BOG AAS v TESU ASNSM CS

[allvia]

Man, you're really, really good at this! So, here's the mostly finalized game plan:

COSC AS General Studies:

44 Onlinedegree.com/Study.com

15 IT Google Support Cert (I'm a SysAdmin with waaay more past this, should be a breeze)

Don't assume that COSC will give you the 15 recommended ACE credits - it has not been evaluated yet (or at least not shared on this forum) and TESU just evaluated it for someone else and they are currently only giving it 3 LL credits!  Each school determines the value for whatever you transfer in - what is valuable at one school may be worthless at another.  This is another good reason that if you do decide to go the associates before bachelor route, that you plan it out for the same school.  You could earn a 60 credit associate from COSC and then decide to go to TESU (in example only) and find you only have 48 usable credits because something like this Google Support Cert example (there other examples, but this one fits your scenerio)

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ACE includes all three tests of the MCSA as a credit, I'm not sure if it's 3 per or 2 per, so it's from 6 to 9. I found another school that counts VCP for Computer Architecture and Networking. for 6 total there, but I'd have to show that as a portfolio credit. That should put me at 15-18 assuming everything transfers.

Get them added to your ACE transcript asap (if you have not already) - https://www2.acenet.edu/credit/?fuseacti...ripts.main

and as you stated you found one school that will take the VCP (and yet others won't) - which goes along with what I said above in the not all things are equal at all schools (even the Big 3 / WGU)

[xicovu]

Man, you're really, really good at this! So, here's the mostly finalized game plan:

COSC AS General Studies:

44 Onlinedegree.com/Study.com

15 IT Google Support Cert (I'm a SysAdmin with waaay more past this, should be a breeze)

Don't assume that COSC will give you the 15 recommended ACE credits - it has not been evaluated yet (or at least not shared on this forum) and TESU just evaluated it for someone else and they are currently only giving it 3 LL credits!  Each school determines the value for whatever you transfer in - what is valuable at one school may be worthless at another.  This is another good reason that if you do decide to go the associates before bachelor route, that you plan it out for the same school.  You could earn a 60 credit associate from COSC and then decide to go to TESU (in example only) and find you only have 48 usable credits because something like this Google Support Cert example (there other examples, but this one fits your scenerio)

I'll have to contact them and see what they can do. What about my thought of matching up LL electives to WGU, which should be pretty straightforward between SL/SD/Sayl/OnlineDegree? Specifically :
Introduction to IT
Business of IT - Applications
Network and Security - Foundations
Web Development Foundations
Scripting and Programming - Foundations
Data Management - Foundations

Which is 20 or so credits. From WGU's perspective, it may be a de facto A.S. Info Tech degree and then I can find 30 more credits to potentially knock out, only going to WGU for the most important certs for the last 30. Thoughts?

[dfrecore]

What you think courses "should" count as, and what a school will bring them in as, may be vastly different. I would apply and see what they'll give you before going forward.

I'm guessing that with your years of experience, you'd be better off at WGU going for a BS in Cloud Systems & Engineering. If so, you'd want to do the A+ certifications through WGU-Academy (not WGU itself) and you'd pay $150/mo for the courses, and get the certs for free. A great deal if you can finish in a month, as all of WGU's IT degrees require that. They also take certs. VCP-DCV is 1 course (3cr), Google IT is 1 course (3cr), AWS has 2 courses, etc.

You might be able to get that degree, faster and cheaper, than the COSC or TESU AA/AS degrees (considering that you'll have to take a 12-week cornerstone course at TESU, and not sure how long the COSC cornerstone is, at least 8 weeks).

https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/BSCLSA.aspx

[xicovu]

What you think courses "should" count as, and what a school will bring them in as, may be vastly different.  I would apply and see what they'll give you before going forward.

