[New][Help needed] Need some insight/help planning BACS/BSCS

[TalentlessOlympian]

Hello DegreeForum members!
My name is Kain and I'm very, very new to this idea of CLEPS/DSST/etc/etc.... I only heard about them a day ago after a friend who is in the military mentioned how he got some extra credits out of the way for his BA.
Which had me wondering as to how I could do something similar. I came across a website called DIY Degree and I was really thinking about buying the layout guide for $300. However, after looking up some testimonies I was lead here. Which gave me a ton of resources for other free means of college or study guides.
Which I do greatly appreciate all the insight and advice on the forum which has lead me to making this topic.

A little about my background and interests:
I was studying Aerospace Engineering down in FL for 3 years, but due to unforeseeable incidences and life taking me by the balls I was forced to drop out of traditional schooling while also getting screwed over by my college. (New track requirements which leaves me now with extra electives[Somewhat of a blessing in disguise I hope]).
Anyway, I no longer wish to pursue the aerospace engineering degree and have jumped over to computer science. The programming side of it. But I'm not sure what that really is called. I've recently been introduced to a raspberry pi and arduino and told to learn Python/LINUX command line; Which I have done.
However, I have looked into local community colleges/universities and found them to be very expensive for me at the moment.
I am not at all opposed to CLEPing out of classes. Heck, I would actually like that a whole lot more than a 1 hour 15 minute class I have to attend 4 days out of the week. I know I can study on my own and take tests at my convenience.

My question or request is if this forum's members could guide me into the right direction for finishing a BS or BA in computer science.
I'm looking to find the easiest way of achieving this within a year. I am so, so ready for this. Perhaps overly hyped to start before even knowing where to.

I can give a list of my current credits if necessary but for now to be completely honest I'd like a vanilla layout as to how I can achieve this.
Also, my wallet is thin and I am still considering taking out loans to pay for school which I have never, ever done. If someone could tell me if I can use a PELL Grant to pay for my exams as well, then that would be great too!

Thank you for reading a cry for help and if you reply I greatly appreciate it!
-Kain

PS: Please let me know what the hell I am looking for in my CS ambition if it's generally toward programming. I'm assuming its software design, but again, I do not really know. I just know that I would like to code and work with a company that programs futuristic devices to make the lives of the general public easier if not start up my own company down the line.

[KayV]

Welcome! We can you better if you list your previously earned credits ("ENG 101 English Composition I 3");
along with the source of credit (as community college or 4-year college university;
and whether the credits are semester or quarter credits.

Also, please list your IT certs or any other professional certifications or military training you might have.

[ajs1976]

I'm in IT, more specifically System Engineering with a little bit of Info Sec and a little cloud. Not much in programming, but with DevOps will need to get more into it eventually. Computer Science degrees are typically more oriented towards programming. Another title could be software development or engineering.

TESU has a BA in CS. Thomas Edison State University: Computer Science Not many options for testing out of CS. A couple of people here have completed it, but I think it was with classes or PLA.

The BSBA:CIS can have some programming in it and is more test friendly. The BACS will have better chances with entry level programming jobs, but doesn't mean you could not be successful in that patch with the BSBA:CIS.

[dfrecore]

I'm no help with Pell grants, or whether or not to pursue a CS degree, but I can help with some degree planning.

BUT, what would be best right now, is for you to post your completed courses here. It's darn near impossible to help you figure out what to do until we know what you've done. List by school, including whether it's a CC or 4-yr college, semester or quarter system, and then the course code and name, credits, and grade if lower than a C.

If you took anything computer-related, you will want to put the year as well, since it will matter. Most everything else will not.

Here is some info on programs you might be interested in (we can help you find the Gen Ed courses you might need, along with any other courses you could cheaply and easily complete):

TESU: BA in Computer Science - Thomas Edison State University: Computer Science - minimum cost for this degree is $4198 for the application, the 1cr cornerstone course, the 3cr capstone course, residency waiver fee, and graduation fee. This is not counting all of the other courses you would need to complete, but MANY of those are probably already done, or can be gotten through testing or inexpensive online courses.

WGU BS in Software Development - Bachelor Degree in Software Development | Online IT Degree - competency-based degree, meaning you pay for time rather than per class. It's $2890 for a 6-month term, you could probably do all of your courses in that time-period. Of course, that's assuming you've completed the Gen Ed requirements, which can be done in a variety of ways. We can help with that.

Hodges University also has a BS in SW Dev - Software Development - Bachelor's Degree | Hodges University - and it's also a competency-based program (UPOWER) for $2750/6-mo term. They accept CLEP & DSST exams, and are pretty lenient on their general education courses, so that may work as well.

Anyway, post everything, and check out the programs to see if any of them interest you, and we can go from there.

[TrailRunr]

I'm going to ignore the TESU General Ed requirements because other people are better than me at that. You'll still need to complete them.

