Help with planning Computer Science degree/Pierpont AAS

[thekinglywe]

Hello, First I want to thank you all for the information/community, I've been lurking for the last 4 months and you all are a big part of why I've decided to work at getting my Computer Science degree.

I've read a lot of the posts on here and I have a pretty good Idea about what I need to do but figured I'd post what I have so far and see if anyone has any thoughts about my best course of action.

I believe WGU is my best bet because I work for amazon and they will pay for the classes at WGU, SNHU is another school I've been considering but I've read it can be slower paced and more expensive.

I have spent a lot of time self studying programming(udemy tutorials, freecodecamp) and like the idea of testing out of basic syntax/scripting classes so that's why WGU seems to be my best bet but I still think it will take me a while to work through some of the more complex materials so in the mean time I'd like to get my Pierpont Bog AAS because I think it could help me get into the I.T department at amazon/I have been a slacker most of my life and getting this degree would be a confidence boost for me.

Once my Outlier classes are complete I plan on renewing my membership at sophia and taking some more classes, 

Location: California United States

Age: 33

What kind of degree do I want: Computer Science

Regionally accredited credits: I am in the process of completing Pre-Calculus, Intro To Business, Intro To Philosophy on outlier.org and will finish by September 26. Which I believe are regionally accredited. I also have credits from English 1 from my local community college.

Ace Credits:

Sophia.org 39 credits

Project Management(pm1001)

Introduction to Information Technology(CS1001)

Visual Communications(VisComm1001)

Human Biology(HumBio1001)

Environmental Science(ENVS1001)

Microeconomics(ECON1002)

Macroeconomics(ECON1001)

Introduction to Web Development(CS1005)

US History II(HIST1002)

US History I(HIST1001)

College Algebra(CA1001)

Art History II(ArtHist1002)

Art History I(ARTHIST1001)

[dfrecore]

Are you sure you want a CompSci degree rather than IT? There are some IT degrees that may be a better fit.

Also, I think Amazon will pay for more than just WGU - I think there are many schools where they will pay 100% of the tuition. You should check further into that.

You should also look into getting some AWS certs, which they'll pay 100% for as well. That would go much further towards getting you into their IT department (and sooner) than any degree.

Also, if you want WGU, then you should really look into the degree before taking any additional courses thorough Sophia or wherever - you're taking many things that won't apply to any Computer-related degree there. They only require 30cr of GE, and it's very specific as to what they want; and they have room for zero electives. You need English Comp (X), Speech, Technical Communication, Ethics in Tech, American Gov, College Algebra (X), Stats, 1 non-lab science (X), a lab science, and a SocSci (X). You don't need Precalc, Intro to Business, Intro to Philosophy, Visual Comm, 1 of the sciences, 1 of the econs, US History I or II, or Art History I or II.

So STOP and plan before going any further.

[thekinglywe]

Are you sure you want a CompSci degree rather than IT?  There are some IT degrees that may be a better fit.

Also, I think Amazon will pay for more than just WGU - I think there are many schools where they will pay 100% of the tuition.  You should check further into that.

You should also look into getting some AWS certs, which they'll pay 100% for as well.  That would go much further towards getting you into their IT department (and sooner) than any degree.

Also, if you want WGU, then you should really look into the degree before taking any additional courses thorough Sophia or wherever - you're taking many things that won't apply to any Computer-related degree there.  They only require 30cr of GE, and it's very specific as to what they want; and they have room for zero electives.  You need English Comp (X), Speech, Technical Communication, Ethics in Tech, American Gov, College Algebra (X), Stats, 1 non-lab science (X), a lab science, and a SocSci (X).  You don't need Precalc, Intro to Business, Intro to Philosophy, Visual Comm, 1 of the sciences, 1 of the econs, US History I or II, or Art History I or II.

So STOP and plan before going any further.

Thank you for the reply. I do have my heart set on Computer Science because I enjoy programming/writing code. I would only be interested in working IT in the short term. I didn't know that amazon would pay for my AWS certs so thanks for that tip. 

I'm not necessarily set on WGU it just seemed like my best option, do you think that I would be further along in my goal towards a computer science degree if I choose a different college?

