How I got into OMSCS: TESU BACS, 2nd BA (first BA from Canada), mostly RA

[ItsNeverTheLionsYear]

I promised myself when I started working through these threads that I would post my final degree plan. Now that I've received my TESU diploma in the mail I figure I'm due to make this post.

My background:

• American who went to school in Canada and then moved back to the US
  
• Got a BA in a humanities subject (with a minor in statistics, which wound up being a major plus for the BACS)
  
• Fell into a career in tech
  
• Hitting a ceiling in my career because I have no technical credentials or formal education
  
• Wanted to use this degree as a ladder to OMSCS
  

This degree cost me just under $11k, which is WAY more expensive than most BACS degree plans here. It cost this much because I went for primarily RA credit. I have my reasons for this, which I lay out below.

Overall I am very satisfied with my experience. I feel like I learned a lot, it didn't take forever or break the bank (especially relative to those $30k CS postbacc programs out there), and I've come to greatly enjoy this style of online learning.

Why on earth did you do mostly RA credit?

Three reasons:

1. I tailored this degree plan to the expectations of the OMSCS admissions committee, who say they like to see graded RA coursework. As such, I tried to cover their recommended prerequisite areas with graded RA coursework, and then used ACE credit to plug the gaps. 
   
2. I had a feeling (which was quickly vindicated as I took Sophia and SDC courses) that I would not learn a damn thing from my ACE courses. Could I have, had I taken the time to sit with the material? Yes, but I knew I wasn't going to do that, and instead go as fast as I can through the course material. I like the structure that RA courses provide, and I do feel like I learned more doing it this way. It also definitely prepared me for OMSCS coursework, which has a similar structure to most of the courses I've taken.
   
3. I wound up doing, like, ten times the number of projects this way. Really got my reps in.
   

Can you get into OMSCS without CS coursework being RA?

Maybe. I dunno. Other people on this forum have, but they all seem to have had more work experience than I.

Why the BACS, and not something else?

I didn't want the UMPI BABA PM & IS because it didn't seem technical enough, and WGU (which, despite not having grades, does seem to be reliable for getting into OMSCS if you do the BSCS there) wouldn't have waived my gen eds because I don't have an American degree. I also wanted something that would cost around $10k total and take around a year. So, the BACS it is. Just as well because I wanted to take structured coursework with set schedules and grades.

Why Washtenaw CC for so many of your courses?

They're my local community college, and I got a good rate going there, especially considering that courses there are 4 credits, not 3. Despite being my local CC, all the coursework is online, and you could hypothetically complete it from outside the US (WCC takes international students). Their non local rates aren't that much higher.

The 3 WCC courses I took were all part of the so called "Advanced Certificate in C++ Programming". The advantage of this program is that the courses are all condensed, 4 week, back to back and async, so I knocked all my courses for more advanced CS courses out in a single summer semester instead of having to spread them out over 3.

WCC automatically awarded me the certificate after I completed my coursework. I should note that I sent in my WCC transcript to TESU before the certificate award appeared on it. It doesn't seem like this should cause an issue with which credits count as "new" because TESU doesn't seem to see certificate programs as degree programs, but worth noting.

Anything to look out for?

Yes!

• The Berkeley X course in C was kind of a waste. Would try and find an OSes course instead.
  
• The Colorado State Analysis of Algorithms course, on the other hand, was genuinely great! Very, very expensive at over $1500, but I learned a ton about algorithms and got practice writing them to predetermined big O targets. I would highly recommend this course if you have the budget for it.
  
• The Oakton College computer architecture course, while a good course overall that I did learn a lot from, transferred as LL. The BACS curriculum has comp. arch. as a UL course, so if you follow this path, you'll need another UL elective, and those are already hard to come by.
  
• SOS-1100 is indeed waived for students pursuing a 2nd BA
  

What was your OMSCS application like?

OMSCS, while not literally open admission like most of the schools we talk about on this forum, is not hard to get into. I had recommenders from work, my previous BA, and my WCC courses, and once those were squared away I filled out the application in a single night. 

Even though I hadn't completed the BACS when I applied in March 2024, I took the capstone in the summer, and I wouldn't technically be awarded the degree until September, they let me in, conditional on me sending in a transcript that showed the degree awarded in my first semester. I did that a few weeks ago and they've officially given me the big thumbs up.

Would you like to brag?

