Degree Plan and Guidance for Bachelor of Science in Technology/Engineering

[busdriver32]

Hi Everyone!!

Need a little bit of help with the following - I am employed in the field of aviation and have been flying for the last 5 years. I'm trying to get a college degree now in the fastest and most cost effective way.

I am interested in pursuing a BS degree in Technology/IT/Engineering, mostly by the Credit by exam route.

Since I'm relatively new to this field, and I haven't been able to find any degree plans (for credit by exam), and not many people have posted in the forum about the above degrees/fields, I wanted to ask you guys a few questions:

1. Is it possible to get a B.S in Technology/IT/Engineering completely through the credit-by-exam route? (except for the Capstone course which can't be transferred in)

2. If it is, then could someone please be kind enough to help me come up with a degree plan which helps me with which exams i need to write for credits for the same?

3. If it is not, what's the best science field B.S degree I can get through the Credits by exam route?

4. Which degrees have the most widespread popularity and common appeal for employment (as a backup line of work to my current job)

5. What would be a practical time frame for finishing the exams if I were to pursue a degree by the credit-by-exam route? I'm aware that people have written everything from 6 months to 1 year or even less in some cases....But I know that I won't be able to study full time, and can spend about 35-40 hours every week for the degree.

6. Has anyone looked at the University of London's International Program as a way of getting a degree? (Costs about 5000$, and takes 3 years for their BBA courses).

Apologies if I have repeated any questions, but I was unable to find the answers I require in the searches that I did regarding Bachelor's in the technology field. I also need to take a quick decision about which course to take and what the best route to take the course is, so I would genuinely appreciate help in this regard.

Thanks everyone!

[ajs1976]

1. These programs have requirements, typically upper level, that may be hard to meet through alternative credit. You will have to pick a few programs and look for options. From an IT prospective, a lot of people use the TESU BSBA:CIS because of the options to test out.

2. Which is the higher priority: cheapest or fastest? Might not be what you are looking for, but I would suggest you look into the Applied Science and Technology Aviation tracks at TESU. You may have credits already. Academic Program Reviews

3. Based on this question, I would suggest looking at BA in Natural Science and the BSAST in Technical Studies.

4. A BSBA

5. Really depends on you and the program you choose.

[dfrecore]

Don't know anything about the U of London, but the BSBA at TESU will be about $5000 if you have no credits - but may only take you a year or less to complete. If you come in with credits, then it can take even less time.

Spending 35-40 hours per week is considered full-time to me - that's a LOT of time to dedicate to it. If you did something like the BSBA, I would think you could finish in less than 6 months putting in that much time.

For something like the BSIT, it would take longer, because you would have to take many of the courses at online schools. Instead, I would look for a program that let you transfer in a lot of credits like APU/AMU, or something that was competency-based like WGU. Both will let you complete and bring in all your LL Gen Ed courses, and even some UL degree-specific courses, it just depends on what you can find to take for cheap.

[busdriver32]

Thanks so much for the info ajs1976.

Thanks to your info, I just realized that I would get around 35 credits because of my aviation licenses. But the thing is that I would prefer to get a degree in a non aviation field as a backup for unexpected exigencies.

I was looking more at the courses at Excelsior like BS in Technology or IT, but Uve also just told me that those credits are UL and cannot be found.

As far as cheapest or fastest, I would be willing to spend more if I feel that the course has that much more value to me....some subject that I would rather have, or if I feel that the added expense is worth it.

If anyone else throws any light on getting credits for the IT or Tech courses, I can further evaluate if it's possible at all to pursue one of those courses. I'll hope for the best and finally take the best option available.

Thanks again!

[busdriver32]

Don't know anything about the U of London, but the BSBA at TESU will be about $5000 if you have no credits - but may only take you a year or less to complete. If you come in with credits, then it can take even less time.

Spending 35-40 hours per week is considered full-time to me - that's a LOT of time to dedicate to it. If you did something like the BSBA, I would think you could finish in less than 6 months putting in that much time.