In regards to all the classes on sophia, I'm already a history buff so the art history and the history classes were pretty easy and I already have 2 years of tutorial hell with programming so the IT/Intro to web dev was a breeze. I've always been good at cramming so besides the math class (which is something I actually care about learning/understanding) I was able to just read the units/watch the videos and then crank out the tests pretty quickly. 

I didn't know which college I wanted to go with at the time so I just chose outlier because I knew from reading on here that I would need 12 RA credits for the pierpont AAS which is something I do want to get for confidence mainly.

[bjcheung77]

@thekinglywe, You should have enough RA credits already with the 4 courses you listed. I would recommend getting the Pierpont BOG AAS with an Info System emphasis. You can take some of the recommended Coursera, Google, IBM certificates to gain knowledge in IT, I think focusing on Computer Science is a great idea since that is your first goal, skip IT for now as you can just get the Certs/Experience in that field, a degree really isn't necessary for IT when you get the CS degree. WGU is a great first choice, I would keep at your current goal, if you decide on another school such as SNHU or TESU, or another school Amazon will fork the tuition assistance/reimbursement with, decide if it would be cheaper, easy, faster with that school.

[LevelUP]

I didn't know which college I wanted to go with at the time so I just chose outlier because I knew from reading on here that I would need 12 RA credits for the pierpont AAS which is something I do want to get for confidence mainly.

Welcome to the forum!

The information you were reading must have been outdated. Pierpoint requires just one single graded credit, which most people do in an ONU course. 

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pi...egree_Plan

Amazon Career Choice

• 100% of the tuition & fees are paid up to a maximum of $5,250 per year.
  
• Schools include TESU, SNHU, and WGU, which offer computer science degrees.
  

All the schools are solid choices and should be free or near free if you max out what Amazon pays per year.

SNHU does take 4 extra months to do because you are in college longer. Though the hours you spend per course are similar to that of TESU and WGU.

Degree plans

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/WG...egree_Plan

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ience_Plan

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/SN...egree_Plan

[thekinglywe]

The information you were reading must have been outdated. Pierpoint requires just one single graded credit, which most people do in an ONU course. 

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pi...egree_Plan

Thank you for the response, Oops, You know what, I believe I even read that early on in my digging through the forum but I must have forgot, either way, the classes have been enjoyable and I don't regret taking them.

---

@thekinglywe, You should have enough RA credits already with the 4 courses you listed.  I would recommend getting the Pierpont BOG AAS with an Info System emphasis.  You can take some of the recommended Coursera, Google, IBM certificates to gain knowledge in IT,  I think focusing on Computer Science is a great idea since that is your first goal, skip IT for now as you can just get the Certs/Experience in that field, a degree really isn't necessary for IT when you get the CS degree.  WGU is a great first choice, I would keep at your current goal, if you decide on another school such as SNHU or TESU, or another school Amazon will fork the tuition assistance/reimbursement with, decide if it would be cheaper, easy, faster with that school.

Thanks for the reply! Once I finish the classes on outlier I'll take the google cert and then go through the process with Pierpont.

[rachel83az]

Make sure you take advantage of The American Dream Academy to get Google certs and/or the IBM Cybersecurity cert for free: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Coursera

[allvia]

The information you were reading must have been outdated. Pierpoint requires just one single graded credit, which most people do in an ONU course. 

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pi...egree_Plan

Thank you for the response, Oops, You know what, I believe I even read that early on in my digging through the forum but I must have forgot, either way, the classes have been enjoyable and I don't regret taking them.

---

@thekinglywe, You should have enough RA credits already with the 4 courses you listed.  I would recommend getting the Pierpont BOG AAS with an Info System emphasis.  You can take some of the recommended Coursera, Google, IBM certificates to gain knowledge in IT,  I think focusing on Computer Science is a great idea since that is your first goal, skip IT for now as you can just get the Certs/Experience in that field, a degree really isn't necessary for IT when you get the CS degree.  WGU is a great first choice, I would keep at your current goal, if you decide on another school such as SNHU or TESU, or another school Amazon will fork the tuition assistance/reimbursement with, decide if it would be cheaper, easy, faster with that school.

Thanks for the reply! Once I finish the classes on outlier I'll take the google cert and then go through the process with Pierpont.

Although 'we' expect the Google IT certificate to be renewed for ACE be aware that officially as of right now you need to complete it by 08/31/22 - see thread on that here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...iring-soon