(05-27-2021, 03:25 PM)bjcheung77 Wrote: The main reason I chose TESU over WGU for Computer Science is because I know how much it will cost and the amount of energy I need to put into my courses, and also know the amount of time or speed to finish these courses.  At WGU, if "life happens" and/or you have other commitments, it will be harder to finish on a schedule, if you can finish in two terms, it'll be cheaper, once you hit three terms, you've paid a bit too much.  Further to that, at TESU, you can transfer in 114 credits and just take the final cornerstone/capstone with TESU, I also know what courses can transfer over, at WGU, it's hard to transfer in the max 90 credits as there are some courses that don't really have equivalents "the alternative way" and then there are some they don't allow to transfer in...

(05-27-2021, 03:56 PM)rachel83az Wrote:

(05-27-2021, 03:42 PM)bluebooger Wrote:

(05-27-2021, 03:09 PM)ss20ts Wrote: ... WGU also has lots of proctored exams. There's so many horror stories about the proctoring. ... They have also been dropping many of the certificates the last couple of years which is a huge bummer.

doesn't TESU also have proctored exams for their courses ?  

I know WGU dropped the Oracle certificate, but that's only because almost no one passed it on the first try and everyone complained how difficult it was LOL

TESU does have proctored exams for their courses but, assuming you transfer in everything, that's just 2 or 3 exams with live proctoring vs. 10+ exams. The courses transferred in from Study.com don't have the same proctor as TESU uses and Sophia (which can be used for much of the degree) has the biometric checking.

(05-27-2021, 03:42 PM)bluebooger Wrote:

(05-27-2021, 03:21 PM)rachel83az Wrote: Another one that hasn't been mentioned in this thread is that WGU apparently has weekly phone check-ins with an advisor. Some people are just not comfortable with that.

doesn't have to be every week              
I do every other week                
and you get to choose the time -- as long as its not 2 am or something like that its fine LOL

and for me, doing a 5 minute phone call is MUCH more preferable than responding to a forum post from the course instructor and then replying to 3 other students's posts

I get that you prefer phone calls but, personally, I'd rather do the forum posts. I hate talking on the phone with the passion of a thousand fiery suns. I can get forum posts done at any time of the day or night, too, without having to set time aside for the call.

I still think forum posts are stupid, though.

(05-27-2021, 04:13 PM)OP88 Wrote: I see. But I don't understand why is it hard to transfer in the max 90 credits? Isn't it as simple as matching the courses in the WGU curriculum to the official credit transfer list of WGU and Sophia/Study/Saylor, fill in the missing ones with qualified IT certifications on the list then I should be able to transfer the 110 credits on this list? https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/BSCS.aspx  . I looked through that whole list and was able to find a matching course/transfer for all. Am I getting this all wrong?

(05-27-2021, 04:43 PM)rachel83az Wrote: TESU uses ProctorU which is a live proctor. Connection issues can hamper having a good experience during the test. When I did Medical Terminology to test out the experience for myself, I could barely hear the proctors, the proctors didn't have the right password to access the TESU exam, and I kept getting kicked out of the proctor system. It was not a fun experience.

Study.com uses a recorded video proctor (RPNow). You don't have to talk to anyone. You scan your ID, you scan your room (to prove you don't have any cheating materials on your walls), and then you get recorded while you take the exam. This video gets uploaded to the RPNow system to be reviewed later. Ideal for slower connections where you have enough bandwidth to upload but not enough to sustain a video call.

I'm not sure what proctor WGU uses but I think it's all live proctoring. I think that (some of) the exams have the option to use a local proctor center instead of doing the exam in your own home, though?

(05-28-2021, 12:02 PM)dfrecore Wrote: WGU didn't used to have a CS degree, so that's going to be part of the issue. It's pretty easy to not choose a degree that isn't available, and once you've started at a particular school, it's hard to kind of start over for somewhere else.

Also, not everyone likes competency-based degrees - I for one wouldn't have done it, even if it was "cheaper" than what I did, because I didn't have money up front to do the degree, nor did I have the time to focus on it for 6 months (I had 2 small kids that I was homeschooling, and a husband that traveled every week - that doesn't leave a lot of "me time" to complete schoolwork). Not everyone is at their best with a deadline looming constantly.

(05-28-2021, 01:30 PM)bjcheung77 Wrote:

(05-28-2021, 12:02 PM)dfrecore Wrote: WGU didn't used to have a CS degree, so that's going to be part of the issue.  It's pretty easy to not choose a degree that isn't available, and once you've started at a particular school, it's hard to kind of start over for somewhere else.

Also, not everyone likes competency-based degrees - I for one wouldn't have done it, even if it was "cheaper" than what I did, because I didn't have money up front to do the degree, nor did I have the time to focus on it for 6 months (I had 2 small kids that I was homeschooling, and a husband that traveled every week - that doesn't leave a lot of "me time" to complete schoolwork).  Not everyone is at their best with a deadline looming constantly.

That's the thing with competency based degrees, it allows someone who has the energy, money, time to get things done at their own pace.  For those of us who have "life happens" moments very often with daily commitments, I think the better option would be the Big 3 where you can transfer in almost everything but the cornerstone and capstone.  Even with the new 30 credit requirements, it gives you a grasp on the total cost, resources, time needed and you have more control over what you can transfer in...

(05-28-2021, 02:17 PM)dfrecore Wrote: A competency-based degree is ONLY cheaper if you can complete it within a certain timeframe.  If you're even 1 class short, you'll be paying for an entire extra term!  Which could easily make that degree more expensive than the previously thought more expensive degree.

(05-28-2021, 04:46 PM)OP88 Wrote: ""but you still have to pay for the courses you're transferring in  
yeah, with Modern States and Sophia the costs of the transfers may not be huge, but even if it's just $50 per credit that's $5700 and even if its just $20 a credits its $2280 
then you still have to pay for the 6 credits at TESU which is $3000"

Ugh this is getting more and more expensive...I'm so new to all this. I'm not aware there is a $50 per credit transfer cost? Is it TESU or Sophia that is charging that? Would I have to pay that per transfer cost too if I'm transferring credits to WGU instead of TESU? How likely would one be able to finish roughly 32 credit hours in 1 WGU term/6 month?