COSC degree plan for BSGS w/ concentration in Info Systems

[rvm]

I just had an epiphany that might be a solution to my neighbor's dilemma about WGU accepting only a small number of his credits.  (Here's the original thread if you are so inclined:  https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...light=dsst)  He's also concerned he may not finish in one term and that would cause him to have to take out a loan to finish.  He does not want to do that because he has other debts and his wife cannot work due to illness and being a stay at home mom.  I feel for them because they work so hard.  That's why I keep returning here to try to find an affordable solution for John. 

What if he were to choose COSC's General Studies with a concentration in Information Systems?  He's in IT so he has significant knowledge in that area.  Wouldn't that allow him to be able to collect the deficient credits without being enrolled at COSC and potentially enroll and graduate in one semester? 

https://www.charteroak.edu/prospective/p...tudies.php

I searched for some recent degree plans from COSC but since the forum is primarily dominated by TESU students, I didn't find anything recent.  I'm terrible at fitting credits to the slots they can live in.  Anyone want to help out with a degree plan?  If COSC will accept them, he would like to take as many free and low-cost courses as possible.  These sources are his preferences.  

•  TEEX (for 6 credits)
  
•  Free credits from Sophia  (? credits)
  
•  Free credits the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters, Underwriters,  Insurance Institute of America (? credits)
  
•  Any other sources of free/very low-cost COSC will accept  (preferably not Saylor since they don't have a good reputation for aligning course content with their exams)
  
•  OnlineDegree.com
  
•  Study.com, a little pricey but he likes the format
  

Here are his credits to date.  * All courses are 3 credits except where noted (in the Brick & Mortar section).

Aleks:
   Principles of Statistics 
   College Algebra I
   College Trigonometry
9 credits

DSST: (all are recent exams) 
   Intro to World Religions
   General Anthropology
   Ethics in America
   Intro to Computing
   MIS
   Health/Human Dev
   Personal Finance
   Principles of Supervision
   History of the Soviet Union
27 credits

B&M:
   World History to 1500
   History of World after 1500
   Library Science, 1
   PE (Found PHYE Lab). 1
   Survey Data Processing (circa 1995), 2
   Software Applications  (circa 1995), 2
(could the courses taken in 1995 could be used as electives?) 
12 credits

Others:
   Just started TEEX Cyber 101

Total of 48 credits

Thank you!

[dfrecore]

Part of the issue you're going to run into here is that he's looking backwards at the credits he's going to lose, instead of forward at what he needs to take and how much it will cost to do that.  Always look at the upcoming costs, not at how many credits won't fit where you want them too.  You could end up paying more because of that faulty logic.

Also, he may not get a degree that he actually wants.  I wouldn't necessarily settle for just any degree if I wanted something specific, unless he's certain that the COSC degree will actually do something for him career-wise. A degree in Info Sys is totally different than a degree in Data Analytics.  He'd actually be better off taking more alternative credits toward his WGU degree, and save up money over 6-12 months in order to get that better degree.

I will do a spreadsheet that compares the 2, because I'm almost positive you can't get a COSC degree in a single term - you have to take the cornerstone and capstone, and I think they have to be in different terms.  Which would mean additional per-term costs.  Also, I will try to include courses that you can use in BOTH degrees.  That way, he can start with those, and then make a decision later as he sees how he's going through the courses.  If he goes very slowly, then he probably isn't a WGU student anyway, but it's worth looking at it several ways.

Start with CLEP/Modern States for free stuff that will work in both degrees:
College Composition
Any Social Science course (like history or psych)
American Government

Then do the $9 OD course:
Intro to Programming in Python

Both schools require a lab science, so he's going to want to do that.  Cheapest is probably Study.com's Bio I w/lab, and I'd do a speech course that same month because both schools require that as well.

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EDIT: I did 2 spreadsheets, 1 for WGU, 1 for COSC.  I couldn't find a Logic course via alternative methods, so I just did it as a COSC course for $1224.  Obviously, if you can get that somewhere for cheaper, then that will cut down on the cost for the degree.  COSC is cheaper, and he doesn't lose any credits, but I don't think it is as beneficial for him as a Data Analytics degree.  Nonetheless, if cheap is what he's after, then this is a good option.

[ztkerls]

I think that applying to COSC is a very good way to go. I personally am getting a BSGS with them right now. They will accept most of your credits. I was told that any technology-based class more than 5 years old would probably be rejected. Dfrecore's advice is really good and his comparison between the two should give you a lot to think about.

Dfrecore is correct that the cornerstone and the capstone cannot be done at the same time and would probably require another set of fees.

Another credit source that is sometimes forgotten for COSC is Shmoop. The classes are not very good and can be mind-numbing, but it is hard to beat being able to take as many classes as you want for a low monthly price. Some of them can be completed very fast. I did a majority of my studies through them due to a tight budget and COSC accepted all but Business Communication for some reason.

[nosey561]

I think you can do the cornerstone & capstone in the same semester, but not at the same time. For example, you can do the cornerstone in term 1 of the spring semester,followed by the capstone in term 2 of the spring semester.

[rvm]

Part of the issue you're going to run into here is that he's looking backwards at the credits he's going to lose, instead of forward at what he needs to take and how much it will cost to do that.  Always look at the upcoming costs, not at how many credits won't fit where you want them too.  You could end up paying more because of that faulty logic.

Also, he may not get a degree that he actually wants.  I wouldn't necessarily settle for just any degree if I wanted something specific, unless he's certain that the COSC degree will actually do something for him career-wise. A degree in Info Sys is totally different than a degree in Data Analytics.  He'd actually be better off taking more alternative credits toward his WGU degree, and save up money over 6-12 months in order to get that better degree.

