Two Bachelor's Degrees Planning Advice

[shiningnightsky]

I'm not sure if there's a new member thread to post in, but hello! I've been lurking around this site for the past year and I wanted to finally dive in. I hope with this post I can also help someone like me looking for a sign to keep pushing and get that degree. :)

Your Location: Louisiana, United States
Your Age: 24
What kind of degree do you want?: Bachelors in Communications & Bachelors in Computer Science
Current Regional Accredited Credits:
University of New Orleans (35 Credits)
FIAR 1*** Drawing 1
MATH 1*** Survey Math Thought (Supplemental Math)
MATH 1*** Survey Math Thought (Supplemental Math)
USTY 1001 University Studies
BIOL 1001 General Biology 1
FIAR 1*** Digital Design
FIAR 1551 Basic Design
MATH 1*** Survey Math Thought (Supplemental Math 2)
MATH 1*** Survey Math Thought (Supplemental Math 2)
ENGL 1001 English Composition
FIAR 2440 Hist Survey of Arts
BIOL 1002 General Biology 2
ECON 1*** Financial Literacy
PHIL 2020 Ethics
Delgado Community College (9 Credits)
SOCL 2501 Curr Social Prob
GEOL 1001 Gen Geol: Physical
MUSI 1751 Music Appreciation 1
Louisiana State University at Alexandria (15? Credits)
CMST 2010 Interpersonal Communication
ENGL 1002 English Compostn 2
SOCL 2001 Intro Sociology
CMST 1061 Communication Fund
(Note: Majority of my credits from UNO did not transfer between the other schools, even though I was told they met the same qualifications. Don't know what that means or if that will affect my degree plan.)
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits:
Any certifications or military experience?:
Budget: 10 to 15k is my starting estimate, but cheaper is better! Less than 10k would be amazing...
Commitments: Just a full-time job during the week, and a part-time gig on the weekends.
Dedicated time to study: Realistically about 5 hours a day after work, and ~8 on the weekends.
Timeline: I'd ideally like to be done in less than a year for the first one, and no more than 2 years for the second.
Tuition assistance/reimbursement:

I've already began putting together a plan for my possible Communication Studies degree @ TESU, but I'm running into trouble with filling in the missing core class sources. I enjoy my current school and the program I'm in, but financially (and mentally) I need a degree sooner than later. If I can transfer my credits back to the school to finish my CompSci degree, then I'd consider going back at a later time just to check it off, but if it isn't worth it, then I'll get my 2nd degree at TESU or another school. I would like the path to be open to getting a Master's degree as well later in life, preferably in Computer Science.

I also don't know if I'm able to "start over" in a sense? My grades were barely passing at some point, so if I need to gain credits from scratch, I'm in a much better place to reasonably to so. Thank you all so so much in advance :)

[origamishuttle]

Have you considered the UMPI degree? https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...egree_Plan TESU is easier for a second degree, so you could go for your BACS there. If you follow this route, just make sure you complete your CS-related courses after your UMPI degree is conferred.

[shiningnightsky]

Have you considered the UMPI degree? https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...egree_Plan TESU is easier for a second degree, so you could go for your BACS there. If you follow this route, just make sure you complete your CS-related courses after your UMPI degree is conferred.

My bad, I honestly just clicked the first communications plan I saw on the wiki, but thank you! I've been checking it out and might go with them, so should I go ahead and send in my transcripts to be evaluated? Or do I need to take care of the remaining transfer courses before enrolling?

[origamishuttle]

My bad, I honestly just clicked the first communications plan I saw on the wiki, but thank you! I've been checking it out and might go with them, so should I go ahead and send in my transcripts to be evaluated? Or do I need to take care of the remaining transfer courses before enrolling?

Yes, definitely apply to UMPI YourPace if you're interested. Courses can be transferred at any time, so you can fit them in whenever you have time.

[Mint Berry Crunch]

Have you considered the UMPI degree? https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...egree_Plan TESU is easier for a second degree, so you could go for your BACS there. If you follow this route, just make sure you complete your CS-related courses after your UMPI degree is conferred.

Actually, UMPI would be the easiest for a second degree because you only need to do the 30 credit residency requirement 1 time. After that, you just have to complete whatever courses are needed for the next degree. At UMPI, you don't need to do any extra credits besides whatever you can transfer in. My understanding is that TESU requires 24 credits for an additional bachelors. As for OP, do the BLS now, and wait for the Computer Science degree that is coming to UMPI. Do as many Coursera/Study.com courses as you can that would apply to the degree plan, and you may be able to do the entire degree without doing any additional courses at UMPI. Happy Learning!

[bjcheung77]

Basically, I was thinking along the same lines, but I would do the UMPI BA Communications degree, then come back to do the BA Computer Science degree if they get that up and running soon. In fact, you can do a BA Comm/Journalism plus the BABA with a concentration of your choice if they have the degrees from the same school, even if they change the name to a BBA. I would do a double major then wait for the BA Comp Sci as your second degree...

[shiningnightsky]

Sorry for the late reply, but thank you all for your help! I've been following the simplified gen ed guide on the wiki for UMPI with some adjustments to prep for the future compsci degree. I'll share it soon to see if I should make any edits before I start and enroll. :)

[wow]

Have you considered the UMPI degree? https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...egree_Plan TESU is easier for a second degree, so you could go for your BACS there. If you follow this route, just make sure you complete your CS-related courses after your UMPI degree is conferred.

Actually, UMPI would be the easiest for a second degree because you only need to do the 30 credit residency requirement 1 time. After that, you just have to complete whatever courses are needed for the next degree. At UMPI, you don't need to do any extra credits besides whatever you can transfer in. My understanding is that TESU requires 24 credits for an additional bachelors. As for OP, do the BLS now, and wait for the Computer Science degree that is coming to UMPI. Do as many Coursera/Study.com courses as you can that would apply to the degree plan, and you may be able to do the entire degree without doing any additional courses at UMPI. Happy Learning!

As it currently stands, you do not need 24 additional RA credits for each bachelors, if that's what you mean. You do need to have most of your credits for each major to not overlap--so for example It would be tough to get both a Bachelor of Arts and liberal studies in psychology and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology because too many of the courses overlap. And I believe most of the credits from your new major should not have counted toward your previous degree. But right now I am working toward a BA in psychology and a BA in biology for the same graduation date and there's no issue with that.

That said, the communications degree is very difficult to get from Thomas Edison through alternative credits. I wouldn't recommend it unless they are getting financial assistance through the military or something like that. UMPI is a better choice for people without that type of assistance who are looking for an inexpensive comms degree.