BALS-CS Concentration or Excelsior BOPS Tech Mgmt?

[degree4nana]

**Updated with Course names & equivalent TESU course #s**

Hi All,

I am a 52 year old grandmother who is on a mission to finish the degree I started 30 years ago.   I have been a bit all over the place in my recent efforts, however, having started out pursuing the BALS-Gen Management degree at COSC since they gave me 9 UL credits for my PMP certification.  However, given that COSC applies fewer Sophia credits to the core, I started instead pursuing TESU's BSBA-Business.  

However, I am now thinking about the BALS-Computer Science or garden-variety BALS at TESU or Bachelor's of Professional Studies-Technology Management at Excelsior.  Speed is a higher priority than cost.  I hate writing papers so I'd like to avoid that as much as possible.  I have found the Business related courses to be boring as heck.  Degree doesn't matter as much as studying something interesting.  I hope to retire in the next 8-10 years and have a high-paying job so I don't really need the degree.  However, it is something I want to finish.  The Tech classes would also help me more in my current profession as a Supply Chain Management Tech Consultant, which is what sent me down the CS path.  

Here is what I have (all have been evaluated by TESU unless otherwise indicated):

A.  Intel & Practical Skills ([b]presumed completed pending TESU's evaluation of CLEP)[/b]

Written Communication: Scored 67 on CLEP College Composition.  Transcript sent to TESU but not evaluated.  Presumed completed
Oral Communications:  Comm1010 (TESU COM-108) , Intro to Communication (A-University of North Texas)
Quantitative Literacy: STA-201 Intro to Statistics (Sophia)

B. Civ & Global Ldrship (presumed complete pending TESU's evaluation of CLEP)
Diversity Intercultural Lit: SOCI1510 (TESU SOC-101), Individuals in Society (A-Community College)
Ethical Leadership: Phi-180 Introduction to Ethics (Sophia)
Civic Engagement: Scored 68 on American Government CLEP.  Transcript sent but not evaluated.  Presumed complete.


C. Knowledge Human Cultures (complete)
Social Sciences: Psyc2301 General Psychology (TESU PSY-101) (A-University of North Texas)
History: HIS-114 US History II (Sophia)
Humanities: ART-166 Art History I (Sophia)
SS, History &/or Humanities: Rel-100 Approaches to Studying Religions (Sophia)
SS, History &/or Humanities: Econ1100 (TESU ECO-112) Principles of Microeconomics (A-University of North Texas)

D. Scientific Knowledge (complete)
Bus-210 Quantitative Skills Business (CSM Learn)
SCIT1408 (TESU BIO-210) Anatomy & Physiology II (A-community college, 4 credits)

Additional General Education (if needed) (complete)
Hist1060 (TESU His-122) Western Civilizations I (A-University of North Texas)

Computer Science Electives (in progress)
CIS107 Intro to Information Technology (Sophia)
COSC1300 (TESU COS-101) Computer Literacy (A-community college)

Liberal Studies General Coursework (in progress
Com-231 Visual Communications (Sophia)
SCIT1407 (TESU BIO-211) Anatomy & Physiology I (A-community college, 4 credits)
Econ1110  (TESU ECO-111) Principles of Macroeconomics (A-University of North Texas)

Electives (In progress)
Fin-200 Principles of Finance (Sophia)
Law-201 Business Law (Sophia)
Acc-101 Accounting (Sophia)
HITT-1205 (TESU APS-100) Medical Terminology (A-Community College, 2 credits)
HPRS-2231 (TESU HEA-144) General Health Profession Management (A-Community College, 2 credits)
HRM-215 Developing Effective Teams (Sophia, 1 credit)
UCRS-1000 (TESU FEL-199) Study Skills (Univ of North Texas, 1 credit; no grade)
Principles of Marketing (CLEP test scheduled for Friday, presumed complete)
Principles of Management (CLEP test schedule for next week, presumed complete)

Other:  

I completed Straighterline Business Statistics which did not appear in my Academic Evaluation.  Was possibly left off my Credly transcript.  Not sure where it would fit, or if they will think it duplicative to Statistics course from Sophia.

My Academic Evaluation mentioned my PMP certification but asked for the "second transcript" so not sure what that is about.  COSC gives 9 UL for that and Excelsior gives 3 credits (not sure if LL or UL) so hoping TESU will give at least something for that.

Academic Eval says I would still need COS-241 Data Structures, COS-330 Computer Arch, Computer Programming, one more SC Elective & 14 more Liberal Studies credit.

Would it be possible to complete most of the requirements via alternative credit or should I resign myself to the BALS?  I read that it is difficult, if not impossible, to pass SDC's COS-330 without a strong CA background.  Any other options to fulfill?

