BSBAIT WGU Plan

[somerandomguy09]

Hello DegreeForum!, first-time poster here, looking to attain my BSBA IT Management within the next 9-18 months. (If possible even sooner, just trying to be "realistic" but I am a very fast learner with a good amount of time.) TL;DR at the bottom. 

At the bottom of this post is a link to a google doc sheet that replicates the attached xlsx file for those that are not comfortable downloading. The sheet is the culmination of my research over the last week trying to put together a plan of attack for this degree. With this diet of courses, I'd be transferring in 78 Credits prior to enrollment. (Note RA Credits are credits I've already attained via B&M.

However, I'm having trouble sourcing alternative credits for the following courses:

-Critical Thinking and Logic
-Introduction to Spreadsheets
-Innovative and Strategic Thinking
-Workforce Planning
(If these get filled I'll be maximizing my 90 credit transfer) 

My goal is to be able to finish my degree in 1 term after enrolling. So if the WGU courses for the above 4 are a breeze, I don't mind taking them along with the 30 non-transferable credits required. 

With a baby on the way and a lot of work ahead of me I'm setting a personal budget of 6200$ (although as little as possible is best as I'm quite miserly and would like to put as much into savings/investments from my income. And while I do work full-time, my work is menial and doesn't task me too much mentally. I'll have about 6-10 Hours a day I can dedicate to this endeavor. With even more time on my 2-3 days off.

I'm making this post to see if any of you aficionados know how I can...

A.) Fill in the above 4 classes with Alternative Sources
B.) Reduce the overall cost of my degree, by changing out some of my current sources (For example, perhaps TEEX can be used to eliminate the StraighterLine courses I outlined for Data Management/Network Security.
C.) Get a reality check, is my plan actually viable given my outlined budget/time considerations. 
D.) Check for blind spots. Any considerations not laid out in my sheet have probably not been taken into consideration. So would like to avoid any unnecessary surprises (I do understand the nature of this whole strategy hinges upon WGU actually accepting all these credits. But given that I sourced 99% of my suggestions from WGU partner site and this site. I'm feeling pretty confident.

Thanks In advance for taking the time to read through my post. My prior credit work is limited and I know I have a tough road ahead of me. But I truly believe I have the drive and capability to get the task done. Just trying to do as much due diligence as possible. For right now, I'm currently working through the Gen Ed requirements through Sophia.org just so I'm not sitting on my thumbs while waiting for responses


Have a wonderful day, people! Look forward to hearing from you =D


TL;DR


Time budget = 9 - 18 Months (If can feasibly done faster it will be done faster
I have about 6-8 hours a day I can put to this. is my time budget feasible assuming I'm competent. 
Out of pocket budget = 6200$ (Less is ideal, and more is possible although my options portfolio will be mad at you)
All taken credits and planned credits are listed in the attached .xlsx and this google sheet ----------> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e...ingle=true

[dbinghamjr]

Critical Thinking can be fulfilled with a Pearson course, but it wasa $300-$400 last I checked. WGU's college of IT accepts a Saylor course for it as well, but not the college of business (supposedly - you could always try to appeal that).

The other 3 courses you list don't have any alt-credit options officially listed (partners.wgu.edu). Spreadsheets is usually considered one of the easiest courses at WGU, almost anyone could complete it in a day or less. I don't think an Excel cert would work, and honestly wouldn't be worth the cost.

For Intro to Communication you can use an SDC course (Comm 102 I believe) if you don't want an oral presentation involved.

From my own evaluation (YMMV), Sophia's Project Management won't transfer for anything. Principles of Finance would not cover the accounting course. Intro to Business will work for Fundamentals. I can't imagine Communication at Work would cover Emotional & Cultural Intelligence. You only need to do one US History course to satisfy WGU's requirement.

IMO, "maxing" out a transfer at WGU (or any competency-based school) isn't always going to be worthwhile - some things are just easier to do at WGU, or the cost is just too high. If I were in your shoes, I'd complete a few more Sophia courses (whatever will transfer), and a couple months of SDC (6-8 LL courses), and then just do the rest at WGU.

[rachel83az]

I don't think that there are alt-credit sources for those courses. You'd either have to do more B&M courses somewhere or else take them from WGU. I think WGU would be the most cost-effective solution.

[dfrecore]

Study.com has HUM 201: Critical Thinking & Analysis (it's fairly new). Saylor has PHIL102: Critical Thinking. And there's a PHI-130: Intro to Critical Reasoning TECEP Exam. Other than that, you can't get any other courses alternatively.

[somerandomguy09]

IMO, "maxing" out a transfer at WGU (or any competency-based school) isn't always going to be worthwhile - some things are just easier to do at WGU, or the cost is just too high. If I were in your shoes, I'd complete a few more Sophia courses (whatever will transfer), and a couple months of SDC (6-8 LL courses), and then just do the rest at WGU.

Thanks for the info, on the non-qualifying Sophia courses, but why only 6-8 ll through sdc? are the classes via wgu just that easy that it doesn't justify acquiring them from an alt source? If that's the case it's all well in good. But there potentially 12 courses I could knock out through sdc, by taking all those courses through sdc don't I increase my chances of being able to finish the degree in a single term? Or are sdc's courses not as good as wgu's offerings?

