Looking for help with getting WGU CS credit before starting

[muu9]

Looking to get as much WGU credit as possible before starting.

CLEP credit: (I can get more via modernstates.org and my local CC)
College Comp, Calculus, Chemistry, Psychology, Sociology

AP Credit:
AP Biology (4)

College credit:
Intro stats (A), Honors Chem 1 (D), Honors Physics 1 ©, currently enrolled in general chemistry and intro to computer science at my local CC. I should get grades around May, but they're both likely to be a C or better.

Here are my questions:
Is the degree plan from the wiki accurate?
Are there any WGU courses which are (in)famous for being time-consuming or hard to pass which I should prioritize getting from study.com or sophia?
Is it reasonable for me to complete all of my Sophia credits on 2 months or should I get the 4 month subscription?
Why does the wiki suggest doing Sophia courses without touchstones? Why not be enrolled in one with and one without, so that you can work on the self-paced course(s) while waiting for your touchstones to grade?
I noticed some credits (like intro to humanities) might be taken care of with a CLEP exam, but that isn't listed in the degree plan. Can someone explain why that is?

[LevelUP]

Looking to get as much WGU credit as possible before starting.

CLEP credit: (I can get more via modernstates.org and my local CC)
College Comp, Calculus, Chemistry, Psychology, Sociology No, forget CLEP, there are quicker and easier options.

AP Credit:
AP Biology (4)

College credit:
Intro stats (A), Honors Chem 1 (D), Honors Physics 1 ©, currently enrolled in general chemistry and intro to computer science at my local CC. I should get grades around May, but they're both likely to be a C or better.

Here are my questions:
Is the degree plan from the wiki accurate? Yes, you could still double check using this tool here:
https://partners.wgu.edu/

Are there any WGU courses which are (in)famous for being time-consuming or hard to pass which I should prioritize getting from study.com or sophia? Yes Calculus, Computer Arch., Discrete Math are some. I would max out your transfer credits. 

Is it reasonable for me to complete all of my Sophia credits on 2 months or should I get the 4 month subscription? 2 months is enough time to do the 9 Sophia courses. Start with Sophia.

Why does the wiki suggest doing Sophia courses without touchstones? Why not be enrolled in one with and one without, so that you can work on the self-paced course(s) while waiting for your touchstones to grade? Do one course with touchstones such as English comp, then other without. You can ask Sophia to open a 3rd course but that's usually not needed. 

I noticed some credits (like intro to humanities) might be taken care of with a CLEP exam, but that isn't listed in the degree plan. Can someone explain why that is? As stated before, forget CLEP, stick with Sophia. But to find other courses, use this tool: https://partners.wgu.edu/

Computer Science is different from a liberal arts type of degree or a business degree.

You really have to be careful where and how you take each course, or you could end up falling down a rabbit hole, such as the case with Calculus, where some students take multiple months to complete just that one course because they took the hardest route possible.

All the time adds up. For example, 5 or 10hrs saved here and there for each course adds up when doing 20+ courses.

[bluebooger]

https://www.reddit.com/r/WGU_CompSci/

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

https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...142&pid=86#

https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...769&pid=86

https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...062&pid=86

https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...753&pid=86

do calculus through straighterline -- they let you use a graphing calculator
https://www.straighterline.com/online-co...alculus-i/

https://www.straighterline.com/online-co...lculus-ii/

I did composition through WGU -- it was pretty easy -- I could have done it in 3 or 4 days if i had put in the effort (stopped playing video games)
they basically give you a rubric that you follow -- your first assignment is
student has introduction paragraph - check
student describes one event in their life that helped develop their literacy skills - check
student has one summary paragraph - check

I think i wrote a page and a half double spaced about how i liked going to the library as a kid

paper #2 -- write about a favorite tv show or book or movie
follow same rubric as above -- Murdoch Mysteries is a great tv show because ...

paper was 3 was a research paper -- your choice of topics
ridiculously easy -- just google "are covid vaccinations effective" -- then copy and paste a paragraph from a .gov site, a .edu site and from a newspaper site
now edit the paragraphs so you can get past the plagiarizing checker
throw in a simple intro and summary and you're done

paper 4 is a "convince" paper
basically just rewrite paper 3 to convince people to get the vaccine
paper 4 was barely different from paper 3

I got an award of "excellence and recognition" for papers 3 and 4 LOL

you're papers just have to follow the rubric outline and have citations
ridiculously easy

[dfrecore]

Are you saying you already have the credits you listed? And you did not say if any of your sciences have a lab component, which you need. You also did not put the number of credits each course is worth (or at least, not the CC ones). That's important.

The problem with WGU is they use very few Gen Ed credits.

Here's where your credits would come in:
CLEP College Comp - will fulfill English Comp
CLEP Calculus - will fulfill Calculus
CLEP Psychology - will fulfill Geography
CLEP Sociology - nowhere to go
AP Biology - will fulfill Integrated Physical Sciences & Lab (if it's a lab)
Honors Physics 1 - will fulfill Integrated Physical Sciences & Lab (if it's a lab)
General Chemistry - will fulfill Integrated Physical Sciences & Lab (if it's a lab)
*only 1 of these sciences will work, the rest you will "lose"
CLEP Chemistry - duplicate
Intro stats - will fulfill Stats
Intro to Computer Science - don't need this
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FYI, when I stick your credits into a TESU degree plan for the BACS, you actually come out ahead of WGU. You need a lot of the same things, so you might consider getting the credits you need for WGU GE, and then figuring out if you're better off switching to TESU with a single 16cr term instead.

