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

[ajs1976]

UL - Upper Level course. 300, 400 level.
PLA - Prior Learning Assessment
UPower - the name of Hodges competency based curriculum
Capstone - final course in a major
Cornerstone - introductory course to a school. COSC has had one for a few years. TESU just introducted one in the last few months.

[TalentlessOlympian]

Thank you for clarifying!

In addition, I just looked into all 3 options very swiftly due to my false sense of absolute urgency and not due diligence.... But, from what I've read, it looks like the hodge's university setup for 6months of schooling for $3,000 is the best route for a cs degree involving software dev. Which sounds like it is the most related track involving coding.
I'm planning on working on my Python/Linux Command Line while studying/testing. I really like the idea of having a BA/BS in 6months. That'd be crazy amazing!

How would I go about signing up for their course and transferring my credits over and how do I find the classes I can test out of from them?
I'm not fully understanding how, for example, if I attend TESU or Excelsior that I can test out of all my classes to get my degree. How would I do that? Sign up as a student, look at the courses, and then find them in a clep site or something? I wouldn't actually take their classes?
Sorry for the noob/stupid question. I'm just really having a hard time believing the simplicity of this.
Again, thank you everyone for sharing your knowledge and helping me!

[TrailRunr]

Here is a possible option for cheaper UL credits in CS. https://www.edx.org/charter-oakhttps://www.edx.org/charter-oak It's a software engineering course, but it depends on how COSC transcribes it. If it sounds more like a Ruby on Rails course, it will be LL instead of UL. It also has peer review grading, which is causing lots of complaints right now in this MOOC course.

[KayV]

Do you have any IT certs already?
Also, Institute of Indian River is now called Indian River State College, right?
You have a lot of great general ed classes that should work in almost any degree plan. Just a few of them, like the reading class, won't be accepted in transfer by the Big 3.
Did you happen to get at least a C (not C-) on English Comp I and II?

[dfrecore]

So, for testing out, what happens is you look at the requirements for the degree, and then figure out another way to get some of them. For instance, many schools require a certain number of humanities courses (art, communications, english, literature, music, foreign language, etc.). You just need to figure out a fast and cheap way to get as many of those credits as possible. So you could take the English Lit CLEP, or take the Art History DSST, or Visual Communications Sophia course, or Religion at Straighterline (SL). To get your credits in social sciences (history, psychology, economics, Sociology, criminal justice, etc.), you could take a history CLEP, or DSST, or SL course. Lots of ways to find classes in the general education area that can be taken for $100 or less per course. Then you get into the "core" of the degree, and it can become a little more difficult to find those courses. So, you might want to take a couple at your local community college (CC) and transfer those in. Or find an online 4-yr school with decent prices. Etc.

TESU will accept 116cr transferred in - you have to take the 1cr cornerstone and 3cr capstone through them . WGU has a limit (but I don't know what it is - maybe 90cr?). COSC will accept 114 (3cr cornerstone and 3cr capstone have to be taken at COSC). Hodges I have no idea. And, it would be a little more difficult as they don't accept as many alternative courses.

With TESU and COSC, you can figure out exactly what it will cost and how long it can take, because you take each course individually. With WGU/Hodge and other competency-based (time-based) programs, you want to figure out the courses you can take ahead of time for credit, and get those out of the way. There's a balance, between paying for individual courses to make it possible to get all of your core classes completed through them in a single (or maybe 2) terms, and taking so many courses that you overpay because you could have taken them in a term instead. But I would prefer to take as many courses as possible first and get those all transferred in and have as few courses as possible left before you start their program. The cost savings can be significant, so definitely look into those.

One thing we need is your grades. If you got less than a C in anything (even a C-), then you may not be able to transfer it. Some schools will allow for it, others won't. I can tell because you repeated a couple of courses. It's also hard to know exactly what your math courses will transfer in as. And, you took Chem Lab without the Chem course? Is Prin of Physic physics or physical fitness? And, how many credits are all of the courses you took?

