Help me start my journey from Canada

[Futureproof60]

Hi everybody,

I'm looking to start my journey in higher education and start a computer science program. A goal of mine is to be the first person in my extended family to earn a bachelors degree and hopefully move onto a masters program.

Location: Canada 
Age: 25
Prior education: petroleum engineering technology diploma (no high school diploma) 

I have looked into WGU, but their performative assessments and grading system worries me about applying to a well knows masters program. UT Austin's online comp sci masters is very interesting to me as I may move down to Texas in a couple years. 

What programs are recommended that are online >15k and will gain acceptance to a well knows masters program?

Any insight will be appreciated.

[rachel83az]

Since you have no HS diploma, I would recommend you start with the FREE Pierpont Associate degree. Once you have the Associate degree, you don't have to worry about proving HS graduation to future colleges/universities. https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pierpont_C%26TC

TESU is a good choice for a Bachelor's degree for getting into a Master's program, IMO. It's not too difficult, but it is challenging. And they give you a GPA. A GPA is useful, though not always essential, to a Master's program. With 15k, you can take a few more TESU courses than strictly necessary to prove that you can do the coursework.

UT Austin's Master's program seems to be pretty open-minded. You can get in with Bachelor's degree that isn't in Computer Science, but they have a list of courses that they recommend in such cases. To make your application look better, you might want to consider taking these courses at TESU or some other college/university. Personally, I'd recommend the following:

• Discrete Math for Computer Science (CS 311) - Take at Metropolia University
  
• Introduction to Programming (CS 312) - Take at ASU, if possible. TESU, otherwise. 
  
• Data Structures (CS 314) - Take Data Structures and Algorithms at Metropolia
  
• Algorithms and Complexity (CS 331) - If the Metropolia Data Structures and Algorithms course doesn't come to TESU as Data Structures (COS-241), take COS-241 at TESU.
  
• Computer Organization and Architecture (CS 429) - Take at TESU, if possible.
  
• Principles of Computer Systems (CS 439) - Take Introduction to Operating Systems at Metropolia, though I'm not sure it's the same thing.
  

Applicants should have an extensive background in computer science or related sciences. Level of knowledge will be assessed by review of a student’s coursework and/or professional experience.

Because of this, I would load up on free/cheap Metropolia courses. Metropolia is a university in Finland with quite an extensive catalog of open-enrollment courses. Most of these are Comp Sci or IT-related. You would need to get your Metropolia transcript evaluated by ACEI, but the cost is only $200 no matter how many Metropolia credits you have on it.

There is more information about planning a TESU Comp Sci degree on these wiki pages:
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ience_Plan

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Another possible option would be to get a Comp Sci degree at SNHU. Apparently, it's very easy to graduate SNHU with a 4.0 GPA. However, you're limited to 90 credits transferred in. You must take 30 credits with SNHU, a process that can take about a year (depending on your schedule). Unlike TESU, I'm not sure if any extra credits not pertaining to your degree would also show up on your transcript or if they only show degree credits. So you might or might not be able to take a few extra CS courses to show UT Austin that you are knowledgeable in Computer Science.

If you do decide to go with SNHU, we do have a CS plan on the wiki: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/SN...egree_Plan

[dfrecore]

There is no guarantee that a school will accept an AAS (or even a bachelor's degree) in lieu of a high school diploma - I have a bachelor's degree and have had to show my high school diploma numerous times in order to get into schools, even community colleges just to take a class or two. My husband and daughter both had to show their high school diplomas recently even though she has >60cr and he has 2 associate degrees.

So my advice is to get a high school diploma or equivalent. Does Canada have something like the GED in the US? If not, can you create a high school diploma for yourself as a homeschooled student? Otherwise, I think you should get your GED.

[rachel83az]

Oh, sorry, for some reason I read that you were in the US! In that case, disregard the recommendation for Pierpont! It's not applicable to Canadians. Definitely get your GED: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefi...ploma.html

[Futureproof60]

Oh, sorry, for some reason I read that you were in the US! In that case, disregard the recommendation for Pierpont! It's not applicable to Canadians. Definitely get your GED: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefi...ploma.html

Thanks! After contacting a WGU rep it was confirmed that they will take an associates in lieu of high school.

[bjcheung77]

@Futureproof60, you wouldn't happen to be in Alberta would you?  Did you finish your diploma at NAIT or SAIT?  Is that budget 15K CND or USD?  That's a great first post to get the ball rolling and to get ideas, but I would provide more details from the template and last post addendum here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

I also recommend the UT-Austin Masters program if you're really planning to move down there in a few years.  Having said that, you want to keep your options open and maybe add in a couple or more choices in addition to the UT-Austin program, such as Georgia Tech's OMSCS.  Get the courses you need for entry to both programs completed or any other requirements for the entry to your favorite Masters degree.

