CompSci Degree Outline Help

[dfrecore]

Sounds like WGU would be a great fit for you.  I'd probably do a couple of months of CLEP, Study.com and Sophia, and then plan on 2 terms at WGU.  You may be able to do 1 term, but I wouldn't plan on it unless you brought in more credit, which would take longer.
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Another option: take a single term at Snow College if they'll do it for the in-state price of $1743; that's a much smaller time- and money- commitment than WGU, and you can try a CBE model on for size (they won't be exactly the same of course, but it will give you a taste).  If you can complete an AA in that 16 week term, great; if not, at least you'll be able to get all of the courses you need for the GE done.

If you find that you don't love the CBE model, you may still be able to get 24cr out of the deal, and that would make TESU a great option at that point.

Thank you for the replies! WGU also sounded like the right choice for me in my mind. How would i go about structuring the learning curriculum? You say a few months of CLEP, SDC, and Sophia, but what would those classes be? How do I know when I'm ready to move on to WGU?

So WGU makes their degree plans very clear, and they have agreements for the courses with several partners.  Make a spreadsheet to organize your info:

Column 1) all of the courses required for the degree
(you can get this from here: https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/BSCS.aspx and I always use this to organize my courses of GE vs. Major as well)

Column 2) the different ways you can get courses (there may be more than 1 way for a lot of courses): 
 - Study.com: https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...142&pid=86
 - Sophia: https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...062&pid=86
 - Saylor: https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...769&pid=86
 - WGU Academy (for A+ Cert): https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...097&pid=86 (they are thru Straighterline)
 - CLEP and DSST are also accepted but they don't have the courses on the website for whatever reason

Column 3) credits taken (this is when you'll put a number when you complete the course)

Column 4) credits needed (this is the number of credits needed for that course and not yet complete)

Column 5) Total - I put a subtotal for the GE, then another subtotal for the major.  Then, at the bottom, I add the subtotals in columns 3, 4, and 5.  That way I can always make sure I'm at 120cr, and can see column 3 going up as 4 goes down.

With WGU, there is a tradeoff: the more alt-credits you do, the fewer the ones at WGU; BUT (and this is a big but), you're paying for those credits and you have to keep that in mind.  You want to take as many credits as you need to finish in 1-2 terms, but you don't want to pay so much that you could have done an extra term to do the same credits for less.  Not sure if I'm saying that correctly.  But you want to look at what you're paying for credit vs if you can just do them at WGU.  There is a balance there, and only you can figure out what it is.

The best way to do this is to add another column to your spreadsheet with costs.  Keep track of what you are paying for credits/courses, and stick to that budget.  So, if you only have a certain amount, you're going to want to use some CLEP exams if you're a decent tester (free through ModernStates).  If you hate testing, you may want to do some Sophia before Study.com.  You may want to self-study for the A+ certification before you enroll at WGU (taking the exams is part of the degree, and they will eat up a lot of time if you're not careful; but at the same time, you may not want to pay for them ahead of time since they're not cheap).  You can see what I'm talking about when you start getting into the different ways to get credit.

Good luck, and come back with questions as you are figuring this stuff out.