At crossroads with my degree journey

[Horiph]

Hi, I'm new here and I'll try to keep it as short as possible for everyone's convenience because I could really use some helpful guidance as after reading many valuable insights here.

Background information: I did UK A levels back in 2023, and got a SAT score of 1450+. All the local unis didn't accept me. Going foreign (Europe and even the US with USM) was doable but very severe family issues occured leading me to stay with them and take back to back gap years. Studying STEM's been a clear passion of mine. I felt like I couldn't remain degree-less no matter what so few months started looking into online options. I dream of immigration into a Western country via further education/job one day so felt like going for one of the most in-demand degrees that'd make it easier would be the best option. Engineering felt like the perfect fit for that criteria at the time so I started researching for it primarly.

Why I'm at the crossroads: I narrowed it down to two options: North Dakota State University's online Electrical Engineering degree (with then the total estimated cost of 37K) and Kennesaw State University's Software Engineering degree (total est cost of 28K USD). Software's extreme saturation scared me away so I ended up opting for NDSU's EE program. I spent months and around 300$ just to get admitted because it takes that much to send my A level documents to an US institution. Now just today, NDSU updated their fees and policies. All the estimated figures they've given me before were completely off. I am not even eligible for a tuition cap anymore. It went from being around 37K USD to 60K USD in total. I genuinely can't afford that at all.

I've never felt so defeated in my life. I finally felt like I figured out my education path and everything was gonna be way up. They apologized for such a mishap but I feel so down and lost now. Should I take my first semester at NDSU (will cost me around a whooping 8K) and then transfer to KSU? Should I just drop out and wait for KSU's spring semester? Should I simply opt out of NDSU now, take credits from Study.com/Sophia.org and transfer them into SNHU's CS program and get a CS degree for much cheaper? I just don't know where and how to proceed forward. I feel like there's way too many pathways from here onwards. All I want is a respected, traditional but cheap education.

One idea that comes to my mind is completing a fast tracked CS degree and then going for an online EE degree completion (Stony Brook or USI for one) but that one just seems like such a time consuming and a tricky path. With all honesty, I personally find both CS and EE equally interesting and would love to be able to explore both the fields but always put CS on a lower priority because everyone advises against it. I'm just so disappointed that I don't even understand my own passion right now. The only thing I remember is that I just loved studying Maths, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology in my entire education path thus far. 

TLDR version just in case; Put hopes on NDSU. Turned out to be way more expensive and out of league. Feel like I've wasted so much time. No clue how and where to proceed forward. 


Your Location: Pakistan/Saudi Arabia
Your Age: 22 (soon turning 23)
What kind of degree do you want?: Accrediated engineering/CS. I've been using ABET as the standard thus far but I'm not sure if that's the right one.
Current Regional Accredited Credits: To be decided (if I do my first semester at NDSU, it'd be COMM 110 Public Speaking, HNES 100 Wellness and Fitness, MATH 103 and 105 (College Algebra + Trignometry), and CHEM 121 (Intro to Chem))  
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: Open to it if needed
Any certifications or military experience?: No
Budget: Ideally around 35K USD if engineering, below 30K USD if CS.
Commitments: I have no work commitments. 
Dedicated time to study: I will definitely and probably study like a full time student does so probably around 30-40 hours per week.
Timeline: No time limit. Preferably 3-4 years because I deep down have an insecurity that I'm already behind others so much.

[Heartstrings]

I am not sure if NDSU accepts Sophia but you could get some of your general requirements out of the way by going to a community college and transferring them. Community Colleges are much more cheaper and it could bring tuition down if your dead set on going to NDSU. I can't give any info or advice on IT/CS/EE because that is not the field I am in. There are some community colleges that are online.

[Jonathan Whatley]

There's such a large difference between electrical engineering and software engineering. Members may be reluctant to point you too specifically towards one over the other. This will be a big decision for you.

