CompSci Degree Outline Help

[LevelUP]

Thank you for the replies! WGU also sounded like the right choice for me in my mind. How would i go about structuring the learning curriculum? You say a few months of CLEP, SDC, and Sophia, but what would those classes be? How do I know when I'm ready to move on to WGU?

I would start with Sophia and build some momentum. Sophia should end up costing you $10-$20 per course depending on how fast you move through courses. Doing Sophia is around twice as fast as doing CLEPs.

You can do the Sophia courses in any order you want following a degree plan.

If you were doing the WGU Computer Science degree plan, you could start with Introduction to Information Technology, Introduction to Web Development, and Environmental Science.

[dfrecore]

Thank you for the replies! WGU also sounded like the right choice for me in my mind. How would i go about structuring the learning curriculum? You say a few months of CLEP, SDC, and Sophia, but what would those classes be? How do I know when I'm ready to move on to WGU?

I would start with Sophia and build some momentum. Sophia should end up costing you $10-$20 per course depending on how fast you move through courses. Doing Sophia is around twice as fast as doing CLEPs.

You can do the Sophia courses in any order you want following a degree plan.

If you were doing the WGU Computer Science degree plan, you could start with Introduction to Information Technology, Introduction to Web Development, and Environmental Science.

If you can do CLEP's without studying, then they're MUCH faster.  I took 2 CLEP's and 2 DSST's in a single day without studying and passed them all.  All were things I already knew.  I probably could have taken more, but I was out of money and time.

Nothing is going to be faster than a test if you know the material.

[rachel83az]

Whatever you do, I strongly recommend against doing the CLEP online version. It sounds like it's absolutely not worth the trouble unless there is absolutely no other way to get credits. Sophia involves much less hassle and is way faster for subjects that you need to study.

[bjcheung77]

Hello there! Thank you for responding to my thread. Below I'll list a bit more info to help specify my situation as you've asked.

Budget: I'd like to go the cheapest route possible, but I can cover whatever the cost ends up being for exams, courses, and whatever else is necessary. 
Commitments: Currently none. Quit my job to take time to study (did this responsibly with years of saved income), and I don't have a spouse or children. right now, I'm free all days of the week at any given time.
Dedicated time to study: I can study as much as is needed since my schedule is free. I have been doing about 5 hours on average a day of TheOdinProject while using the pomdoro timer technique. I plan to cut that down slightly to make time for the incoming coursework. 8 hour days wouldn't be an issue I don't think based what I've already been doing. 
Timeline: Finishing the course as fast as possible would be ideal. From what I've read, some of it will be time gated? Outside of those restrictions, I'd take up a more accelerated pace. I'm taking the same approach with TheOdinProject (not time gated at all) and its been the best for me.

Your Location: Hawaii, United States. 
Your Age: 26
What kind of degree do you want?: Computer Science 
Current Regional Accredited Credits: None

If theres any other info I can provide, please let me know!

Interesting... That's a bit of info the others have provided you!  Amazing how much info has been updated since I was last online... I would suggest looking at the different template plans of several institutions as that list of 4-5 degree plans may interest you.  You should decide on the degree/school you want to attend and start taking ACE recommend courses for transfer and then finish the degree from that particular institution.

One thing is, you've answered the basic questions I have, it'll get you started in the right direction and path, however; you may want to also look into "what's next, what is your end goal?"  The reason I like asking questions is because, we'll know where you want to end up.  If you're looking at a semi competitive Masters after this Bachelors, none of the templates will work unless you tweak them as some may require graded credits.  

If you're looking to get a degree with graded credits, I would do a quick Associates from here to get the graded credits or at UMPI: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ate-Degree ; once done, do a BACS at TESU with the 16 credits for residency waiver fee.  You can "learn" more by taking classes in the major.  If TESU is not your cup of tea, SNHU or another provider may, it all depends on what you want to learn and how fast.

