Life reboot, Credits inside,

[Life_One]

I originally wrote a post a few weeks ago about the issues I was having at my job and how I was trying to deal with them relating to my ability to finish my degree. My position was eliminated before I finished my original post…. Long story short, I had a job at a private university in the IT field that gave me access to free bachelors and master’s programs. I was really interested in the Masters programs and now those are out of reach. I mean if I want to go into six figures of debt I could still apply after I finish my Bachelors program but I don’t feel that is worth it. And yes it is possible I would not pay retail price after scholarships and everything but it is also possible I would have to pay the retail price.

This is where I am at now. I am on term break with WGU completing the Cyber Security and Information assurance program. I have 13 class’s to take with Project+ and Network+ included in those. I also have all the TEEX class’s completed that I wasn’t able to transfer in originally. I’m debating withdrawing from WGU and reapplying to the Cyber Security Program, the IT program, and Business of Information Technology Management Degree.

As much as I did want to finish my original degree I think it will take me to long for my timeframe. No one is hiring during this time, and I would love to grab another university job but without some degree I know I won’t make it past most HR departments.

The reason I’m thinking about the basic IT degree is speed, and the business degree I might actually like more. I like putting together purchase orders and working with departments and vendors to complete projects. Even though I only started into this work before I was let go, it’s something I enjoyed more than the routine things. I like working on projects with people and trying to bring people together. Granted maybe I would have grown to hate it if given more time, but I’ll never know, attached are my class’s to complete at WGU and my overall credits.

Any advice about how I should tackle this would be appreciated. I'm not opposed to getting my degree form COSC either, I guess I'm looking at speed and cost, the sooner I get this done the better. I'm not opposed to using Study.com or Sophia if I go the charter oak route, but it seems like WGU would still be the quickest.

[hlg38]

I originally wrote a post a few weeks ago about the issues I was having at my job and how I was trying to deal with them relating to my ability to finish my degree. My position was eliminated before I finished my original post…. Long story short, I had a job at a private university in the IT field that gave me access to free bachelors and master’s programs. I was really interested in the Masters programs and now those are out of reach. I mean if I want to go into six figures of debt I could still apply after I finish my Bachelors program but I don’t feel that is worth it. And yes it is possible I would not pay retail price after scholarships and everything but it is also possible I would have to pay the retail price.

This is where I am at now. I am on term break with WGU completing the Cyber Security and Information assurance program. I have 13 class’s to take with Project+ and Network+ included in those. I also have all the TEEX class’s completed that I wasn’t able to transfer in originally. I’m debating withdrawing from WGU and reapplying to the Cyber Security Program, the IT program, and Business of Information Technology Management Degree.

As much as I did want to finish my original degree I think it will take me to long for my timeframe. No one is hiring during this time, and I would love to grab another university job but without some degree I know I won’t make it past most HR departments.

The reason I’m thinking about the basic IT degree is speed, and the business degree I might actually like more. I like putting together purchase orders and working with departments and vendors to complete projects. Even though I only started into this work before I was let go, it’s something I enjoyed more than the routine things. I like working on projects with people and trying to bring people together. Granted maybe I would have grown to hate it if given more time, but I’ll never know, attached are my class’s to complete at WGU and my overall credits.

Any advice about how I should tackle this would be appreciated. I'm not opposed to getting my degree form COSC either, I guess I'm looking at speed and cost, the sooner I get this done the better. I'm not opposed to using Study.com or Sophia if I go the charter oak route, but it seems like WGU would still be the quickest.

Hey, there! I know it's a crazy, rough time right now. I'm very sorry you were laid off. If I understand correctly, you have about 97 credits. Have you looked into TESU or Excelsior? I've also heard great things about COSC. If you can, I'd get some initial credit evaluations done and see where you land at all 3 institutions. You may find that you are much closer to a bachelor's degree than you think. I will say that, so far, I have found Excelsior to be very lenient about the credits they take. It would be hard to know this, since they aren't very transparent or clear about their transfer policies. I've had an excellent experience so far.

