For those of you into computer science and technology...

[indigoshuffle]

Kind of bummed. Literally got stress ulcers finishing up the pre reqs and getting them submitted in time just for them to still not be processed, (indexed) by WGU before the deadline. So it looks like I will miss the cut for June 1. ACE lets me know they have been seen, but they are still sitting in somebody's inbox somewhere and haven't been evaluated yet. I called and escalated but got no resolution and their policies are set in stone. The manager said he'd get back to me, but I am doubtful. 

That being said, if I decide to use the financial aid money at TESU, besides the Cornerstone, what course would you recommend I take online at TESU toward a CIS or COS AOS? I am still torn whether to pursue the BALS NSM CIS or BALS COS. But am done with GE, need UL or CIS/COS specific LL courses only now and Capstone. Have zero ULs, was planning to use SDC, but will need to take 3 cr at TESU for (+Cornerstone) for financial aide. Currently taking Intro to Programming at SDC and I know I can take other ULs at SDC, but if you HAD to pick a course at TESU, what would it be?

I'm not going to answer your question directly, as there are others here who are far more knowledgeable regarding anything computer sciences related. Hopefully, bjcheung77 can chime in.
That said, I have a question. Were you not doing registered professional nursing? You can do a lot of what you want within nursing, which is generally regarded as a well-paying profession anyway.

I've changed my tune about computer science bachelor's degree. I think you would significantly reduce your stress if you focus on one thing at a time in school and life. I believe the WGU RN to MSN Informatics program sounds right for you. WGU offers unlimited support—in the form of support groups, Facebook groups, a program mentor, course mentors, course instructor, peer mentors, mental health services—and WGU does their best to make the courses more manageable. You're doing something! Most people are doing nothing in regards to their career growth. You're making progress, and all progress is noble. In my opinion, slow walking is better than no walking.

Another reason I'm changing my tune is that a colleague of mine recently finished their online RN Informatics program and was offered a six-figure position right off the bat, which she turned down!!! 
I now agree with bjcheung77; I think it would be a waste of your time, as a healthcare professional, to do a computer degree at this time. Wait until there is an economic justification for the financial and time expenditures an additional degree would incur.

[cwendy111]

Kind of bummed. Literally got stress ulcers finishing up the pre reqs and getting them submitted in time just for them to still not be processed, (indexed) by WGU before the deadline. So it looks like I will miss the cut for June 1. ACE lets me know they have been seen, but they are still sitting in somebody's inbox somewhere and haven't been evaluated yet. I called and escalated but got no resolution and their policies are set in stone. The manager said he'd get back to me, but I am doubtful. 

That being said, if I decide to use the financial aid money at TESU, besides the Cornerstone, what course would you recommend I take online at TESU toward a CIS or COS AOS? I am still torn whether to pursue the BALS NSM CIS or BALS COS. But am done with GE, need UL or CIS/COS specific LL courses only now and Capstone. Have zero ULs, was planning to use SDC, but will need to take 3 cr at TESU for (+Cornerstone) for financial aide. Currently taking Intro to Programming at SDC and I know I can take other ULs at SDC, but if you HAD to pick a course at TESU, what would it be?

I'm not going to answer your question directly, as there are others here who are far more knowledgeable regarding anything computer sciences related. Hopefully, bjcheung77 can chime in.
That said, I have a question. Were you not doing registered professional nursing? You can do a lot of what you want within nursing, which is generally regarded as a well-paying profession anyway.

I've changed my tune about computer science bachelor's degree. I think you would significantly reduce your stress if you focus on one thing at a time in school and life. I believe the WGU RN to MSN Informatics program sounds right for you. WGU offers unlimited support—in the form of support groups, Facebook groups, a program mentor, course mentors, course instructor, peer mentors, mental health services—and WGU does their best to make the courses more manageable. You're doing something! Most people are doing nothing in regards to their career growth. You're making progress, and all progress is noble. In my opinion, slow walking is better than no walking.

Another reason I'm changing my tune is that a colleague of mine recently finished their online RN Informatics program and was offered a six-figure position right off the bat, which she turned down!!! 
I now agree with bjcheung77; I think it would be a waste of your time, as a healthcare professional, to do a computer degree at this time. Wait until there is an economic justification for the financial and time expenditures an additional degree would incur.

