What order to take courses?

[iothom]

Hi all,

I have 12 Sophia.Org courses to take. I'd like to maximize my time and get them done as quickly and efficiently as possible. What is the suggested order to take the following courses:

1. English Composition I
   
2. Workplace Writing II
   
3. Public Speaking
   
4. Intro to Sociology
   
5. US History II
   
6. Critical Thinking
   
7. Macroeconomics
   
8. Intro to Business
   
9. Principles of Management
   
10. Business Law
    
11. Business Communication
    
12. Principles of Finance
    

Many thanks in advance!

[rachel83az]

These should be separated into two groups: courses with multiple Touchstones and courses with 2 or fewer Touchstones.

Multiple Touchstones:
English Comp I - 5 Touchstones
Workplace Writing - 6 Touchstones
Public Speaking - 4 Touchstones
Business Communication - 4 Touchstones

2 or fewer Touchstones:
Intro to Sociology - 2 Touchstones
US History II - 0 Touchstones
Critical Thinking - 1 Touchstone
Macroeconomics - 0 Touchstones
Intro to Business - 0 Touchstones
Principles of Management - 1 Touchstone
Business Law - 1 Touchstone
Principles of Finance - 0 Touchstones

Always have one multiple Touchstone course open and one 2 or fewer Touchstone course open. Start with English Comp I and, IMO, go in the order of the list above. The 2 or fewer Touchstone courses can be taken in pretty much any order.

If you have 100% finished a course and you're just waiting for a Touchstone grade, you can contact support to ask for a 3rd course to be opened for you.

Depending on grading times, you'll probably finish the 2nd list before you finish the shorter list with multiple Touchstones.

[iothom]

These should be separated into two groups: courses with multiple Touchstones and courses with 2 or fewer Touchstones.

Multiple Touchstones:
English Comp I - 5 Touchstones
Workplace Writing - 6 Touchstones
Public Speaking - 4 Touchstones
Business Communication - 4 Touchstones

2 or fewer Touchstones:
Intro to Sociology - 2 Touchstones
US History II - 0 Touchstones
Critical Thinking - 1 Touchstone
Macroeconomics - 0 Touchstones
Intro to Business - 0 Touchstones
Principles of Management - 1 Touchstone
Business Law - 1 Touchstone
Principles of Finance - 0 Touchstones

Always have one multiple Touchstone course open and one 2 or fewer Touchstone course open. Start with English Comp I and, IMO, go in the order of the list above. The 2 or fewer Touchstone courses can be taken in pretty much any order.

If you have 100% finished a course and you're just waiting for a Touchstone grade, you can contact support to ask for a 3rd course to be opened for you.

Depending on grading times, you'll probably finish the 2nd list before you finish the shorter list with multiple Touchstones.

Thank you so much! Makes a ton of sense.

[bjcheung77]

@iothom, I skimmed through your previous posts, you've been bouncing around between, COSC, WGU, and 'starting'. My confusion lies between the courses you're taking, as you've listed Eng Comp I, but then go on to Writing II - what happened to Eng Comp II and Writing I? Which degree have you finally decided on? Do you know it'll transfer to the institution of your choice?

I agree with what Rachel83AZ has mentioned, to take the courses in that particular order, but one main thing you want to do is verify all the courses you are taking fit into the degree of your choice, or at least if it does, it will hit the electives. Further to that, you want to try to maximize your alternative credits, up to 90 credits or 75% of the degree program if the institution allow for it.

[iothom]

@iothom, I skimmed through your previous posts, you've been bouncing around between, COSC, WGU, and 'starting'.  My confusion lies between the courses you're taking, as you've listed Eng Comp I, but then go on to Writing II - what happened to Eng Comp II and Writing I?  Which degree have you finally decided on?  Do you know it'll transfer to the institution of your choice?

I agree with what Rachel83AZ has mentioned, to take the courses in that particular order, but one main thing you want to do is verify all the courses you are taking fit into the degree of your choice, or at least if it does, it will hit the electives.  Further to that, you want to try to maximize your alternative credits, up to 90 credits or 75% of the degree program if the institution allow for it.

Yes, I've definitely bounced around! Initially, I wanted to find out information for my child to enroll. Now, I want to do it myself, also. Thanks to your help and others, I've taken several courses on Sophia and even a few on Study. I've settled with WGU and BS in Business Administration Marketing. After reading the forum and WGU's transfer pathway agreement, I've discovered that these are the 12 Sophia courses I need to complete. I have others to complete with Study. 

Why am I going with Eng Comp I and Writing II? 

On the WGU transfer pathway page, I saw that I could take either Eng Comp II or ENG 1020 (SOPH-0049), which I believe is Workplace Writing II. From what I've read in other places, Workplace Writing II seemed preferable to Eng Comp II. Plus, there are no prerequisites required. However, do you recommend a different course of action?

[bjcheung77]

That works for WGU, did you do your spreadsheet yet? You can probably get about 80-90 max credits transferred in through a combo of Sophia.org and Study.com, I would reference their two links and make the spreadsheet to max the 80+ credits if at all possible.

Sophia.org - https://partners.wgu.edu/transfer-pathwa...BSBAMK7112
Study.com - https://partners.wgu.edu/transfer-pathwa...BSBAMK4429

[LevelUP]

I would do in this order

Multiple Touchstones:
English Comp I - 5 Touchstones
Workplace Writing - 6 Touchstones
Public Speaking - 4 Touchstones
Business Communication - 4 Touchstones

2 or fewer Touchstones:
Intro to Business - 0 Touchstones
Principles of Finance - 0 Touchstones
Macroeconomics - 0 Touchstones
Business Law - 1 Touchstone
US History II - 1 Touchstones
Principles of Management - 1 Touchstone
Critical Thinking - 1 Touchstone
Intro to Sociology - 2 Touchstones

You can contact Sophia's customer service to open up a 3rd course if needed.

[iothom]

bjcheung77 - I'm working on my spreadsheet now. Thanks for the links and advice!

LevelUP - Thanks for the tips!