Degree path guidance for new dad

[Merlin]

I myself have been debating back and forth for several months now which school would be ideal, WGU vs COSC. Charter Oak gives you more freedom as far as credit sources go, while WGU allows financial aid. Was heavily leaning toward WGU for a long time because of the FA factor, but allvia makes a great point about COSC giving you more freedom and excepting NCCRS credits. Plus considering how quickly elbebopkid knocked out that degree...

I don't see WGU offering less freedom than the big 3. Yes, the big 3 accept NCCRS while WGU doesn't, but that is a tiny percentage of credits. Instead of accepting NCCRS they accept NA college credits, which is a much larger pool. They also accept a ton of industry certifications for credit.

Speed wise, the big 3 don't hold a candle to WGU. The speed that you can complete a degree will be comparable between any of the big 3 since you are limited by how quickly you can get through the required 12-week course(s) you take directly from them. The majority of your credits will likely come from ACE recommended providers (plus any old college credits you bring with you) so the speed won't vary between target colleges. The next big delay with the big 3 is that you have to wait until the next graduation cycle before you officially receive your degree. Between the 12-week capstone and waiting months to graduate, that added nearly 6 months to my TESU degree.

You can finish at WGU faster than any of the big 3. Yes, you can only transfer in 90 credits to start, and they don't accept NCCRS credits, but you also don't have to take mandatory 12-week courses or wait for months after finishing your last course to receive your degree. Plus most WGU undergrad courses take between a day and a couple of weeks to complete. Many people appear to be able to get through the WGU undergrad courses as quickly as they could get through a comparable course on StraighterLine or Study.com. So it is almost the same as taking all the courses via SL or SDC in terms of speed. Heck, there are plenty of folks who claim to have completed an entire WGU undergrad degree in 6 months or less without using SL or SDC.

Wow Merlin, hell of a reply! Thank you! In a single post, you have completely convinced me to quit flip flopping and just stick with WGU. Now I have to ask, where have you seen people graduate from WGU without SL or SDC credits? What credits do they use? CLEP? DSST?

I'd say that the majority of people who finish a WGU undergrad in less than a year are people who are coming in with a lot of transfer credits. Whether those are from other colleges, certifications, or ACE recommended credits like CLEP, SL, SDC, etc. However, you do occasionally see posts from people who claim to have completed their entire degree directly from WGU in 1 or 2 terms starting with little or no credits. I read a lot of education forums, but the majority of posts about WGU are coming from Reddit or the WGU Accelerators Facebook group. I have also seen YouTube videos from people who claim to have completed their degrees in a single term.

Had it not been for the 12-week capstone and having to wait for 3-months for my degree to be awarded by TESU, I probably could have finished my entire degree in under 8 months, and I wasn't focused on speed for most of the time. So, finishing an entire undergrad degree from WGU in a single 6-month term seems reasonable to me. I'd say finishing in two terms is far more likely, but I'm sure it could be done in one term with enough time and dedication.

[quigongene]

I came in with 67 credits, only 10 of which were SDC (no SL). The rest were certifications, CLEP and DSST (see the last page of my journey thread below for a spreadsheet). I was able to finish the last 55 CUs in under 4 months, and walked in Orlando 3 weeks after I finished. The longest any class took me was 3 weeks. I'm not sure I could have dealt with TESU at the rate I went :-P

[Tarka]

Thanks for the responses. Yeah, the financial aid kind made me lean more towards WGU, then again I don't even know if I'll qualify yet :p I think what tipped me even more towards WGU was watching the last WGU Texas commencement in Austin on Youtube and picturing myself there as a final goal. LoL, I'm weird like that but I guess it keeps motivated seeing what the end will look like. And I'm in Houston, it will only be a short drive there.

[Jwheels27]

I’m going with either the Bachelor in Business management or Marketing Management. I printed the transfer guidelines for both. Seems like I could knock out most of these credits through SL or SDC, keep in mind I’m starting from scratch. But I’d like to take advantage of all forms of alt. credit if I can. Especially if they’re faster, cheaper, and more efficient

[Merlin]

Thanks for the responses. Yeah, the financial aid kind made me lean more towards WGU, then again I don't even know if I'll qualify yet :p  I think what tipped me even more towards WGU was watching the last WGU Texas commencement in Austin on Youtube and picturing myself there as a final goal. LoL, I'm weird like that but I guess it keeps motivated seeing what the end will look like. And I'm in Houston, it will only be a short drive there.

