Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Need help planning for a degree path please
#1
Question 
Your Location: Ontario, Canada
Your Age: 29
What kind of degree do you want?: Anything, preferably in IT or CS

Current Regional Accredited Credits: 69 credits

Biology for Science Majors I - 3 cr
English I - 3 cr
Intro Physics I - 3 cr
Vertebrate Structure & Function - 3 cr
Principles of Genetics - 3 cr
Intro Physics II - 3 cr
Intro Chemistry I- 3 cr
Intro Chemistry II - 3 cr
Intro to Microbiology - 3 cr
(UL) Ornithology - 3 cr
(UL) History of the Earth - 3 cr
Intro to Ecology - 3 cr
Marketing - 3 cr
Intro to Management- 3 cr
Organizational Behavior - 3 cr

(I have split the psychology ones for ease of comparibility)

Intro to Psychology I - 3 cr
Intro to Psychology II - 3 cr
Intro to Cognition - 3 cr
Psychology of Personality - 3 cr
(UL) Drugs & Behavior Psychology - 3 cr
(UL) Psychology of Human Sexuality I - 3 cr
(UL) Forensic Psychology I - 3 cr
(UL) Forensic Psychology II - 3 cr

Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: 18 credits

Sophia:
 
College Algebra
Intro to Ethics
Visual Communications
Calculus I
Public Speaking
Lifespan Development


Any certifications or military experience?: No military experience, certs: Google IT Support, Cisco CCNA, CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+
Budget: $4k to $5k USD
Commitments: None, I've been applying but the current job market is really bad and I feel the lack of a degree is still holding me back.
Dedicated time to study: As much as needed
Timeline: ASAP, Ideally by May as the job listing will be on by then
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: N/A


Hi again all, I've come back with an update of sorts but I need some help deciding which degree to pursue. This forum is a lifesaver and I appreciate the effort people put in here to help others decide on a path after reviewing their credits. Basically, I did more research on TESU and ended up applying to the BA in Biology as I have a mix of biology and psychology credits, with a few business credits too, it appeared to be the fastest degree I could complete. It took quite some time for the credits to be processed and evaluated at the credential service and then eventually at TESU. Long story short, 54 credits transferred in to the BA in Biology and after meeting with the academic advisor, I learned that most, if not all Canadian institutions run on a 3 credit system. I was expecting my Biology/Chemistry and Physics to transfer in to eliminate the prerequisite science courses... but that didn't go according to plan. At TESU and I'm sure other U.S universities as well, a science course with a lab is equivalent to 4 credit hours. The advisor informed me that I could appeal the credential service and inform them that the science courses I have done had a lab component included as part of the 3 credits or appeal to the dean but he said either scenario was unlikely as they can't change a 3 credit to a 4 credit equivalent. So I would have to not only retake the prerequisite courses I'd also have to retake a microbiology course because of the same story, even though I've done the labs for all these courses. 

We then discussed an IT or CS degree instead, he asked me to send the current ACE credits I've completed from Sophia as well as my IT certifications. So I have sent those in for evaluation and will update when done. This will utilize my second evaluation after which I'll have to enroll for the courses to keep updating into my transcript as well as any further academic advisor meetings. The issue is, I have a friend who works at an IT company and said he could refer me but the organization requires a bachelor's degree, so now I'm looking to complete a degree as fast as possible. Concurrently, I've emailed UMPI and will apply just to get the ball rolling in case I need to switch. While I was waiting for my evaluation I managed to complete 6 courses at Sophia, I was using the degree map TESU gives and just going down the list to get gen-eds out of the way. The degree I want ideally is still something in IT or CS as it will be the best fit for my current field. However, the TESU IT degree has 2 courses apart from the Information Literacy and Capstone that don't have any transfer equivalents which are:  

ITS-3630 Windows Server Configuration
ITS-3400 Wireless and Mobile Networking

Not to mention, I haven't done the Data Analytics or Cloud Data Analytics certs off Coursera for transfer credit. The BACS degree at TESU is the one I want to do, as I've read it's possible to transfer everything in apart from the Information Literacy course and capstone, but I don't think it's possible in the timeframe. Though, I do have the RA credit residency requirement completed, I will most likely look to complete it as a secondary degree, I haven't done any of the CS courses and even if I start now, I doubt I can have it done in even 3-4 months.