Both need Oral Comm, so you could take Public Speaking for that to cover both
Both need Ethics, you could take the Ethics in Technology DSST exam to cover both
Both need civics, American Government CLEP covers both (or ICC)
Both need Humanities, the A&I Lit CLEP is good there; or else an easy Sophia course
TESU needs a history and 2 socsci/hist/hum courses in addition, which are easy enough to get later
Then tings that are duplicate in the major that would cover both.

Then you can see what it would take to finish at both schools. I think you may enjoy TESU more. And the price may be similar.

[ss20ts]

Which WGU degree?

[muu9]

Which WGU degree?

Computer Science

---

Are you saying you already have the credits you listed?  And you did not say if any of your sciences have a lab component, which you need.  You also did not put the number of credits each course is worth (or at least, not the CC ones).  That's important.

The problem with WGU is they use very few Gen Ed credits.

Here's where your credits would come in:
CLEP College Comp - will fulfill English Comp
CLEP Calculus - will fulfill Calculus
CLEP Psychology - will fulfill Geography
CLEP Sociology - nowhere to go
AP Biology - will fulfill Integrated Physical Sciences & Lab (if it's a lab)
Honors Physics 1 - will fulfill Integrated Physical Sciences & Lab (if it's a lab)
General Chemistry - will fulfill Integrated Physical Sciences & Lab (if it's a lab)
*only 1 of these sciences will work, the rest you will "lose"
CLEP Chemistry - duplicate
Intro stats - will fulfill Stats
Intro to Computer Science - don't need this
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FYI, when I stick your credits into a TESU degree plan for the BACS, you actually come out ahead of WGU.  You need a lot of the same things, so you might consider getting the credits you need for WGU GE, and then figuring out if you're better off switching to TESU with a single 16cr term instead.

Both need Oral Comm, so you could take Public Speaking for that to cover both
Both need Ethics, you could take the Ethics in Technology DSST exam to cover both
Both need civics, American Government CLEP covers both (or ICC)
Both need Humanities, the A&I Lit CLEP is good there; or else an easy Sophia course
TESU needs a history and 2 socsci/hist/hum courses in addition, which are easy enough to get later
Then tings that are duplicate in the major that would cover both.

Then you can see what it would take to finish at both schools.  I think you may enjoy TESU more.  And the price may be similar

Yes I have those creditd I listed. Chemistry is 3 for lecture 1 for lab. Physics was 4 lecture 1 or 2 lab. Intro cs is 3 lecture.
How could TESU be cheaper than WGU when it costs more than 4,600 per semester and WGU costs 3900 per semester? And just curious, why do you think I would like TESU?

---

Amd when you say "you might consider getting the credits you need for WGU GE, and then figuring out if you're better off switching to TESU with a single 16cr term instead."
I would need to cross-check with TESU for each course I take via Sophia/SDC to make sure it transfers to both TESU and WGU?
Are there any spreadsheets that I could copy to make this easier?

[rachel83az]

Very few people are able to do WGU in a single term, so you're most likely looking at $7800+. Unless you're super proficient with CS already. However, with TESU, you can transfer everything BUT a specially-chosen selection of 16 credits, and complete TESU for a cost of $4639 in TESU tuition + SDC/Sophia/CLEP/Davar/Coopersmith/etc. credits.

[bjcheung77]

So may variables at play... You need to decide for yourself, with so less info provided from you, it's hard to determine which would be better - TESU vs WGU. I would look just a few threads above yours as it's part of the sticky, follow the template in this thread: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

---

I quickly skimmed through your previous posts, they're mainly in regards to asking for inexpensive college credit options, it doesn't have much details as per the template. What's mainly missing in the template that I would like more info on is - your budget, experience/job, commitments, time. All of these will determine it's either better to go for one or the other...

[muu9]

So may variables at play... You need to decide for yourself, with so less info provided from you, it's hard to determine which would be better - TESU vs WGU.  I would look just a few threads above yours as it's part of the sticky, follow the template in this thread: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

---

I quickly skimmed through your previous posts, they're mainly in regards to asking for inexpensive college credit options, it doesn't have much details as per the template.  What's mainly missing in the template that I would like more info on is - your budget, experience/job, commitments, time.  All of these will determine it's either better to go for one or the other...

Budget: no hard limit as anything is great when compared to the 30k+ cost of a traditional b&m degree, but cheaper is of course always better.
Experience/job: Part-time as a programmer/data analyst. I use python in my work and my current intro class is in C++. I'm pretty good at CS stuff and am a very good test taker (1500 first SAT attempt, 1580 second attempt)
Commitments: Other than my part time job and miscellaneous errands, basically none as I'm 21 and still living with my parents.
Time: I'd like to get my degree in around 1 to 1.5 years if possible.
Also, my mother works for my local state university which can give me roughly 2-3 RA online state university courses free per semester.

Looking at the TESU degree plan, it seems to have a lot more room for flexibility than the WGU plan. Is it really as flexible as it appears? One issue that might be a snag in TESU's case is the 30 RA credit requirements, which I seem to be confusing with GE credits. Must all RA credits be GE credits as well?

[rachel83az]

Looking at the TESU degree plan, it seems to have a lot more room for flexibility than the WGU plan. Is it really as flexible as it appears?

The UL courses are relatively strict, but only because there aren't many options there. Otherwise, yes, super flexible. As long as you hit the correct number of UL credits and you fill in the required slots, you're good.