Bachelor’s in Computer Science

[dphong31415]

Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Age: 27
What kind of degree do you want?: Bachelor's in Computer Science
Current Regional Accredited Credits: none
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: none
Any certifications or military experience? none
Budget: I have a max of $3K saved up.  I'd like to go the cheapest route possible
Dedicated time to study:
I currently work full time so I can study as much as is needed during the night or weekends as long as my schedule is free. I estimate at least 3 hours every week night and on the weekends, maybe 6 hours, total would be roughly 15+12=27 hours or slightly more.
Timeline:
Finishing the courses required for the degree as fast as possible would be ideal.  I would like to finish within 1-1.5 years (12-18 months)
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: none
Additional information :
The concept of credits is new to me as an international student. I spent a week researching and understanding the system and created a plan for Thomas Edison State University (TESU), which I found to be the school I like most. I compiled all the details in a spreadsheet (linked below). However, I haven’t identified some study providers whose credits transfer to TESU yet, so those fields are blank.
I also prefer to choose all my electives from Cybersecurity, as I plan to pursue another degree in that field in the future.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...ue&sd=true
Halfway through planning the courses, I realized that even the cheapest option—earning 90 ACE credits and completing one term at TESU—would cost:

• $50 application fee + $4,428 flat-rate for one term + $298 graduation fee = $4,776
  

This does not include costs from Sophia Learning ($100/month) or Study.com ($235/month). Over 12 months, these could total around $2,000 or more.
The total estimated cost would be approximately $6,776, which is significant given my income as an international student.
I’m now considering other options, such as the University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI). If anyone has ideas for a more affordable plan for any Uni , I would greatly appreciate your suggestions! 

[bjcheung77]

Xin Chao! Welcome to the board, great intro post with addendum, template, and the quick details... Your only options are UMPI for their BLS with a minor or two, plus the 3-4 classes that can go towards the MAOL later if you wanted and UoPeople for their BSCS. Here's a quick read: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...s-Time-etc

[Tomas]

University of the People, if your priority is low cost.
TESU or UMPI for relatively more prestige (state schools).
You don't want to study Sophia or Study.com for 12 months, you want to be done with that as fast as possible, best before starting uni. You can do Sophia in 1-2 months for USD 80 - USD 180, if you are very motivated and dedicated.
Wait about a month or two (not quite sure anymore about the date it was supposed to go out) until UMPI will launch their BS in CS, I would prefer that over their BLS, especially if you are an international student. Or BLS in case you plan to do it in 1 term to save money, I think BSCS will be harder to do in 1 term if at all possible.

[bjcheung77]

Basically, start with Sophia.org or Study.com as they'll pretty much be for the general education and electives, up to 90 credits... Create a spreadsheet for both UMPI BLS and UoPeople BSCS, the UMPI Comp Sci degree is soon to be released and the major is the only difference... I would do all the cheapies and freebies from Coursera, Sophia.org, Study.com, etc for the balanced trifecta of certs, degree, experience.

[dphong31415]

After scratching my head for a while , I put together this UoPeople BCS degree plan. It’s not complete yet, so could you guys please review it and let me know if I’ve missed anything? I’ve had some trouble finding clear information about the general education requirements and other specifics for UoPeople.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...ue&sd=true

I also found some useful degree plans made by others, but I’m not sure if they are up to date:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...1888705900

I followed this post, which suggests maximizing transfer credits to save money:

• Complete Google IT Support, Data Analytics, UX Design, and Cybersecurity certificates on Coursera.
  
• Pre-study Sophia courses before subscribing. Pick the easiest ones.
  

Some UoPeople classes have bad reviews, so I plan to avoid them:

• Web Programming 1 & 2
  → But how bad are they, really?
  
  

I also have a few questions:

---

1. What is the learning quality/experience like at Sophia, Study.com, Coursera, and StraighterLine?
For some courses, there are multiple platforms to choose from. I’ve previously self-studied using MIT OCW, and I find video lectures and hands-on exercises really effective. Any thoughts?

---

2. I’m confused about the electives.
Every degree plan I come across seems to have different electives than the ones listed on the UoPeople website. Is there an official list of electives we can choose from? From UoP website, electives are :
CS 3304 Analysis of Algorithms
CS 3308 Information Retrieval
CS 3340 Systems & Applications Security
CS 3440 Big Data
CS 4403 Software Engineering 2
CS 4404 Advanced Networking and Data Security
CS 4405 Mobile Applications
CS 4406 Computer Graphics
CS 4408 Artificial Intelligence (Proctored course)


For example, I found this plan of others :
? https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...rs-Focused
? https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...id=0#gid=0
It includes this breakdown, which I don’t really understand:
BUNDLE Introduction to Databases, SQL, Systems Analysis, R Programming
12 ACE credits broken into: electives / 3, electives / 3, electives / 3, electives / 3
Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate
What does “electives / 3” mean in this context? Does that mean it can transfer to any elective ? 

---

3. What’s the process for applying for a scholarship?
Any advice or experiences would be really helpful.

---

4. What should I know now if I’m planning to pursue a Master’s in Machine Learning & AI in the future?

---

Thanks to bjcheung77 and Tomas advises. I actually prefer the BAS over the BLS, so I’ll dive deeper into UMPI and try to make a spreadsheet for that too. If anyone has a BAS degree plan for UMPI, I’d really appreciate your help.

Also, regarding the BCS at UMPI—do they make official announcements anywhere? I’d like to follow updates, so I know if any changes happen.
I really appreciate for every advise !! Thank you so much !!

[Tomas]

Electives you choose from UoPeople or transfer from elsewhere.
Electives / 3 means that this course will transfer as a 3 credit elective and will not "replace" UoPeople course but will transfer as elective "under its own name".
Whereas "(CS 2204) / 3" means that it transfers as replacement for CS 2204.
I am not sure whether the Coursera transfers on that spreadsheet are entirely correct, could be they transferred as an elective for author, which could be for number of reasons, but I think at least one of them if not more should have transferred as course replacement, especially for Database I.
Web Programming 1 & 2 - only from what I have overheard, is very old content, eg. you get to some php programming Joomla. Might be old rumors, not sure. I wouldnt say that is completely bad, loads of code in real world is very old code. Also learning shall be about principles mostly, not latest JS/CSS tricks.
For Masters in ML/AI - you will need loads of math. There is no linear algebra at UoPeople, also calculus is only for one term. It is not such problem if you can learn it on your own, it might be a problem in case some uni will have admission requirements that include certain number of hours for math or calculus or linear algebra (don't know how common such requirements are, but they exist, so it would help if you already know at which school you wish to apply for masters).

[bjcheung77]

UMPI BAS is off limits to you, as you don't have an AAS, you're stuck with the BLS. But as I said, all you're doing is applying, not graduating with the BLS. You need to transfer the general education and electives for the Comp Sci degree they're going to be rolling out, that's all you're doing, is taking the same classes that would go towards any degree (each and every Bachelors at UMPI). The major is the main difference, you'll take all 10 or so classes at UMPI to get the Comp Sci degree when it rolls out... That's it!