Need Help with Degree Completion Strategy

[mr.wonderful]

Hi! This is my first post after finding these forums from a popular blog that highly recommended the site.

I need help with coming up with a strategy for completing my undergrad. I'm 32 and I have built a successful career as a sr. software engineer and executive.

However, I'm also a real estate developer (licensed agent and soon-to-be broker) and I'd like to finish my degree so that I can get a grad degree in real estate / entrepreneurial studies . This will better position me when raising capital from high-net-worth investors I work with.

I'd like to get an ABET-accredited B.S. in computer science, but I would also be OK with a more generalized business degree or similar alternative just so that I can finish my undergrad sooner and get a more prestigious grad degree. But that all depends on what you guys think, the course work I've already taken and cost/time.

If I post the course work I've completed, can you guys help me decide on which degree I should go after (computer science vs business/mgmt. vs something else) and how to go about doing it in a way that saves me time/money?

[bjcheung77]

Hi! This is my first post after finding these forums from a popular blog that highly recommended the site.

I need help with coming up with a strategy for completing my undergrad. I'm 32 and I have built a successful career as a sr. software engineer and executive.

However, I'm also a real estate developer (licensed agent and soon-to-be broker) and I'd like to finish my degree so that I can get a grad degree in real estate / entrepreneurial studies . This will better position me when raising capital from high-net-worth investors I work with.

I'd like to get an ABET-accredited B.S. in computer science, but I would also be OK with a more generalized business degree or similar alternative just so that I can finish my undergrad sooner and get a more prestigious grad degree. But that all depends on what you guys think, the course work I've already taken and cost/time.

If I post the course work I've completed, can you guys help me decide on which degree I should go after (computer science vs business/mgmt. vs something else) and how to go about doing it in a way that saves me time/money?

Yes, we're here to help. I think most people will recommend TESU BSBA.
Online Degrees and Certificates | Thomas Edison State University
There are multiple tracks and its up to you to decide the concentration.
The only difference is the Area of Study for the TESU BSBA degrees.

There's been a bunch of people posting on both sister forums lately...
Anyways, do post your completed courses, in a spreadsheet if possible.
We can take a look and see what can be done, please list where you took the courses.
Note: I recommend the BSBA General Management, or the CIS

[dfrecore]

The BSBA from TESU is a much faster, cheaper degree than the CS degree, because of all of the UL and specific courses you need for the CS degree that are harder to find and more expensive. The entire BSBA can be tested out of.

In my opinion, you need to really figure out what your ultimate goal is before you can decide which path to take. You should probably spend some time looking at the different BA/BS degrees available. Then see which one matches up with the masters degree you want to get.

[davewill]

If you really want the CS degree, you can do it. I just did. My route is in my sig. Since you can't find many of the CS requirements as tests or self-paced courses, I used PLA (Prior Learning Assessment) to get them. There are a couple of threads on here on the subject. Anyway, the standard advice always applies...do a lot of reading of the threads here. A lot of what you need to know will be there, and seeing how different people do this helps greatly.

[mr.wonderful]

OK, here are the courses I've completed.

School Date Completed Course Credits Grade
Bunker Hill Community College 2011SP CIT-218 WB Int Visual Basic 3 A
Bunker Hill Community College 2011SP ENV-105 WB Env Science I/Lab 4 A
Bunker Hill Community College 2010FA CIT-236 WB SQL Programming 3 A
Bunker Hill Community College 2010FA MAT-183 LC Statistics I/Lab 4 A
Bunker Hill Community College 2010FA VMA-123 WB Water Color I 3 A
Bunker Hill Community College 2010S1 CIT-216 WB Visual Basic 3 A
Bunker Hill Community College 2010S1 CMT-111 WB HTML & Dreamweaver 3 A
Bunker Hill Community College 2008FA CIT-120 S1 Intro Computer Sci/OOP 4 A
Bunker Hill Community College 2008FA ECO-201 WB Macroeconomics 3 A-
Mount Wachusett Community College 2010FA Calculus II 4 A
Bunker Hill Community College 2007FA MAT-231 WB Calc for Mgt Sci 4 A
Bunker Hill Community College 2007SP MAT-197 S1 Precalculus 4 A
Bunker Hill Community College 2006FA ENG-112 S1 College Writing II 3 A-
North Harris Montgomery Community College 2000FA PSYC-2301 General Psychology 3 C
North Harris Montgomery Community College 2003SP ENG-1301 Comp & Rhethoric I 3 A
North Harris Montgomery Community College 2003SP MATH-1314 College Algebra 3 A
North Harris Montgomery Community College 2003SP ITCC-1402 Cisco I 4 A
North Harris Montgomery Community College 2003SP ITCC-1402 Cisco II 4 A
Allied Schools 2013 Real Estate Practice Pass
Allied Schools 2013 Legal Aspects of Real Estate Pass
Allied Schools 2016 Real Estate Finance Pass
Allied Schools 2016 Real Estate Property Management Pass
Allied Schools 2013 Real Estate Appraisal Pass

---

Would love to hear some advice based on what I've completed so far.

