Thanks to this wonderful forum and the sister site, I began my BACS from TESU last October knowing I could speed through remedial learning and quickly move to degree-focused material. I've been a professional developer for the last 25 years. I went straight into development after getting my MCP certification. I've added various certifications along the way. Now, I want to transition into data science, and feel the degree-path is warranted. Currently - 30 credits earned ASU (Calculus I) - 3 TESU (SOS-110) - 3 Sophia - 18 CLEP (from 25 years ago) - 6 I am trying to decide between the following two plans: Plan A: Non-RA: Sophia - 57 total credits Study - 27 total credits CLEP - 6 total credits RA: ASU - 3 credits TESU ePack - 18 credits TESU - SOS-110, COS-451, and capstone rounding it out Plan B: Non-RA: Sophia - 57 total credits Study - 27 total credits CLEP - 6 total credits RA: ASU - 3 credits TESU ePack - 6 credits TESU - SOS-110, COS-451, COS-351, COS-311, COS-111, COS-241, and capstone rounding it out If I take Plan A, I think I can finish my BACS by May. But, I will only have 4 grades on my transcript. The rest of the courses will show as "CR". Any experience from the community on if that would impact acceptance when applying to a graduate program, like the MSDS at UT?
Why does plan a have so many ePacks? Those are expensive. You'd be better off paying for TECEPs, if at all possible. Even ASU Universal Learner courses are cheaper (less than 1/3 the price). ASU's CSE110 comes in as COS111 at TESU: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Arizona_State_University_Universal_Learner
I considered TECEP, but they don't count towards RA credits. For me, Sophia/Study are a better fit for Non-RA credits. I am looking to maximize the number of self-study RA courses. I am enrolled in ASU Universal Learner now, and I see a number of self study courses available (excluding CSE-110). However, my experience with Calculus I left me hesitant. I entered the final exam feeling very prepared after acing the practice exam, but it covered a number of questions from earlier sections I had forgotten and were not on the practice final. I still did well on the course (87 overall), but if I am going to invest that much time I want a very strong grade. The e-Packs appear as CR on your transcript, meaning you are less focused on the final grade impacting your GPA. That benefit could also be a downside depending on how an MS program views them. If I take 6 e-Packs, I will be taking 5 in one term, so the cost will be $955 per e-Pack. I would then take the final one when I take the last 3 courses from TESU. That is more expensive than ASU, but it consists of only quizzes and a final. As far as cost - I worked out that the BACS will be right around $10k either way. I would rather speed it along versus try to reduce the cost further unless that speed costs me acceptance into an MS program. I am very open to alternative suggestions though. This is why I posted
TECEPs do count to your RA credit totals. They do not count toward your residency totals. You only need 16 credits of residency to avoid the waiver fee. The rest can come from anywhere else. TECEPs, TEL Learning, ASU, and even free/low cost credits from Finnish universities. I took CSE110 in 2020 (along with several other courses). It was really good as far as course contents vs. exam goes. It felt a bit slow at times, but maybe they've fixed that. Most ASU classes are going to be easier than their Calculus course with respect to the final exam. I tried their Calculus class and dropped it because it was nothing like what I was expecting based on their other classes. With ePacks, I believe that you are not allowed to do a term consisting solely of ePacks, as you have outlined. You must take at least one regular class, IIRC, to trigger the flat-rate costs.
I agree with Rachel83az that your plan seems to be flawed. You seem to be confused with the RA and residency requirements at TESU. There is a 30 RA requirement at TESU. TECEPs DO COUNT for RA credit. There is a 16-credit residency requirement at TESU, or you have to pay the residency fee of $3288 when you graduate. TECEPs won't count towards the residency requirement as they must be either TESU courses or e-Packs. If you do a flat-rate term at TESU, the cost is $4778. For BS CS, you typically would take: SOS-110 Capstone Software Engineering (UL requirement easy A course) e-Pack intro to computers Pick another e-Pack or do an easy TESU course such as Critical Reasoning. PLA-100 (1cr course) With e-Packs, you take some risk of failing, which wastes your time/money, and you don't save any time versus a regular course unless you have a large amount of previous knowledge. (If you can pass the practice exam with zero studying) It's not hard to earn a high GPA at TESU, considering you don't pick courses that have grades heavily weighted toward exams. If you plan on doing a master's degree, then you should probably take all graded courses during your flat-rate term.
Thanks for the feedback from both of you. I was not aware of the e-Pack term restriction. I will also give ASU another look. My main reason for backing away from that direction was the tediousness of Calculus and the difference between the final and the practice final. LevelUp, I think your post also answered my original question regarding the master's program. I will revisit my original plan versus plan A/B outlined above.