I am an RN, was seeking BSN, but TESU's program wore me down so was trying to get in to WGU for June, but their admission process stalled me out. They have had my AAS transcript for a month, but won't even look at it until the ACE transcripts were received. Now they have them and are too bogged down to do anything with them in time. 3 fricking courses. They also won't allow me to start with those 3 courses pending unless I forfeit them. pandemic be damned. 

I left bedside nursing to work as a Healthcare Analyst Consultant for 10+ yrs without a Bachelors. Took a couple years off for personal reasons and now everybody wants to see a Bachelors. The majority of hospitals want a BSN for nursing jobs, the best paying ones anyway. But any Bachelors will get me a job as an analyst again and analyst jobs pay 6 figures in the NYC Metro area. OBviously, having a IT degree of some sort is best case scenario. Nursing pays well here too, same range especially in specialty areas, but the BSN is just a pain in the ass to get. Bedside nursing is getting to tough for me nowadays. But, nonetheless, I was all amped by WGU, now I'm let down again by policies. I am working now as an RN, but am limited where I can work without the BSN.

I can't get into the MSN program at WGU without a BSN first. And I can't do anything if they don't enroll me! I was only stressed trying to meet their rigid deadline for transcripts prior to enrollment. Otherwise, I was chilling, just taking my alternative credit classes leisurely and cheaply or free.

I have almost $6K to spend in financial aid and can't figure out a way to spend it. At TESU, I switched from RN-BSN to BALS Computer Science OR BALS Natural Science & Math with Computer Info Systems AOS. The Calculus and advanced Chem/Physics scared me out of the BACS. The reqs aren't as heavy in the BALS COS. But that BACS would be my dream degree. Then a Cert in Nursing Informatics maybe. Nursing school so ridiculously paper heavy as if every nurse is going into research. Even the Informatics path is more papers and less IT. It makes no sense. I know this because I have been there in those trenches.

I also don't want to lose momentum, so I am continuing to take courses towards the TESU degree plans. If WGU takes me for June, great, if not I will spend my $ at TESU and may not consider WGU until after I am done with the Capstone. I don't like being in limbo like this. It so isn't cool.

[indigoshuffle]

[quote pid='309205' dateline='1590037216']

I also don't want to lose momentum, so I am continuing to take courses towards the TESU degree plans. If WGU takes me for June, great, if not I will spend my $ at TESU and may not consider WGU until after I am done with the Capstone. I don't like being in limbo like this. It so isn't cool.
[/quote]

I can understand how that feels. I'm sorry they are holding you up. I wonder if there is someone else at WGU you can talk to. I had an easy go at it, in terms of enrolling. But this COVID thing has been challenging for everyone.
Please, tell me. What does a health care analysts do? Is that case management? How do you get into it?

[bluebooger]

just pick WGU Computer Science bachelors and stick with it

stop stressing out about start time and stop with the back and forth of schools and degree plans
you've rushed through to try and start in June and all you've done is given yourself ulcers

if they take in you June, great
if they make you wait until July, so what

if you wait you don't have to be in limbo
just self study for WGU courses that you know you're going to have to take

you know you have to take Discrete Math, so to go youtube and watch some discrete math tutorials
here's some recommended sources for discrete math
https://www.reddit.com/r/WGU/comments/88...h_sources/

here's some other recommended sources for wgu courses
https://www.reddit.com/r/WGU_CompSci/com...emastered/

or go watch some videos on java
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...B45C36D411

or C++
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...e8-JGHa4Kt

the Oracle course is supposed to be killer
so you could spend the next month studying and then when you finally start at wgu the course shouldn't be too hard
https://www.reddit.com/r/WGU_CompSci/com...my_course/

anything you do at TESU at this moment won't have time to transfer to WGU so don't waste time and money doing courses for TESU's program