You should post your existing credits. The BSBA in CIS may be easier and quicker for you. BSBA CIS can be completely tested out. BA CS has a few courses that cannot be tested out.

Onto to the area of study for TESU CS:

Intro to comp sci (COS-101 or several other courses) - CLEP info systems, DSST (caution: under review for COS-101), and others?
discrete math or linear algebra - community college or cheaper online 4-year school such as APU (could be UL at 4-yr if it's linear algebra)
data structures - community college or 4-year school
calculus 1 and calculus 2 - SL (note: much harder to pass than the typical GE or business SL course, but can be completed quickly if you know the math)

CS electives:
3 of the UL courses can be tested out - DSST MIS, DSST cybersecurity, CSU CBE Global System Analysis and Design
1 of the UL courses could be linear algebra if it's taken at a 4-year school. Then you would replace this with a cheap LL course such as Saylor or SL.
1 UL course you will have to take at TESU or another 4-year school (or 2 UL courses if you didn't take linear algebra at a 4-year school)

And finally, you have to take the $1500 capstone and the $300 cornerstone at TESU.

[davewill]

That's the rub with Computer Science you can't test out of most of it. However if you really want to go into Embedded Software (AKA programming futuristic devices), there's not much of a point in aiming at any other degree. You can test out of all the GenEd, that's not an issue. The plan I followed is in my signature below. You might notice that almost none of it is actual programming courses. A computer science curriculum is mostly THEORY. Programming is almost an afterthought, something you teach yourself in your spare time.

The usual way to a fast degree around here is enroll in TESU or COSC and use alternative credit to do most of the degree. These schools are unique because they will let you earn all but a few credits towards a degree through testing or online courses. Most schools require a substantial number of credits be earned by taking actual classes at the school. The problem with doing this for the BACS is that most of the actual computer science courses aren't available as alternative credit, and the cost of taking actual online courses at TESU is fairly expensive. The way I worked around that was to use Prior Learning Assessment to fulfill a lot of it. PLA works by submitting a portfolio explaining how you have learned the equivalent of a college course either through some sort of life experience. This can be work, or some sort of non-college credit training...even self study. However, this path won't work for you since you don't have the computer science knowledge already.

Is this likely to be a full-time effort on your part? I ask because there is one way to take courses at TESU more reasonably. That is the Comprehensive Tuition Plan. With this plan you pay about $9500 for one year's tuition and can take up to 36 credits. To do this, you would finish everything you could by any other means until you reach a core of classes you can't find at a reasonable price anywhere. You then enroll in TESU, pay the $9500 and finish all of them in one year. This comes to almost half the regular tuition, but requires an extraordinary dedication. With the rest of the fees you end up paying about $10K for your degree, not including the tuition and fees for the courses you do by alternative credit. I don't really recommend it, but it IS an alternative.

Another alternative I can't exactly recommend is University of the People. They are a non-profit dedicated to making higher education universally accessible. Their main advantage is that they do not charge tuition. However, there are fees, and they say that completing the BSCS will cost about $4000. They don't accept transfer credit so you will have to take every class from them. They are also nationally accredited, which may be an issue with some employers or if you wish to go on to grad school. That said, I do believe that graduating with their degree would be a viable path to a computing career.

There is one other path I have to mention. It IS possible to enter the field without a degree. It isn't ideal, but it is done. I had a 30 year software career without a degree. In this scenario, you would get a certificate from Coursera or Udacity, or one of the other online providers. Leveraging this, you take whatever entry level computer job you can get your hands on. You keep working your way up one job at a time. Some day you wind up finishing your degree like I did.

I think we as a group need to canvas around a bit and find some inexpensive ways to get the computer science credits so that TESU can work for you. This would greatly help people going forward. Please post your current credits so we can try to map out a plan that can work for you. I've got to think we can beat that $9500 number by a lot.

[davewill]

... CS electives:
3 of the UL courses can be tested out - DSST MIS, DSST cybersecurity, CSU CBE Global System Analysis and Design
...

I pretty sure that MIS or Cybersecurity would not be accepted for CS. Maybe not System Analysis and Design, either.

[TrailRunr]

I pretty sure that MIS or Cybersecurity would not be accepted for CS. Maybe not System Analysis and Design, either.

All three work for CS. It is safely transcribed in my evaluation and verified by advising. I got rid of three expensive UL courses this way.

[ajs1976]

All three work for CS. It is safely transcribed in my evaluation and verified by advising. I got rid of three expensive UL courses this way.

When I do a What If, they show up for me too. System Analysis, along with UNIX and Operating Systems show up as group 2 LL, because they are from a community college.