I'm guessing that with your years of experience, you'd be better off at WGU going for a BS in Cloud Systems & Engineering.  If so, you'd want to do the A+ certifications through WGU-Academy (not WGU itself) and you'd pay $150/mo for the courses, and get the certs for free.  A great deal if you can finish in a month, as all of WGU's IT degrees require that.  They also take certs. VCP-DCV is 1 course (3cr), Google IT is 1 course (3cr), AWS has 2 courses, etc.

You might be able to get that degree, faster and cheaper, than the COSC or TESU AA/AS degrees (considering that you'll have to take a 12-week cornerstone course at TESU, and not sure how long the COSC cornerstone is, at least 8 weeks).

https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/BSCLSA.aspx

The appeal of NOT doing all of it at WGU is I sometimes have to stop doing school for months at a time with no warning to study or learn new things, or travel. Doing it piece meal via these other ACE sources and turning it into an AS at COSC gives me that latitude. My work uses a "matrix" for internal promotions, raises, etc, so even an AS is going to help me out quickly. I do agree the WGU Cloud Sys Admin course is what I should get, I'd just like to get as close to 90 outside of the pre-paid term as possible.

As for the classes LL computer classes to make my de facto AS IT degree, I lined all of those up with the transfer requirements from WGU. That would leave 15 "real" credits at WGU + portfolio/capstone.

All that make sense?

[dfrecore]

What you think courses "should" count as, and what a school will bring them in as, may be vastly different.  I would apply and see what they'll give you before going forward.

I'm guessing that with your years of experience, you'd be better off at WGU going for a BS in Cloud Systems & Engineering.  If so, you'd want to do the A+ certifications through WGU-Academy (not WGU itself) and you'd pay $150/mo for the courses, and get the certs for free.  A great deal if you can finish in a month, as all of WGU's IT degrees require that.  They also take certs. VCP-DCV is 1 course (3cr), Google IT is 1 course (3cr), AWS has 2 courses, etc.

You might be able to get that degree, faster and cheaper, than the COSC or TESU AA/AS degrees (considering that you'll have to take a 12-week cornerstone course at TESU, and not sure how long the COSC cornerstone is, at least 8 weeks).

https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/BSCLSA.aspx

The appeal of NOT doing all of it at WGU is I sometimes have to stop doing school for months at a time with no warning to study or learn new things, or travel. Doing it piece meal via these other ACE sources and turning it into an AS at COSC gives me that latitude. My work uses a "matrix" for internal promotions, raises, etc, so even an AS is going to help me out quickly. I do agree the WGU Cloud Sys Admin course is what I should get, I'd just like to get as close to 90 outside of the pre-paid term as possible.

As for the classes LL computer classes to make my de facto AS IT degree, I lined all of those up with the transfer requirements from WGU. That would leave 15 "real" credits at WGU + portfolio/capstone.

All that make sense?

I don't think WGU does "de facto" anything.  You either have an AA/AS or you don't.  They will take the courses you do have and apply them on a course-by-course basis to the degree.

Also, WGU requires you to take 30cr there (25% of the degree).

Yes, you should definitely get 90cr complete before you enroll there.  But what I was saying is that it might actually be faster AND cheaper to get a BS at WGU than an AA at one of the other schools.  Remember that you're going to be taking a cornerstone course for at least 8-12 weeks for the AA.  In that time, you might be able to complete your WGU courses for a BS.

[allvia]

The appeal of NOT doing all of it at WGU is I sometimes have to stop doing school for months at a time with no warning to study or learn new things, or travel. Doing it piece meal via these other ACE sources and turning it into an AS at COSC gives me that latitude. My work uses a "matrix" for internal promotions, raises, etc, so even an AS is going to help me out quickly. I do agree the WGU Cloud Sys Admin course is what I should get, I'd just like to get as close to 90 outside of the pre-paid term as possible.

As for the classes LL computer classes to make my de facto AS IT degree, I lined all of those up with the transfer requirements from WGU. That would leave 15 "real" credits at WGU + portfolio/capstone.

All that make sense?

