TESU Computer Science - Roadmap Needed

[Justarandomusername]

Hello Forum,

I created this post today because I’m needing assistance with mapping out a degree plan at TESU for Computer Science. I’ve been a lurker on this forum on-and-off for a little while now, and have attempted to do some of the preliminary legwork myself. I’ve visited the degree page at TESU for Computer Science, and the requirements are listed below. As you can see, the descriptions are somewhat vague, and I cannot find corresponding courses/equivalents . My goal is to devise a roadmap composed of coursed that I can take through Saylor, Sophia, Straighterline, and Study.com. So far, I’ve looked on both Saylor and Sophia for courses that can fulfill these requirements—my biggest concern is taking a course that will not carry it’s weight/transfer over:

Subject Category
Credits
I. General Education Requirements
60
A. Intellectual and Practical Skills
15
• Written Communication
(6)
• Oral Communication
(3)
• Quantitative Literacy
(3)
• Information Literacy
• SOS-110: Critical Information Literacy
(3)
B. Civic and Global Learning
9
• Diversity
(3)
• Ethics
(3)
• Civic Engagement
(3)
C. Knowledge of Human Cultures
12
D. Understanding the Physical and Natural World
4-7
E. General Education Electives
17-20
II. Area of Study: Computer Science
39
A. Required Courses
18
• Introduction to Programming
(3)
• Data Structures
(3)
• Calculus I
(3)
• Discrete Math
(3)
• Operating Systems
(3)
• Computer Architecture
(3)
B. Capstone
3
• LIB-495 Liberal Arts Capstone
(3)
C. Computer Science Electives*
• Artificial Intelligence
• Assembly Language
• Comparative Programming Languages
• Compiler Construction
• Computer Arithmetic Algorithms
• Computer Information Systems
• Computer Organization
• Computer Statistical Techniques
• Computer Simulation
• Data Mining and Data Analytics
• Database Systems and Design
• Mobile App Development
• Operations Research
• Problem Analysis and Solution
• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Switching Theory and Automata
• UNIX
• Web Design and Development
18
D. Requirements
 
• Courses transferred to Thomas Edison State University are equated to the following levels: 100, 200, 300 or 400. A minimum of 18 credits equating to 300 or 400 are required.
 
III. Electives
21
Total Credits
120

Currently as it stands, I'm running very far short of what will be needed to obtain this degree. I'm not completely starting from scratch, as I do have the following from attending online courses at three different community colleges over time:

HSCI C101 CC Principles of Health Education A 3.00
ANTH C131 CC Archaeology B 3.00
CSCI C142 CC Info & Comm Tech Essentials A 4.00
ECON C101 CC Introduction to Economics B 3.00

RS ENG 101 First-Year Composition B 3.0
RS MAT 082 Basic Arithmetic A 3.0

RS ACC 111 Accounting Principles 1 C 3.0
RS MAT 092 Introductory Algebra C 3.0

CSIT 110 Computer Applications B 3.0
CSIT 128 Microsoft Excel For Business B 3.0

From my understanding, it is possible to transfer in almost all credits from external sources, with the Capstone needing to be completed prior to the degree being awarded. I plan to get started first using Saylor Academy or Sophia, then will ascend to SL/Study.com once I've accumulated requirements. I'm just a little lost with choosing the right courses to start with. Any help would be sincerely appreciated. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read over this, and have a great day.

[rachel83az]

Saylor has almost nothing that transfers to TESU for the CS degree. I guess you could do calculus there. I think Sophia's intro to IT fills the slot that Saylor's Intro to Computing would otherwise slot into.

If you take everything at Sophia (except algebra and English composition I), just Sophia gives you about 72 credits towards your degree. For UL credits, you have the following choices:

Systems Analysis & Design 302 (study.com)
Database Management 303 (study.com)
Management Information Systems 303 (study.com)
Computer Architecture 306 (study.com)
Network Technology CMP-354 (TECEP)
Linear Algebra (CooperSmith NCCRS)

You only need to take 5 of them because your capstone counts as UL credit. The rest of your CS electives can come from SDC or StraighterLine.

