TESU BACS v.s. SNHU BSCS

[npvn2]

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about earning a bachelor degree in CS after several years working as a software engineer. Here is my info:

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Your Location: Vietnam
Your Age: 30
What kind of degree do you want?: Undergraduate degree in CS
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 0

Previous Credits: I studied at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) but didn't graduate. Here are the courses I finished there:

• Business Statistics   
  
• Business Information Systems    
  
• Database Concepts     
  
• Introduction To Programming     
  
• Mathematics for Computing      
  
• Programming 1       
  
• Software Engineering Fundamentals
  

Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: 0

Certifications or military experience: 0

Work Experience: 9 years of experience working as a software engineer. Currently a lead engineer at a US company.

Main Goal: Earning a bachelor degree in order to pursue a competitive master CS degree in the future.

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My ultimate goal for getting a bachelor degree now is being eligible for a master CS degree at a competitive university in the future. Here are my criteria, from most important to least important:

• Must be a CS degree (most important).
  
• The degree doesn't take too long to finish (less than 2 years, ideally 1 year).
  
• The cost is reasonable (less than $10k is good, although more is still ok).
  
• The knowledge and skills I can learn in the program are significant (least important).
  

I've done some research and it seems that there're two schools that are frequently recommended: TESU and SNHU. Here are my questions:

1) Given my background and goal, which school do you think is better for me? I'd love to hear more insights into each school. If there're other schools you think I should consider, please feel free to mention them too.

2) I have a belief that, in order to prepare for a competitive master CS degree in the future, I should make sure the essential CS subjects in my bachelor degree are GPA-graded rather than just "passing" credits (transferred from external sources). This means I should study those subjects with the university itself rather than study them elsewhere and transfer credits in. This also means, in the case of TESU, all of my RA credits should better be earned from CS subjects studied directly with TESU. Is my thinking correct?

3) Is the Prior Learning Assessment at TESU worth a try for me?

Thank you!

[rachel83az]

1) First thing's first: you'll want to get your prior coursework graded so you know how many American credits they are. TESU requires at least 30 RA credits, but you can transfer in almost all of the degree (up to 114 transfer credits). SNHU has no specific RA requirement, but you're only permitted to transfer in 90 credits out of 120.

SNHU is $320/credit, so you'd be paying at least $9600 just to SNHU. This doesn't count the cost of courses you'd also want to take at Study.com, Sophia, etc. to transfer to SNHU.
If you do a flat-rate-term of 16 credits at TESU, your tuition & fees will be lower than if you only took 6 credits with them. Tuition for a flat-rate term is $4639. Again, this does not count the cost of credits from places like Study.com and Sophia.

2) Not necessarily. Neither school will fully prepare you for a competitive master's degree. At least, not as far as what you learn. Look at the schools you want to go to for a Master's degree and see what coursework they require. Most of them want something like a specific GPA and that you've taken a programming class (for example). You can get that from TESU without taking a lot of classes from them. More specific requirements can be worked around. People have gone on from TESU to attend competitive master's programs in various fields.

3) Probably not, no. It'll be faster, easier, and cheaper to just go through the courses.

[npvn2]

Thanks so much for your prompt reply!

1) From your information, it seems to me that there's no reason to choose SNHU, as choosing TESU is more advantageous in most things.

2) I've reviewed the requirements of a couple of master CS programs I'm interested in, and the general pattern seems to be:

• A minimum GPA
  
• A specific programming language (e.g. C, Java,...)
  
• Math (calculus, probability,...)
  
• Other CS-related subjects:  data structures and algorithms, computer organization, operating systems,...
  

My observation is that, like you mentioned, some requirements of MSCS programs might not be satisfied by TESU's curriculum. For example, if an MSCS program requires knowledge in C++ and probability, then TESU cannot satisfy that as those two subjects aren't in their curriculum.

Some more questions:

2a) By "More specific requirements can be worked around", do you mean when some required subjects cannot be satisfied by TESU's curriculum, I can take extra courses from other universities to make up for them?