I do think you should earn all the credits you can (90) before enrolling in WGU (you must complete 30 at WGU) - and yes a generic  associates at COSC could likely be earned in route at a reasonable cost.  Plan for what works at WGU and then work backwards to an associates through COSC; as it seems quite clear you want that associates degree first (but keep in mind it doesn't really help much on the resume as far as applying for jobs in the first place  when it comes to "checking the box" that requires a bachelors - this 'check the box' goal is in fact what drove many, if not most, of us to this forum in the first place).

You can transfer in credits to WGU as often as you wish once you apply (so get a few earned before applying), but you cannot transfer any more in once you enroll. ACE only for WGU, no NCCRS (such as onlinedegree.com).

Now as far as your concern with WGU about suddenly not being able to complete courses - you will likely be surprised by how few courses you'd have to complete within the 6 month term in order to be eligible to use your tuition reimbursement.  You would not have to complete everything in 6 months (but if time allowed in your schedule you could); and WGU can help you with what your minimum completion requirement is - they work with people all the time that use tuition reimbursement.  Also, if you had already brought in all the Gen Eds and such the courses you would be working on at WGU would be based the technical subject areas (not the boring 'fluff' of the required of the gen eds), so you'd likely move pretty quickly - meeting your tuition reimbursement requirements while still moving forward towards earning your bachelor. That bachelors degree (with new IT certifications along the way as a WGU bonus!) which results in  the  magical ability of even just applying for jobs that you had not been able to prior because you were not able to 'check the box' of holding a degree.

[xicovu]

The appeal of NOT doing all of it at WGU is I sometimes have to stop doing school for months at a time with no warning to study or learn new things, or travel. Doing it piece meal via these other ACE sources and turning it into an AS at COSC gives me that latitude. My work uses a "matrix" for internal promotions, raises, etc, so even an AS is going to help me out quickly. I do agree the WGU Cloud Sys Admin course is what I should get, I'd just like to get as close to 90 outside of the pre-paid term as possible.

As for the classes LL computer classes to make my de facto AS IT degree, I lined all of those up with the transfer requirements from WGU. That would leave 15 "real" credits at WGU + portfolio/capstone.

All that make sense?

I do think you should earn all the credits you can (90) before enrolling in WGU (you must complete 30 at WGU) - and yes a generic  associates at COSC could likely be earned in route at a reasonable cost.  Plan for what works at WGU and then work backwards to an associates through COSC; as it seems quite clear you want that associates degree first (but keep in mind it doesn't really help much on the resume as far as applying for jobs in the first place  when it comes to "checking the box" that requires a bachelors - this 'check the box' goal is in fact what drove many, if not most, of us to this forum in the first place).

You can transfer in credits to WGU as often as you wish once you apply (so get a few earned before applying), but you cannot transfer any more in once you enroll. ACE only for WGU, no NCCRS (such as onlinedegree.com).

Now as far as your concern with WGU about suddenly not being able to complete courses - you will likely be surprised by how few courses you'd have to complete within the 6 month term in order to be eligible to use your tuition reimbursement.  You would not have to complete everything in 6 months (but if time allowed in your schedule you could); and WGU can help you with what your minimum completion requirement is - they work with people all the time that use tuition reimbursement.  Also, if you had already brought in all the Gen Eds and such the courses you would be working on at WGU would be based the technical subject areas (not the boring 'fluff' of the required of the gen eds), so you'd likely move pretty quickly - meeting your tuition reimbursement requirements while still moving forward towards earning your bachelor. That bachelors degree (with new IT certifications along the way as a WGU bonus!) which results in  the  magical ability of even just applying for jobs that you had not been able to prior because you were not able to 'check the box' of holding a degree.

A large majority of IT jobs count "experience" by treating 2 years of school to 2-4 years experience. With 7 years experience, that pushes me past the decade mark. I needed 6 years to qualify for my current job, but with an AS it would of been 3. I just don't see me having the bandwidth to cover all the material in a B.S. even over the next year. Even with the AS i was anticipating 1 year with only a couple hours a week. The majority of WGU cert's are worthless as far as hiring mangers go. Only the big name certs (AWS, VMWare, MCSE, CCNA/P) are actually going to matter.