Thanks!

[dfrecore]

It's not very helpful when you just list a course number (like COSC1300) as it doesn't tell anyone what the course is.

[degree4nana]

Sorry—will fix that.

[bjcheung77]

Decide on the degree & school you want to attend.  You're torn between taking Business courses vs CS/IT/Tech courses.  Moreover, you're not into writing... Hmm, many colleges/universities require courses that have "writing", especially their cornerstone/capstones, writing is a major requirement for all degree levels... You have the Big 3 for self-paced, or UMPI/Walden/WGU, etc for competency based degrees.

Recommendation: Since your priority is more into "ease/speed" to finish rather than "most affordable/cost", I suggest going the TESU BSBA GM route to just finish the degree instead of the BALS-GM, using Sophia.org for Lower Level, Davar/Coopersmith courses for Upper Level.  This effectively "cancels" most if not all the writing necessary until the cornerstone/capstone combo, it will cost more than EC & COSC.

---

Having said that, since you have many transfer credits, if you have the energy/time to complete competency based degree requirements, UMPI would be my recommendation. They have the BABA Supply Chain Management you're looking for, and you can add a Management Info Systems Minor to that. This hits "both" wants of yours... and it may be the cheapest if you can finish in 3 terms of 7 weeks each term.

[degree4nana]

Decide on the degree & school you want to attend.  You're torn between taking Business courses vs CS/IT/Tech courses.  Moreover, you're not into writing... Hmm, many colleges/universities require courses that have "writing", especially their cornerstone/capstones, writing is a major requirement for all degree levels... You have the Big 3 for self-paced, or UMPI/Walden/WGU, etc for competency based degrees.

Recommendation: Since your priority is more into "ease/speed" to finish rather than "most affordable/cost", I suggest going the TESU BSBA GM route to just finish the degree instead of the BALS-GM, using Sophia.org for Lower Level, Davar/Coopersmith courses for Upper Level.  This effectively "cancels" most if not all the writing necessary until the cornerstone/capstone combo, it will cost more than EC & COSC.

---

Having said that, since you have many transfer credits, if you have the energy/time to complete competency based degree requirements, UMPI would be my recommendation.  They have the BABA Supply Chain Management you're looking for, and you can add a Management Info Systems Minor to that.  This hits "both" wants of yours... and it may be the cheapest if you can finish in 3 terms of 7 weeks each term.

Thank you for the recommendations.  I should clarify that I realize some writing is unavoidable.  I just prefer taking tests to writing.  Therefore, if given an option between classes with a lot of writing and classes with exams, I will usually pick the latter.  I am usually not this indecisive but picking a school and degree has proved to be more difficult than I anticipated.

[rachel83az]

I would suggest getting the TESU ASNSM Comp Sci + BALS NSM. I don't believe that it's possible to get the computer science concentration with just alternate credit (though I could be mistaken). https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...centration

If you graduate with both degrees at the same time, there are no additional fees from TESU.

[ROYISAGIRL]

Just to toss it out there for those that did XAMK's game courses those take care of all the needed computer courses. I didn't think it would but it did For the TESU ASNSM Comp Sci

[dfrecore]

I would suggest getting the TESU ASNSM Comp Sci + BALS NSM. I don't believe that it's possible to get the computer science concentration with just alternate credit (though I could be mistaken). https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...centration

If you graduate with both degrees at the same time, there are no additional fees from TESU.

It is possible to get the CompSci concentration w/alt-credit only (Study.com has them all).  The main requirement for a cert is 9cr of UL, and that's covered.

[degree4nana]

I would suggest getting the TESU ASNSM Comp Sci + BALS NSM. I don't believe that it's possible to get the computer science concentration with just alternate credit (though I could be mistaken). https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...centration

If you graduate with both degrees at the same time, there are no additional fees from TESU.

This is a very interesting idea I hadn't considered.  Did it require you to take more than 120 SH or was the overlap such that you were able to do both with 120 hours?

[ss20ts]

Having said that, since you have many transfer credits, if you have the energy/time to complete competency based degree requirements, UMPI would be my recommendation.  They have the BABA Supply Chain Management you're looking for, and you can add a Management Info Systems Minor to that.  This hits "both" wants of yours... and it may be the cheapest if you can finish in 3 terms of 7 weeks each term.

As an UMPI alumni, I would say that UMPI is not the best opportunity for the OP. UMPI is VERY heavy writing. Almost every class has writing. Most Final Assessments are papers. The MIS minor is also not really what one needs if they're looking to learn CS/IT/Tech. Really it won't prepare you for much. I speak from experience as I have completed that minor.