I will do a spreadsheet that compares the 2, because I'm almost positive you can't get a COSC degree in a single term - you have to take the cornerstone and capstone, and I think they have to be in different terms.  Which would mean additional per-term costs.  Also, I will try to include courses that you can use in BOTH degrees.  That way, he can start with those, and then make a decision later as he sees how he's going through the courses.  If he goes very slowly, then he probably isn't a WGU student anyway, but it's worth looking at it several ways.

Start with CLEP/Modern States for free stuff that will work in both degrees:
College Composition
Any Social Science course (like history or psych)
American Government

Then do the $9 OD course:
Intro to Programming in Python

Both schools require a lab science, so he's going to want to do that.  Cheapest is probably Study.com's Bio I w/lab, and I'd do a speech course that same month because both schools require that as well.

Thank you Dfrecore!  That's very valuable info!  I had forgotten about MS/CLEP.

And you're correct, a concentration in Info Systems vs Data Analytics is not the same.  His new rational is: if he can complete his IT degree, he can get a promotion at work, which will give him additional income.  Additional income will give him some breathing room to pursue a graduate certificate in Data Analytics. If he chooses carefully, he can use the credits for the certificate and subsequently apply them to a MS in Data Analytics.

The main question with WGU is: can he complete the entire degree in one term?  I think the answer is that it is unlikely to be one term since they're only allowing him to transfer 16 credits.  He can't afford 2 terms at $7k.

If COSC accepts all his credits, he has 60% to go.  If he uses the free and low-cost options and supplements with SDC or SL, even if he has to take 2 semesters to finish at COSC, I think he'll still save more than opting for WGU.  I need to put this in a spreadsheet to see the numbers.

[ztkerls]

I think you can do the cornerstone & capstone in the same semester, but not at the same time. For example, you can do the cornerstone in term 1 of the spring semester,followed by the capstone in term 2 of the spring semester.

With how it was explained to me, the capstone requires 2 8-weeks sessions and cannot be started in the same session as the cornerstone. So for example, Spring semester session 1 is cornerstone, spring semester session 2 is the first half of the capstone and summer semester session 1 would be the second half of the capstone. That is how my advisor has it set up for me right now.

[nosey561]

I think you can do the cornerstone & capstone in the same semester, but not at the same time. For example, you can do the cornerstone in term 1 of the spring semester,followed by the capstone in term 2 of the spring semester.

With how it was explained to me, the capstone requires 2 8-weeks sessions and cannot be started in the same session as the cornerstone. So for example, Spring semester session 1 is cornerstone, spring semester session 2 is the first half of the capstone and summer semester session 1 would be the second half of the capstone. That is how my advisor has it set up for me right now.

That makes sense,since your capstone has 2 parts (16 weeks).(I think other majors,such as business, just have an 8 week capstone.) In summary, I believe the length of the capstone varies depending on your major.

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https://www.charteroak.edu/catalog/curre...ements.php

[rvm]

I think that applying to COSC is a very good way to go. I personally am getting a BSGS with them right now. They will accept most of your credits. I was told that any technology-based class more than 5 years old would probably be rejected. Dfrecore's advice is really good and his comparison between the two should give you a lot to think about.

Dfrecore is correct that the cornerstone and the capstone cannot be done at the same time and would probably require another set of fees.

Another credit source that is sometimes forgotten for COSC is Shmoop. The classes are not very good and can be mind-numbing, but it is hard to beat being able to take as many classes as you want for a low monthly price. Some of them can be completed very fast. I did a majority of my studies through them due to a tight budget and COSC accepted all but Business Communication for some reason.

Thank you Ztkerls.  Good to know there's another COSC student here.  

Correct me if I am wrong, isn't COSC's fee $300 per semester?  If John has to do a cornerstone & capstone that requires 2 semesters, that's still probably cheaper than $7k at WGU - or even $3500 (for one term).

I had completely forgotten about Shmoop.  We'll revisit them.

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I think you can do the cornerstone & capstone in the same semester, but not at the same time. For example, you can do the cornerstone in term 1 of the spring semester,followed by the capstone in term 2 of the spring semester.

Good to know. Thank you Nosey.

[davewill]

...The main question with WGU is: can he complete the entire degree in one term?  I think the answer is that it is unlikely to be one term since they're only allowing him to transfer 16 credits.  He can't afford 2 terms at $7k.
...

You're making the mistake of only considering the credits he has. If he chooses WGU, he would use alternative credit (self-paced and $33 per credit or even less) to fill things in until he gets enough that he can get it done in one term. That's why we keep telling you to plan the whole thing out so you can see all of the costs and time involved in each choice.

[dfrecore]

Correct me if I am wrong, isn't COSC's fee $300 per semester?  If John has to do a cornerstone & capstone that requires 2 semesters, that's still probably cheaper than $7k at WGU - or even $3500 (for one term).

I have the fees on my spreadsheets for both WGU and COSC.

COSC has a $285 student services fee and $70 technology fee per term - so that will probably be $710 for 2 terms.  But, you also have to pay tuition for the cornerstone and capstone, and they charge $408/cr.  So if they are both 3cr courses (I have no clue how many credits each is for that degree), then you're looking at $1224/course, or $2448.

As davewill said, you can't compare apples-to-apple with COSC and WGU for fees like that - you have to plan out both degrees, and look at how much it will cost going forward.  You keep looking at this the wrong way, so I give up at this point.  Good luck to your friend.