-------------------------

If you were to look at the Hodges degree, here are the following courses you could apply towards their requirements:

Business Core (12cr):
Intro to Business (DSST)
Advanced Computer Applications (Management Information Systems DSST)
Principles of Accounting (CLEP) OR Personal Finance (DSST)

Liberal Arts Component (32cr needed, 40cr taken):
English Comp - English I & II already taken
Math or Science (including College Algebra & Statistics) - Intermediate Algebra, Plane Trig, Precalc Algebra, College Algebra, Bio I + Lab, Chem Lab all taken, Statistics DSST needed
Humanities - Philosophy & Ethics taken
Social Science - Human Development, American History I & II, Macroeconomics taken
Computer Applications - Intro to Computing DSST or Info Systems & Computer Applications CLEP

Electives (8cr) - fulfilled by excess Liberal Arts courses

So, if you passed the above 5 CLEP/DSST exams, you would come in with as much as you could take towards the degree, and all that would be left was the core SW Dev courses. That's what you would want to do for this particular degree program. It would only cost you $80 per exam (plus testing center fees of maybe $20 per exam), so a total of $500, plus the $2750 for a term (or $5,500 for 2 terms). That's a pretty good price for the degree that you want.

Hope that helps figure some things out.

[TalentlessOlympian]

Do you have any IT certs already?
Also, Institute of Indian River is now called Indian River State College, right?
You have a lot of great general ed classes that should work in almost any degree plan. Just a few of them, like the reading class, won't be accepted in transfer by the Big 3.
Did you happen to get at least a C (not C-) on English Comp I and II?

I passed both Eng Comp I and II with Bs. The retake was necessary for comp II due to getting into a car accident and was unable to get to school.
I do not have any IT certifications like Comptia. I do however work as a Tech Supervisor and have been working with computers since I was 9-10 years old.
And you are correct about the institution's name.
I believe the reading class was a bs intro eng class and the student success class were forced upon me by the them because it was their new policy for students to take those two classes first. I doubt they're worth a thing and that's ok.

So, for testing out, what happens is you look at the requirements for the degree, and then figure out another way to get some of them. For instance, many schools require a certain number of humanities courses (art, communications, english, literature, music, foreign language, etc.). You just need to figure out a fast and cheap way to get as many of those credits as possible. So you could take the English Lit CLEP, or take the Art History DSST, or Visual Communications Sophia course, or Religion at Straighterline (SL). To get your credits in social sciences (history, psychology, economics, Sociology, criminal justice, etc.), you could take a history CLEP, or DSST, or SL course. Lots of ways to find classes in the general education area that can be taken for $100 or less per course. Then you get into the "core" of the degree, and it can become a little more difficult to find those courses. So, you might want to take a couple at your local community college (CC) and transfer those in. Or find an online 4-yr school with decent prices. Etc.

TESU will accept 116cr transferred in - you have to take the 1cr cornerstone and 3cr capstone through them . WGU has a limit (but I don't know what it is - maybe 90cr?). COSC will accept 114 (3cr cornerstone and 3cr capstone have to be taken at COSC). Hodges I have no idea. And, it would be a little more difficult as they don't accept as many alternative courses.

With TESU and COSC, you can figure out exactly what it will cost and how long it can take, because you take each course individually. With WGU/Hodge and other competency-based (time-based) programs, you want to figure out the courses you can take ahead of time for credit, and get those out of the way. There's a balance, between paying for individual courses to make it possible to get all of your core classes completed through them in a single (or maybe 2) terms, and taking so many courses that you overpay because you could have taken them in a term instead. But I would prefer to take as many courses as possible first and get those all transferred in and have as few courses as possible left before you start their program. The cost savings can be significant, so definitely look into those.

One thing we need is your grades. If you got less than a C in anything (even a C-), then you may not be able to transfer it. Some schools will allow for it, others won't. I can tell because you repeated a couple of courses. It's also hard to know exactly what your math courses will transfer in as. And, you took Chem Lab without the Chem course? Is Prin of Physic physics or physical fitness? And, how many credits are all of the courses you took?