How much time are people dedicating a day to finish WGU quickly?

---

The appeal of NOT doing all of it at WGU is I sometimes have to stop doing school for months at a time with no warning to study or learn new things, or travel. Doing it piece meal via these other ACE sources and turning it into an AS at COSC gives me that latitude. My work uses a "matrix" for internal promotions, raises, etc, so even an AS is going to help me out quickly. I do agree the WGU Cloud Sys Admin course is what I should get, I'd just like to get as close to 90 outside of the pre-paid term as possible.

As for the classes LL computer classes to make my de facto AS IT degree, I lined all of those up with the transfer requirements from WGU. That would leave 15 "real" credits at WGU + portfolio/capstone.

All that make sense?

I do think you should earn all the credits you can (90) before enrolling in WGU (you must complete 30 at WGU) - and yes a generic  associates at COSC could likely be earned in route at a reasonable cost.  Plan for what works at WGU and then work backwards to an associates through COSC; as it seems quite clear you want that associates degree first (but keep in mind it doesn't really help much on the resume as far as applying for jobs in the first place  when it comes to "checking the box" that requires a bachelors - this 'check the box' goal is in fact what drove many, if not most, of us to this forum in the first place).

You can transfer in credits to WGU as often as you wish once you apply (so get a few earned before applying), but you cannot transfer any more in once you enroll. ACE only for WGU, no NCCRS (such as onlinedegree.com).

Now as far as your concern with WGU about suddenly not being able to complete courses - you will likely be surprised by how few courses you'd have to complete within the 6 month term in order to be eligible to use your tuition reimbursement.  You would not have to complete everything in 6 months (but if time allowed in your schedule you could); and WGU can help you with what your minimum completion requirement is - they work with people all the time that use tuition reimbursement.  Also, if you had already brought in all the Gen Eds and such the courses you would be working on at WGU would be based the technical subject areas (not the boring 'fluff' of the required of the gen eds), so you'd likely move pretty quickly - meeting your tuition reimbursement requirements while still moving forward towards earning your bachelor. That bachelors degree (with new IT certifications along the way as a WGU bonus!) which results in  the  magical ability of even just applying for jobs that you had not been able to prior because you were not able to 'check the box' of holding a degree.

A large majority of IT jobs count "experience" by treating 2 years of school to 2-4 years experience. With 7 years experience, that pushes me past the decade mark. I needed 6 years to qualify for my current job, but with an AS it would of been 3. I just don't see me having the bandwidth to cover all the material in a B.S. even over the next year. Even with the AS i was anticipating 1 year with only a couple hours a week. The majority of WGU cert's are worthless as far as hiring mangers go. Only the big name certs (AWS, VMWare, MCSE, CCNA/P) are actually going to matter.

How much time are people dedicating a day to finish WGU quickly?

I just can't wrap my head around the idea of being able to get an AWS SysOps cert alone in 3 months, let alone a BS. And then people that need to learn VMware, Azure, all these other things I just can't see how it's humanly possible for people to finish something like this so fast.

[dfrecore]

[quote pid='303325' dateline='1581464792']

A large majority of IT jobs count "experience" by treating 2 years of school to 2-4 years experience. With 7 years experience, that pushes me past the decade mark. I needed 6 years to qualify for my current job, but with an AS it would of been 3. I just don't see me having the bandwidth to cover all the material in a B.S. even over the next year. Even with the AS i was anticipating 1 year with only a couple hours a week. The majority of WGU cert's are worthless as far as hiring mangers go. Only the big name certs (AWS, VMWare, MCSE, CCNA/P) are actually going to matter.

How much time are people dedicating a day to finish WGU quickly?

