truely a self study degree

[Victoriasmom]

I started Uofpeople and can not do it. Stress from deadlines are not my friend. I want to do study ($95 plan), sophia, edx and cousera. Then the self study packs from TESU. I can't do umpi or wgu because they have shorter deadlines and I develop cognitive issues under stress. So please help me out once again. I'm really trying to finish a degree. Cognitive issues wax and wain. 

Your Location: Mass
Your Age: 41
What kind of degree do you want?: Any bachelors  Goal is HCI masters
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 27
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: 0
Any certifications or military experience?: no
Budget: $100 a month Hopefully more in a year or so
Commitments: none
Dedicated time to study: 8+ hours a day
Timeline: none
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: None

[bjcheung77]

At this juncture in time, my suggestion remains the same as I mentioned in your first thread and the second thread.
1) Get your max transfer credits with ACE options... 2) Apply to the institution and complete the final requirements

1) https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...re-courses
2) https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...er-science

Without getting past that 27 RA credits, you'll still be stuck at that initial step - starting...
Accumulating the credits up to 90+ (using ACE course providers) is what you need to do.

[Tomas]

I am not quite sure about the options out there. In the past there were 3 years of Metropolia IT program that were completely self-paced, but now that they cut it to 2 years, and with the necessity of tranferring the ECTS credits into US ones etc., the total ROI might be prohibitive in your case.

I would suggest to also consider pre-study and taking study gap after each term to recover if needed. You can take as long as you need to pre-study.

[wow]

It sounds like a TESU degree with 90 credits from ACE and the rest from RA sources would be the best fit. For self-paced RA options, ASU Universal Learner is good for LL credits; Upper Iowa University is a source for UL: https://uiu.edu/academics/online-distanc...self-paced. Of course, you will need to take the Capstone in real time; I don't think there are any self-paced options for that.

[Victoriasmom]

I signed up for corsera year long @ $200 and I'm taking as many ACE credits as I can in that time. Then I'm going to do Sophia probably the 4 month plan. Then transfer to TESU. In that time I'm also going to build a portfolio. I'm going to over due the credits taking as many computer science ACE credits. My only concern is to go to GA tech I need 3 letters of recommendations for the HCI degree.

[tdat314]

I don't mean to be negative here, but if you develop issues under stress, how exactly are you planning to endure the program rigor at GT?

[bjcheung77]

Applied Computer Studies programs that are affordable have been mentioned on this board, you just need a Bachelors and some computer classes. I would suggest looking into avenues to get into these programs instead... You want to devise a pathway for yourself that would suit you best, it won't matter if it's controversial or not as long as it gets you to that educational goal of yours.

[Victoriasmom]

tdat314I don't mean to be negative here, but if you develop issues under stress, how exactly are you planning to endure the program rigor at GT?

There are a lot of changes happening in my life right now. With a good treatment team, proper medication, and stress management skills.Plus the option to go part time, disability accommodations and financial stability I should be able to do it. Right now we're financially unstable for the next few months but in 6 months we should be in a very stable situation.  I am very smart but Uofpeople it's 9 week semesters, I had no accommodations, and no one could answer what my fees were. I didn't have enough time to contact my treatment team and adjust medication. I'm feeling much better now and spent all day doing coursera.

I will always have issues but starting out with cognitive issues and poverty of speech (meaning I felt like I couldn't understand the prompt and I couldn't expand my answer, even then it was the right answer but not long enough.) I was able to read and understand the material. I know my ability wax and wane I will always deal with that but if the information is ingrained then I don't need to think to actively recall it. I felt that with 9 week courses there is no coming back from one week of less then stellar grades. Leading to even more stress. It's basically inability to recall what is asked but I can answer the question properly. I'm sure GT has had graduates with my conditions. So even when symptomatic I can do short answer, and multiple choice fine and I would be able to complete projects. It's not visible when I have cognitive issues because I've learned to work around them.
 

GT is my goal school but there are other HCI schools I can go to if I can't get in but I want to aim for there for my OMSCS because of the cost and it has the most HCI classes for the price point.

I'm willing to get any degree and take the three courses required on edx required to apply to GT. I'm doing coursera to get credits towards a degree while I recover which will take at least a couple of months while I get medication adjustments and get use to my new team members.

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Applied Computer Studies programs that are affordable have been mentioned on this board, you just need a Bachelors and some computer classes.  I would suggest looking into avenues to get into these programs instead...  You want to devise a pathway for yourself that would suit you best, it won't matter if it's controversial or not as long as it gets you to that educational goal of yours.

I'm thinking any degree that can fit my credits at tesu accumulate as many as I can before the years up at coursera and whatever I can do in 4 months at sophia without inducing stress. I'm hoping for the CS degree or or the liberal Studies with the concentration of CS.

[turbotortuga]

Listen, I completely understand everything that you are saying but what I thinkt tdat3141 is trying to convey is that the GT OMSCS is probably not the right choice for you with everything that yoiu have shared. That program is relatively easy to matriculate in to once you meet the pre-reqs and such, but is absolutely in a whole different league of difficulty than UoP, TESU, Coursera or anything like that. If you struggled with UoP, then GT would defintely stress you to the maximum. That program has something like a 60% attrition rate and even highly competent people struggle with the courseload. I think you should look towards WGU or something like that where it is completely self-paced, where you can take a few weeks or a month off at any time, when you feel overwhelmed.

[Victoriasmom]

What I'm trying to say is it wasn't to hard. It was just that it was a 9 week course vs a 12-15 week course. I can just take 1 class a semester and still graduate within the 6 year requirement at GA Tech. Which is what I would be doing based on finances. If I can't do it I can drop and go to WGU but WGU has the stress that you can complete all one semester or it costs more money. That will chain me to the computer for 6 months with very little sleep. Because we wouldn't be able to afford $4k a semester each. Currently my husband is saving up for 1 semester at UMPI to finish his bachelors degree. so he can get his masters by the end of the year.

Honestly If I turned my stuff in I would have probably get a B on the assignments but I was too stressed to turn it in convinced they'd know I don't understand. Within 2 years we should be in a much better situation. My team is leaving, my husband got a new job that is not remote ( first time in 20+years I'll be home by myself daily), we moved 3 months ago, are finances are unknown and my disability stared acting up.

Uofpeople was not helping because the advisor wouldn't get back to me when I had 6 weeks of writing to her every other day. It's wrong to saying someone shouldn't do something with little knowledge of what they're capable of outside crisis especially when the program has an 85% acceptance rate. I'm also planing on getting a mentor for weekly check-ins when I get to the step where I'm transferring to TESU and keep them through my grad school. I do not want to go to WGU because of how they proctor exams.

I've already completed several sections on coursera. I've been up since 5 am just doing the courses and will go back to it after this post. I'm not afraid of hard work and I really want to try. Just the first week was not okay and I made a healthy decision to step away and complete the first step in my journey in a less intense way. If I get a BA in Liberal studies with a concentration in CS I'll have to take the Edx classes.

Now what I do worry about is the job related stress. Schools one thing but job related stress is another.