-------------------------

If you were to look at the Hodges degree, here are the following courses you could apply towards their requirements:

Business Core (12cr):
Intro to Business (DSST)
Advanced Computer Applications (Management Information Systems DSST)
Principles of Accounting (CLEP) OR Personal Finance (DSST)

Liberal Arts Component (32cr needed, 40cr taken):
English Comp - English I & II already taken
Math or Science (including College Algebra & Statistics) - Intermediate Algebra, Plane Trig, Precalc Algebra, College Algebra, Bio I + Lab, Chem Lab all taken, Statistics DSST needed
Humanities - Philosophy & Ethics taken
Social Science - Human Development, American History I & II, Macroeconomics taken
Computer Applications - Intro to Computing DSST or Info Systems & Computer Applications CLEP

Electives (8cr) - fulfilled by excess Liberal Arts courses

So, if you passed the above 5 CLEP/DSST exams, you would come in with as much as you could take towards the degree, and all that would be left was the core SW Dev courses. That's what you would want to do for this particular degree program. It would only cost you $80 per exam (plus testing center fees of maybe $20 per exam), so a total of $500, plus the $2750 for a term (or $5,500 for 2 terms). That's a pretty good price for the degree that you want.

Hope that helps figure some things out.

Alright, so, let me start with the missing chem class. IRSC at the time had two different schedules for lectures and labs. Labs started a month and a half LATER than the actual lecture, but also ended SOONER. So what ended up happening was I forced to move out during my finals so I withdrew from the classes I would have passed right before the finals. But since I already took my chem lab final I was able to get credit for it. The only classes I've ever done poorly on were my History classes. Those were successful failures with a D which still gave me credit, but as you pointed out, will have to be retaken for them to be transferable.
The rest of my classes were between Cs-As. Mostly in the B range, but some I did ace.


Your track that you laid out for me sounds super appealing. I could probably knock out all 5 of those courses in 3 months; 2 tests per month? That should be bearable.
How would I know if I needed to take 1 or 2 terms with hodges? Also, I wouldn't mind if I had to take a loan out for $10,000 to get this degree. The money borrowed would be paid off within 2years if I get a job within the field and wanted to slowly chip away at the loan. Futhermore, I'd like to ask which out of these 3 before mentioned paths would be the quickest with my current credits?

Oh, snap! I think somewhere, someone asked how many credits I have in total right now. The answer is 47 and not 43. My mistake.
In addition, for these dsst/clep/etc exams do the study guides you can buy for them cover the material adequately or should I go out and pick up extra resources? I see that a lot of users here recommend the instacert flashcards which I also looked into. What other guides would you recommend?

Again, a HUGE, HUGE THANK YOU for literally laying it all out right in front of me like that. You have no idea how awesome that was of you and I truly appreciate the time you took to write that all up for me.

EDIT:
I forgot to mention that the Princ of Physics is an actual physics class. Not physical fitness or anything of that sort.
And I am not sure if software dev is the field i need but this is really something more towards my dream job.
Working for BAE Systems and doing something like this:
[video]https://www.facebook.com/futurism/videos/590375967808273/[/video]

[dfrecore]

The plan I laid out was only for Hodges, that is going to be your cheapest option, because they are so loosey-goosey in what they accept in the general ed area.

TESU is going to have more structure, and you will have more classes to take in Gen Ed (Speech, Religion, Sociology, American Government, 2 additional gen ed electives), and then your additional requirements for the CS degree (Calc I & II, Data Structures, Discrete Math or Linear Algebra, and 5 CS courses from different places). Those are going to take longer and cost more. I have a Data Structures course at a distance learning school for $944. Linear Algebra is $609. Discrete Math is $784. And you can't do those courses until you take Calc I & II (and some don't recommend you take them at Straighterline because they won't prepare you for higher level math, which means you need to take those 2 courses at a CC or somewhere else, and that's 2 semesters right there).

With Hodges, I think it will be the fastest and cheapest route for you. And with competency-based courses, the length of time it takes is totally up to you. If you are really dedicated and work like crazy, you can probably finish in 1 term. If you don't think you want to go that hard at it, you could do it in 2. You just need to look at all of the courses and see what you think you want to do. But like I said, they will be the easiest to do, because after the 5 CLEP/DSST exams, you can start right in.

[davewill]

I took the time to look over that Hodges BS in Software Development. Color me unimpressed. There's no Calculus, Linear Algebra, Computer Architecture or Data Structures. Instead there are business courses required. This is not equivalent to a Computer Science degree. That said, I'm sure that it would suffice to get many software jobs, but some employers might not accept it. Also, you might have to take the missing CS and math courses before you would be accepted for an MSCS, for example. Not saying it's a bad choice, just that it's not the usual degree a software engineer would have. Might be a good choice for someone who has an eye to moving into project management or the like.