2b) Regarding the minimum GPA, I'm still quite confused. My TESU GPA will be determined by the number of subjects I study with them (since transferred credits are not taken into account when calculating GPA). Does this mean I need to make sure I study enough subjects from TESU in order for my GPA to really have value? To put it another way, let's say I only study 6 credits with TESU, will the GPA earned solely from those 6 credits enough to satisfy the minimum GPA requirement of MSCS programs, or will they also look at the grades of the CS subjects I study externally?

2c) When it comes to satisfying MSCS requirements, I'm having the impression that RA credits have more value than non-RA credits. For example, for Calculus, it is better to be fulfilled via a RA source such as TESU or ASU, rather than Study.com or Saylor. Is my thinking correct?

[carrythenothing]

You could ask the programs directly, but I imagine they'll look at your cumulative GPA (all graded college/university classes across all institutions).

[rachel83az]

The great thing about TESU's curriculum is that it's DIY. If you need a specific programming language, you can transfer that in if you find it elsewhere. You can put stats as an elective. Pick 2 or 3 Master's programs to target and go from there.

For prerequisite courses (like Calculus or a specific programming language), they might give slight preference to students who have an RA course with a letter grade over a student who just has pass/fail. But that's not a guarantee. I would get in contact with your schools of choice to find out what they're looking for. Most of them will be quite forthcoming with what they expect.

[LevelUP]

My observation is that, like you mentioned, some requirements of MSCS programs might not be satisfied by TESU's curriculum. For example, if an MSCS program requires knowledge in C++ and probability, then TESU cannot satisfy that as those two subjects aren't in their curriculum.

Some more questions:

2a) By "More specific requirements can be worked around", do you mean when some required subjects cannot be satisfied by TESU's curriculum, I can take extra courses from other universities to make up for them?

TESU does teach C++
https://www2.tesu.edu/course.php?CourseCode=COS-213&sem=
You could take C++ as a part of your TESU Flat-Rate Tuition doing 16 credits in one term for $4600.
Or take C++ at Study.com

SNHU is a good school if you are shooting for a high GPA as 25% of students graduate with a perfect 4.0 GPA and 50% graduate with a 3.5 GPA or better.

TESU, you can earn a high GPA as well. Their exams are usually hard.

It would be best to ask the requirements for these master's programs regarding grades, the minimum number of credits, and any specific courses you should take.

[Ideas]

I think WGU makes more sense than either of these. Flexible, fast, cheap.

[LevelUP]

I think WGU makes more sense than either of these. Flexible, fast, cheap.

Unfortunately, WGU doesn't take international students.

[rachel83az]

Plus, if you're worried about letter grades for admission to a Master's program, WGU doesn't make sense. They don't issue letter grades. It's not always a problem, but it can sometimes be an issue if there is NO GPA of any kind.

[dfrecore]

If you are looking at a competitive master's program, then I think the Big 3 are not your best option; instead, I'd probably choose a school where you'd take 30cr in your major through a school.

In this particular instance, SNHU's BS in CompSci/SW Engineering concentration might be a great fit. They are flexible in accepting credits from other schools, Sophia, Study.com, etc. (they are a Sophia partner so it's a bit easier to see what comes in how, but they will take SDC for 100% certain). $9,600 for 30cr there.

Franklin University also allows you to bring in 90cr of RA, NA & ACE; and they have a BSCS degree; I think between Sophia and SDC, you should be good for 90cr. $10,746 for 30cr includes SL scholarship (need to take 4 SL courses to get 10% off)

UMGC is also a good fit, as they have a BSCS, and are partners with Sophia and SDC; I know they allow a full 90cr from SDC, even though they normally only allow 70cr from CC/Alt-credit combined (not sure if they have the same deal with Sophia, or what happens if you have some Sophia and other credit already). $11,227 for 30cr which includes the 25% discount for bringing in an OnlineDegree course.

Wilmington University has a BSCS; I know far less about them though in terms of what you can bring in, but they are a Sophia partner. $11,700 for 30cr.