist (ECES)

Passed Entrance Exam for:
WorldQuant University - MSc in Financial Engineering
* She was recognized from the Ohio Department of Education as the first High School Student in the State of Ohio to also be a Masters Degree Seeking student, while still in high school. However she completed a couple of classes with GPA of 4.0, but dropped the degree as she realized it didn't align with her future goals as much as she has hoped.

Worked paid co-op as a database and encryption developer for the same financial company.

------ FALL 2022 ------

University of the People
• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with Honors

Worked paid co-op as a database and encryption developer for a financial company.

------ SUMMER 2022 ------

Worked paid internship as system designer and web app security engineer for a 501c3 Nonprofit.

------ SPRING 2022 ------

Certification - EC-Council
• Certified Secure Computer User (CSCU)

University of the People
• Associate of Science in Computer Science with Honors

------ SUMMER 2021 ------

Worked paid internship as the lead web app developer for a 501c3 Nonprofit.

------ SUMMER 2020 ------

Worked paid internship for Fortune 50 company in IT Product Development.

------ 2019 ------

Started college classes in summer.
Started high school in the fall.

Excellent,

I love to hear stories like this! I didn't start taking off until August of 2022. After that, I've been soaring! Glad to see we have a nice story 2 years later. Congratulations to you and your daughter.