Last but not least, If you read my posts, I always recommend 3 things, certifications, degree, experience.  You are just starting to get the experience, but you lack the other two.  I asked about a timeline, since you don't have a concrete answer, you may want to spend some time "learning" and cross over into CIS/IT by gaining some Certificates from Coursera, Google/IBM, in the process, etc.  Learning is not a race, especially at your age, if you were my age and in your 40's, just go for anything to check the box for the degree and use your certs/experience to offset that particular major.

[davewill]

I will note that WGU is only cheap if you can move through their courses quickly and easily. The general plan would be to transfer in 90cr from previous schools or alternative sources, then finish the last 30cr in 1-2 terms. If you end up taking 1-2 years, instead, it will get expensive quickly.

Also, note that once you enroll there, you can no longer bring in credit from elsewhere, you you need all your ducks in a row before you enroll.

[ProgrammerGo]

Sounds like WGU would be a great fit for you.  I'd probably do a couple of months of CLEP, Study.com and Sophia, and then plan on 2 terms at WGU.  You may be able to do 1 term, but I wouldn't plan on it unless you brought in more credit, which would take longer.
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Another option: take a single term at Snow College if they'll do it for the in-state price of $1743; that's a much smaller time- and money- commitment than WGU, and you can try a CBE model on for size (they won't be exactly the same of course, but it will give you a taste).  If you can complete an AA in that 16 week term, great; if not, at least you'll be able to get all of the courses you need for the GE done.

If you find that you don't love the CBE model, you may still be able to get 24cr out of the deal, and that would make TESU a great option at that point.

Thank you for the replies! WGU also sounded like the right choice for me in my mind. How would i go about structuring the learning curriculum? You say a few months of CLEP, SDC, and Sophia, but what would those classes be? How do I know when I'm ready to move on to WGU?

So WGU makes their degree plans very clear, and they have agreements for the courses with several partners.  Make a spreadsheet to organize your info:

Column 1) all of the courses required for the degree
(you can get this from here: https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/BSCS.aspx and I always use this to organize my courses of GE vs. Major as well)

Column 2) the different ways you can get courses (there may be more than 1 way for a lot of courses): 
 - Study.com: https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...142&pid=86
 - Sophia: https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...062&pid=86
 - Saylor: https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...769&pid=86
 - WGU Academy (for A+ Cert): https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...097&pid=86 (they are thru Straighterline)
 - CLEP and DSST are also accepted but they don't have the courses on the website for whatever reason

Column 3) credits taken (this is when you'll put a number when you complete the course)

Column 4) credits needed (this is the number of credits needed for that course and not yet complete)

Column 5) Total - I put a subtotal for the GE, then another subtotal for the major.  Then, at the bottom, I add the subtotals in columns 3, 4, and 5.  That way I can always make sure I'm at 120cr, and can see column 3 going up as 4 goes down.

With WGU, there is a tradeoff: the more alt-credits you do, the fewer the ones at WGU; BUT (and this is a big but), you're paying for those credits and you have to keep that in mind.  You want to take as many credits as you need to finish in 1-2 terms, but you don't want to pay so much that you could have done an extra term to do the same credits for less.  Not sure if I'm saying that correctly.  But you want to look at what you're paying for credit vs if you can just do them at WGU.  There is a balance there, and only you can figure out what it is.

The best way to do this is to add another column to your spreadsheet with costs.  Keep track of what you are paying for credits/courses, and stick to that budget.  So, if you only have a certain amount, you're going to want to use some CLEP exams if you're a decent tester (free through ModernStates).  If you hate testing, you may want to do some Sophia before Study.com.  You may want to self-study for the A+ certification before you enroll at WGU (taking the exams is part of the degree, and they will eat up a lot of time if you're not careful; but at the same time, you may not want to pay for them ahead of time since they're not cheap).  You can see what I'm talking about when you start getting into the different ways to get credit.

Good luck, and come back with questions as you are figuring this stuff out.

Hello!