For something like the BSIT, it would take longer, because you would have to take many of the courses at online schools. Instead, I would look for a program that let you transfer in a lot of credits like APU/AMU, or something that was competency-based like WGU. Both will let you complete and bring in all your LL Gen Ed courses, and even some UL degree-specific courses, it just depends on what you can find to take for cheap.

Thanks for the reply dfrecore. It's great to hear that I can complete the BSBA in 6 months with 40hours a week. I guess I'll have to stick to one of the degrees I can complete without taking courses from other colleges..! I Don't know if there's a difference in value in BSBA and the BSIT, sufficient enough for me to spend much more..., especially considering that this is more as a backup rather than a mainstream thing for me.

I'm pretty new to this line of studying and acquiring degrees, and am assuming that the online college courses Ur referring to are the costly ones at 350-600$ per credit..

[dfrecore]

Thanks for the reply dfrecore. It's great to hear that I can complete the BSBA in 6 months with 40hours a week. I guess I'll have to stick to one of the degrees I can complete without taking courses from other colleges..! I Don't know if there's a difference in value in BSBA and the BSIT, sufficient enough for me to spend much more..., especially considering that this is more as a backup rather than a mainstream thing for me.

I'm pretty new to this line of studying and acquiring degrees, and am assuming that the online college courses Ur referring to are the costly ones at 350-600$ per credit..

The BSBA and BSIT are such completely different degrees, it's hard to say if there's a difference in value, since there's no way to know what you want to do with your degree to begin to place value on different things within each degree.

I always advise someone to find the right degree for them, not to just get a degree to get one. I don't think there's a lot of value in getting a degree if it turns out not to be one that helps you advance your career. If you just need a degree, any degree, to check a box for work, then you could certainly get the BSBA or BALS (liberal studies). If you need a specific degree for your career (like if you want to be a programmer or engineer or something), then getting a BSBA or BALS probably won't be very helpful for you at all. It really all just depends on what you want/need.

And yes, courses at colleges can be very expensive, online or otherwise. The BALS and BSBA can both be completely tested out of (or at least gotten without taking a course that costs more than $300), except that the BALS will require a capstone course for $1500. But if someone were to come into the program with some credit that wouldn't fit well into a BSBA, then the BALS is the most flexible degree that you can find, and you might do well to choose that one instead. Again, it totally depends on what you're coming in with, and what you want to end up with.

[busdriver32]

The BSBA and BSIT are such completely different degrees, it's hard to say if there's a difference in value, since there's no way to know what you want to do with your degree to begin to place value on different things within each degree.

I always advise someone to find the right degree for them, not to just get a degree to get one. I don't think there's a lot of value in getting a degree if it turns out not to be one that helps you advance your career. If you just need a degree, any degree, to check a box for work, then you could certainly get the BSBA or BALS (liberal studies). If you need a specific degree for your career (like if you want to be a programmer or engineer or something), then getting a BSBA or BALS probably won't be very helpful for you at all. It really all just depends on what you want/need.

And yes, courses at colleges can be very expensive, online or otherwise. The BALS and BSBA can both be completely tested out of (or at least gotten without taking a course that costs more than $300), except that the BALS will require a capstone course for $1500. But if someone were to come into the program with some credit that wouldn't fit well into a BSBA, then the BALS is the most flexible degree that you can find, and you might do well to choose that one instead. Again, it totally depends on what you're coming in with, and what you want to end up with.

I would actually be most interested in a degree that would help me become a programmer, more than anything else. The next option would be something to do with Economics/Business Administration....But I can't seem to figure out which Computer Science degree I can do that I can at least test out 90% of the credits.

As far as just learning to program goes, I've looked at the "MIT Experiment" by Scott Young, and found that route amazingly good for the purposes of gaining knowledge. https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/myproje...allenge-2/

A major reason for doing the degree is to check a box for work in future applications of work in my field. However, since I'm doing a degree anyways, I might as well do it in a field that I like...since the field of the degree is not relevant in flying jobs...its more about just whether you have a 4 year degree at all or not.