[indigoshuffle]

just pick WGU Computer Science bachelors and stick with it                      

stop stressing out about start time and stop with the back and forth of schools and degree plans                
you've rushed through to try and start in June and all you've done is given yourself ulcers

if they take in you June, great            
if they make you wait until July, so what

if you wait you don't have to be in limbo            
just self study for WGU courses that you know you're going to have to take                

you know you have to take Discrete Math, so to go youtube and watch some discrete math tutorials  
here's some recommended sources for discrete math
https://www.reddit.com/r/WGU/comments/88...h_sources/

here's some other recommended sources for wgu courses
https://www.reddit.com/r/WGU_CompSci/com...emastered/

or go watch some videos on java
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...B45C36D411

or C++
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...e8-JGHa4Kt

the Oracle course is supposed to be killer
so you could spend the next month studying and then when you finally start at wgu the course shouldn't be too hard
https://www.reddit.com/r/WGU_CompSci/com...my_course/

anything you do at TESU at this moment won't have time to transfer to WGU so don't waste time and money doing courses for TESU's program

I agree with part of this. I think she should stick with WGU. Don't let the enrollment process break you down. Although, she should keep in mind that WGU a has low-cost RN to MSN program in Nursing Informatics.

[cwendy111]

[quote pid='309205' dateline='1590037216']

I also don't want to lose momentum, so I am continuing to take courses towards the TESU degree plans. If WGU takes me for June, great, if not I will spend my $ at TESU and may not consider WGU until after I am done with the Capstone. I don't like being in limbo like this. It so isn't cool.

I can understand how that feels. I'm sorry they are holding you up. I wonder if there is someone else at WGU you can talk to. I had an easy go at it, in terms of enrolling. But this COVID thing has been challenging for everyone.
Please, tell me. What does a health care analysts do? Is that case management? How do you get into it?
[/quote]

Yeah, to be so stoked just to get let down is hard. The WGU RN-Nursing Informatics doesn't require a BSN first actually. It is intriguing, but I am a bit of a commitment phobe, so it's a no for me. I'm leaning back to any degree is better than no degree again. I'm nearing the 100 credit mark. The Capstone will be my new nightmare. lol.

So my job initially was helping out when the latest electronic medical record went live at my hospital back in 2007. Due to failed implementations, there was a desperate need for RNs who were tech savvy. First I worked as a super user for my hospital. No patients, just running around helping people use the computer at work. Then I joined the company that came to help us. Doing "Go-Lives" all over the country. Supporting staff using the system in real time. I ended up advancing into training, then eventually the analyst/programmer side of electronic medical records. I got in just by being younger, computer savvy and ambitious at the time. Made seriously good money, left bedside nursing in the dust. Had some personal problems, and during that time, the market got saturated. The balloon burst for consultants so to speak and the education requirements went up in both fields. So here I am. Trying to set myself apart from the pack. Mid life crisis style. lol. 

If I don't get in WGU for June, they are going back of the bus for now. Going to get this degree at TESU and figure out nursing later. Or not. lol. Who knows, maybe TESU will bring their Nursing program into the future by then. A master's would be nice, but I really don't like homework.

---

just pick WGU Computer Science bachelors and stick with it                      

stop stressing out about start time and stop with the back and forth of schools and degree plans                
you've rushed through to try and start in June and all you've done is given yourself ulcers

if they take in you June, great            
if they make you wait until July, so what

if you wait you don't have to be in limbo            
just self study for WGU courses that you know you're going to have to take                

you know you have to take Discrete Math, so to go youtube and watch some discrete math tutorials  
here's some recommended sources for discrete math
https://www.reddit.com/r/WGU/comments/88...h_sources/

here's some other recommended sources for wgu courses
https://www.reddit.com/r/WGU_CompSci/com...emastered/

or go watch some videos on java
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...B45C36D411

or C++
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...e8-JGHa4Kt

the Oracle course is supposed to be killer
so you could spend the next month studying and then when you finally start at wgu the course shouldn't be too hard
https://www.reddit.com/r/WGU_CompSci/com...my_course/

anything you do at TESU at this moment won't have time to transfer to WGU so don't waste time and money doing courses for TESU's program

I agree with part of this. I think she should stick with WGU. Don't let the enrollment process break you down. Although, she should keep in mind that WGU a has low-cost RN to MSN program in Nursing Informatics.