Yes. I got straight As in every graded class (including the capstone), was given High Honors at WCC, and was made a Presidential Scholar at Oakton. Oakton even sent me a certificate for it. Very kind of you to ask this question in this post that I am writing by myself.

[davewill]

Very well done! Congratulations.

I'm curious what the total timeline was, you don't quite seem to say. Taking more RA courses seems like a good choice to me, especially if you can afford to do so. The OMSCS coursework is no cakewalk, and I suspect that doing it this will leave you better prepared for it.

I hope you continue to post here about your OMSCS experience. We don't get enough people doing that after they move on from their bachelors.

[ItsNeverTheLionsYear]

Very well done! Congratulations.

I'm curious what the total timeline was, you don't quite seem to say. Taking more RA courses seems like a good choice to me, especially if you can afford to do so. The OMSCS coursework is no cakewalk, and I suspect that doing it this will leave you better prepared for it.

I hope you continue to post here about your OMSCS experience. We don't get enough people doing that after they move on from their bachelors.

Thanks Dave! Yes, I should be more specific. I started my first course in at the end of May 2023, and finished my last course, the TESU capstone, in August 2024.

Here's a month by month breakdown of which courses I took when:

June 2023: 

• Washtenaw CPS 171 (Intro to C++). Technically started the class in the last week of May.
  
• All 4 Sophia courses (only one of which, Intro to Java, wound up applying to the degree).
  

July 2023: 

• Washtenaw CPS 271 (Objects in C++)
  
• All 3 SDC courses, which was the end of my ACE credits.
  

August 2023: 

• Washtenaw CPS 272 (Data Structures in C++)
  

September 2023: 

• Oakton CSC 204 (Computer Architecture and Organization)
  
• Berkeley Extension EL ENG X24 (Intro to C)
  

October 2023: 

• Oakton CSC 204 (Computer Architecture and Organization)
  
• Berkeley Extension EL ENG X24 (Intro to C)
  

November 2023:

• Oakton CSC 204 (Computer Architecture and Organization)
  
• Berkeley Extension EL ENG X24 (Intro to C)
  

December 2023: 

• Oakton CSC 204 (Computer Architecture and Organization)
  
• Berkeley Extension EL ENG X24 (Intro to C)
  

January 2024:

• Berkeley Extension EL ENG X24 (Intro to C). This is a 6 month, fully async class with no deadlines, and boy did I not feel any pressure to finish it until around this point in time.
  
• Colorado State CS 320 (Algorithms and Complexity)
  
• Oakton MAT 144 (Discrete Mathematics)
  

February 2024:

• Berkeley Extension EL ENG X24 (Intro to C). Finished the course here. Phew!
  
• Colorado State CS 320 (Algorithms and Complexity)
  
• Oakton MAT 144 (Discrete Mathematics)
  
• I asked for letters of recommendation for OMSCS
  

March 2024:

• Colorado State CS 320 (Algorithms and Complexity)
  
• Oakton MAT 144 (Discrete Mathematics)
  
• I applied to OMSCS
  

April 2024:

• Colorado State CS 320 (Algorithms and Complexity)
  
• Oakton MAT 144 (Discrete Mathematics)
  
• I got into OMSCS
  

May 2024:

• Colorado State CS 320 (Algorithms and Complexity)
  
• Oakton MAT 144 (Discrete Mathematics)
  
• TESU LIB-4950 (Liberal Arts Capstone). Only for the last week of May.
  
• I sent in my official transcripts, including a TESU transcript despite not having graduated from the BACS yet
  

June 2024:

• TESU LIB-4950 (Liberal Arts Capstone)
  

July 2024:

• TESU LIB-4950 (Liberal Arts Capstone)
  

August 2024:

• TESU LIB-4950 (Liberal Arts Capstone)
  
• I registered for & started my first OMSCS course at the very end of August
  

September 2024:

• OMSCS course continues
  
• I officially graduated from TESU
  
• I sent in my final official TESU transcript with the BACS awarded
  

[bjcheung77]

That's an awesome write up, there are so many various ways to get to that end goal and you've written about your specific path. I highly recommend people do something similar by researching the requirements and trying to hit each and everyone of those, if not exceeding them. You don't necessarily have to be on top of the charts, but you want to make sure you've got better than the minimum requirements to have a strong application towards grad schools of your choice...