UMPI seems to be the best fit, but rather than do a BLS, I was looking to do a BA in Psychology as I have a lot of the psychology credits they require, and I've read about how it's possible to complete a degree in one term. I will do the BLS if it's the best fit, but I've also read about the degree not being recognized on a resume. I'm open to a Business Admin/PM degree if it can be completed in one term. 

I hope all that information helps me find a path that best fits my situation and thanks for reading through it! Big Grin

Edit: I forgot to add, because I have a few of the courses required at UMPI for a BA in Psych, if they're transfered in, and because I'd still need to do 30 credits at UMPI for the residency requirements could those 30 be used to fulfill the other portions of the program instead of the psychology portion?
Reply
#2
The TESU Psychology degree can be done completely through alternate credit sources (except for the cornerstone and capstone) so should be even more doable with your existing credits and some additional ones from Sophia and/or Study.com. That might be less work than doing the same degree at UMPI, although you would need to take some additional ACE credits to bring your total up.
-------
Current
MBA—UMass Global; University of the People—B.S. Health Science
TESU—BA Biology & Psychology, AS Mathematics

Completed
BA in Linguistics, traditional route

Online traditional credits (undergrad & U.S. unless otherwise stated)
Eastern Gateway Community College (28); ASU (10);  New Mexico Junior College (8); Strayer (3); Purdue University Global (3); TESU (6); XAMK Finland (57 ECTS + 10 grad ECTS), University of the People (3 grad)

Alternative credits
Sophia (81), Study.com (27), Saylor (6 credits), Onlinedegree.com (12), CLEP (6)

[-] The following 1 user Likes wow's post:
  • WDue
Reply
#3
Hmm, not much has changed since you last posted, it seems the template was updated and the budget was lowered. Has anything more happened since then? I would investigate your options again (Degree & Institution). If not much changed in the last 6 months, then I suggest the same thing I mentioned earlier. Your previous post or thread is here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...-CS-degree
Study.com Offer https://bit.ly/3RTJ3I9

Pre-Med Online, MSc Biomedical Sciences (Starting Jan 2026)
In Progress: UoPeople BS Health Science

Completed: UMPI BAS & MAOL (2025)
TESU ASNSM Biology, BSBA (ACBSP Accredited 2017)

[Image: e7P9EJ4.jpeg]
[-] The following 1 user Likes bjcheung77's post:
  • WDue
Reply
#4
@wow Thank you for the info and reply. I didn't have a visualization to see where my credits would map out, so using TESU's degree planner I clicked on the BA in Psychology (which had the most transfers completed out of Biology, IT and Computer Science) and created my own spreadsheet, I'l link it below! The Sophia courses and IT support certificate are preemptive transfers as TESU hasn't updated my evaluation yet.

@bjcheung77 Thank you for the reply. Not much has happened since, it took roughly a month and a half for my credits to get evaluated and I had the meeting with the advisor recently and so was at a crossroads once more. I read through your recommendation once again and most likely will be attempting the dual degree option. I have a few questions, so I'll be posting a link to my degree plan and those questions in a fresh reply.
[-] The following 1 user Likes WDue's post:
  • wow
Reply
#5
Here is the link to the spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...sp=sharing

Regarding the spreadsheet, I still have a few Sophia Gen-eds to get out of the way so I'll resume my subscription and start knocking those out, I highlighted a few concerns I had.

