Starting fresh at mid 30s: Computer Science

[ff01010]

Your Location: North Carolina, USA
Your Age: 35
What kind of degree do you want?: Computer Science
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 0
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits:

I've done a lot of courses at sophia.org that would transfer in to WGU & SNHU but I'm unsure if I want to go to either. For instance all the math and IT courses I finished, along with english composition 1 & 2. All of the gen eds already covered, I think I did like 20 courses on sophia, I'll do more if needed as well but most of them are finished.

Any certifications or military experience? no
Budget: full pell grant, otherwise I must take out debt from fafsa. So my budget is hopefully whatever pell grant will cover. I'd have to go a few thousand into debt for SNHU it seems like.
Commitments: None, on disability my entire life and just hoping to find a remote job through getting a degree. I get less than 1k a month which barely covers anything.
Dedicated time to study: 60+ hours a week. I've spent the past year learning c++ and coding, I've also spent some time with python and ML.
Timeline: Preferably something I can finish in a year or two since I've already finished a lot at sophia.org.
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: full pell grant, 6.9k or whatever it is now.

Additional info:
Perhaps someone can provide options besides WGU & SNHU. Are there any schools in North Carolina that offer CS online and might accept sophia transfers so I don't have to spend 4 years doing it? I saw UMPI was going to release one eventually but it's been a few years at this point and I have no idea how long that'll be. I've looked into both SNHU & WGU, but I'm unsure of the quality of education from them. I've seen a lot of reviews for both and it seems like you just rush classes at WGU and at SNHU the classes are poorly reviewed for the quality of education, plus I'd have to go into debt for SNHU.

One final concern, I had to do homeschooling for my final year, I have all the transcripts my mom did at the time, but in NC we don't get a diploma from home schooling, I've got the exam scores and all of that. I'm really not sure how much of a problem this will be and if I'd have to go get a GED even though I truly did finish, only did 1 year of home schooling due to a car accident resulting in being partially paralyzed. I have her original signature on the stuff and the school was registered, I think I have everything I need but I guess I'll see when I apply to one of these.

I plan on applying and testing this out next week and seeing if either will accept it, but I first wanted to check with this forum on what options might be available.

[hakjack]

Your Location: North Carolina, USA
Your Age: 35
What kind of degree do you want?: Computer Science
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 0
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits:

I've done a lot of courses at sophia.org that would transfer in to WGU & SNHU but I'm unsure if I want to go to either. For instance all the math and IT courses I finished, along with english composition 1 & 2. All of the gen eds already covered, I think I did like 20 courses on sophia, I'll do more if needed as well but most of them are finished.

Any certifications or military experience? no
Budget: full pell grant, otherwise I must take out debt from fafsa. So my budget is hopefully whatever pell grant will cover. I'd have to go a few thousand into debt for SNHU it seems like.
Commitments: None, on disability my entire life and just hoping to find a remote job through getting a degree. I get less than 1k a month which barely covers anything.
Dedicated time to study: 60+ hours a week. I've spent the past year learning c++ and coding, I've also spent some time with python and ML.
Timeline: Preferably something I can finish in a year or two since I've already finished a lot at sophia.org.
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: full pell grant, 6.9k or whatever it is now.

Additional info:
Perhaps someone can provide options besides WGU & SNHU. Are there any schools in North Carolina that offer CS online and might accept sophia transfers so I don't have to spend 4 years doing it? I saw UMPI was going to release one eventually but it's been a few years at this point and I have no idea how long that'll be. I've looked into both SNHU & WGU, but I'm unsure of the quality of education from them. I've seen a lot of reviews for both and it seems like you just rush classes at WGU and at SNHU the classes are poorly reviewed for the quality of education, plus I'd have to go into debt for SNHU.

One final concern, I had to do homeschooling for my final year, I have all the transcripts my mom did at the time, but in NC we don't get a diploma from home schooling, I've got the exam scores and all of that. I'm really not sure how much of a problem this will be and if I'd have to go get a GED even though I truly did finish, only did 1 year of home schooling due to a car accident resulting in being partially paralyzed. I have her original signature on the stuff and the school was registered, I think I have everything I need but I guess I'll see when I apply to one of these.

I plan on applying and testing this out next week and seeing if either will accept it, but I first wanted to check with this forum on what options might be available.

Hey, welcome to the forum!

I very sorry to hear about you situation.
Based on the information you provided, I think WGU would be the best option as:

1) you can do it in 6 months (1 term)
2) by doing so it will be really cheap

If you can take it in 1 term, it would be the cheapest option, if compared to SNHU, TESU or other options.

I'm not based on US unfortunately, but I were there I would 100% take WGU due to the flexibility, price, and for some tech degrees, the option to get even certifications.
In the BS in Cybersecurity there's a ton of certifications, you can basically get a bsc in cybersecurity, some of the best and most recognized certifications out there (worth a couple thousand bucks) in 6 months at less than 5k total.

Hope this helps!

[bjcheung77]

Basically, I would recommend TESU as an option for this over WGU as you don't have a great mix/match of certs, courses taken, or experience to streamline a WGU degree in one term of 6 months... If you want to go the SNHU route, that should work as well since you should have two years of Fin Aid or more, that'll get you enough credits to complete the residency requirements at SNHU or TESU.

Having said that though, you want to create a spreadsheet using the three WIKI's to their degrees, complete all the Sophia.org and Study.com classes that can go towards all 3, technically, you should hit at least 90 credits that can go towards them, thus, you only have about 10 classes left to take, you can then decide which one would fit you more.

Last but not least, you have no credits, you want to max the transfer and also hit the learning gaps and gain knowledge in the subjects that interest you most, you should also complete one provider at a time, Sophia.org first, Study.com next. Create that spreadsheet - Sign up for Sophia.org first and Study.com using the discounts in the sticky threads...

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Err, it should say, you have no RA credits - Anyways, that would basically mean again, transfer the max from alternative education providers, then complete the 10 classes for residency purposes at SNHU or WGU. For TESU, you can transfer in community college classes or take TECEPs as exams.