TESU BA CS & BSBA CIS Goal

[Pach]

Hello everyone!
 
A little about me:
I've been lurking on this forum for a while but have only posted recently. Truthfully, I'd grab what information I could from you guys, then work on it over the years.
 
My journey began with wanting to go to WGU, but later this changed to TESU. I was still determining what career I wanted to get into, but I knew it would be computer-related. After consideration, I felt I'd struggle at WGU and that it may be for more experienced people. I learned about TESU when I found this forum, and I wanted to thank this community; many of you are legendary to me.
 
My original plan was to go for the Computer Science BA, but after finding the BA in CS and BSBA in CIS Double Degree plan here, I've followed it ever since. I realize it would be easier to get the CS degree, but I also enjoy business, so the CIS appeals to me. If possible, I'd also like to get the 2 Associates degrees that fit the plan—Mathematics, CS, and Business Administration.
 
I'm enrolled in college until the summer of 2024, going for two associates. I am planning on attending TESU online after that.

Your Location: California, United States.
What kind of degree do you want? BA Computer Science, and BSBA CIS
Current Regional Accredited Credits: Many. They will be in the Google Sheets under AVC.
School name: Antelope Valley College Credits: 75(in progress)
Budget: Around 10k. I assume I'll be spending around 8k-9k.

Commitments: No commitments at this moment! I love to multi-task, so I enjoy taking many courses at once.
Dedicated time to study: I have all day available. I enjoy school, so even when I want to take a breather I just work on an easier course.
Timeline: Hoping to finish these degrees by the end of 2024.
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: None.

Google Sheets to my current plan:
 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...2FOIh9qbmg

Extra RA College courses:
LIB 107 Information Literacy 3cr
MUSC 103 History of Rock ‘n Roll 3cr
 
Extra RA College courses (not yet completed, but must finish):
·         HIST 111 African-American History, 1877-Present 3cr
·         ANTH 101 Intro Biological Anthropology 3cr
·         ENGL 101 College Composition 3cr
·         BIP 115 Practical Math Bus&Consumers 3cr
·         BIP 126 Workplace Communication 3cr
·         BIP 100 Intro to Bus Info Professional 3cr
·         BIP 127 Introduction to Accounting 3cr
·         BIP 150 Info. Professional 3cr
*I will have many 1cr classes under BIP for things such as Word I, Word III, Word III, Excel I, Excel II, etc. but I did not include these in the plan because I’m unsure how 1cr courses would transfer if at all. I will have 18cr of these.
 
Possible extra (can only pick one of these):
CA 103 Intro to Computers & Dig Tech 3cr
CS 121 Program & Algorithms in Java 3cr
CS 122 Program & Algorithms in Python 3cr
CS 120 Program & Algorithms in C/C++ 3cr
 
Extra Sophia Courses:
·         Precalculus (For the Mathematics Associates)
·         Project Management
·         Introduction to Relational Databases
·         English Composition I (Currently not going to be useful since I must take College Composition in College)
·         Workplace Communication
·         Foundations of Statistics
 
At this moment, I am taking these:
College (Summer):
HIST 111 African-American History, 1877-Present 3cr
ANTH 101 Intro Biological Anthropology 3cr
ENGL 101 College Composition 3cr
Certificates:
Google IT Support
IBM Full Stack Software Development
Salesforce Sales Operations
Sophia:
Principles of Management
U.S. Government (soon)

How does my plan look? Are there any mistakes? Anything to improve?

Thank you!

[bjcheung77]

@Pach, It's a good plan going for both degrees, you should focus on one of them first and then work on the other... BTW, you missed the last post addendum here, I suggest filling that part to provide us a clearer overview of your situation and study habits, etc: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

Just to get a bigger picture, you're going for two associates at the community college and two at TESU? Then laddering up to the BACS/BSBA CIS combo? You'll get enough RA credits for transfer into TESU, are you thinking of paying the residency waiver fee or are you thinking of using financial aid to pay for 16 credits?