That isn't weird, it is called "visualizing success" and it is a very powerful (and popular) way to stay motivated and inspired toward reaching your goals. Lots of famous people list visualization as one of their keys to success. I do it myself as well. It's a good thing... keep it up!

[akr680]

Thanks for the responses. Yeah, the financial aid kind made me lean more towards WGU, then again I don't even know if I'll qualify yet  I think what tipped me even more towards WGU was watching the last WGU Texas commencement in Austin on Youtube and picturing myself there as a final goal. LoL, I'm weird like that but I guess it keeps motivated seeing what the end will look like. And I'm in Houston, it will only be a short drive there.

That isn't weird, it is called "visualizing success" and it is a very powerful (and popular) way to stay motivated and inspired toward reaching your goals. Lots of famous people list visualization as one of their keys to success. I do it myself as well. It's a good thing... keep it up!

Hi Merlin,

Will TESU accept WGU credits?


I'm on Visa. If my Visa is not extended, I can't continue with WGU.

I am currently taking alternate credits based on common courses between WGU & TESU.

I'm more interested in WGU but my situation is volatile due Visa.


Thanks
Ashok

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[Merlin]

Will TESU accept WGU credits?

I'm on Visa. If my Visa is not extended, I can't continue with WGU.

I am currently taking alternate credits based on common courses between WGU & TESU.

I'm more interested in WGU but my situation is volatile due Visa.

Yes. Or at least, I don't see why not. WGU is a regionally accredited university.

It sounds like you're already hedging your bets by taking common courses between the two schools. I don't know how closely the WGU BSIT and the TESU BS with IT AOS align, but that should work as long as there are enough overlapping courses. At some point, you'll need to pull the trigger on one over the other. An additional rub is that TESU and WGU have a different approach to how they do Gen Eds. TESU requires 60 GE credits while WGU requires less GE credits and a lot more degree-focused credits. So you may eventually have trouble where the two diverge.

I assume your plan is to start at WGU and then if your Visa doesn't get renewed to transfer to TESU? That is a good plan, but keep in mind that you can complete an entire degree at WGU in a single term if you're diligent. Particularly if you transfer in as many credits ahead of time as possible. WGU may not allow you to enroll (or continue) as a student at the school if your Visa doesn't get renewed, but if you're already enrolled and have started your term, I am sure they will allow you to finish the term before they boot you. So if you're quick, you should still be able to complete a degree with WGU even if your Visa is not extended.

[akr680]

Will TESU accept WGU credits?

I'm on Visa. If my Visa is not extended, I can't continue with WGU.

I am currently taking alternate credits based on common courses between WGU & TESU.

I'm more interested in WGU but my situation is volatile due Visa.

Yes. Or at least, I don't see why not. WGU is a regionally accredited university.

It sounds like you're already hedging your bets by taking common courses between the two schools. I don't know how closely the WGU BSIT and the TESU BS with IT AOS align, but that should work as long as there are enough overlapping courses. At some point, you'll need to pull the trigger on one over the other. An additional rub is that TESU and WGU have a different approach to how they do Gen Eds. TESU requires 60 GE credits while WGU requires less GE credits and a lot more degree-focused credits. So you may eventually have trouble where the two diverge.

I assume your plan is to start at WGU and then if your Visa doesn't get renewed to transfer to TESU? That is a good plan, but keep in mind that you can complete an entire degree at WGU in a single term if you're diligent. Particularly if you transfer in as many credits ahead of time as possible. WGU may not allow you to enroll (or continue) as a student at the school if your Visa doesn't get renewed, but if you're already enrolled and have started your term, I am sure they will allow you to finish the term before they boot you. So if you're quick, you should still be able to complete a degree with WGU even if your Visa is not extended.

Thanks a lot for the detailed information.

I took the the below courses from SL

Intro to Religion
Intro to communication
Physics 1
IT fundamentals
Principle of Management

And CSM high performance



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