Thomas Edison Computer Science Degree

[sarahmac]

@avi...  Tuition at Strayer is relatively expensive at $1480 per course (approximately $493 per semester credit).  You have to take a course from them before they allow you to have any chance at the challenge exams...

Yes, I didn't realize I had to enroll to take the challenge exams. It may be my cheapest option though, if I get 1 course for 1480 and take 2 challenge exams, although I don't know if they have 3 relevant courses for my degree. That or a mixture of ASU and college of DuPage. I guess I'll see how my TECEPS go and take it away from there.

It is certainly not your cheapest option. People have given you cheaper alternatives and you have ignored them. The only credits you need from TESU are 15, including the capstone. For this you can take the flat rate term.

The information lit requirement for BACS can be done via EdX. Apply for EdX financial aid. Most people get it if they write a convincing enough plea. 

Yes, you need 15 more RA credits after the TESU ones for a total of 30. But they can come from anywhere, including the free Finnish universities mentioned multiple times by others in this thread. These credits do not have to be inside the AOS either, they can go in the electives. The electives that are currently showing on your transcript will simply be moved off.

Pretty much the whole Comp Sci AOS can be done via Study.com. I think you may have also misunderstood about the AOS electives. The advisor told you which ones TESU offers online. You do not *have* to take them. You do not need to go searching for those specific courses at other universities.

There are discount codes for study.com all the time that get it under 200 a month for the college accelerator. That includes 2 exams. You can pay 70 bucks to add more.

Wow, this was helpful, thank you. I wasn't ignoring earlier advice, I misunderstood what someone said, and assumed that I can't move the electives that are currently on my transcript off by replacing them. So I thought I needed to get the remaining RA credits in areas I hadn't yet transferred credits in for. Thank you for the clarification.

As I now understand it, the best course of action for me to take is a combination of TECEPS and Finnish courses (probably XAMK) for 15 credits. (Or just all of them through XAMK, and forget the TECEPS.) Then I can take information literacy with edx (applying for financial aid.) After this, I can take study.com until I have 15 credits left, and then do a flat rate term. If this is incorrect, please correct me.

And you're right, I also misunderstood about AOS electives. I'm still slightly unclear, if I don't take a course that equates with one of the ones that Thomas Edison offers online, how will I know if it will be accepted? And which courses do you recommend to be taken for the 15 credit term?

I'm sorry if I'm being slow here. I really do appreciate all the help.

"I thought I needed to get the remaining RA credits in areas I hadn't yet transferred credits in for"

This was only for TECEPS because they're currently free. TESU won't let you take them for free if they don't fit in an empty slot. Otherwise, go for it. Bring in RA and bump out other things. Heck, pay 150 bucks to take a TECEP when they're no longer free if you like.

"If I don't take a course that equates with one of the ones that Thomas Edison offers online, how will I know if it will be accepted?"

Because TESU have transfer agreements and tell you. See here.

Based on the link above, here is the list of exams for the AOS core that you could take on SDC. Obviously, you could also do one or two in the 5 class (15 cr) flat rate term, or take them elsewhere. But Calc and Discrete Math are easy on SDC. So.

Data Structures & Algorithms
Calculus I
Discrete Mathematics
Introduction to Operating Systems
Computer Architecture (UL)

Note that SDC Computer Architecture is Upper Level. You need 18 UL credits in the AOS in *total*. With Computer Architecture and the capstone both being UL, only 12 of the 18 AOS Electives would need to be UL, or four "classes".

So which 6 AOS Electives can you do? 

Go to that link above, type in computer science. You can see that Systems Analysis & Design, Database Management, and Management Information Systems are all UL. Lots of lower level. There are cheaper places than SDC to get lower level credit in particular, but I think you can probably start to see here how easy it is to use SDC to fill this out.

Should you do any of the AOS Electives at TESU?

Maybe. Software Engineering is supposed to be easy and it is UL. If you are going to do a flat rate term I would do Software Engineering since it ticks 1 of 4 UL AOS Electives. The capstone and that take care of 2 of the 5 flat rate term classes.

I said there are other places than SDC to get lower level credit, what are those?

One of the Coursera certificates here. Apply for Financial Aid to get one of the certs free, or chance signing up for The American Dream Academy for free access (supposed to be US resident, but...). There are also other EdX options if you get the EdX financial aid. Including Data Structures & Algorithms which you are currently missing from the core.