My Journey - TESU BA Computer Science

[Ideas]

You need to insist on adding it, I think. Otherwise you could end up with next year's catalog whether you want it or not. Starting enrolled should keep that from happening. Fee wise, I don't think it will make much difference since you could simply wait until capstone time to become enrolled again.

Thanks, I will talk to others at TESU. 

I would like to have official enrolled status just because.

I think it might force me to take new Study.com courses sooner to qualify for the discounts.

[Ideas]

You need to insist on adding it, I think. Otherwise you could end up with next year's catalog whether you want it or not. Starting enrolled should keep that from happening. Fee wise, I don't think it will make much difference since you could simply wait until capstone time to become enrolled again.

I got it added  

This advisor is telling me some strange thing about not being able to do Assoc after a Bachelor's or at the same time. Makes no sense. I guess I will ignore it, but it's disconcerting how they add some confusing, ill-explained statement. It makes me feel like they don't like students who test out or do too much at undergrad level.

I still don't know if I should wait on Software Engineering or take it. Some of my work plans for the end of the month are cancelled, so I could start it then. I took my first Saylor exam just now (LL CIS exam), and it was a good experience, so I feel more confident about Saylor. (Wrote a little about it in my first TESU thread.)

[davewill]

My guess is that they might have meant that you can't use the single residency waiver if you do the associate's after your bachelor's.

[Ideas]

I'm sad there's not a CS Honor Society that I know of. Even if there is one, many need a minimum of graded credits, or have some other requirements. The list I looked at has so many Business ones, etc.

The Saylor Software Engineering course looks somewhat easy to me and interesting. Their Networking course looks kind of boring but straightforward. I'll learn some things.

I plan to start Java Programming at a CC in April. For some reason they want you to have taken a C++ class already. It is not a PreReq however, just a suggested course. This is a class for people with some programming experience, I guess, but I don't know if it matters if my experience is C++ or something else. I'd like to go slower and take the 2 easier Java courses, but then it costs more and takes months longer. And that might be a little too slow.

I don't look forward to Saylor's Intro CS II since it's not based around a single textbook. I may take it much later on, hoping I know most of the material by then. But I wonder if it would help me for the Java class. I do already know some of the material. I think I can find some better way to prep for the Java class.

I wonder how much the Intro C++ at SL would help in preparation. Maybe I'll squeeze it in. It's just a time thing. I would definitely do it if I had more time.

[Sapientes]

I think I can find some better way to prep for the Java class.

One of the best kept secrets out there is Udacity has many EXCELLENT courses available for FREE. Many of the courses are related to software engineering and design but not all of them. They even have a fantastic course for college algebra that steps through each element of the material and explains everything really well. For Java, they offer 2 courses. You could start by taking Java Programming Basics first and then move on to Object Oriented Programming in Java, if you have time before your CC course starts. The also offer C++ For Programmers but recommend you have programming experience in at least one other language (any language will do.) That course also has segments with Bjarne Stroustrup, the original designer of C++.

[Ideas]

I don't think I need to know any java beforehand (unless I'm trying to "work ahead") but I may try an intro C++ course. However if I'm going to do that, maybe I should take it through SL to get credit Or, I can do a free one now and get credit some other time.

[Ideas]

Starting enrolled should keep that from happening.

I have a separate, related question. Do you know if this would work to get me the lowest cost undergrad certificate? 
I'd like the option to put off the certificate until after the degree, as I am pretty busy for the next 12 months, and don't want to slow down the degree. I know I would have to pay a second graduation fee.

Enroll in a Masters program. 
Take any TECEP in May/June 2019.
Graduate with BA-CS degree in June 2019.
Then I think I could take at least 8 months to complete the certificate?

Would I be at risk of them changing their policies and being unable to complete the certificate? Only if they change their policies before I enroll in the certificate?

[Ideas]

I'm looking into the degree requirements again because they changed at the start of the year. At first I thought it was all good, because I was relieved Calc II was no longer a requirement, but now I believe this does require 1-2 more classes which can't be tested out of. And now I'm less worried about taking Calc II.

I'm a bit upset because I had told an advisor in Oct/Nov that I was definitely going to do the BA-CS degree, but he was basically saying I could not enroll or add it (until after I graduated with the BSBA). I think that another advisor would have told me differently and allowed me to enroll in it, meaning I would have been locked into the 2017 catalog. I guess that davewill would say I could make a case for being put back on 2017, but I'm not sure it's worth trying to fight for.


I don't really mind taking extra classes, but I do mind if they are costly and not something I feel is useful to my future, and... mostly, I mind now because I'd like to speed up the timeline. I would, ideally, want to graduate in Dec 2018, but it does not seem possible. Most schools' Fall semester ends 5-6 weeks too late for Dec graduation, and many schools have fewer summer classes. In addition, many of the classes have prereqs. I missed Spring enrollment at most schools.

I would be willing to pay more for a class if it allows me to graduate 3 months earlier, but I'm not sure about paying a lot more (such as for TESU's class). It's just the 2 classes which would be the problem: Comp Architecture and Operating Systems would have to finish by early Nov. If they have prereqs I don't have, cost goes up and finding them soon enough is a challenge.

March 2019 seems so far away. I may search some more.

I'm also still a bit nervous about Java class since they apparently want you to have Intermediate C++, not just Intro. So in that case maybe I should simply take Intermediate C++? I need one of the two before the Data Structures course. I just don't want to set myself up for a course that's too hard for me from the start, meaning I would be playing catch up the whole time and still end up with a B grade. But Java should be easier right? They might not allow me into Intermediate C++ with just the SL Intro C++. I think they would want a real graded course. I also prefer to learn Java but if that course needs me to learn C++ first anyway, then why not just C++.

[jsd]

How much programming/coding experience do you already have?

[Ideas]

How much programming/coding experience do you already have?

None for C/C++/Java.

I'd guess about the equivalent of 1.5-2 classes in one language, 1-1.5 in another, and 1.5 in another but not doing so well in it (not sure if it was the class, or me, or the language). Along with bits and pieces in a few others. But forgetting a lot of it... then again, it's like riding a bicycle.

I'm thinking of trying to do the SL Intro C++ quickly, to get an idea of how much I don't know, but it's $150 with coupon. So maybe a free MOOC that's self-paced or just started.