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I'm doing a CS degree at WGU after 12 years in the industry. It's relatively cheap and being competency based means I could pass classes like "programming 101"

I'm doing a CS degree at WGU after 12 years in the industry. It's relatively cheap and being competency based means I could pass classes like "programming 101" - the class that teach you how a while loop works - I passed that class in one day. The ability to go as fast as I'm able removed the main reason I never went back to school, and once I learned I could go as fast, I decided to go back to school. I have learned some things in the program and don't consider it a complete waste of time, although it has its share of classes I'm not enthusiastic about, just like any school would. I'll be able to move onto a masters program if I ever decide, that is an important part to me. I wish an online competency based school would offer math degrees. Math has many good resources for self study, and is easy to test for competency, it seems like a perfect fit. Anyone know of a good online math degree?

tombert 5y ago
I don't regret doing WGU, it's an accredited school, it opened some doors for me, it's relatively cheap, it's a good investment. I do have some issues with the curriculum; for example, there's two classes on "business of IT" stuff, but no classes on distributed/concurrent programming or (more worryingly) linear algebra. I think the latter is much more of an issue; a ton of jobs in the compsci world really necessitate a working knowledge of linear algebra (at least enough to call a CUDA library), so the fact that they don't teach any math after Discrete Math II is a bad thing (enough to where I wrote a letter to their staff complaining about it). I do think that an issue with the competency-based systems is that they do kind of incentivize you to half-ass your way through the degree. An 80% is the same thing as a 100% in regards to your GPA, so I felt like I would very often learn just enough to pass a class and move on. For me, as someone with almost a decade of experience and a somewhat autodidactical nature, I don't think that's bad since I already have a fairly good understanding of compsci, but I do worry that a newbie might not leave with an great understanding of some fairly vital information. I'm doing a masters degree in Data Analytics now from WGU, and since I know almost nothing about that subject, I've been fighting every urge to do "turbo mode" for it, since I actually want to learn the subject matter.
- Buttons840 5y ago
  I agree, although being able to get through a degree without the ability to apply your knowledge is a problem with many schools, even top schools, not just WGU.
  - tombert 5y ago
    That's true, and in fairness it's not like any degree is "complete". Yes, you learn facts and information, but ideally a good university "teaches you how to learn". It's there to give you a framework and enough information so that you can teach yourself, and I suppose in that sense, WGU does a pretty good job with that.

tombert 5y ago

I don't regret doing WGU, it's an accredited school, it opened some doors for me, it's relatively cheap, it's a good investment. I do have some issues with the curriculum; for example, there's two classes on "business of IT" stuff, but no classes on distributed/concurrent programming or (more worryingly) linear algebra. I think the latter is much more of an issue; a ton of jobs in the compsci world really necessitate a working knowledge of linear algebra (at least enough to call a CUDA library), so the fact that they don't teach any math after Discrete Math II is a bad thing (enough to where I wrote a letter to their staff complaining about it). I do think that an issue with the competency-based systems is that they do kind of incentivize you to half-ass your way through the degree. An 80% is the same thing as a 100% in regards to your GPA, so I felt like I would very often learn just enough to pass a class and move on. For me, as someone with almost a decade of experience and a somewhat autodidactical nature, I don't think that's bad since I already have a fairly good understanding of compsci, but I do worry that a newbie might not leave with an great understanding of some fairly vital information. I'm doing a masters degree in Data Analytics now from WGU, and since I know almost nothing about that subject, I've been fighting every urge to do "turbo mode" for it, since I actually want to learn the subject matter.

Buttons840 5y ago
I agree, although being able to get through a degree without the ability to apply your knowledge is a problem with many schools, even top schools, not just WGU.
- tombert 5y ago
  That's true, and in fairness it's not like any degree is "complete". Yes, you learn facts and information, but ideally a good university "teaches you how to learn". It's there to give you a framework and enough information so that you can teach yourself, and I suppose in that sense, WGU does a pretty good job with that.