[TalentlessOlympian]

The plan I laid out was only for Hodges, that is going to be your cheapest option, because they are so loosey-goosey in what they accept in the general ed area.

TESU is going to have more structure, and you will have more classes to take in Gen Ed (Speech, Religion, Sociology, American Government, 2 additional gen ed electives), and then your additional requirements for the CS degree (Calc I & II, Data Structures, Discrete Math or Linear Algebra, and 5 CS courses from different places). Those are going to take longer and cost more. I have a Data Structures course at a distance learning school for $944. Linear Algebra is $609. Discrete Math is $784. And you can't do those courses until you take Calc I & II (and some don't recommend you take them at Straighterline because they won't prepare you for higher level math, which means you need to take those 2 courses at a CC or somewhere else, and that's 2 semesters right there).

With Hodges, I think it will be the fastest and cheapest route for you. And with competency-based courses, the length of time it takes is totally up to you. If you are really dedicated and work like crazy, you can probably finish in 1 term. If you don't think you want to go that hard at it, you could do it in 2. You just need to look at all of the courses and see what you think you want to do. But like I said, they will be the easiest to do, because after the 5 CLEP/DSST exams, you can start right in.

Welp, that solves that problem for me faster than I would have ever imagined. With those 5 CLEP/DSST exams which should I start off with? Is there a site that analyzes their difficulty? I'm ready to deadlift these courses and slam them to the ground! I would love it if I could finish my degree in less than 10months. Hell, at the rate of this discussion I feel like 8 months is long enough.
My only issue then is financing it. What are my loan options? I'm probably in the wrong forum when it comes to that advice, but perhaps you, dfrecore, or someone else here has a good idea for which loan to take out.
I'm seriously thinking I should find a loan for $13,000 to $15,000. The CLEP/DSST will set me back probably $700 because I did pass history with Ds. So, I would need to take those CLEP/DSST exams to make up for my crappy grades. But that's just two more tests on top of the 5 you told me earlier. All manageable. *thumbs up*
And again, I repeat my question out of desperation, which study tools online can I use to best increase my success rate with these DSST/CLEP exams like instacert?
As for the Hodge's term(s). I'm still not sure I fully understand their setup. Does it generally only take 6 months to finish their degree track for ~$3,000? And is this what I am looking at to take?

Code:

[U][B]CIT CORE[/B][/U]
Hardware Support Essentials (4cr)
Hardware and Operating Systems (4cr)
Introduction to Web Design (4cr)
Introduction to Database Management Systems (4cr)
Program Design & Problem Solving (4cr)
[U][B]CIT Track (select one)[/B][/U]
*From what you used as a layout for me*
[I][B][U]Business Core[/U][/B][/I][color=#FF0000]To Be CLEP/DSST Examed Out[/color]
Introduction to Business (4cr)
Advanced Computer Applications (4cr)
Principles of Accounting I (4cr) OR
Personal Finance (4cr)
[U][B]Liberal Arts Component[/B][/U]
32 Semester hours of liberal arts/gen education
From my understanding, this is already filled from my previous credits.
[U][B]Approved Elective Component[/B][/U]
From my understanding, this is already filled from my previous credits.

[TalentlessOlympian]

I took the time to look over that Hodges BS in Software Development. Color me unimpressed. There's no Calculus, Linear Algebra, Computer Architecture or Data Structures. Instead there are business courses required. This is not equivalent to a Computer Science degree. That said, I'm sure that it would suffice to get many software jobs, but some employers might not accept it. Also, you would might have to take the missing CS and math courses before you would be accepted for an MSCS, for example. Not saying it's a bad choice, just that it's not the usual degree a software engineer would have. Might be a good choice for someone who has an eye to moving into project management or the like.

Thanks for the input and I do agree it seems odd that they didn't require Calc I or higher. However, I don't mind taking the Calc I CLEP in the future if necessary. Which CS Classes are you referring to that I will be missing with the degree from Hodges?