Other options could be the MIS and IT CBE at CSUGlobal. Not sure how many have been evalutated and I believe some new ones appeared recently. https://csuglobal.edu/undergraduate/prog...tions/cbes

Saylor has a number of CS courses that while not approved for credit, may be a good start for PLA. https://learn.saylor.org/course/index.php?categoryid=9 Maybe add in some experience or offerings from Coursera or edx.

What do others feel about the Software Development degree from WGU for a career in programming? Bachelor Degree in Software Development | Online IT Degree When the TESU comprehensive tuition plan was mentioned, I thought how that was almost the same as 18 months at WGU.

[TalentlessOlympian]

I'm no help with Pell grants, or whether or not to pursue a CS degree, but I can help with some degree planning.

BUT, what would be best right now, is for you to post your completed courses here. It's darn near impossible to help you figure out what to do until we know what you've done. List by school, including whether it's a CC or 4-yr college, semester or quarter system, and then the course code and name, credits, and grade if lower than a C.

If you took anything computer-related, you will want to put the year as well, since it will matter. Most everything else will not.

Here is some info on programs you might be interested in (we can help you find the Gen Ed courses you might need, along with any other courses you could cheaply and easily complete):

TESU: BA in Computer Science - Thomas Edison State University: Computer Science - minimum cost for this degree is $4198 for the application, the 1cr cornerstone course, the 3cr capstone course, residency waiver fee, and graduation fee. This is not counting all of the other courses you would need to complete, but MANY of those are probably already done, or can be gotten through testing or inexpensive online courses.

WGU BS in Software Development - Bachelor Degree in Software Development | Online IT Degree - competency-based degree, meaning you pay for time rather than per class. It's $2890 for a 6-month term, you could probably do all of your courses in that time-period. Of course, that's assuming you've completed the Gen Ed requirements, which can be done in a variety of ways. We can help with that.

Hodges University also has a BS in SW Dev - Software Development - Bachelor's Degree | Hodges University - and it's also a competency-based program (UPOWER) for $2750/6-mo term. They accept CLEP & DSST exams, and are pretty lenient on their general education courses, so that may work as well.

Anyway, post everything, and check out the programs to see if any of them interest you, and we can go from there.

First of all, thank you everyone who has left a response and information for me to look into. I didn't think that the community would reply so swiftly to my thread!

Here is a list of course names I've taken and passed. In total I only have 43 credits.

Code:

ENC0001   ENC0025   FUNDS OF WRITING
REA0002   REA0017   COL PREP READING II
SLS1101   SLS1101   STUDENT SUCCESS
MAT1033   MAT1033   INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA
DEP2004   DEP2004   HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
ENC1101   ENC1101   ENGLISH COMP I
MAC1105   MAC1105   COLLEGE ALGEBRA
PHY1020   PHY1020   PRINCIPLES OF PHYSIC
AMH2010   AMH2010   AMER HIST:DISC-RECON
ENC1102   ENC1102   ENGLISH COMP II
MAC1114   MAC1114   PLANE TRIGONOMETRY
MAC1140   MAC1140   PRECALCULUS ALGEBRA
AMH2020   AMH2020   AMER HIST:RECON-PRES
MAC1114   MAC1114   PLANE TRIGONOMETRY
PHI1010   PHI1010   INTRO PHILOSOPHY
ECO2013   ECO2013   PRIN ECONOMICS MACRO
ENC1102   ENC1102   ENGLISH COMP II
BSC2010   BSC2010   GENERAL BIOLOGY I
CGS1060   CGS1060   COLLEGE COMPUTING(tested out of)
PHI2630   PHI2630   INTRO TO ETHICS
BSC2010L  BSC2010L  GEN BIOLOGY I LAB
CHM1045L  CHM1045L  GEN CHEM I LAB

I have been out of school for almost 3 years now and I am desperately seeking the best means of getting a degree in CS.
I know I will have to retake calc since I know I had flunked out of it due to not making it to class after my car accident. (Part of life's random punches to the gut).
And I'm sure you all might stumble across the question of what any of these courses really have to do with Aerospace Engineering. And to that I say, Welcome to the institute of Indian River where their curriculum seriously makes zero sense.
The idea was to get my AA and transfer out, but like I said before, life happens and I haven't attended school in nearly 3 years.
I'm hoping to CLEP/DSST and whatever else there is to get my BSCS or BACS asap!
I'm still not sure what some of the terms here are.
Such as:

Code:

UL
PLA
UPower
Capstone
Cornerstone

Do these institutions allow the use of PELL Grants or would I need to take out a student loan?
I have no issue taking out a loan for $10,000 if it means I get a BS or BA degree by next year. The average salary for entry level would be enough to start chipping away the amount owed.

Also, what are your guys' thoughts on higher education in computer science? i.e. a master's in cs?

Again, thank you guys so much for everything. I greatly appreciate the information here and I hope to understand more about how I enroll for these classes I need and how I can test out of them after enrolling(?)

?- if that's how you have to do it.