Advice on Bachelor in Computer Science for international student

[joshray]

Hi,

I currently have a 2 year Associate Degree in software development that I completed in Spanish in the Dominican Republic (D.R). I am interested in pursuing a bachelors as fast and cheap as possible, and need some advice on this. I already have many years of work experience in my area and am working full time.

I was initially very interested in WGU, but then found its not for international students. Based on what I read on this forum seems the next best option is TESU. Would they accept credits from my previous studies? I am confused how this works exactly. It seems I have to use a service such as WES to get my Associate Degree evaluated. On TESU website it says on this link: 

We will accept the credit recommendations from one of the following agencies when the recommendations are based on a course by course evaluation and sent on an official foreign credential evaluation to TESU: ...

It specifies in bold, course by course evaluation. If I apply to get my degree evaluated at WES, will it evaluate it on a course by course basis? 

The degree i took contains courses such as Introduction to Programming, PreCalculus, Calculus 1, Calculus 2, Data Structures, Programing 1, Programing 2, Web Development and many other courses that are similar to TESU's courses. What are the chances that these might get accepted by TESU?

TESU has 2 types of degrees related to my area:
- BA Computer Science
- BSBA Computer Information Systems

Which one of these is recommended when perusing speed and low cost?

Finally, is there a better alternative than TESU for an international student as me, considering speed and costs?

I was checking University of the People, but I am not sure if that would be a faster path, might be cheaper. I would greatly appreciate any advice or help.

[rachel83az]

Good news! You can get both the BSBA CIS and the BA Comp Sci for only slightly more time & money than the cost of getting just a single degree! You can get most of what you need for both degrees using courses from Sophia.org and then fill in the rest using Davar and/or Study.com. I haven't done the full math, but I think that there is probably a difference of around $500-1000 to get these two degrees at TESU vs. only getting one or the other.

Once you've got most of your credits transferred to TESU, you'd take a 16-credit term with the following courses:
SOS-110 (required cornerstone course)
BSBA Capstone
BA Capstone
CIS-107 ePack (relatively easy exam required for both the BSBA and BA CS)
CIS-351 Software Engineering (UL course that can be fully completed in 20-30 hours)
PLA-100 (simple 1-course that can be completed in 5-10 hours; only purpose is to bring the number of credits up to 16 so that you don't have to pay the waiver)

You might have to pay for extensions for one or both capstone courses, depending on how quickly you are able to complete the capstone papers, but this is still far cheaper than paying the $3192 residency waiver.

As for your foreign credits, as long as you get them properly evaluated by a valid service (WES, ECE, ACEI, etc.) then there is a good chance that you'd have most, if not all, of the listed courses accepted. This should fulfill the RA/foreign RA-equivalent credit requirement for the BA CS and at least 15-21 RA/foreign RA-equivalent credits for the BSBA CIS (depending on exactly which courses you have). You would need to have your degree evaluated and then see where TESU puts everything before more advice can be given there.

Evaluators allow you to choose between whole degree (slightly cheaper, mainly for employment purposes) and course-by-course (about $200, for school purposes) evaluations. Despite supposedly dealing with foreign credits on a regular basis, certain evaluators are better in certain areas than other evaluation services are. I think that for DR you'd probably want to use SpanTran, but I am not 100% sure about that.

UoPeople cannot easily be accelerated. It may be cheaper, especially if you are able to get a scholarship, but it is not yet regionally accredited. This limits its usability. It also means that the degree may not be as widely accepted in certain countries. If you wanted to immigrate to the US, for instance, a UoPeople is currently all but worthless for that purpose. A degree from TESU (or any other RA college/university) would be fine.

