Baker Online Troy Touro Limestone ^ this one makes me go hmm.. cause seriously.. anything with an orange background like that is questionable. I am looking for something as CLOSE to a CS degree as possible. I realize these are not exactly like the more hardcore CS degrees, but they are cheap and that is a good thing. I would like the option to move on to grad school in some form or fashion, but mostly I want to be employable and get a good education (not one where they go... um.. are you sure you went to college?). So comments? Thoughts? Alternative ideas that don't involve huge chunks of money? I like that I can constantly re-view my topic making it seem a popular read.
You should consider the University of Illinois at Springfield. If you are not a resident of Illinios the e-Tuition is $160/credit hour. Its computer science degree is hard-core. Why settle? http://otelportal.uis.edu/
I saw that, but it didn't sound very user friendly.. saying stuff like limited enrollment, must apply the spring prior to the fall term and must have 2 semesters java (how many credits is that?) which I don't have, discrete math which I don't have, Calculus which I don't have and statistics which I don't have. Doesn't mean I can't get them, but would be nice if I could get them at one school.
This in my opinion is actually better. You can shop around for the best deals on courses before being commited to one school. Also, remember that while yes there are fees beyond tuition associated with UIS, this is the case for nearly all schools. In my option UIS offers the best online BSCS degree for the money -- period. You come away with a school having a good name and you have a "hard-core" computer science degree (in another word -- the real thang.) Unless you are a resident of the state of Florida (or some other state that subsidizes in-state students) this is the best degree going.
I am definetly not a resident of florida. I am on the other side of this fine country. So.. any suggestions then on how to find the undergrad stuff I might need to get?
Currently, I am a student of Troy University - University College, Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. This is my last term before I graduate in May 2006. I made the decission to choose Troy University over other institutions because they have a fast track, but I don't like the program much because Calculus is not required. Troy University revised their program into B.S in Applied Computer Science, and requires Business Calculus. Besides, the tuition is cheap...I recommend Troy University only if you are looking for the fastest way to earn your Computer Science degree with cheap tuition. Touro University International; I don't like the name because it sounds weird. Semper Fidelis, Henry
I like touros pre computer science stuff. They have Math, Discrete math, statistics, physics. Yet their comp sci stuff is not so great. Seems more like an IS or IT degree.. very general. Hard to say though. About troy.. you don't like their program just because of the calculus? What else do you not like about it. Also how about the fact that it is no longer comp sci but now applied comp sci. I like limestone. Dunno why, but I do. They only really seem to be missing discrete math and statistics. And the price is good. I dun like baker much. Seems more like a career training school than a college to me. Just my opinion. (I am no expert. Joanns advice is good especially being she is a software engineer)
I did a little more looking into the Illinios degree and I must say I am not excited. It would take me at least a year if not a semester longer to complete all the stuff they require before you can even apply to get into the program. Then after you apply and IF you get accepted(they only take 20 students) it is another six months until you can actually start the program. Then after you start the program you are stuck in this co-hort system which locks you into a painfully slow further 3 year process to finish the degree. So looking at 5 years to get a BS in computer science seems a little too long. On top of that the inflexible schedule of the cohort system doesn't work well with me. Thanks for the thoughts thus far though.
Exactly! That's the problem I found with UIS too. I cannot believe how slow that cohort is. I just decided to get my BS in ASAP Then get my Masters in CS. By the time I would have finished the UIS cohort I will have a Masters degree...LOL
Ask youself this, if you can complete 60 hours of which probably 30 is upper division in less than three years, where it takes a full time student two -- are you really getting an equivalent education? I know that some will say that it doesn't matter. However, if you are accepted into a top 50 grad school in Computer Science, you will regret being unprepared.
You make a good point JoAnn however you are assuming that I want to only take 6 to 8 credit hours a semester. I was looking over your own degree progression as a reference and even you took at times a full load of classes. You couldn't do this at UIS because of the cohort system. You wouldn't be able to take an extra class or even drop to one class if you needed to because of the cohort system. It is the complete inflexibility that is the most problematic here.
At FSU I was one of a very small group of students who were able to carry a load of 9 hours plus work full time. Students working full-time (especially if they have families) often feel taxed at two courses. If you feel up to carrying 9 or more hours per term, then I would agree with you that UIS wouldn't satisfy your needs. However, consider this -- at FSU until you were in you final 30 hours, with permission you could take courses from other universities. Whenever I took 3 courses a term, one course was often from a college other than FSU. I wouldn't be surprised if UIS allows the same thing. If this is the case, if like me you already had 60 hours towards your BS (i.e. an AA degree or better) then you should be able to complete your degree in 3-4 years (just like I did.) One thing though, I never took more than 9 hours per term. You are not considered a full-time student until you take 12 hours per term at the undergrad level (at least at FSU.) I would wager that most full-time, on-campus Computer Science undergrads average about 15 hours per term.
Ah.. well I guess that makes sense. However waiting 5 years to make a career change seems a bit harsh to me. Especially considering I would be almost 40.