I didn't realize I received more messages, sorry about that. I think I understand. When you say that it could be cheaper to do another term at WGU possibly, it would also be longer than doing the courses at something like study.com right? Since you have to sit through the entire term without being able to expedite it? I'd rather pay more if thats the case and just go through whats on the course outline I was linked.

I have a question about that as well. Theres 12 non transferable credits which I understand, but on the course outline there seems to be about 5 classes that are transferrable that is blank for where to get the credits from. Those 5 would be, Software Quality Assurance, Software I, Software II, Business of IT - Applications, and Ethics in Technology. Am I just supposed to get those at WGU even though they are transferable?

Since we last spoke, I have finished English Composition 1, Public Speaking, Intro to Ethics, Intro to Web Development, and I'm half way through Environmental Science. I have just been following the WGU course outline for this. I have not done anything on study.com yet as I wanted to get the sophia stuff out of the way. I was hoping to get the sophia stuff done within a month since its $100 every month and it seems like thats going to be possible. 

Any more advice with these things in mind? Also, thank you for all of those links, the course requirements link is very useful as it lays out all the potential options for classes. 

[MNomadic]

the course outline there seems to be about 5 classes that are transferrable that is blank for where to get the credits from. Those 5 would be, Software Quality Assurance, Software I, Software II, Business of IT - Applications, and Ethics in Technology. Am I just supposed to get those at WGU even though they are transferable?

There's no known source of alternative credits for those courses. You could try to take them at a different college if you were so inclined, but that may not be cheap. Actually there's an ethics in tech DSST test that may transfer for the corresponding class but honestly, ethics in tech at WGU was one of the easiest courses I took there. I was ready for the OA with no studying so I passed the course in a day.

[LevelUP]

Hello!

I didn't realize I received more messages, sorry about that. I think I understand. When you say that it could be cheaper to do another term at WGU possibly, it would also be longer than doing the courses at something like study.com right? Since you have to sit through the entire term without being able to expedite it? I'd rather pay more if thats the case and just go through whats on the course outline I was linked.

I have a question about that as well. Theres 12 non transferable credits which I understand, but on the course outline there seems to be about 5 classes that are transferrable that is blank for where to get the credits from. Those 5 would be, Software Quality Assurance, Software I, Software II, Business of IT - Applications, and Ethics in Technology. Am I just supposed to get those at WGU even though they are transferable?

Since we last spoke, I have finished English Composition 1, Public Speaking, Intro to Ethics, Intro to Web Development, and I'm half way through Environmental Science. I have just been following the WGU course outline for this. I have not done anything on study.com yet as I wanted to get the sophia stuff out of the way. I was hoping to get the sophia stuff done within a month since its $100 every month and it seems like thats going to be possible. 

Any more advice with these things in mind? Also, thank you for all of those links, the course requirements link is very useful as it lays out all the potential options for classes. 

Some of those courses such as Business of IT you can transfer with a certification. Business of IT is the ITIL Foundations Certification. However, it is free to take at WGU so you could prestudy for the cert exam and take this first at WGU. 
https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/BSCS.aspx

Keep in mind, that you can transfer a max of 90 credits to WGU.

I would finish up all Sophia courses, then start on Study.com.

I would take these courses last in this order
Math 108: Discrete Mathematics
Computer Science 109: Introduction to Programming
Computer Science 201: Data Structures & Algorithms
(Take Intro programming first since you need to learn Java as the assignment is in Java. Also once you finish into programming this course is automatically 50% done)
Computer Science 306: Computer Architecture
General Calculus I

[ProgrammerGo]

Hello!

I didn't realize I received more messages, sorry about that. I think I understand. When you say that it could be cheaper to do another term at WGU possibly, it would also be longer than doing the courses at something like study.com right? Since you have to sit through the entire term without being able to expedite it? I'd rather pay more if thats the case and just go through whats on the course outline I was linked.

I have a question about that as well. Theres 12 non transferable credits which I understand, but on the course outline there seems to be about 5 classes that are transferrable that is blank for where to get the credits from. Those 5 would be, Software Quality Assurance, Software I, Software II, Business of IT - Applications, and Ethics in Technology. Am I just supposed to get those at WGU even though they are transferable?