Hold on there! I was never enrolling in WGU for Computer Science. I was enrolling for RN-BSN. It isnt my passion, I am doing it because I must, which makes it a bitter pill to swallow. The computer degrees referenced are at TESU. The rush is that I have $5900 I have to spend for the June semester or I lose it. Pell Grant and a baby loan to tide me over. After alot of back and forth, I finally decided on WGU as the plan for RN-BSN, only to be stressed out about paperwork. It shouldn't be so hard to give somebody your money especially over a cut and paste RN-BSN evaluation. 

I can admit that I have a problem getting over things and am quite bitter with WGU over their admission process. SO there is a bit of "Screw them" involved, but mostly it is me needing to not lose out on this money as I will not qualify for financial aide 2020-2021. 

So my plan has to evolve to not lose this money. Thus, back to TESU for a BALS degree. I have already started accumulating credits towards the AOS before I jumped ship to WGU. I am very close. I have also def made some mistakes along my degree path. This could be another one, but I have to work with what I have and what I know. 

Thanks for the links, I do plan to take either C++ or Python toward the TESU degrees. I'm currently taking SDC Intro to Programming which is Java based. I have to admit, CS/COS/IT stuff interests me WAY more than the nursing does.

[Hunter91]

What timing for this thread. I am in a very similar predicament. I just finished my RN-BSN at WGU in under two months while working full-time. It's not difficult, but it can be tedious. If you plan on finishing in one term, you need discipline. I'm still waiting for my term to be up because you can't enroll in another program until your current term timeline finishes. Not sure exactly what to do next. I was thinking of enrolling in WGU's MSN in leadership. Why? I guess I have some good momentum right now with work and WGU, and if I don't do it now, I may never do it. I also feel like I can knock it out in one term, so it makes sense financially. However, just like my BSN, my MSN would be out of pocket. Maybe it will help me down the line in my career in 5-10 years, but I'm not sure. I want to get away from the bedside down the road. I have no hospital experience and don't plan on getting any (dislike med-surg). I work as a preop/PACU RN in a specialized surgery center at the moment. I keep hearing that the NP profession is oversaturated unless you want to move to a very rural area (I could be wrong here), so I'm not sure if that is the correct route to go. I've always had an interest in IT, but still trying to find a way to transition. Anyways, this was kind of a ramble, sorry about that. Curious to see how things go for you guys and what you end up doing.

Edit:
The MBA in healthcare management looks interesting to me as well. Not sure how practical it is for career progression. Maybe if I get the MSN first and MBA after? Thoughts?

[cwendy111]

What timing for this thread. I am in a very similar predicament. I just finished my RN-BSN at WGU in under two months while working full-time. It's not difficult, but it can be tedious. If you plan on finishing in one term, you need discipline. I'm still waiting for my term to be up because you can't enroll in another program until your current term timeline finishes. Not sure exactly what to do next. I was thinking of enrolling in WGU's MSN in leadership. Why? I guess I have some good momentum right now with work and WGU, and if I don't do it now, I may never do it. I also feel like I can knock it out in one term, so it makes sense financially. However, just like my BSN, my MSN would be out of pocket. Maybe it will help me down the line in my career in 5-10 years, but I'm not sure. I want to get away from the bedside down the road. I have no hospital experience and don't plan on getting any (dislike med-surg). I work as a preop/PACU RN in a specialized surgery center at the moment. I keep hearing that the NP profession is oversaturated unless you want to move to a very rural area (I could be wrong here), so I'm not sure if that is the correct route to go. I've always had an interest in IT, but still trying to find a way to transition. Anyways, this was kind of a ramble, sorry about that. Curious to see how things go for you guys and what you end up doing.

Edit:
The MBA in healthcare management looks interesting to me as well. Not sure how practical it is for career progression. Maybe if I get the MSN first and MBA after? Thoughts?

Under 2 months!!!!! That is really something. WGU did manage to get me enrolled for June 1. Any tips on getting it done in 1 term? I doubt if I can come close to under 2 months, but I am definitely wanting to be done in one term. What is your secret?

As far as getting into IT, with your education, you are certainly qualified to work as a Clinical Programmer Analyst in any healthcare facility with an electronic medical record. Once you get a year of experience, you can go consulting and get the big bucks. 