Calculus is a high DFW course for most colleges, including WGU. People have spent hundreds of hours studying and still failed. It's not a course you take willy-nilly as if it were U.S. History I or some standard G.E. course. The easiest way to do Calculus is probably through Sophia though that is water under the bridge. TESU Cost $4778 Flat-rate term 16 RA credit (also meets residency requirement) $780 TECEPs 15 RA credit $298 Graduation fee $5856 Total cost $10,000 Your previous plan $5856 Most efficient plan $4144 Savings $4144 Savings $622 15% Commission check to DF member (jk) $3522 Net savings You can do ASU for RA credit. It's only $25 per course, so you can quit if you don't like it. Then it's $400 to transcribe the course for credit once you pass with the desired grade. However, ASU is more expensive than TECEPs or other options, and your ASU grades won't show on your TESU transcript, nor will they be calculated in your GPA. You must send your ASU transcript separately if a college asks for it. Regarding how many graded credits you need for a master's, this may depend on the college. I haven't heard of many situations where colleges require more than 30 graded credits, except for law school. People who graduate from WGU have zero graded credits yet can get into GeorgiaTech and other T150 college graduate programs. TESU's 16 graded credits should be fine for most schools though I suggest checking with schools and seeing what their requirements are.
@deoniceo One, you've completed a portion of the degree plan template and addendum, but it's still missing a few things. We know your age, budget, location, degree and institution you want to get the degree from but we're missing the ACE/RA credits and list of certs you already have completed. It's best to provide us your commitments, dedicated time to study, if you have any tuition assistance/reimbursement, and a timeline of when you want to have the Bachelors plus Masters completed. I suggest you update us with a reply to this post by following the sister board link here: New to DegreeForum? How this Area works! Two, Your plan is solid! TESU BACS is a great option, if you have the energy, money, time to complete another 4-5 courses, I would use the initial 10K or less towards a dual degree at TESU. BSBA CIS & BACS combo at TESU can be completed for the same price by maximizing your 16 residency credits. Both moderators LevelUp and Rachel83AZ on degree forum have created slightly different templates on the WIKI, I suggest you compare the two and customize it to your liking, the dual degree allows you to get into a management position or higher supervisory role down the road, it's well worth the ROI/Value. Three, Setting your eyes on the MSDS at UT-Austin is good, you've got a direction you intend to go into. Having said that, it's best to also have a backup plan or more options to see which one fits you better. Since UT-Austin is something you're looking at, they also have a MSCS (Comp Sci) for the exact same price which is also offered by edx.org at 10K each. If you can budget up to $15K, Coursera has two great backup options you may want to investigate further! It's basically, institution vs institution and their learning material is in conjunction with an Edx vs Coursera partnership. 1) UT-A MSCS, 10K, 1.5-3 years: Master’s Degree in Computer Science (edx.org) 2) UT-A MSDS, 10K, 1.5-3 years: Master’s Degree in Data Science (edx.org) 3) ASU MSCS (Big Data), 15K, 1.5-3 years: Master of Computer Science - MCS by ASU | Coursera 4) UofC-Boulder MSDS, 15.8K, 24 months: Master of Science in Data Science | Coursera
I am open to other programs besides UT, but only interested in an MSDS graduate degree as I transition into that field. I would consider a dual degree if it requires minimal extra time/effort. Thanks again! Here is the information you requested: Education Reimbursements $2,500 per calendar year for grades of 80%+ I used $2,000 in 2022 for the 2 RA credits below. I have $2,500 for 2023. Your Location: Texas, United States Your Age: 43 What kind of degree do you want?: Masters in Data Science (only considering data science degrees) Current Regional Accredited Credits: TESU Credits: #3 SOS-110, 3, 99% A ASU Credits: #3 MAT-210, 3, 87% A Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: Sophia Credits: #21 Introduction to Statistics, 3 Ancient Greek Philosophers, 3 English Composition I, 3 US History II, 3 College Algebra, 3 US History I, 3 Environmental Science, 3 CLEP: #6 Computer Science I, 3 Computer Science II, 3 Any certifications or military experience? MCITP - BI Developer MCSD (Expired) PMP (Expired) Licensed Texas Real Estate Agent I checked with my TESU advisor, and the MCITP certification and real estate license cannot be used there.
