Degree Plan for BS in Information Technology

[BadBradsBBQ]

Ok, I will need to do more research on WGU and will set that aside for now, the main issue with them is that it is per term and to be honest I am not academic at all, I have a GED and have always struggled in school. So I am concerned that I would just end up spending a lot more money going through the WGU route in my case.

That is why I would rather spend a little time putting together a spreadsheet and creating a degree plan from A to Z and start knocking out courses as I have time. So what about the Big 3 any thoughts or preferences for BSIT degree and path to get there?

[dfrecore]

Ok, I will need to do more research on WGU and will set that aside for now, the main issue with them is that it is per term and to be honest I am not academic at all, I have a GED and have always struggled in school. So I am concerned that I would just end up spending a lot more money going through the WGU route in my case.

That is why I would rather spend a little time putting together a spreadsheet and creating a degree plan from A to Z and start knocking out courses as I have time. So what about the Big 3 any thoughts or preferences for BSIT degree and path to get there?

You can still do this with WGU, especially if you're starting from scratch.  You can put together a degree plan and start knocking out courses for the GE and some of the major, and take some certs as well if you want.  Then, when you feel like you've proven to yourself that you can get through the WGU BSIT degree, you can start.

OTOH, if you just really feel like you want to do the entire degree one course at a time, that's ok too.  TESU may be your best bet for that.

Either way, you want a degree plan to get started; starting without a clear path is a bad way to go (although spending weeks/months putting together the PERFECT plan is also not a great way to get started, as some people tend to get paralysis of the analysis).  So, my advice is to do a lot of research, put together a couple of plans, and then start on the cheapest/easiest courses and move on from there.

I don't have time to post plans now, but I will try in the next couple of days (I'm pretty sure my WGU BSIT plan is outdated).

[allvia]

If you go the TESU route a BSBA-CIS sounds like it would meet your requirements - https://www.tesu.edu/business/bsba/compu...on-systems

[cookderosa]

Ok, I will need to do more research on WGU and will set that aside for now, the main issue with them is that it is per term and to be honest I am not academic at all, I have a GED and have always struggled in school. So I am concerned that I would just end up spending a lot more money going through the WGU route in my case.

That is why I would rather spend a little time putting together a spreadsheet and creating a degree plan from A to Z and start knocking out courses as I have time. So what about the Big 3 any thoughts or preferences for BSIT degree and path to get there?

Brad,
Welcome to the group! It can be overwhelming at first, and I know speed is of the essence, but if you spent a couple weeks here asking questions and reading the archives - you'll zip right along. Also, you passed English 101 with 98% you're more than academic enough. Adults can mis-remember what it was like to be in school, and fear that they're not smart enough to proceed, but I think you'll find that is not usually the case. You may have a hard class or two, but the entire process simply requires attention to developing a system and executing the steps, something you're probably VERY good at.

PS - I can't help you write your degree plan, especially in IT, but what I can tell you is that most of us here can help you align your gen eds (the general education core that everyone takes). Gen eds are very predictable in how they apply to a degree. For instance, Introduction to Psychology is going to be Introduction to Psychology- nothing tricky there. So, if you want to start compiling a list, my suggestion is to collect the list of gen eds you need, write a list and lets start building a plan from that. In other words, if you say that the Introduction to Psychology credit is required, it's easy enough for anyone to tell you "ok, you can do that through Studycom, CLEP, StraighterLine, etc." and that is when you can picking what you want to do. All the sources are a little different, but most average about $100 per 3-credit class if we are rounding - budget $100 per and you'll be fine. Classes take longer than credit by exam, but credit by exam requires independent study which is sometimes less EFFICIENT than ticking boxes off on an online class one lesson at a time. It's personal preference. I used CLEP and DSST for my gen eds, but my kids have used Straighterline mainly - it's really hard to say what you'll like until you have some classes under your belt.

[BadBradsBBQ]

Thank you Jennifer, dfrecore, allvia and others for your responses. After looking heavily into the different degree options, I have chosen to complete a degree plan for TESU's BSBA-CIS, this one appears to be the most straight forward with the fewest obstacles to overcome. 

I have attached to this post my final draft degree plan, please take a look and see if you can find any courses I have listed that you know wouldn't work or courses that could be done easier/faster/cheaper than what I have put together.

P.S. I tried to edit my original thread post to include the update and attachment, but I do not see an option to edit/modify my original post. (I can edit this post however)

[MNomadic]

First: I recommend you do the FREE ethics course found here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Fr..._of_Credit

It is also much faster than the other options. I recommend you do it first since its current ACE recommendation ends 1/31/2019. It can be done in a few hours or a few days.

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Second: try this SDC course for communications: https://study.com/academy/course/present...place.html

It is extremely short.

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Third: the 2 free 1-credit Sophia courses in the link I posted are free and very quick as well.

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Next: many people really liked the format of ALEKs for their math/statistics courses. It's much cheaper than SDC or SL as well, even if it takes you multiple months. So it's something to look into.

Also: Onlinedegree.com has an intro to CS course(python programming), several business courses, and several gen Ed courses(total of 15 courses) that you may want to consider. They are free to try. You only pay $9 at the end for a proctored final (which makes it one of the cheapest credit providers around).

[BadBradsBBQ]

Thank you MNomadic, I have updated my degree plan to reflect the changes you recommended. I had no idea about that OD course, I was actually looking specifically for a python course like that!

[MNomadic]

Thank you MNomadic, I have updated my degree plan to reflect the changes you recommended. I had no idea about that OD course, I was actually looking specifically for a python course like that!

Looks good. Start knocking out those courses!

[allvia]

You're going to need an ACE account to add the credits to - for those that are ACE, such as the ALEKS, the Free Ethics course, Sophia - and many others.  Providers like Onlinedegree are not ACE;  they are NCCRS, transcripts are sent direct from them.

https://www2.acenet.edu/credit/?fuseacti...ripts.main

[Zataralos]

Thank you MNomadic, I have updated my degree plan to reflect the changes you recommended. I had no idea about that OD course, I was actually looking specifically for a python course like that!

I'm trying to decipher the sources in your plan

SL - StraightLiner
SDC - ???
OD - ???
CC - county college?

Thanks