[Pach]

@Pach, It's a good plan going for both degrees, you should focus on one of them first and then work on the other... BTW, you missed the last post addendum here, I suggest filling that part to provide us a clearer overview of your situation and study habits, etc: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

Just to get a bigger picture, you're going for two associates at the community college and two at TESU?  Then laddering up to the BACS/BSBA CIS combo?  You'll get enough RA credits for transfer into TESU, are you thinking of paying the residency waiver fee or are you thinking of using financial aid to pay for 16 credits?

Thanks for pointing that out! I edited my post.

Yeah, I'm going for two degrees at the college. I was initially going for just one, which was Liberal Arts and Sciences. It's funny because I was going for that degree only to fulfill the RA requirements for TESU. Bringing in GE, electives, and a few other courses may work, with the freedom of picking what I want. I tried the college's BIP courses, which I found I really enjoyed, so I decided to go for its degree. It would only take one extra semester as well. I do not expect to list my LAS degree on my future resumes and cannot imagine why I would do so, so I feel I'm only going for one degree at the moment. I realize having 4 associates and 2 bachelors may be overkill, but I'm only focusing on the BSCS and BSCIS.

I originally planned on doing the residency waiver fee and taking 16 credits, but I think I'd be better off trying to take only 3 courses. I'm not sure how that would work out, but I assume it would be around 9k? If I plan correctly, I think I'd just have to do the two capstones and the SOS-110. 2 one semester and 1 another semester? Not positive, though! Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[LevelUP]

There has been a major update to the double degree plan.


I switched the English Comp II to Sophia since it has been recently reported that Sophia finally fixed their long grading times for that course.

Also the new Sophia courses were added to the options for some of the course requirements
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...egree_Plan

[ss20ts]

What is the purpose of spending another year plus completing 2 associate degrees then moving onto 2 bachelor's degrees? The associate degrees most likely won't help careerwise unfortunately. I'd spend my energy, time, and money on the bachelor's degrees which will help your career. You already have 75 credits so why complete courses that won't apply towards your bachelor's degrees? What's your end goal?

[LevelUP]

What is the purpose of spending another year plus completing 2 associate degrees then moving onto 2 bachelor's degrees? The associate degrees most likely won't help careerwise unfortunately. I'd spend my energy, time, and money on the bachelor's degrees which will help your career. You already have 75 credits so why complete courses that won't apply towards your bachelor's degrees? What's your end goal?

I agree.

Looking at the credits the OP already has, the OP could finish easily by the end of 2023 and graduate by December of 2023 as long as the OP starts courses at TESU by August.
https://www.tesu.edu/current-students/gr...nformation

Even if that college in CA is free, you are wasting time if the associate's degrees don't help.

[Pach]

There has been a major update to the double degree plan.


I switched the English Comp II to Sophia since it has been recently reported that Sophia finally fixed their long grading times for that course.

Also the new Sophia courses were added to the options for some of the course requirements
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...egree_Plan

Thanks for the update!

I've read that SDC's English Composition II had less work when compared to Sophias. I actually started it at Sophia but ended up canceling it a while back. I'm fine with doing it at either, but I would rather do less writing. I've found that I love testing but dread writing, mostly because of citing. This is one of the reasons why I want to take the least amount of courses possible at TESU, to focus on the writing portions.

---

What is the purpose of spending another year plus completing 2 associate degrees then moving onto 2 bachelor's degrees? The associate degrees most likely won't help careerwise unfortunately. I'd spend my energy, time, and money on the bachelor's degrees which will help your career. You already have 75 credits so why complete courses that won't apply towards your bachelor's degrees? What's your end goal?

Sorry for the confusion. 75 credits will be the overall amount I will have when I graduate college. At the moment, I have 39. I can either graduate college after the fall of 2023 or after the spring of 2024. The first degree I focused on in college was mainly to fulfill TESUs RA requirement. I took Sophia courses before college, so I went around those. The second degree I'm going for is because of the experience and because I found that many courses I already took fit into it. I am learning a lot from it. It's just an added 4 months, plus it'll give me some time to complete SDCs courses. I have no experience with SDC, so I'm giving myself a bit of room to complete those. I also feel more comfortable knowing I have another 12 months to complete all my ACE credits rather than 8 months.

