Another BS in CS Thread...

I think you make the right decision about Fort Hays State University. Yup, Straighline is the way to start...it was not available back in the day. If it was, I would jumped in a hard beat. You can use TESC for credit bank from FEMA courses. Don't forget that is another option for elective credits.

 

Maniac: Thanks... sorry for being brash.

TEKMAN: Yea, it seems like a good decision, especially if I change my major to MIS vs CS. Can you explain what you mean about using TESC for a credit bank for FEMA courses? I know who TESC is, but what is FEMA (other than Federal Emergency whatever)?

I've I do straighterline and get credits at FHSU then decide I want to transfer from FHSU to somewhere else, does what I transfer from straighterline to FHSU then transfer to my new school, or will my new school have to accept straighterline?

 

So, truth be told, I got turned off of Troy by this:

Troy State University -- Troy (StudentsReview) -

Read some of those comments. I'm not sure if they are legit or not, but I've searched Google and can't find any news article about Texas kicking Troy out of it's state or classifying it as a Diploma mill. It's rated #29 Best Public School by US News which is just crazy if what those comments say are true... :-/

I did email [email protected] and I've been getting delivery failures yet that email is posted all over their site to use for questions. So I don't know how to contact them other than to call. If I switch back to Troy, is there something similar to Straighterline I can use to 'get started' before diving in head first...

 

Please believe me when I say that I'm happy for you to choose whichever school suits you the most whether it's DL, in-class, profit, non-profit, whatever, but think about this question: do you really believe that there's a school anywhere that doesn't have unhappy or disgruntled students? Students who've flunked out and now blame the school? Students kicked out for plagiarism? Someone who's terrible at writing complains that there are too many essay exams. Someone who likes to write complains that there's too many multiple choice exams. If one or two people that you've never met say something bad about a school you're going to just throw it away? This would be compared to the thousands of satisfied students. I think it would be better if you stop letting other people make your decisions for you. Do your research and make a choice. It'll be OK. You'll see.

 

When I read those comments, all I can think is "haters gonna hate".

 

Another option is the TESC BSBA CIS degree. The benefit of this degree is that you can test out of most of it and the rest of it is completely doable through Penn Foster, Straighterline, ALEKS -- Assessment and Learning, K-12, Higher Education, Automated Tutor, Math and a couple of TECEP exams at TESC.
You will be exposed to management, HR, marketing, finance, accounting plus a bunch of computer concepts that you already know. You can take whatever electives you want. I of course took those that I was able to test out of since I wanted to complete quickly.
I started my journey in October of last year and finished all of my degree requirements by February and recently graduated.
I am now 1/4 done with my MBA with a concentration in Applied Computer Science at Northcentral University | Online Degree Programs | Online Learning and couldn't be happier.

I think that with your experience level, you could probably go far with some selected computer courses and a healthy dose of general business that a BSBA will give you. I know that it has helped me immensely in my MBA. Most computer professionals are considering doing an MBA and if you do this you will need to take a bunch of foundation courses without a business degree.

 

Kizmet: Thanks... I know it seems like I'm making a big deal out of this, but I really want to make sure I'm making the right decision. I'm not getting any younger, I already have 13 years of real world work experience. While getting a degree is just a formality at this point, I also don't want to be laughed at because I got my degree from a school everyone considers to be a joke.

ryoder: I'm really interested in what you have said. I'm confused on why you would go thru Penn Foster instead of TESC for some classes? How much schooling did you have before you started in October?

Does anyone know if normal B&M schools take credits from Straighterline or ALEKS? After reading about ALEKS, it sounds very interesting... I like how it assesses knowledge then teaches you were your gaps are...

 

fldash

I think that you should stop fretting and take the plunge. Sign up for whatever program that you decide on, and take an online class. You write very well, so that is half the battle in an online program. You will do just fine. Talk to your HR folks about which schools they would not honor, etc. I have been a student at online and onground and both have good points and bad points. However, online is the most convenient wayo to get a degree. If you are worried about reputation of the university, do as other have suggested and go with a solid university or state university with an online component.
"You can do it." We are here for you.

 

I had almost the same background. Many (maybe most) of the best technologists are self-taught. With that said, you may find that the academic study of computer science is pretty different from your day-to-day work. While you're deciding on a program, take a look at This is CS50 OpenCourseWare. It's non-credit but free, and will give you a great overview of the kind of things you'll study as a CS major at any school.

 

rmm0484: Thanks. I think you are right. I do think I should start with ACE courses though, since I haven't been in school for very long...

Balios: We actually have Courseware at my employer and I've gone thru much of it. And yea, I agree the CS would be very different from day-to-day just based on the depth of some of the topics covered (which probably don't have any real application to real world use, who is going to develop their own OS?)

Thanks for all the support and feedback guys... I appreciate it.