Finding a quick AA

[allvia]

Wouldn't it make sense to just get the BACS from TESU and skip UMPI all together.  The OP has 18 RA credits already, only needs a few more (readily available at low cost) and they could get the Pierpont BOG AAS for free in route (get something on that resume). If the OP is worried about graduate degree program options, there are PLENTY available going this route (including those offered at high ranking schools).

Link for the TESU BA CS - https://www.tesu.edu/heavin/ba/computer-science

I believe there is a Wiki page for the specific options on getting the requirements; I just don't have that information as I type this.

As a side note to the OP: Target is not the only employer offering free tuition (in business or CS)  Walmart does as well, their deal may be even better than Target's. There is a thread on here about it.  A few other employers have joined in on these types of offerings.

[user-101010]

I'm not sure that a competency-based computer science degree from WGU is appropriate for someone with  little/no experience in the field. Others, who have attended WGU, have advised against it under similar circumstances.

I didn't see anywhere that the student has little/no experience in the field.

Someone who is only 20 years old and who wants a CS degree almost certainly has little/no experience in the CS field. Of course there are exceptions, but they're still fairly rare.

Other than some low level/entry courses I don't have much experience, so I doubt I'd be able to test out in that field. That was one of the reasons I was looking to take my bachelors in-person, was to take advantage of traditional learning as well as my own learning off campus.

I don't see any point in getting an associates degree given your situation. You are young and fully plan on getting a bachelors so just go straight to the bachelors and skip the AA.

If you want a quick AA that meets the requirements you stated your best would probably be your local community college. Especially when you consider transferability. But to me it still wouldn't make sense to get one either way.

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And you say your GPA is 1.1 do you mean High School GPA?

Right, the best compatibility would probably be a local AA, but some schools I've looked at will also take any RA AA and give you the credit for it putting you at a junior standing, besides any major-specific pre reqs. And unfortunately no, college GPA.

Thanks for the suggestions and help so far everyone!

[dfrecore]

I'm not sure that a competency-based computer science degree from WGU is appropriate for someone with  little/no experience in the field. Others, who have attended WGU, have advised against it under similar circumstances.

I didn't see anywhere that the student has little/no experience in the field.

Someone who is only 20 years old and who wants a CS degree almost certainly has little/no experience in the CS field. Of course there are exceptions, but they're still fairly rare.

I don't like to assume that.  Obviously if they have no experience, then they should not do WGU (or any other CBE program really).  But I'll leave it up to the OP to decide.

I also don't think I'd do the UMPI degree and then TESU.  Not sure why you'd do that, when you could go straight for the CompSci degree at TESU for about the same cost.  UMPI's MIS concentration only gives you 1 course you can use in the UL AoS, so you're not gaining as much as you might if you just went straight to TESU.

With the courses already taken (36cr), plus the ones IP at Sophia and Saylor (18cr), and the fact that 18cr of this is RA, OP is already well on the way to a CompSci degree at TESU without having to do UMPI at all.  Take 2 ONU courses (Am Govt, Comp 1 and/or 2, Sociology, etc.) to put you at 24cr of RA and you're done with that requirement.  Add in the fact that you can do a 16cr term at TESU to get rid of the Residency Waiver, and you're looking at a lot less than the UMPI/TESU combo.

Here's what I would do if I were the OP:

1) Finish all current courses at Sophia & Saylor

2) Take 8cr more at Sophia (the 2 easy 1cr courses, Intro to IT, and something else) - 1 mo @ $79

3) Take Am Govt and Sociology at ONU $50/cr x 6cr = $300

4) Take 10 courses at Study.com - 5 months @ $1,000
BUS 109: Intro to Computing
COMPSCI 109: Intro to Programming
COMPSCI 201: Data Structures & Algorithms
MAT 104: Calculus
MATH 108: Discrete Math
COMPSCI 105: Intro to Operating Systems
COMPSCI 306: Computer Architecture (UL)
BUS 303: Management Info Systems (UL)
COMPSCI 302: Systems Analysis & Design (UL)
COMPSCI 303: Database Management (UL)

5) Take a 16cr+ term at TESU - FT/FR @ $4,639
CIS-107: Computer Concepts & Applications (ePack)
STA-201: Statistics (ePack)
ENC-101: English Composition I (TECEP)
ENC-102: English Composition II (TECEP)
any 1cr course (online)
Cornerstone (online)
Capstone (online)
any one of the following courses:

 - CMP-354: Network Technology
 - COS-451: Artificial Intelligence
 - CIS-351: Software Engineering

TOTAL - $6,018

If you can sign up for a couple of free courses through some of the options we have on here (South Texas College, XAMC, etc.) then you'll save $300 for the ONU courses, making the degree $5,718.  You can also do ModernStates/CLEP for the Composition courses, but no cost savings if you were to do the TECEP's in your FT/FR term.  Probably could shorten the number of months on Study.com, saving a bit there.

[bjcheung77]

For the most part, I would work on 3 things: Certs, Degree, Experience. Since you're 20, you may want to get some work experience under your belt, while working, study for some Certs. Then ladder those to an Associates at Purdue Global and work towards your Bachelors degree. You can work at Starbucks, Target, Walmart, or whichever company that offers a free degree... work your way into completing the certs, degree and get some experience. If you finish your Associates, you might want to see if they can hire you into an IT position and work towards the Bachelors.