I would also recommend revisiting WGU and other plans here for either an IT based degree or stick with your CS option, TESU is a good choice, but depending on your answers to the template/addendum, SNHU, WGU, and other similar degrees may work.  Take some time to complete the template/addendum and also review the degree/school plans here... Link: Degree Plans

[prof_frink]

Since you're in Canada, I thought I should mention a couple of other options.

Thompson Rivers University (BC) has an online Bachelor of Computing Science program: https://www.tru.ca/distance/programs/bac...ience.html

Athabasca University (Alberta) has an online Bachelor of Science in Computing and Information Systems (https://www.athabascau.ca/programs/summa...stems.html). There's an option to specialize in Computer Science (https://www.athabascau.ca/science-and-te...tions.html). I guess it would be up to you to sell it as a computer science degree to employers (assuming the distinction matters to them), perhaps by highlighting some of your coursework on your resume/LinkedIn.

Advantages of these programs are that most courses are self-paced, and you get 6 months to complete each course (plus optional paid extensions). Downside is that they may be out of your budget.


There's also the University of London's Bachelor of Science in Computer Science online program (https://www.london.ac.uk/courses/computer-science), but I've heard mixed things from students.

[Futureproof60]

@Futureproof60, you wouldn't happen to be in Alberta would you?  Did you finish your diploma at NAIT or SAIT?  Is that budget 15K CND or USD?  That's a great first post to get the ball rolling and to get ideas, but I would provide more details from the template and last post addendum here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

I also recommend the UT-Austin Masters program if you're really planning to move down there in a few years.  Having said that, you want to keep your options open and maybe add in a couple or more choices in addition to the UT-Austin program, such as Georgia Tech's OMSCS.  Get the courses you need for entry to both programs completed or any other requirements for the entry to your favorite Masters degree.

I would also recommend revisiting WGU and other plans here for either an IT based degree or stick with your CS option, TESU is a good choice, but depending on your answers to the template/addendum, SNHU, WGU, and other similar degrees may work.  Take some time to complete the template/addendum and also review the degree/school plans here... Link: Degree Plans

Thanks for the input I’ll update my post. Ha, I am in Alberta and did graduate from NAIT. Are you from Alberta as well?

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Since you're in Canada, I thought I should mention a couple of other options.

Thompson Rivers University (BC) has an online Bachelor of Computing Science program: https://www.tru.ca/distance/programs/bac...ience.html

Athabasca University (Alberta) has an online Bachelor of Science in Computing and Information Systems (https://www.athabascau.ca/programs/summa...stems.html). There's an option to specialize in Computer Science (https://www.athabascau.ca/science-and-te...tions.html). I guess it would be up to you to sell it as a computer science degree to employers (assuming the distinction matters to them), perhaps by highlighting some of your coursework on your resume/LinkedIn.

Advantages of these programs are that most courses are self-paced, and you get 6 months to complete each course (plus optional paid extensions). Downside is that they may be out of your budget.


There's also the University of London's Bachelor of Science in Computer Science online program (https://www.london.ac.uk/courses/computer-science), but I've heard mixed things from students.

Thanks! I did look at the TRU option but it would take me a full four years to graduate as I would have no transferable courses.

[LevelUP]

Hi everybody,

I'm looking to start my journey in higher education and start a computer science program. A goal of mine is to be the first person in my extended family to earn a bachelors degree and hopefully move onto a masters program.

Location: Canada 
Age: 25
Prior education: petroleum engineering technology diploma (no high school diploma) 

I have looked into WGU, but their performative assessments and grading system worries me about applying to a well knows masters program. UT Austin's online comp sci masters is very interesting to me as I may move down to Texas in a couple years. 

What programs are recommended that are online >15k and will gain acceptance to a well knows masters program?

Any insight will be appreciated.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has an online master's degree in Computer Degree or Data Science. (21k)
https://cs.illinois.edu/academics/gradua...er-science

Georgia Tech online masters is pretty popular one.

Those schools are good if you want a Tier 2 college on your resume.  Otherwise, there is WGU and other options.

[Futureproof60]

Since you're in Canada, I thought I should mention a couple of other options.

Thompson Rivers University (BC) has an online Bachelor of Computing Science program: https://www.tru.ca/distance/programs/bac...ience.html

Athabasca University (Alberta) has an online Bachelor of Science in Computing and Information Systems (https://www.athabascau.ca/programs/summa...stems.html). There's an option to specialize in Computer Science (https://www.athabascau.ca/science-and-te...tions.html). I guess it would be up to you to sell it as a computer science degree to employers (assuming the distinction matters to them), perhaps by highlighting some of your coursework on your resume/LinkedIn.

Advantages of these programs are that most courses are self-paced, and you get 6 months to complete each course (plus optional paid extensions). Downside is that they may be out of your budget.


There's also the University of London's Bachelor of Science in Computer Science online program (https://www.london.ac.uk/courses/computer-science), but I've heard mixed things from students.

Thanks! I did look at the TRU option but it would take me a full four years to graduate as I would have no transferable courses.