Sophia Suggestions

[JB33]

Hey, I actually just found out about all of this about a week ago so I'm pretty new on the journey to my first degree. I'm a Software Engineer a bit early into my career and I'm reasonably sure I lose over 80% of my potential interviews due to not checking the degree box. Anyways, I've started Sophia and it's going pretty well. I'm looking for which classes y'all recommend taking while I'm on Sophia. I'll be switching to SDC afterwards. My current goal is to get the max transfer credits and start WGU early next year. I'll be doing the BS Software Development, but I am also considering doing a teaching BS/BA and then an MBA after. Currently 20 credits down plus the 3 for English I'm waiting on and it's absolutely mind blowing how easy this is. I know the classes will take a bit longer after I've gotten the easy stuff out of the way, but 20+ credits for $79 is hard to believe is possible.

Currently Enrolled In:
English Comp 1 (Waiting on first paper to be graded, all the rest are done.. fortunately I read about the delays and that was my first one to sign up for)
Introduction to Relational Databases

On The Agenda To Take:
Applied Algebra (Waiting on calculator to take unless someone says can do without)
Applied Probability & Statistics (Waiting on calculator to take unless someone says can do without)

Currently completed:
Intro to IT
Environmental Science
Intro to Sociology
Intro to Web Development
Art History 1 (ngl I hated this course)
Project Management


Also, thank you to everyone that posts advice/experiences on this forum, I've read a lot of stuff and I probably don't retain most of it cause at first it was a lot of overload... but I'm getting there!

[MNomadic]

You shouldn't need to wait on a calculator for the Sophia math courses since they're non proctored, you could just do any math you need on your phone or computer or even using excel.

I think you're making a good choice by getting a lot of the quick cheap transfer credits from Sophia and study before beginning at WGU. You should be able to transfer in the max or near the max of 75% of your degree that way and it will be very possible to accelerate the rest in a single term.

Just for reference, here's the WGU transfer partners site which let's you map out how different credits will apply to your degree: https://partners.wgu.edu/

Hopefully others will pop in here with their tips but here's a few I recommend:
- do the communication at work course through Sophia for your intro to communication course
- consider study.com for all 3 of your database courses since they overlap heavily
- just do critical thinking and logic at WGU, 1 simple test and you're done

[rachel83az]

I second the notion that you don't need a calculator for Sophia's Algebra. It's nice to have one, but your phone or a similar 9-digit calculator will work just fine. With Statistics, they give you instructions for doing things on specific calculators OR Excel so no calculator is needed there either.

Take as much as possible at Sophia, then fill out the remaining available transfers with SDC and you should be good to go.

[bjcheung77]

If you're having difficulty with "Math" type of courses and/or need a change from Sophia, you can try the CSM Learn course https://www.csmlearn.com/product/ACEcredit

Sophia.org : https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...062&pid=67 and Study.com : https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...142&pid=67

I suggest creating a plan (spreadsheet template) using these two course providers and transfer in up to 75% of your degree requirements. 

Note: I would also recommend StraighterLine/Saylor.org for courses not available at Sophia.org/Study.com, but that is rare.

[rachel83az]

CSM might not work for WGU, especially for IT. They're listed on the partnership page, but when you click on it none of the colleges have any degrees that (obviously) accept it. I know different colleges/degrees are slightly different as far as acceptance of outside credit goes. CSM's own site does say that it counts as Applied Probability and Statistics at WGU. But, again, I think this possibility is dubious, at best.

[ss20ts]

You don't need a calculator for Sophia's College Algebra class. You may need one for Introduction to Statistics. You can use your phone calculator or the one that comes in your computer. You don't need anything beyond them.

[bjcheung77]

CSM might not work for WGU, especially for IT. They're listed on the partnership page, but when you click on it none of the colleges have any degrees that (obviously) accept it. I know different colleges/degrees are slightly different as far as acceptance of outside credit goes. CSM's own site does say that it counts as Applied Probability and Statistics at WGU. But, again, I think this possibility is dubious, at best.

That recently changed, I recall over the summer or earlier I viewed that one course and it did have options, it was a single course but did show up. Anyways, I would still recommend the course for math-phobes just for the sake of learning through a non proctored environment even if it's just for review/preview. It will be a great addition to the Sophia.org non proctored college algebra/stats courses.

[dfrecore]

I second (third??) the Sophia then Study.com option - I would do literally everything I could that way (except the Critical Thinking course).

I might also do the WGU-Academy CompTIA A+ course - it's $150/mo, so if you can do both courses/exams in that month, I think it will save you time when you get to WGU, since some say those are supposed to be faily time-consuming courses. At the very least, I'd self-study before starting the program so you can take the exams right away.

[LevelUP]

You can go to pdfdrive, get the Peterson Master the Clep and use the guide to pass the CLEP English comp exam and can be done with English Comp in a day or 2.

Sometimes paying a bit to move on with your life is better than jumping through a million hoops to save a few bucks which means you're working for less than minimum wage.

Applied Algebra you could use an online calculator such as https://www.symbolab.com/ (that one shows the steps) or get a Nspire CAS calculator which you could buy it then resell on eBay when done.  You're not really learning math there, just learning how to punch things in the calculator so don't fear that course. 

Sophia Statistics doesn't use a whole lot of math.  Any online calculator is fine.  Statistics starts pretty easy, the last lesson is hard so take your time on that one.  I find that writing down every single math formula concept I learn from the course helps to keep things organized.  You find there are only 10-20 formulas/concepts you need to know.

An average college course takes 80 hrs to do.  Almost all these online courses can be done in less than 20hrs time.

One suggestion I tell people is to try as hard as you can to do a course in under a week once you start because the human mind forgets things over time and you end up having to backtrack and relearn a lot of things when you take a long time to do a course.  That wastes a lot of time.

[JB33]

Thanks for all of the information here. I also read that I could get a third class added via live chat while waiting on English Comp grades, so I've done that and signed up for the Algebra course. I'm pretty good at math, so I'm not too worried about it. I just thought I'd need a physical calculator to do it.


Also, I had no idea about the WGU Academy for A+ cert. I could definitely do the certs within a month, so that's a pretty huge savings! Thanks a lot for letting me know!! It looks like for the WGU Academy that a PACA: Intro to Communication and Development course is required, I'm assuming this covers the required Intro to Communications requirement for the degree as well? So, maybe I shouldn't worry about doing the communication at work via Sophia if I go this route?