[Justarandomusername]

Thanks for the advice. I'll get started with Sophia and complete all of the courses on there.

[rachel83az]

Oh, right, forgot... Don't take the Foundations courses or College Readiness. You might have seen this already but it bears repeating. They're not worth credit at TESU and only College Readiness and Foundations of English Composition have some minor merit of their own. But it's stuff you'll find in the other Sophia courses anyway.

[MNomadic]

Saylor has almost nothing that transfers to TESU for the CS degree. I guess you could do calculus there. I think Sophia's intro to IT fills the slot that Saylor's Intro to Computing would otherwise slot into.

If you take everything at Sophia (except algebra and English composition I), just Sophia gives you about 72 credits towards your degree. For UL credits, you have the following choices:

Systems Analysis & Design 302 (study.com)
Database Management 303 (study.com)
Management Information Systems 303 (study.com)
Computer Architecture 306 (study.com)
Network Technology CMP-354 (TECEP)
Linear Algebra (CooperSmith NCCRS)

You only need to take 5 of them because your capstone counts as UL credit. The rest of your CS electives can come from SDC or StraighterLine.

Just curious if you happen to know if the cybersecurity DSST(UL) would work as an UL for the TESU BACS?

[rachel83az]

Just curious if you happen to know if the cybersecurity DSST(UL) would work as an UL for the TESU BACS?

As far as I am aware, it does not. The above courses were the only ones listed when I asked about my own CS degree. I could be wrong, though.

[Justarandomusername]

Oh, right, forgot... Don't take the Foundations courses or College Readiness. You might have seen this already but it bears repeating. They're not worth credit at TESU and only College Readiness and Foundations of English Composition have some minor merit of their own. But it's stuff you'll find in the other Sophia courses anyway.

Thanks, I'll keep this in mind. I was planning on taking the CLEP exam in lieu of doing ENG 102 towards the end. Also (just curious), how long would it take to complete everything else on Sophia (assuming I put in a few hours a day/took notes)? I know that's probably a tough question to answer due to so many variables, but I'm going to try and get them done ASAP.

[rachel83az]

I did much of Sophia in about a month. Timeline was: start at Sophia, do a couple in the first month. Start dealing with unrelated buracracy. Get sidetracked. Do a few more the second month. Third month, I pushed to finish what was left before the free period ended. I didn't quite succeed, but thankfully I have a year subscription so that I can finish English II later. If you don't have to deal with localized nonsense, 3-4 months is more than sufficient.

[Justarandomusername]

I did much of Sophia in about a month. Timeline was: start at Sophia, do a couple in the first month. Start dealing with unrelated buracracy. Get sidetracked. Do a few more the second month. Third month, I pushed to finish what was left before the free period ended. I didn't quite succeed, but thankfully I have a year subscription so that I can finish English II later. If you don't have to deal with localized nonsense, 3-4 months is more than sufficient.

Perfect--I consider myself to be a "fast learner", so I'll do my best to complete as many as possible, starting with easiest  ascending to hardest. I'm hoping I can do them all in a few months (fingers crossed, almost done with the 1st module in Macroeconomics so far)...thanks again!

[Cofffeee]

Saylor has almost nothing that transfers to TESU for the CS degree. I guess you could do calculus there. I think Sophia's intro to IT fills the slot that Saylor's Intro to Computing would otherwise slot into.

If you take everything at Sophia (except algebra and English composition I), just Sophia gives you about 72 credits towards your degree. For UL credits, you have the following choices:

Systems Analysis & Design 302 (study.com)
Database Management 303 (study.com)
Management Information Systems 303 (study.com)
Computer Architecture 306 (study.com)
Network Technology CMP-354 (TECEP)
Linear Algebra (CooperSmith NCCRS)

You only need to take 5 of them because your capstone counts as UL credit. The rest of your CS electives can come from SDC or StraighterLine.

U need 18 credits of com sci electives, capstone is a separate thing and doesnt knock down 18 credits requirement. So unfortunately it must be 6 UL courses of Com sci courses without Capstone