Computer Science Where to Max Out Credits Before Enrolling at WGU

[Merlin]

Prior posters have provided links to the courses that WGU accepts for credit toward their BSCS degree.

That said, you should also ask yourself why you want the degree and what you intend to do with it afterward. That could help you determine what courses you WANT to take from external courses.

Keep in mind that WGU is best suited for people who already have a lot of real-world experience but are just looking for a degree to prove their skills. So if that is what you're looking for, then you're in the right place.

If you have no prior experience in programming or IT, and you're just looking at getting a programming job, then you don't really need to get a degree at all. Of course, having a degree in CS is always useful when it comes to applying to programming job applications (and a CS or related degree may be required for some roles), but you can also get a programming job with no degree. You'll need to be able to prove you know what you're doing somehow (so you'll want a good portfolio of prior work, and know your DS&A skills for interview time) but a degree is often optional.

If you're starting from scratch and just want to learn to code, the best way is to jump in there and start coding. You'll need to learn the important skills relating to software engineering concepts first, and then learn the languages and frameworks for the area of coding you want to focus on, but there are plenty of free and cheap resources for that. Having a good fundamental understanding of math (up through calculus and discrete math) is helpful, but not always necessary.

On the other hand, if you already know how to program and you're really just looking to expand your skills and get a deep dive into CS concepts and technologies... you're better off doing your own research, creating interesting projects for yourself, and jump into writing code. You don't need to get a CS degree to do that. Besides, that sounds more like a grad degree. A BS degree is mainly there to give you a broad introduction to CS, you'll want a master's or doctoral degree to really start to dive deep into the hardcode CS concepts.

Speaking of, if your intent is to continue on to grad school after completing your BS degree, then you'll want to take all the important courses in your major directly from WGU rather than transfer them in. The best bet is to make sure that at least 60 credits come from an RA college (such as WGU). You'll want WGU courses that cover the core CS and math concepts, along with a couple of programming languages at least, since those will likely be part of entrance requirements for a CS master's program. Most grad schools will ignore courses from ACE providers when determining if you meet the entrance (and/or GPA) requirements.

So if it were me, I'd take all the Gen Ed courses and non-CS core courses (like project management and IT) from StraighterLine and Study.com, but take the rest from WGU. I'd also take the calculus and discrete math courses from WGU rather than take them from SL and SDC. Though you'll need to take precalculus or higher from somewhere before you'll be admitted into the WGU CS program, so taking calculus from SL or SDC is another option. Neither of those options will be as rigorous as the WGU course though, and you may miss that down the road... particularly if you want to continue on to grad school.