[MNomadic]

Study.com has HUM 201: Critical Thinking & Analysis (it's fairly new).  Saylor has PHIL102: Critical Thinking.  And there's a PHI-130: Intro to Critical Reasoning TECEP Exam.  Other than that, you can't get any other courses alternatively.

I looked into transferring HUM 201 from SDC but it requires 3-4 written assignments. Taking Critical Thinking and Logic at WGU instead was the better approach because I took 1 practice test, scheduled and took my final test and was done. I think many people could pass this one without much if any extra studying.

---

Also, I can confirm that I did spreadsheets in a day at WGU. I've used excel but obviously not every function. I always just googled/searched/figured out whatever I needed to do at the time I needed to do it.
My strategy:
1) take the pre assessment and whatever I didn't know/couldn't figure out I searched for or found video tutorials for.
2) take the pre assessment again on my own though I did search a few things that I forgot and double checked a few things
3) took the final OA. The OA aligns very closely with the pre assessment

[dbinghamjr]

Study.com has HUM 201: Critical Thinking & Analysis (it's fairly new).  Saylor has PHIL102: Critical Thinking.  And there's a PHI-130: Intro to Critical Reasoning TECEP Exam.  Other than that, you can't get any other courses alternatively.

Dunno about the TECEP, but SDC & Saylor's courses aren't listed for the BSBA programs (SDC's isn't listed period, and Saylor's covers Intro to Humanities). Both work for college of IT programs though (which is strange).

IMO, "maxing" out a transfer at WGU (or any competency-based school) isn't always going to be worthwhile - some things are just easier to do at WGU, or the cost is just too high. If I were in your shoes, I'd complete a few more Sophia courses (whatever will transfer), and a couple months of SDC (6-8 LL courses), and then just do the rest at WGU.

Thanks for the info, on the non-qualifying Sophia courses, but why only 6-8 ll through sdc? are the classes via wgu just that easy that it doesn't justify acquiring them from an alt source? If that's the case it's all well in good. But there potentially 12 courses I could knock out through sdc, by taking all those courses through sdc don't I increase my chances of being able to finish the degree in a single term? Or are sdc's courses not as good as wgu's offerings?

It's a a balance thing to me, SDC costs money, and a WGU term is 6 months - so even if you finish in 3 months, that's great & all, but you paid for 6 months regardless. If you spend an extra month at SDC to finish 5 extra courses (so, $410) - but then end up finishing WGU a month early because of that, you didn't save anything. You need to find the balance between making sure you can finish WGU in one term, but not transferring so much in that you finish the rest of the degree in 2-3 months.

Plus SDC courses are 50-100 quizzes & the final exam minimum, whereas a WGU course would be the pre-test, study where you need to (without 500+ quiz questions), and then the final exam. It definitely depends on your own learning style as well.

I'd dig into the subreddit - reddit.com/r/wgu - search the course number, and see what people say. For example, people often say D073 (Best Practices in Management) is a challenging course with loots of content, but you can take that via SDC, so I would. On the flip side, people often say C723 (Quantitative Analysis in Business) is much easier than the StraighterLine equivalent, so I'd just do it at WGU. Every course is different, but some will definitely be faster at WGU, some would be faster to transfer - but a blanket transfer-all-the-things (or vice versa) approach probably isn't the best idea.

[MNomadic]

I'd dig into the subreddit - reddit.com/r/wgu - search the course number, and see what people say. For example, people often say D073 (Best Practices in Management) is a challenging course with loots of content, but you can take that via SDC, so I would. On the flip side, people often say C723 (Quantitative Analysis in Business) is much easier than the StraighterLine equivalent, so I'd just do it at WGU. Every course is different, but some will definitely be faster at WGU, some would be faster to transfer - but a blanket transfer-all-the-things (or vice versa) approach probably isn't the best idea.

I agree, it's a balance. For example I did my database courses through SDC because I read people were having trouble with them at WGU. I chose not to take critical thinking and logic through SDC though since it required 3-4 papers(plus the quizzes and test) vs 1 test at WGU. I can't speak for straighterline but in my experience, it's almost always worth it to take a class through sophia or SDC(unless there's excessive assignments) since almost every class I've done through those sources was doable in a short span and would cost less than $100. The opportunity cost of time is another factor. Additionally, OP doesn't know if they can accelerate through the remainder of their degree in 1 term so it's better to transfer in more than necessary to be on the safe side. A couple extra courses through SDC is a lot cheaper than spilling over into a second term at WGU. Finally, life happens. Sometimes things come up and slow down your progress at a competency based school(or any school) so transferring in extra classes can help give you a cushion to rearrange your schedule.

[quigongene]

Taking Critical Thinking and Logic at WGU instead was the better approach because I took 1 practice test, scheduled and took my final test and was done. I think many people could pass this one without much if any extra studying.

I second this. Critical Thinking was the 3rd course I finished at WGU. It took 2 days for me.

[thepoetvd776]

I'm about to enroll in WGU as well for the same degree.

I have the following courses I can take in SDC but they have assignemnts:
*Humanities 201 (SDCM-0243) - WGU Critical Thinking and Logic
*Business 303 (SDCM-0123) - WGU Information Technology Management Essentials
*Communications 301 (SDCM-0187) -WGU Emotional and Cultural Intelligence

*Business 314 (SDCM-0085) - WGU Employment Law

Were these courses easier in WGU in your experience?