Pretty much, I have another 8 months of college, no matter what.

My main focus is on the CS degree. I want to work in cyber security, but I know, realistically, I cannot jump into that right away. I'll need other experiences and starter roles, which is why I figured the experience from this associate would help.

[bjcheung77]

That's perfectly fine and it's a great way to learn more business/computers with the BIP program at the community college since you're young and want to get some experience/knowledge under your belt. The two associates at TESU are already included in your BSBA/BACS, so it doesn't take any time at all... I was curious why you added that, and thus my question, I thought you didn't know and needed extra courses to hit your experience/knowledge thirst... Overall, keep with the same plan you currently have, the extra credits at the community college will help you further that skill set.

[dfrecore]

So I'm just going to be rude and say it - you are absolutely 100% wasting your time with your CC at this point. It is actually taking you AWAY from your goals. Here are the facts:

1) you have 2 degree plans laid out, that make sense
2) you know exactly which courses you need to get those degrees
3) you have more than 24cr of RA, so you don't need any additional courses from the CC
4) you are enrolled at a school where the courses you need to get a degree don't put you any closer to either of your goal degrees

So, IMHO, as someone who has helped a lot of people get degrees, I'm going to advise you to stop with your CC unless it's specifically a course that puts you a step closer to the BACS and BSBA/CIS.

[Pach]

That's perfectly fine and it's a great way to learn more business/computers with the BIP program at the community college since you're young and want to get some experience/knowledge under your belt.  The two associates at TESU are already included in your BSBA/BACS, so it doesn't take any time at all... I was curious why you added that, and thus my question, I thought you didn't know and needed extra courses to hit your experience/knowledge thirst...  Overall, keep with the same plan you currently have, the extra credits at the community college will help you further that skill set.

Thank you for the encouragement! Yeah, I'll likely stick to this plan because I'm feeling the most comfortable with it. I'll keep posting updates on how things go. I was inspired by MrPanda's thread and his documentation of his journey.

Also, I may change my Public speaking from Sophia and instead do Communications 120: Presentation Skills in the Workplace from SDC. That seems to be the recommendation on the Double Degree plan. Public Speaking was one of the last ones I was planning on taking, haha.

---

So I'm just going to be rude and say it - you are absolutely 100% wasting your time with your CC at this point. It is actually taking you AWAY from your goals.  Here are the facts:

1) you have 2 degree plans laid out, that make sense
2) you know exactly which courses you need to get those degrees
3) you have more than 24cr of RA, so you don't need any additional courses from the CC
4) you are enrolled at a school where the courses you need to get a degree don't put you any closer to either of your goal degrees

So, IMHO, as someone who has helped a lot of people get degrees, I'm going to advise you to stop with your CC unless it's specifically a course that puts you a step closer to the BACS and BSBA/CIS.

Do not worry about sounding rude. The opinions on this forum have been constructive, and I am grateful people are willing to take time out of their day.

I can understand your point and agree with it to some degree. If I wanted to get the degrees as fast as possible, I'd consider what you are saying. However, in my case, I am keeping time management in mind. The college hasn't been too difficult for me. Many of the courses are enjoyable, so much so that I miss the courses I finish, haha. My courses are all 100% online, none have been inconvenient, and I will likely keep my 4.0 until I graduate.

I have around 2 Coursera certificates to complete, 7 Sophia courses, and 13 SDC courses; while I'm doing these, I can still be doing college. I figure the amount of time it takes for me to complete all these ACE credits, I will be close to graduating college anyways.

Another year of college just doesn't sound bad to me at all. I do agree that the additional courses will not likely transfer into the bachelor's degrees, but the experience I'm learning is worth it, in my opinion. Many of them were designed to help prepare for many Microsoft certificates after completion, although I'm unsure if I will do those because of the costs. But I will have the experience, which I'm happy with. I am assuming I will likely start my career as an IT desk support, and these may help me prepare for that.