Since we last spoke, I have finished English Composition 1, Public Speaking, Intro to Ethics, Intro to Web Development, and I'm half way through Environmental Science. I have just been following the WGU course outline for this. I have not done anything on study.com yet as I wanted to get the sophia stuff out of the way. I was hoping to get the sophia stuff done within a month since its $100 every month and it seems like thats going to be possible. 

Any more advice with these things in mind? Also, thank you for all of those links, the course requirements link is very useful as it lays out all the potential options for classes. 

Some of those courses such as Business of IT you can transfer with a certification. Business of IT is the ITIL Foundations Certification. However, it is free to take at WGU so you could prestudy for the cert exam and take this first at WGU. 
https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/BSCS.aspx

Keep in mind, that you can transfer a max of 90 credits to WGU.

I would finish up all Sophia courses, then start on Study.com.

I would take these courses last in this order
Math 108: Discrete Mathematics
Computer Science 109: Introduction to Programming
Computer Science 201: Data Structures & Algorithms
(Take Intro programming first since you need to learn Java as the assignment is in Java. Also once you finish into programming this course is automatically 50% done)
Computer Science 306: Computer Architecture
General Calculus I

Thanks! I'll run off that then. I haven't done a whole lot of math since I was in High School maybe 7 years ago. My algebra is fine, but other that I don't really remember a lot of stuff. Should I take a pre calc course somewhere on like khan academy before taking the calculus course?

From the course outline, there would be 34 credits left after finishing everything. Since only 90 credits are transferable, two terms is mandatory right?

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Hello!

I didn't realize I received more messages, sorry about that. I think I understand. When you say that it could be cheaper to do another term at WGU possibly, it would also be longer than doing the courses at something like study.com right? Since you have to sit through the entire term without being able to expedite it? I'd rather pay more if thats the case and just go through whats on the course outline I was linked.

I have a question about that as well. Theres 12 non transferable credits which I understand, but on the course outline there seems to be about 5 classes that are transferrable that is blank for where to get the credits from. Those 5 would be, Software Quality Assurance, Software I, Software II, Business of IT - Applications, and Ethics in Technology. Am I just supposed to get those at WGU even though they are transferable?

Since we last spoke, I have finished English Composition 1, Public Speaking, Intro to Ethics, Intro to Web Development, and I'm half way through Environmental Science. I have just been following the WGU course outline for this. I have not done anything on study.com yet as I wanted to get the sophia stuff out of the way. I was hoping to get the sophia stuff done within a month since its $100 every month and it seems like thats going to be possible. 

Any more advice with these things in mind? Also, thank you for all of those links, the course requirements link is very useful as it lays out all the potential options for classes. 

Some of those courses such as Business of IT you can transfer with a certification. Business of IT is the ITIL Foundations Certification. However, it is free to take at WGU so you could prestudy for the cert exam and take this first at WGU. 
https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/BSCS.aspx

Keep in mind, that you can transfer a max of 90 credits to WGU.

I would finish up all Sophia courses, then start on Study.com.

I would take these courses last in this order
Math 108: Discrete Mathematics
Computer Science 109: Introduction to Programming
Computer Science 201: Data Structures & Algorithms
(Take Intro programming first since you need to learn Java as the assignment is in Java. Also once you finish into programming this course is automatically 50% done)
Computer Science 306: Computer Architecture
General Calculus I

Thanks! I'll run off that then. I haven't done a whole lot of math since I was in High School maybe 7 years ago. My algebra is fine, but other that I don't really remember a lot of stuff. Should I take a pre calc course somewhere on like khan academy before taking the calculus course?

From the course outline, there would be 34 credits left after finishing everything. Since only 90 credits are transferable, two terms is mandatory right?

Oh I see now, you can complete as many classes as you can in a term and it also lowers the price.

[rachel83az]

I would do Precalc (and maybe some Calc) at ASU for FREE. That should prepare you to take paid calculus for credit.