Degree Plan *Help*

[Derek]

Hey Everyone,

I'm getting closer to making my final move towards TESC, and just need a hand to complete my BA.CS Degree plan. I have the majority of it figured out. *I think* This "Must include at least two subject areas" is making me wonder if all of my classes are able to be taken with eachother or not. Not too sure what they're classifying.

I'm planning on transferring over 25 Credits from my County College. I'm unsure how/if they'll be accepted. In the end, it'll affect my final degree plan.

As of now, here is my transcript from my County College:

ACC-112 Prin Financ Acct I/SprdSheet - TR 4.00 Credits
CIS-101 Introduction to Computers - TR 3.00 Credits
CIS-111 Programming in BASIC - TR 3.00 Credits
CIS-118 Intro to Microsoft Office -TR 3.00 Credits
CRJ-101 30 Intro to Criminal Justice - B+ 3.00 Credits
ENG-101 30 College Composition I - C 3.00 Credits
PHI-101 34 Introduction to Philosophy - C+ 3.00 Credits
PSY-101 32 Introduction to Psychology - A 3.00 Credits

And here is my proposed plan:

I. General Education Requirements - 60 Credits

A. English Composition - 6 Credits
-CLEP College Composition (General) //6 Credits

B. Humanities - 12 Credits
-CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature //6 Credits
-CLEP Humanities //6 Credits

C. Social Sciences - 12 Credits
-CLEP Social Sciences and History //6 Credits
-CLEP Principles of Microeconomics //3 Credits
-CLEP Principles of Macroeconomics //3 Credits

D. Natural Sciences and Mathematics - 12 Credits
-StraighterLine Calculus I //3 Credits
-StraighterLine Calculus II //3 Credits

E. General Education Electives - 18 Credits
-TR Introduction to Philosophy //3 Credits (?)
-TR Introduction to Psychology //3 Credits (?)
-TR Principles of Financial Accounting //3 Credits (?)
-TR Programming in BASIC //3 Credits (?)
-TR Intro to Microsoft Office //3 Credits (?)

II. Area of Study: Computer Science - 33 Credits

A. Required Courses - 9 Credits
-TR Introduction to Computers //3 Credits (?)
-TESC Data Structures //3 Credits
-TESC Discrete Math //3Credits

B. Computer Science Electives - 24 Credits
-DSST Management Information Systems //3 Credits
-TECEP Network Technology //3 Credits
-TESC Course //18 Credits

III. Free Electives - 27 Credits
-FEMA //24 Credits
-TR Intro to Criminal Justice //3 Credits (?)

Creating a complete degree plan is more difficult than I had originally imagined. Did I make any issues in mine, specifically with the "two subject areas" portion. I've got to look to find if any CLEP's are classified in the 300-400 Level. If so, I may be able to switch over some of my transferred computer electives into the Computer Science electives instead of General Education?

Overall, I hope to knockout 2-3 Cleps/Month and accomplish the degree in a year, if possible, or a year and a half.

[LaceyLady]

I don't know much about computer degrees, so I can't help you there, but I notice that you only have 6 credits under natural sciences and math. You will need 6 more, at least 3 of which needs to be in natural sciences, because the 6 credits you already have are all in math, and you need to have two subject areas. Within each broad area, there has to be at least two subject areas (ex. within social sciences: economics and history). I am not sure about the community college classes or the computer part, but everything else looks okay.

[skyfall123]

Hi Derek,
Both Intro to Computing and Programming in Basic will/should fit into the Area of Study. Based on my son's experience, I would recommend knocking off Calc I & II before taking on Discrete Math. I would also look at the syllabus for Data Structures to see if the co-requisite is still C++. You will need to understand C++ to get through that course. Those are the two most challenging courses.

Beyond that if you look at the entry requirements for most Masters programs, they require Operating Systems and Computer Architecture so I would consider those among your Area of Study. A solid and flexible online Masters program is UIS and you can see there requirements here
Department of Computer Science

Good luck! Ryoder and others should be able to provide good input.

[OE800_85]

I'd say it looks pretty good. From what I understand, TESC has a limited number of actual courses available. One good option for courses would be Athabasca (Athabasca University : Canada's Leader in Online & Distance Education) which has TONS of both computer science and math courses, and depending on where you live, the total cost may turn out to be less than TESC (also since the credits would be transferred, you probably wouldn't have them count towards your GPA). Even though this school is Canadian, they have middle-states accreditation and transcripts are free. However, local community colleges might be the cheaper option, just something to consider.

[dcan]

Geezer, I sent you a PM about your Discrete Math comment, but maybe it is relevant here after all. TESC's website says College Algebra is a pre-req, but you are saying Calc I and II are really required. Can you elaborate? From what I can tell about discrete math it is more mathematical reasoning and logic rather than function integration/differentiation. As I said in my PM though, I have 17 years programming under my belt though, so trees, sets, etc are intuitive to me, though not mathematically.

I personally am looking at incorporating discrete math into my degree plan, but I would very much like to know if calculus is truly required for this.

Thanks.

[skyfall123]

Derek/Dan I'm sorry I did not mean to misinform. My suggestion of Calc I & II before Discrete had to do with progressing through the degree in an orderly fashion, not that Calc I & II were prerequisites for Discrete.

[Derek]

That's what I figured. No worries.

I do realize I forgot a certain amount of credits on my "plan".

It appears my County College won't send my transcript (see other thread I made earlier.).

So, I'll have to re-do/test out of them. Not a big deal though, they're all basic classes.

On my initial plan, I had intended to get as many CLEP Credits as possible through the Gen-Ed's, however, it seems that they are mostly in the same subject area.

So, I'm going to switch things around a bit. Unfortunately, it causes me to take more test's, but it's well worth the cost and time over taking the course or paying for a campus-based school.

Time to look into all possible testing options, and to determine what tests to take that are easiest, yet relevant.

Has anyone personally taken the Straighter Line Calculus courses? If so, how was it? I never took Pre-Cal and haven't taken math since graduating High School 3 years ago. Also, approximately how long did it take?

Thanks again,

Derek

[Derek]

Also, I just realized that DSST's are upper level classes. Is there a mandatory minimum of upper level classes required, or will that be compensated through taking the degree-specific courses in CS?

[sanantone]

It is possible to complete all of the required courses and not have the required number of upper level credits. At TESC, you need 18 UL credits in the major. Some DSSTs are UL and so are some CLEPs. You do not need UL in general education or free electives. You can't have more than two 100 level courses in the major area of study. Use this as a guide.

Undergraduate Ways to Earn Credit - Thomas Edison State College - acalog ACMSâ„¢

TESC does have all of the courses you would need to complete the degree. Any degree program that is listed under "What Can You Study Online" has all of its required courses available through TESC. I'm a social science major so I'm not 100% positive, but these should be your options for UL credit.

TESC or DSST Management Information Systems 301
TESC Database Mangement 311
TESC System Analysis and Design 320
TESC Software Engineering 351
TESC Networking Technologies 354 (I think you found the TECEP for that)
TESC Computer Architecture 330
TESC Operating Systems 352
TESC Artificial Intelligence 451

Then there are 9 possible lower level courses you can choose from. There are plenty of courses to choose from.