I have not attended WGU, so I'm not entirely clear on their structure. Is it self-paced, or are you stuck in classes for several weeks? My first recommendation, of course, is to take absolutely anything you can (that is applicable) with Sophia right now. All of their courses are FREE. I finished my first course in a week! And they can be done much faster, I was just pacing myself. So, if you're looking for speed, that's definitely the way to do it. I know others will have better recommendations for you, but those are mine.

Consider Excelsior and Sophia. That's where I've found my luck so far. 

[bjcheung77]

There are two things to note: 1) You have English Comp II with a D, they will NOT accept that, you need to redo it by taking the FREE Sophia Eng Comp II course ASAP.  2) They don't accept anything lower than a C in the Area of Study and I see one or two that are computer related.  I would note that but don't worry about it for now as it may be omitted from the AOS and you can take the Sophia.org Intro to IT in the place of it.

Basically, you have about 100 credits that can be used towards the COSC BSGS with a concentration in ISS (Info Systems Studies). So, this is my strategy for you, complete all the General Education Lower Level requirements from Sophia.org (I think you're actually done with this).  Take Project Management as it comes in as UL, SL Business Ethics/Organizational Behavior also come in as UL.

You might be better off with just a "check the box" bachelors degree first and then transfer into the Masters degree at WGU.  You might want to consider just a BSGS with no concentration (liberal arts studies instead of the ISS track instead).  Check the requirements of the WGU Masters and see if they allow "any bachelors" into the program.


Transfer Policy Link: https://www.charteroak.edu/catalog/curre...policy.php
COSC ISS Program: https://www.charteroak.edu/prospective/p...tudies.php
Study.com Transfers: https://study.com/college/school/charter...llege.html

[natshar]

I agree with the others on Sophia. Take Sophia English comp ii and any sophia that doesnt duplicate what you already have. If you do that you could be at 114 credits and then just do 2 courses for a general degree at one of the big 3. Idk if this would be faster than wgu though and also the degree wouldnt be as good (general studies vs actual it degree). If it is about the same speed, then continuing at wgu would be the better option considering it would be a more relevant major. But the thing is idk which option is faster.

Are you still able to earn credit to transfer to wgu? If so take advantage of Sophia right now?

[dfrecore]

COST/SPEED at the Big 3:

TESU is going to cost $5422 if you transfer in 114cr, and will take you at least 12 weeks to finish if you did the cornerstone and capstone at the same time. Plus however long until graduation after that.

COSC will be $2848 plus the cornerstone and capstone, not sure how long each is but I know you can't do them at the same time, and part of it will be timing (like, you probably can't start the cornerstone until June, and then the capstone in August/September.

EC is $5300 w/113cr transferred in, plus cornerstone, capstone and Info Lit. Plus time to graduation after courses are complete.

For a business degree at any of these, you'll have to take a bunch of classes, because you don't have ANY business courses, so however long it would take you to complete those:

1) 69cr at TESU for core, AOS and required math courses, English Comp II, Oral Comm, Civics, 2 add'l GE's; there may be some courses you could use for the BSBA/CIS AOS, but I'm not certain (there are a lot of duplicate things on there, plus it's unknown what they will use)

2) 64cr at COSC for econ 1 & 2, business stats, major, concentration, business electives, comp 2, speech, US Hist, and a science lab - and no CIS concentration

3) 76cr at EC for comp 2, econ 1 & 2, precalc, stats, major/concentration/business electives/requirements - and no CIS concentration

None of that seems worth it to me, when you already have 97cr (less duplicates and Comp 2 for the D)

My next thought is a BSLS at COSC, since you can bring in 60cr of computer-related courses. You can choose your own degree concentration, so you could combine something like technology & business, and just take a few UL business courses that you'd like (leadership, communication, global business, whatever). Less business-y than a BSBA, but it's a good combo I think. Study.com has TONS of UL business-related courses you can use for this. Plus the UL courses you already have or can get for tech.

My thoughts regarding WGU: I am not certain they will let you unenroll, transfer in more courses, and then re-enroll, so check first.

Third,

[natshar]

Third,

What is your third point?

[dfrecore]

Third,

What is your third point?

I have no idea! LOL.  I think I was editing and missed deleting that!

[Life_One]

Thank you all for the information and kindness in your reply's. I will get back to each of you, right now I'm just a bit overwhelmed. This is really great information to have. Thank you!