Hi everyone,
I’m planning to enroll at WGU and want to complete as many prerequisites as possible using Saylor, Sophia, and Study.com. I’d love some guidance on creating a plan that maximizes transfer credits and efficiency.
A little background—I’m 35, a brick mason who got into day trading, and now I’m looking to earn a bachelor's and master's in finance and accounting to strengthen my LinkedIn profile. I’m not very knowledgeable about college classes or how this whole process works, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
If you have experience mapping courses from these platforms to WGU degrees, I’d love to hear from you. Also, if anyone can send me links to other threads that cover this topic, I’d really appreciate it!
Thanks in advance!

Using planning template as it's well structured for discussion - I tried to bold the tl;dr sections relevant to my questions


Your Location: California
Your Age: 40s
What kind of degree do you want?: eventually MSCS/MSDS but willing to pick up BA/BS to get there if needed
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 30, > 10 yrs old
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: no
Any certifications or military experience?: no
Budget: n/a
Commitments: full time work, parent to young children
Dedicated time to study: 20 hr/ week
Timeline: 2-3 yrs
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: n/a, set aside funds to complete

Inspired by the thread How I got into OMSCS: TESU BACS by ItsNeverTheLionsYear and studied many paths to MS in Computer Science or MS in Data Science on this forum, would love some advise on paths forward.  

Background:  I attempted at TESU's Statistics.com BS program in DS a few years back but found the instructional quality to be poor and at the time unable to commit consistent time to study.  As my children are finally getting old enough to not require constant attention, I'm able to allocate 15-20 hrs a week in my life now to commit to studying again.  

I work in tech for a large company and manage technical teams - think user research, business rules, and program management.  I've always had interest in big data and working with engineers frequently has helped me gain a good view into life of SWE and DS - I enjoy the problem solving, autonomy, and ability to be an expert in domains.  I use Python, SQL in my work, nothing crazy but general fluency with the language for problem solving.  Ultimately goal would be to gain marketable technical skills and I believe a degree from reputable school will help me enter into more technical roles as individual contributor or manager (such as eng/staff manager). I.e. - as a mid-career professional, I have a lot of people and process management experiences but limited technical and I believe a strong classic CS/DS program will make me more marketable in my industry.

I've targeted performance based MSCS/MSDS programs since I lack a bachelor's degree and have limited RA credits. This approach minimizes wasted time on general education (GE) via testing or community college. My primary targets have been CU Boulder's MSCS/MSDS. Preparation includes LeetCode for Python, data structures, and basic math via Khan Academy. A drawback of the program based on reviews, is limited faculty support—these programs assume a BSCS or STEM background, dropping students straight into advanced coursework.  

As I research more options, career transition programs like Pitt's MSDS and NYU's CS Bridge seem appealing, but most require a bachelor's. This raises the question: Should I complete a BS first? If so, what’s the fastest, most efficient path while preparing me technically for MSCS? WGU's extensive GE requirements seems to take 6+ months, whereas UMPI's LS program with Sophia credits could be a better alternative but I'm less familiar. I want to maximize my 20-hour weekly study time on technical subjects, not GE.

Current plan: Keep grinding CS fundamentals until I'm MSCS-ready at CU Boulder. But I worry—what if the program is retired before I qualify? With nothing tangible to show yet, I'm second-guessing this path. Should I reconsider?

Anything else I should consider?

Hello everyone,
I’m a 33-year-old resident of Texas, and I spent a decade in the military as an enlisted reservist and then as an active officer. I'm currently navigating the transition to the civilian workforce and have a vision to establish a boutique financial firm focused on high-net-worth tax planning and IRS representation.

I expect to be let go from my position as an IRS Revenue Agent tomorrow, which is prompting me to prepare for law school starting in August. I live in Dallas, TX, and I'm looking for local or online programs since I won’t be relocating.