ABET accreditation and license eligibility seem to be important for some electrical engineering roles but for far fewer if any software engineering roles. Software engineering degree holders also seem to compete with computer science, software development, etc. more than electrical engineering competes with adjacent disciplines. It looks like an electrical engineer can easily move to software engineering but the reverse is much less easy.

[natshar]

You could still do the UND EE degree. Don't bother doing your first semester there. You can get those classes for a fraction of the price elseware.

Start by earning you gen eds with CLEP: https://clep.collegeboard.org/

https://und.edu/admissions/freshmen/adva....html#clep

CLEP exams are only $100 a peice and free with modern states reiumbursment

Then do these two engineering courses are ASU Universal Learner for only $400 each.

https://courses.ulc.asu.edu/introduction...g-fse-100/

https://courses.ulc.asu.edu/technologica...s-cee-181/

and this one: https://courses.ulc.asu.edu/principles-o...g-cse-110/

Calc II, III and Linear Alg: https://westcottcourses.com/courses/

You could transfer over half of either degree in for a faction of the price and time. While you are doing the CLEP, ASU and westcott on your spare time apply for scholarships. Then go back to UND and you only have to do your EE courses hopefully with a schoalrship too.

The examples I gave would be a guide. You'd have to have someone here make an actual degree plan for you. Looking at the degree program, you could transfer enough so you'd only have to do 63 credits at UND. Possilby less if you found a Community college with some 100/200 electronics courses to transfer in.

[natshar]

Also adding EE is a GREAT degree! I can't speak for everyone but the handful of EE grads I know make six figures and had no trouble getting a job out of school within a few months or less.

[bjcheung77]

Hmm... Does it have to be ABET? Must it be undergrad? Have you checked the Coursera, Edx, FutureLearn, for comparable degrees? Would a quick degree from UMPI at the Bachelors level, and then a Masters degree in a very similar program work?

[natshar]

Hmm... Does it have to be ABET?  Must it be undergrad?  Have you checked the Coursera, Edx, FutureLearn, for comparable degrees?  Would a quick degree from UMPI at the Bachelors level, and then a Masters degree in a very similar program work?

From what I know about engineeering:

1. ABET is very important if you actually want to be an engineer (at least in USA. Idk about other places)
2. Most masters degrees in Engineering won't let you in unless you either have an engineering bachelors. And the ones that will you'd need a heavy dose of math and Sci. I don't think a UMPI BLS for example, would even get you into an EE masters.

But I think you could be one to something with your ideas. . .

[crimsonhairless]

Definitely would be wise to knock out the general education courses, and some lower level required courses through CLEP, Sophia, etc where possible. That should lower the cost if you transfer in 30-45 credits or so. 

Additionally, the CU-Boulder online Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering is only about 20k and has an "earn your way in" model where you build the degree by passing classes. No STEM undergrad required. 

https://www.colorado.edu/ecee/academics/...e-coursera

[Horiph]

Thank you all so much for the advice! I truly apologize if my original post was way too doom-y, confused and immature. I wrote it on the day when I got the news where lots of my expectations just didn't work out the way I expected them to. I've managed to collect myself.

I wasn't aware much of RA credits, only RA recommended ones like Sophia and so on. I've only checked ASU learner/U of Idaho courses on Transferology for now and pretty much every gen ed can be done there for much cheaper and transferred (30-41) which would save me about 15-20k USD alone. I even checked with the university and they said they would accept these credits even if I enrolled there.

I'm definitely sure that I prefer EE over CS/SWE for now and would go for the latter if the first route doesn't work out at all. Even if I end up having to do CS/SWE, CU Boulder's online masters seems like a great option to try it out later.

As for the degree, I don't think it necessarily has to be ABET accrediated as there are a lot of roles you can get into without needing it. It's still very much looked upon favorbly for engineering degrees as a merit. It's my first degree ever so I do believe I should go for undergrad perhaps.

I'm definitely going to make a spreadsheet and try to see which courses I can take for cheap elsewhere. Once again, thanks so much for the help.