new TESU degree - data science (statistics)

[SolarKat]

I very much look forward to hear from you in the future, how this degree and the courses work out for you. You are a pioneer of sorts! Did you have to enroll with TESU first and then enroll with statistics.com later? Or vice versa or simultaneously? Could one not take statistics.com courses one by one, even before enrolling with TESU? Thanks for all your information.

I applied to them simultaneously, but you certainly don't need to. The advantage of enrolling formally @ Statistics.com was the opportunity to use a payment plan, which was essential for me. I applied @ TESU because I had very old brick & mortar credits from the 80s - I wanted to see what they'd take, so I could work out my plan. (Miracle of miracles, they took everything. I'm starting with 47!) Also, I think (but I haven't done the math) that enrolling in the certificate gives you a price break on the 12 Statistics.com classes...vs paying a la carte.

Statistics.com says that they will accept up to 3 classes as transfer *in* for their certificate (Analytics for Data Science), so you don't necessarily need to do all of their in-house courses. The Stats.com "Introductory Statistics" class is 2 4-week sessions (See "Statistics 1" and "Statistics 2"). The remainder are 8 week classes worth 2 or 3 credits each. TESU offers Principles of Statistics (12wk) if you wanted to do theirs (pricey, though). Also, TESU's "R Programming" and "Python Programming" (from the CS department) count towards 2 of the 4 AOS electives, if you want to go that route. TESU does offer an undergrad Data Visualization class, but it's not listed as an option on my degree outline, so I don't know if that meets the degree requirements.

I noticed in another thread, you were asking about this degree as a stepping stone to a MS CS. You could use your info lit & math requirements for some math, fill empty GEs with more math, and use the FE category to do the 18-credit certificate in CS (and still more math, if you have room). The only caveat, you'd need to pack in the math - Calc 1, Calc 2, Linear Algebra, Discrete Math...and depending on where you want to take the CS, Calc 3 (Multivar) and Calc 4 (Diff Eq) will be really helpful if you expect an intersection with computer or electrical engineering. Modeling would be good, too. You can't have too much math, if you're serious about CS. (Also if you're serious about advanced statistical work, or any intersection with the engineering space).

This isn't the strongest data-focused degree program out there, but I felt it was a stronger option than the CS (in Boston, where I live, the CS majors have a much more rigorous BS plan, typically, so I wouldn't be at very competitive in the job market)...and for a technical program, it's FAST. Maybe not as fast as something you can test out of, like some IT stuff,...but for scheduled/instructed courses, I don't think you can get much faster than this one. There will probably be gaps to fill, if you're going on to post-grad study, but it's a reasonable beginning for the price (and time) required.

Jennifer (cookderosa), to answer your question - I don't know if Statistics.com is a formal affiliate of TESU. I hadn't heard of the affiliate program until after I found this site (and had enrolled). I've sent off an inquiry, though!