[dfrecore]

For the most part, I would work on 3 things: Certs, Degree, Experience.  Since you're 20, you may want to get some work experience under your belt, while working, study for some Certs.  Then ladder those to an Associates at Purdue Global and work towards your Bachelors degree.  You can work at Starbucks, Target, Walmart, or whichever company that offers a free degree... work your way into completing the certs, degree and get some experience.  If you finish your Associates, you might want to see if they can hire you into an IT position and work towards the Bachelors.

Papa John's pays decently, and pays 100% of a degree at Purdue Global up front.  My kid has had a very easy time of it in terms of signing up, having them accept prior credits, choosing the courses she wants, no hassle's with anything.  She's on her 2nd term and enjoying it (as well as one can hope for anyway, she does not love school in general).

[rachel83az]

Why do the UMPI & TESU degree? Because UMPI has cheap graded credits. TESU does not.

Without knowing exactly how many credits are in the 1.1GPA, I'm going to assume it's at least 12 (multiple schools). With 12 credits that have an average of 1.1, OP currently has a cumulative GPA of 2.32 (based on the other courses and their grades listed in the first post). That is not pretty!

If you add 21 credits of Bs and 9 credits of As from UMPI, the GPA jumps to 2.85. If you can get the reverse (9 credits of Bs and 21 credits of As), GPA jumps to about 3.1. Calculator used: https://gpacalculator.net/college-gpa-calculator/

If you don't want to (or can't) go back and retake the classes that were previously flunked, taking 30-40 credits at UMPI is probably the cheapest and easiest way to bring up your GPA.

Also, I just realized that OP has French. That means that all that is needed for UMPI is BIO-101L + a handful of Sophia courses.

[bluebooger]

For all but one class, it's almost certainly easier to take the non-WGU options. At least, if you are starting from scratch. It's certainly cheaper! But, for the sake of argument, let's say that SDC is somehow exactly as difficult and it takes exactly as long to complete the average class. A year of SDC costs between $720 and $2400 (depending on how long you spend on "premium" and how many exams you take with "college accelerator"). A year of WGU costs $7250 for a year. 

With the lack of gen ed requirements at WGU, and more comp sci courses, a student who isn't as familiar with comp sci is going to go slower and I really doubt that they'll be able to accelerate much faster than finishing in 2-3 years. That's $14,500-$21750 for a WGU degree, vs. less than $10k combined for two degrees from UMPI and TESU.

but how do they complete the classes for the tesu degree ?  
I don't think you answered that 



by going slowing and spending 3 months per course at study.com ?
or taking the courses directly through tesu ?

the question is not about cost -- its about ease of courses 
is self studying through study.com really easier than self studying through wgu for a 20 year old with no experience

[rachel83az]

but how do they complete the classes for the tesu degree ?  
I don't think you answered that 

I did post the degree plan listed on the wiki. Most of the classes are through Study.com, yes. But, actually, a 16-credit-term would probably make things even easier. 

the question is not about cost -- its about ease of courses 
is self studying through study.com really easier than self studying through wgu for a 20 year old with no experience

Yes. Most likely. The exception is Computer Architecture. That one is pretty difficult at SDC. It might be easier at TESU, with a 16-credit-term, but I'm not sure.

[LevelUP]

Considering the OP has had difficulty at school, the last thing I would do is suggest doing the hardest degree at WGU.

WGU computer science has discrete math II, data structures II, software I, and software II.  Once you start, there is a lot of stress to get things done in your 6-month term.  

At TESU, you are doing courses at Study.com, SL, etc and you don't pay tuition at TESU till you are done with pretty much all your courses.  You work at your own pace, so there is no pressure.

As far as Study.com being easier, I think it is because the grading is easier than WGU.  Calculus is reported to be much harder at WGU than elsewhere.  Students can spend 2-3 months just on that course alone which can get expensive.  For the finals at Study.com you only need a 55% to pass or less depending on the course.  In some cases, a 10% grade on the final exam would be passing.

[dfrecore]

I'm not seeing why we're still fighting the WGU thing, the OP said he doesn't have a lot of experience, so that kind of rules that school out. I did not know that at the beginning which is why I suggested it at first.

As far as UMPI, I'm still not seeing why you would need to try to get a GPA up - UMPI doesn't need it high, TESU doesn't need it high, none of the other schools we talk about it here really need it high. So I don't see the point of trying to fix a GPA that doesn't really need fixing. I also don't see how lengthening out the total time to a CS degree by taking 2-3 terms at UMPI puts you closer to the CS degree at TESU. It does not make a ton of sense to me to do this.

I also was not suggesting Study.com for a year. If you can't learn the material starting at the bottom and working up in 6 or 8 months, then I'm not sure TESU is the best option either.

I guess the OP can decide, but I'm just more confused about what's going on here at this point than I was when this thread started. Is the goal to get a CS degree, or to raise a GPA? My opinion is to get a CS degree. The ultimate goal should always be a degree. The OP isn't talking about trying to get into some highly selective master's degree program, so there is really no need to try to get a high GPA.

I suppose if you really NEED a high GPA, you could shoot for the Snow College Online Accelerated A.S. degree and take 20 credits there. That's doable in 1-mo term for $1,743. But I really don't see why you would want to go to UMPI for 2-3 terms.