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Picking CS or SWE degree, have previous BA in humanities
#1
Question 
Hi everyone, first post on this forum.  Seems like a great community!  Appologies for the long post but I saw comments on other posts asking people to provide more details so I went ahead and provided a lot of detail.  

Objective: I'd like to earn a degree in Computer Science or Software Engineering, or a closely related subject.  Open to a BS, BA, or maybe even a Masters if I can qualify for a masters with my undergrad degree, but not holding out for that.  Could optionally persue a masters in the future after an undergrad degree if that's something that still interests me after the undergrad. 

I'd love some help looking at options for schools and programs.  Currently looking at WGU or TESU as possibilities, but open to any other programs.  I'd like something that has a good reputation in the industry if possible but open to whatever.  Briefly considered Harvard Extension but there are a couple reasons why that isn't the best.

I already have a degree in an unrelated field so hoping to apply some transfer credit from that, although it will have been over ten years since I took most of those classes by now so some schools might not accept it.

Background info: I am a current software engineer/web developer (5 years experience), with an unrelated BA in English Literature. I'm seeking a CS degree because some job applications list that as a strict requirement, and the market is a little tough right now, but I am happily employed.

I had some external circumstances that basically lead me to fail a bunch of my undergrad 
classes and withdraw from the school before returning to finish my degree, so my transcript has a bunch of fails and a really bad GPA.  I was initially interested in going for the OMSCS from Georgia institute of tech, but my low GPA and unrelated undergrad degree probably disqualify me.  Maybe after earning a CS undergrad degree I might consider that in the future as a next step, but I'm going one step at a time for now.

Despite the really low GPA, I consider myself a generally good student and quick learner.  I worked for some years as a Substitute Teacher so I learned a lot about how to best learn and study.  I also have professional experience and self study in the field of software development which should make it a lot easier to keep up with coursework.

Your Location: California, USA

Your Age: 30+
What kind of degree do you want?: Computer Science or Software Engineering, BS or BA, or Masters if I can qualify with my existing unrelated/humanities degree (English Lit).
 

Current Regional Accredited Credits: UC Santa Cruz, 183 total earned credits, awarded BA in English Literature

Completed UCSC course list:
*Each class 5 units of credit unless otherwise noted


Possibly computer science related:
CMPS 5P Intro Prog Python / A
MUSC 80L Artif Intell & Musc / B+
CMPS 12A Intro Program (Accel) / C


Uncategorized gen ed:
ART 10E 3D Foundation / C+

ECON 1 Intro Microeconomic / C
HIS 80Y WWII Mem U.S. Japn / A

Japanese foreign language:
JAPN 3 / B-

JAPN 4 /C
JAPN 5 / C+
JAPN 6 / Pass

Math:
MATH 19B Calc:Sci,Engin,Math / B-


Science:

CHEM 1B General Chemistry / B-
PHYS 5A Intro Physics I / B

PHYS 5B Intro Physics II / C
PHYS 5L Intro Physics lab (1 unit) A-
PHYS 5M Intro Phys II Lab (1 unit) A

English Literature:
LIT 1 Literary Interpret / A-
PRTR 80A UD: Writing/Arts / A-
WRIT 2 Rhetoric & Inquiry / A
LTCR 10 Intro Creative Writ / A
LIT 80N Latino Expressions / B-

LIT 101 Theory & Interpretn / A-
LIT 101 Theory & Interpretn 2 / C
LIT 102 Translation Theory / B-
LTWL 113 The Future / B

LTEL 120H Beat Lit / B
LTEL 155B Regions Amer Lit / A-
LTEL 160C Postcolonial Writing / C+

LTEL 190F Studies in U.S. Lit / B
LTMO 144J Jewish Travel Narratives / B+
ENGLISH 117B (6 units) / B

Transfer credits from AP tests:

AP Chem (8 units transfer credit) / 5
AP Calc AB  (4 units transfer credit) / 5
AP Statistics (4 units transfer credit) 5
AP Physics C (4 units transfer credit) 4

AP Japanese (8 units transfer credit) 3

As noted above, I also failed and/or withdrew from a bunch of classes at the time and didn’t list them all here. This was mostly due to some rough external circumstances and not necessarily a reflection on my ability as a student (imo), but because of that my GPA is absolutely awful and there are a bunch of fails listed on my transcript for various other courses that I didn't include here.  



Any certifications or military experience?: no
Budget: Employer will pay $5k/year, willing to put maybe another $5k to 10k per year out of my pocket
Commitments: Full time job, wife, one kid
Dedicated time to study: 2-3 hours per weekday plus maybe 10 hours per weekend.  
Timeline: Open timeline since I am already employed. Would love to start this calendar year so I can use some of this year's credit (but I would have to finish at least one course before Jan next year)
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: $5,200/year reimbursement from current employer. Applies to any accredited institution for continuous education courses or books, and possibly some tests as well

Thanks so much if you read all this and have any recommendations.  I'm also happy to share any info I can about my experience as a professional software engineer or web developer to anyone aspiring to join the field.
[-] The following 1 user Likes naet's post:
  • ifomonay
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#2
How low is your GPA? Even with a low GPA you could probably still get into OMSCS if you did the math courses from ASU & UND (or UIUC's NetMath). Your budget basically limits you to OMSCS, TESU, UT Austin, WGA.

For a quick check-the-box BA CS degree TESU is the only viable option.

I realize your post is a couple months old at this point - so what option did you end up going for?
[-] The following 1 user Likes Pikachu's post:
  • origamishuttle
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