[Hunter91]

Under 2 months!!!!! That is really something. WGU did manage to get me enrolled for June 1. Any tips on getting it done in 1 term? I doubt if I can come close to under 2 months, but I am definitely wanting to be done in one term. What is your secret?

As far as getting into IT, with your education, you are certainly qualified to work as a Clinical Programmer Analyst in any healthcare facility with an electronic medical record. Once you get a year of experience, you can go consulting and get the big bucks. 

Thank you, Wendy! I would say it is critical to join the WGU RN to BSN Facebook group and use the search function to locate specific information about each class before beginning so you can hit the ground running.

It is also essential that your student mentor is on board with your plan (you will speak to them once a week on the phone). On your first phone call, tell them you are going to finish this degree in one term, and what that means is they need to open 2-3 classes at a time so that when you upload the last task for a class, you can immediately open another and begin. It takes three days for assignments (also called tasks) to be graded, so you don't want to wait for three days and not be working on another class. If your assignment is sent back, WGU will tell you what is wrong with it, and you highlight your corrections and re-upload it. If you truly want to finish in one term and have the drive to, then your mentor must be on board with you and be supportive. They are the gatekeepers of your educations. Mentors determine how fast or slow you go because they have the power to open classes for you. If your mentor isn't on board you can find a new one.

Remember that WGU is pass/fail. This means the A+ paper that takes you one week gets the same final grade as a C paper that takes you one day. Don't let perfection be the enemy of good. You just need to pass. What this means is writing exactly to the rubric. All of my papers had the rubric sections as headings so that the evaluators knew exactly that this section of writing addressed this section in the rubric. Make it simple for the evaluators. They are grading papers non-stop for hours at a time.

Don't get sent to what is called 'grammar jail'. Use Grammarly and implement it in Microsoft Word so that your grammar in your paper is passable. Papers will also get sent back for poor APA formatting. APA is very important. Many people use PERRLA, Citation Machine (online website), or Citefast (another APA citation website) for formatting and citations. Get your APA correct off the bat. Again, this makes the evaluator's job easier. I submitted several papers where I thought, "wow this is a real steaming pile of doo-doo," Three days later, I surprisingly would get the green pass checkmark.

The writing center is very supportive. Make an appointment with them before submitting your paper and they will literally screen share with you online and comb through your paper to make sure it is grammatically and structurally sound. WGU has many services that will assist you to be successful. Course instructors can be reached through email and over the phone as well if you are struggling with papers. I only consulted a course instructor about twice during the whole program.

Other than that, it takes consistent effort day in and day out. Only have an hour to work on your paper after a long shift? Good, You can work on, for example, section A1 in task 2 in C228 (or whatever course you're working on). After a few weekdays that section will be done and come Saturday, you'll be able to knock out the rest of the work. I took consistent baby steps during the week every day after work for 1-3 hours and then big steps on the weekends (4-8 hours each day). I might have not done school work on one day out of that two month period. Make it a habit and by the third or fourth class, you churn out papers a bit faster and know what the evaluators are looking for.

Your first class will require virtual attendance and there are about 4-5 sessions. This is the only class that requires attendance. If you miss one session (without a valid reason or makeup) then you will have to start over. So make sure to have a functioning webcam (I used the camera on my Macbook) and don't miss those classes You will need a separate webcam for a few classes that require proctoring. The proctor needs to see your work station and instructs you on camera positioning, so a third-party webcam is necessary for those.

[cwendy111]

Thanks for taking your time to post such a lengthy reply. WGU is designed for the people in this forum. So mad ai didn’t do this sooner. Actually, I tried to, but I wasn’t employed in a Clinical area at the time and it was mandatory then. I have joined the FB forum and have started lurking around. Lots of people in the June group taking pre reqs they could’ve easily completed on Sophia. What a waste! I stupidly missed that I needed a Humanities course. They declined my Ethics and Digital Arts course, so I have to take their Humanities class. ?

I am petrified of the whole APA format thing. Your advice was much appreciated. I am ultra motivated to get this thing done and  will make sure my mentor is onboard.

Loving the “pass is a pass” focus. Nobody will ever see that A+ you worked 2 months for. Was bio chemistry awful? I saw you posted some concerns about it before.

Still am stunned you did it in 2 months. Just WOW!! If I get discouraged, can I PM you?