[rebel100]

I wondered how long it would take you to migrate over here from the "other" forum. Welcome aboard, I think you will get more situation specific advice over here. (the other group is really great at Masters level stuff, they don't deal with the undergrad stuff everyday).

I suspect you will look for a bit and settle on the TESU BSBA, it's incredibly test friendly and should set you up nicely to enter grad school.

TESU isn't my area of expertise (though they are a great choice), I will quickly detail COSC for you though. Use this as a very rough price calculator: CLEP/DSST $100, Straighterline (SL) $150 or so,and Penn Foster (PF) $237.

https://www.charteroak.edu/catalog/curre...ements.cfm

https://www.charteroak.edu/exams/exams-master-list.pdf

A quick glance reveals that you need the following General Eds at Charter, all 3 credits unless noted:

English Conp 1&2...DONE (I think)
Oral...get it waived
Ethics: DSST or Straighterline (SL probably easiest). The DSST Business Ethics is also Upper Level at COSC
US History/Gov.: CLEP, SL, PF
Non US History and Global Understanding: The DSST or SL World Religions Courses satisfy both requirements.
Lit& Fine Art...DONE (Water Color)
Social/Behavioral Science: DONE
Math: DONE
Natural Science 7 total credits required, (1 credit lab required): You have 4 credits including lab, need any 3 credit science, CLEP/DSST/PF/SL all have offerings.
So you need 4 General Ed Classes, which would bring you to 77 credits plus whatever those Real Estate Courses count as. Complete those 4 classes for about $400 plus the cornerstone ($1200), pay the fee’s of around $300 and you would have your AS degree (something around $2000 total). 40 some odd additional credits with at least 30 of those at the Upper Level (300 and 400 level) and you would have the Bachelors.
On the Bachelors, I would probably opt for a primary concentration in Organizational leadership with a second concentration in CS. The former could mostly be completed via PF, the later by exam through CSU-Global Challenge. The Capstone at $1200, fee’s of $300 or so, the PF $1185 (5 courses), the CSU $1000 (4 course) $3600, might need a few more CLEP/DSST, but under $4000

So you could do it there in less than a year for around $6000 all in.

Now I don’t know where you plan to pursue that Masters, but take a look at the Harvard Extension School MS Finance or Management. You gain admission by completing 3 courses with a “B” or better, there are only 12 courses in the program, low residency (probably doable via Hybrid course where you just spend the weekend in Cambridge), you get all that Harvard brand to impress investors, and the whole thing is something like $29K.
https://www.extension.harvard.edu/academ...te-degrees

https://www.extension.harvard.edu/academ...nce-degree

[mr.wonderful]

That's very helpful. I actually posted on the other forum but they sent me here.

[rebel100]

I know we're looking way ahead, but here is a sampling of possible courses at Harvard Extension:

Capital Markets and Investments: Portfolio Construction | Harvard Extension School
Principles of Real Estate | Harvard Extension School
Real Estate Finance and Investment Fundamentals | Harvard Summer School
Real Estate Finance and Investment Fundamentals | Harvard Summer School
Financial Statement Analysis | Harvard Extension School

I just can't think of a more impressive school to put on the resume that's as easy to get into. I also know it would help refine the way you think and speak about investment tools.

Where is your primary area of investment?

[davewill]

OK, here are the courses I've completed.
...
Would love to hear some advice based on what I've completed so far.

Looking at it from a TESU BACS point of view, you've got two issues. One is that it's hard to guess how some of the computer courses you have will come across. Computer courses that are too "applied" end up not counted as computer science. You probably will only be able to find out by applying and sending them your transcripts. The second issue is that all of the computer courses are from community college, which means that they can only be used to fill lower level requirements, which means you will definitely have all of the UL CS courses left to do. On the plus side, you have your Calculus done.

The application fee at TESU is only $75. I'd go ahead and apply and send all your transcripts in. It'll take a month or so for them all to arrive and for TESU to evaluate them. While that's happening, you can start in on testing out of the missing GenEd. Others here will be better able to advise you on that. When you see how your courses have transferred, you'll have more data to use to make your degree decision.

Also take look at this thread: http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...=portfolio

It will give you an idea of how the PLA process works which could be helpful to get your CS requirements. I also posted in their a rundown of how I made my portfolio.

[mr.wonderful]

I like the Harvard Extension School. MIT has a great real estate grad program as well that a couple of my friends have completed. That said, I need to finish up the undergrad first and then I'll dive into those.

Given I haven't taken that many UL courses, I'm wondering if I should invest in the BACS or go more management / business so that I can just "get it done". Not having an undergrad isn't really holding me back, other than it is preventing me from getting the grad degree that I think will add value to my credibility.

I read somewhere that TESU is charging $350 to review my transcripts and come up with a strategy. Is that true?

Also, in general, how difficult and how much studying is required for CLEP vs. DSST vs. PLA vs. DSST vs. Straighterline? You guys make it sound like I can just start taking these exams and finish it up in a year. I'm a pretty busy person and I'd like to actually pass these things. I also want to make sure that if I take one of these, they'll be accepted at other places in the off chance I change my strategy and decide to go with another school.