You're not critical to the degree name for TESU BACS, some people are only looking for BSCS even though the courses may be identical for all 40 of those required ones to complete the degree... it's just a name, I usually look at the courses required and if those subjects interest me or not. If you look at the links I sent to the ASU MSCS with concentration in Big Data or the plain jane MSCS at UT-Austin, you'll notice many of the courses taught are 'used' in several Data Science degrees. Coursera and Edx like to partner with 'recognized and well established' high ranking universities, their partnership programs are pretty top notch. Since I mentioned ASU MSCS, if you click the link, the header mentions earning a MSCS from a top 12 engineering program even though it's a CS program. And for those with an eagle eye, if you click the Big Data or Cybersecurity links to ASU's site, you'll notice they accidentally swapped the two program details as the corresponding courses are incorrect! Anyways, here's another Coursera partnership, it's roughly $21K, 1-3 years, U of Illinois, it's a Masters of Comp Sci, rated top 5 CS but also the #1 Data Science program. Again, it's just the name showing as Comp Sci, when the concentration is Data Science! As always, look at the academic courses required for the degree and see if they interest you, each curriculum differ greatly, it really depends on the student and their needs, the program has overlapping courses with the plain jane MSCS obviously. Master Of Computer Science (Illinois) | Coursera | Coursera Last but not least, the most expensive Coursera Masters Applied Data Science at over$34K, I wouldn't go for it just because it's coming from U of Michigan and whatever is mentioned on their page. I looked at their Academics and similar courses are taught at the $10-$15K offerings in MSCS or MSDS I mentioned above... prospective students really need to see what interests them most. Academics - Master of Applied Data Science | Coursera
Thanks for the information! I've been adjusting my plan to take 15 credits through TECEP and looking at fitting in the BSBA degree as a possible option.
I just completed the TECEP for CIS-107, and have 4 more scheduled this month. That was a good catch. TECEP being RA credits definitely helps to reduce the time and cost of the degree. I picked TECEP courses that either had a backup on Sophia, or were subjects I have familiarity with, so minimal studying required. Moving right along. Scheduled TECEP Exams: BUS-101 SOC-101 ECO-112 BIO-208 Total Credits: 51 Current Regional Accredited Credits: 9 TESU Credits: 3 SOS-110, 3, 99% A TECEP Credits: 3 CIS-107, 3 ASU Credits: 3 MAT-210, 3, 87% B Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: 42 Sophia Credits: 33 STA-201, Introduction to Statistics, 3 FIN-200, Finance, 3 ECO-111, Macroeconomics, 3 ACC-101, Accounting, 3 PHI-180, Ethics, 3 PHI-226, Ancient Greek Philosophers, 3 MAT-121, College Algebra, 3 HIS-113, US History I, 3 HIS-114, US History II, 3 ENS-200, Environmental Science, 3 English Composition I, 3 Study.com Credits: 3 MAT-270, Discrete Math, 3 CLEP: 6 Computer Science I, 3 Computer Science II, 3
Hi all, I wanted to give a quick progress update along with a question/concern. My progress is below, but here is my question/concern: Some of the courses are getting applied to the BACS and BSBA academic evaluations in unexpected places, such as: For BSBA These are electives: COS-240, MAT-270, BUS-101, ENS-200 And these fall under "Other Courses": BIO-208, COS-306 I am wondering if this affects the overlap of courses between BACS and BSBA. I was expecting COS-306 and COS-240 to fall into AOS. As COS-306 doesn't. I am also curious what other courses may not apply how I am expecting. Credit Summary: Total: 78 RA: 15 UL: 3 LL: 75 Current Regional Accredited Credits: #15 TECEP Credits: #9 SOC-101 Introduction to Sociology CIS-107 Computer Concepts and Applications BUS-101 Introduction to Business TESU Credits: #3 SOS-110, 99% A ASU Credits: #3 MAT-210, 87% A Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: #63 Study Credits: #18 MAT-270 Discrete Math COM-290 Communications POS-110 Comparative Politics COS-241 Data Structures COS-240 Operating Systems CIS-311 Database Management Sophia Credits: #39 ENG-101 English Composition I ENG-102 English Composition II PHI-180 Ethical Leadership STA-201 Introduction to Statistics FIN-200 Principles of Finance ECO-111 Macroeconomics MAT-121 College Algebra HIS-113 US History I HIS-114 US History II ENS-200 Environmental Science PHI-226 Ancient Greek Philosophers ART-221 Two Dimensional Design ACC-101 Financial Accounting CLEP: #6 COS-102 Computer Science I COS-103 Computer Science II In-Progress Courses: TECEP: BIO-101 Study: COS-330 Computer Architecture CIS-301 Management Information Systems
You can add this to your shortlist as well, it's the same price as the one I mentioned but for MSCS: Online MSCS from University of Colorado Boulder, No bachelor’s degree needed (degreeforum.net)