One of my UL Psych courses (Intro to Human Sexuality) is satisfying a gen-ed requirement and all the UL courses I've listed I verified that they did count as UL courses on my third party evaluation. I will have to speak with an advisor most likely and get that mapped to fulfill elsewhere. I wonder if I can do the same for Cognition (LL) and the Intro to Psychology thats being used in my Gen-Elective section. Also Intro to Personality was a LL course at my college but it transfers in to satisfy a UL requirement at TESU (PSY-3790) no complaints there Big Grin

In the degree planner, my Intro to Microbiology is being used as an "Additional Gen-Ed" and I'm not sure if it's even granting any credits for that.

I can't find the specific names of some of the UL credits I transfered in, I think the Drugs and Behavior course I took could count towards the required Physiological Psychology portion, but I'll have to see. Another thing I'm confused about is at the Canadian uni/college some courses were a Part I and Part II type deal. Regarding my Psychology ones, I took both parts for Forensic Psychology and only the first part for Human Sexuality. Does this mean that unless I complete both parts it wouldn't count as UL? Or if I do, then it counts as a single UL course, (I can't find Forensic Psychology II anywhere, for eg.)

That wraps up the confusion I have regarding the BA in Psych, initially, I had planned the psych degree to be done at UMPI, but since @wow's reply, I have to consider the BA in CS as well. I had planned to get this done at a later date, but after reading about the dual degree option it seems far more cost effective to do a dual degree in Psychology and Computer Science (albeit with more time and energy). I don't want to come back and do a secondary degree (BA in CS) which would mean a secondary capstone and another Residency Fee Waiver.
So after reading about a dual degree, I had a few questions:

-If I understood this correctly, this would mean 24 credits in another AOS, that being CS, 15 of those credits would need to be UL
-The capstone would be shared between the two because it's under the same school. Unless the CS capstone is different and it won't be able to be shared? Because I read that even though the CS degree falls under the Arts school, the capstone done is different.
-I looked over the degree plan for CS and saw three sections I'm confused about. The first being the list of required courses which is 18 credits. (I already have Calculus I completed, so one less course to worry about) apart from Computer Architecture (COS-3300) they're all LL. Would this mean I'll have to do these and then an additional 4 UL courses to meet the 15 credit UL requirement? Meaning I'd have to do 30 credits?
The second is the Computer Science Electives, in a dual degree format would I need to take the additional Computer Science Electives?
And lastly, Section C: Natural Sciences, Math, and Computer Science Electives, would the Social Sciences Electives satisfy the requirements for these too? I think 9 credits can be shared between the two AOS.

It's a bit of a unique situation, lol. I tried searching for anyone else who's done a dual degree in Psych and CS but it was a really old post from a few years ago and TESU has changed their requirements since.

Thanks for reading and I hope I can get some more clarity regarding this!
Reply


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  TESU BSBA Finance and possible dual degree? Bingo 1 92 1 hour ago
Last Post: Bingo
Sad I'm in Degree Hell sal1820 13 1,166 03-18-2026, 05:25 PM
Last Post: davewill
  Help deciding schools and a quick degree. Ancora_Imparo 2 793 02-28-2026, 01:20 PM
Last Post: LevelUP
  need ideas for a bachelors degree logic 5 1,020 02-28-2026, 02:21 AM
Last Post: bjcheung77
  Help with degree path please and thank you maddieb 3 521 02-26-2026, 05:15 PM
Last Post: bjcheung77
  Looking for a good roadmap for Associate or Bachelors degree for Manufacturing jobs DRAGELEMENTS 5 1,764 02-02-2026, 06:48 PM
Last Post: bjcheung77
  Degree planning help request degreeboundFF 4 843 02-02-2026, 06:11 PM
Last Post: bjcheung77
  Pursue online bachelor degree don't know what direction to go in! sponce57 2 753 01-21-2026, 10:55 AM
Last Post: Stonybeach
  Accounting Degree Plans - WGU vs UMPI? cayek1099 7 1,351 01-08-2026, 08:21 AM
Last Post: Mint Berry Crunch
  Transfer Experience and Choosing the Right Degree? anychevrolet 5 1,862 01-05-2026, 08:35 AM
Last Post: somethingdudesomething

Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)