[bjcheung77]

UofP is a good option if you can "handle" the way they do things... for the cost/ease/speed, I would skip them. You can get a BS Comp Science at Bottega for about the same price as UofP and they're both DEAC accredited, which is Nationally accredited vs the Regionally accredited institutions we usually recommend here. I'm usually the one who recommends a double associates/double bachelors degree for those who are younger, without knowing how young you are or when you finished the Associates, I would refrain from getting a double degree just yet, it'll cost you $1557 for an extra capstone alone, plus extra courses on Study.com for the major. You should focus on completing one degree first and look at the second later.

[joshray]

rachel83az thank you so much for the detailed explanation, it was very helpful!

Regarding taking 2 degrees vs 1, I am not that interested in taking 2 at the moment. I was just wondering which degree among those is faster to complete. I suppose it is BA Comp Sci (being similar to my area of study and work)? Or maybe it does not make much of a difference? 

I understand the first step is to get the course by course evaluated on WES or SpanTran. On the wiki it says I should submit the results of the evaluation to each of the Big 3 and see which one accepts more credits, would you recommend that in my case? Or should I just stick to TESU?

How much do you think it will cost me to do the BA Comp Sci degree at TESU? I know you cant give an exact number as it depends on what credits get accepted, but a rough estimate would be nice.

[rachel83az]

If you didn't know which degree you wanted, you'd want to submit your evaluation to all of the schools. But, because you know you want Comp Sci, just stick to TESU.

Approximate costs are:
$250 for Sophia
$1000 for Study.com (may be slightly more or less depending on various factors)
$45 for American Government @ InstantCert
$4640 for a single 16-credit term at TESU
TOEFL exam fee
$300 for English Comp I & II TECEPs - You could do English Comp at Sophia, but the TECEPs are quicker and easier than just about anything. The CLEP Modular is also a possibility, but you might not have access to that from outside of the US.
$200 SpanTran evaluation

That should be most of your costs, could be slightly more or less depending on exactly how your evaluation comes in.

[joshray]

Thank you so much for the valuable information!

I will get back after I get the SpanTran evaluation and feedback from TESU.

Regarding sending my SpanTran evaluation to TESU, do I need to pay something in advance? Would I also need to take the TOEFL exam before that, or can it be done after the evaluation?

[Cofffeee]

Thank you so much for the valuable information!

I will get back after I get the SpanTran evaluation and feedback from TESU.

Regarding sending my SpanTran evaluation to TESU, do I need to pay something in advance? Would I also need to take the TOEFL exam before that, or can it be done after the evaluation?

TOEFL or RA Eng Com 1 must be submitted during your application. U will not be accepted unless u provide TOEFL. U can submit ur evaluation any time. But u cant submit it unless u r accepted . So TOEFL  is a priority,  without it ur evaluation will be just evaluation.

[rachel83az]

Step 1: Get SpanTran evaluation going. They will want you to pay the $200 for the course-by-course evaluation up front before they'll begin the evaluation.
Step 2: Sign up for the TOEFL OR I forgot that you could sign up for ASU's self-paced English Comp I, as Cofffeee suggests. https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Ar...al_Learner I think that the $425 would be only slightly more (or about the same as) paying for the English Comp I TECEP + TOEFL exam. There are cheaper options for English Comp I from other schools, but ASU is probably the easiest for international students to access. Unlike many other schools, they don't require TOEFL scores before they'll allow you to take these courses. They also don't require proof of graduation (in the form of a SpanTran evaluation). Just sign up, confirm your identity, and go.
Step 3: Once you have your TOEFL score OR your English Comp I grade from ASU, apply to TESU properly. You will need to pay a $50 application fee to TESU.
Step 4: Pay another $50 to sign up for the Medical Terminology TECEP (and don't take it) OR spend $150 to sign up for English Comp II TECEP (take this one). This will get you to fully enrolled status, unlocking unlimited evaluations at TESU.

[joshray]

awesome! As always thank you for the very detailed information.

[joshray]

Hi, I have another question.

In the meantime while I am trying to get accepted at TESU and organize other documents, could I already start taking some study.com or sophia courses? Which ones would you recommend?