Education Background:

• B.S. in Economics – 2.9 GPA, 2012
  
• M.B.A. in Finance/Accounting – 3.9 GPA, 2017
  
• Accreditations (in progress):
  • CFA – Passed Level 2, with one exam remaining. I have 1 year of work experience. I plan to focus on self-employment for gaining experience in financial advice alongside tax planning. I've passed the first two exams on my first attempt, and there’s no deadline for completion.
    
  • TX CPA – I still need to sit for exams and complete two additional accounting classes, but I have 10 out of 12 months of required experience. I aim to finish everything by August, but first, I need to finalize my law school application.
    

• Pursue a J.D. degree, take the TX Bar exam, and follow up with a Tax LLM.
  
• I took my first practice LSAT yesterday without any preparation and scored a 161 (77th percentile). I have 45 days to study and believe I can improve my score.
  

• SMU Law – Private institution; I need VA approval for V&RE. I have my MBA from there, making it my top choice.
  
• TX A&M Law – Public institution with free tuition for Texas residents; admission may be more challenging without my alumni status.
  

• Complete the first year of a J.D. program (possibly online) and then transfer to SMU or A&M for the J.D. degree.
  
• Obtain an international law degree, then transfer to SMU or A&M for an LLM and take the bar exam.
  

Do we know the equivalencies of Advanced Placement exams? Not just the number of credits but also exactly how they come in?

Our daughter is interested in the BA in Arts degree, and she was wondering if the 3 AP classes would fulfill the 9 credits of studio arts for the degree (i.e. Drawing, Painting, 2D Design).

Are there any other RA online classes like ASU's Earned Admission that give the option of making the class for-credit at the end of the course instead of the beginning? I've tried Googling and searching through the forums here but haven't come up with anything. 

EDIT: For a bit of context, my 13-year-old twins are homeschooling and they are chomping at the bit to start college classes. They definitely have the reading ability and motivation, but I'm looking for options where they could potentially earn RA credit with a bit of a safety net as they adapt to the rigor of college-level classes.

Thank you - I have already learned a ton from all of you!

Hi everyone, a friend of mine needs to find a course on Public Health Data Systems and Informatics that will transfer to Grand Canyon University (GCU). They cannot graduate until they complete this requirement, and since they’re already halfway through their capstone, they’re feeling really stressed.

Has anyone successfully transferred a similar course to GCU, or do you know of any accredited universities or online programs that offer it? Any recommendations or guidance on where to look would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any help!

I received a BSBA via many alternative credits for my second Bachelor's degree in 2017(not at WGU), I am a certified teacher and need 3 more credits in Math on an RA transcript in order to get another subject area certification.

The question: If I take a straighterline Math now, and apply to a WGU Master's program will the Math class show up on my WGU transcript when I send in my transcripts for the Masters program, or will they just take my Bachelors' degrees as a whole?

I only spoke to them via the chat right now and they said yes, but I am skeptical. Does anyone have any experience in this area?

I need to do some 2D modeling or technical drawings by hand for my side-projects that I do on a lathe. If I could draw or do this on a computer it would make my life easier.

I searched Sophia, study.com as well as Coursera but couldn't find anything where I'd get credits. Does anyone know if there are any credit-eligible courses? Might as well make it count if I can before I spend a week on Udemy.

Well, it took a little longer than expected, but I completed my final courses for my BAAS in Occupational Safety and Health last week.  The term ends on 2/28, and I will graduate in May, but I am done!  Thank you all who guided the way.  I started college in 2002 and left in 2004 and had 12 credits... I found this site in 2022 and decided it was time to finish my degree. It took me a while to get started, but this past year, I worked through a lot of Sophia courses, and between my 12 from the early 2000s and 66 from Sophia, I was able to transfer 78 into TAMUC/ East Texas A&M and completed 42 credits as outlined below:

Term: Summer II 2024 - 9 credits
CID
342
Leading Innovation

I found this school through a Reddit comment. I'm surprised nobody knew about this.
https://www.pima.edu/academics-programs/...pport.html
https://pima.edu/admission/apply-to-pima/index.html