I just can't wrap my head around the idea of being able to get an AWS SysOps cert alone in 3 months, let alone a BS. And then people that need to learn VMware, Azure, all these other things I just can't see how it's humanly possible for people to finish something like this so fast.
[/quote]

Most people on this forum who are doing WGU already have many years of experience, so they are coming in with certs and knowledge.  Meaning they aren't learning VMware from scratch, they already have a cert, or have used the product, or whatever.

My husband worked at VMWare for a long time, and has a couple of certs, and then went and got his AWS cert.  He had a CCNA previously, he could probably study for it before starting at WGU.  He'd probably get his A+ Cert through WGU-Academy ($150/mo) so that it wouldn't slow him down once he was enrolled.  He'd figure out which 30cr to get the most quickly at WGU, then get everything else other ways, and probably finish well before the 6months was over.

[xicovu]

[quote pid='303325' dateline='1581464792']

A large majority of IT jobs count "experience" by treating 2 years of school to 2-4 years experience. With 7 years experience, that pushes me past the decade mark. I needed 6 years to qualify for my current job, but with an AS it would of been 3. I just don't see me having the bandwidth to cover all the material in a B.S. even over the next year. Even with the AS i was anticipating 1 year with only a couple hours a week. The majority of WGU cert's are worthless as far as hiring mangers go. Only the big name certs (AWS, VMWare, MCSE, CCNA/P) are actually going to matter.

How much time are people dedicating a day to finish WGU quickly?

I just can't wrap my head around the idea of being able to get an AWS SysOps cert alone in 3 months, let alone a BS. And then people that need to learn VMware, Azure, all these other things I just can't see how it's humanly possible for people to finish something like this so fast.

Most people on this forum who are doing WGU already have many years of experience, so they are coming in with certs and knowledge.  Meaning they aren't learning VMware from scratch, they already have a cert, or have used the product, or whatever.

My husband worked at VMWare for a long time, and has a couple of certs, and then went and got his AWS cert.  He had a CCNA previously, he could probably study for it before starting at WGU.  He'd probably get his A+ Cert through WGU-Academy ($150/mo) so that it wouldn't slow him down once he was enrolled.  He'd figure out which 30cr to get the most quickly at WGU, then get everything else other ways, and probably finish well before the 6months was over.
[/quote]

I think I'm going to pass on WGU. I've got years of experience and I'm a VMWare/Nutanix Hyperconverged Admin and I've worked Ops for a large cloud provider. Even still, the AWS Solution Architect would be difficult. AWS SysOps is one of hardest even for AWS folks with years under there belt. Add an Azure Admin. Associate cert on that and there's no way it humanly possible to do that quick & effectively. Years of experience won't matter when they're asking small, ever changing details for 3 essentially disparate technologies .

Any hiring manager that see that many certs on someones resume that fast is not going to take you seriously and that's why WGU is a waste to me. I'd rather have an Architect cert in Azure/AWS/VMware or other specialization instead of wasting neurons on all three.

If others can pull it off and make it work for them, go for it. It's not for me. Those certs won't help, and may harm, your prospects in the interview. I'd leave all but the most prestigious off of my resume. My plan is COSC. I've got a call with admissions today to see if they can give me a customized degree tuned to my specialization in my role and industry: BIS Industrial Automation/Info Systems/Logistics or some similar combination and have a dual purpose degree.

[bluebooger]

go for the COSC AS instead.  Equally easy & fast, but cheaper.  You just need to take 1 course from them, the Cornerstone which is an easy A.  

have you done the cornerstone ?                  
it looks extremely boring 
https://www.charteroak.edu/bb/syllabi/id...llabus.php

and all the "peer" work would aggravate me 

11: Engage in the process of peer review to produce a research paper draft and revision in which feedback from others is incorporated in a way that improves the overall quality of the work.
12: Incorporate feedback from peers and instructor to revise a research paper.

I guess its something I'd just have to power through, but I would hate every minute of it

that's why I'm considering WGU instead of Charter Oak for a bachelors -- no ridiculous peer stuff or forum question/responses