I recently embarked on the journey of collecting the initial credits I want to transfer in before I formally beginning my WGU Computer Science degree. By now you probably know about WGU’s generous transfer credit system and how well it works for people trying to speed-run their degree – but what does the process actually look like?
The short answer: Transfers are done through a service called Parchment, all you have to do is select WGU as the recipient and your credits will be transferred over electronically. It’s pretty cheap too!
Let’s take a look at the process and what I’ve learned so far.
My Credits
I had the goal of completing as many credits as I could in one month ($99 cost) and then transferring them into WGU for my compsci degree. It took less than a month to get 27 full credits completed at Sophia.org. Granted, these credits were “gen-ed” and on the easier side, but the reality is that Sophia offers a really great way to get a head start on your degree.
Which Courses Transfer?
I can only speak to the Computer Science program, but I’m confident every program at WGU has a similar webpage like this one where all Sophia transfers are listed.
Some Notes:
- The transferrable courses from Sophia in the link above sometimes have an asterisk (*) beside them, these are considered the recommended transfers for the WGU course.
- Please make sure you’re checking the transfers for your enrolment year, there are sometimes discrepancies as transferrable courses are subject to change.
How to Transfer
Once your credits are completed (please wait for your assignments to be graded and the course to be marked as complete), you can head over to Parchment and there you’ll be able to sign up and order a transcript from Sophia. This is an automated process and it only took a few days for me to receive a new evaluation from WGU itself.
Here are a couple of tips that I have for you:
- Only initiate a transfer once you have your credits done, there is no sense to pay the Parchment fee more than once unless you are wanting to transfer in credits before a potential curriculum change.
- If efficiency is important to you, only take one course with Touchstones (written assignments) at a time. Touchstones take a couple of days to get graded, and you can’t have more than 2 courses actively enrolled at once, so it’s prudent to take a course than only has Milestones (tests/exams) while you wait for assignments to be graded.
Wrapping Up
Speeding up your WGU Computer Science degree by using Sophiais a smart move – it’s a shortcut to saving time and money. Using Parchment makes the process easier, but it’s good to know what you’re doing. Make sure you know which Sophia courses will count at WGU and wait for your grades before transferring. With the right choices and some planning, you can get to your degree faster. Think of it as a quicker path to your big WGU goal!