28 years later, I have my degree!

[Jwheels27]

Yeah I was going to say, because I've noticed the last couple times I was on a few of NAU's competency program pages its says "this plan is no longer accepting students." They must be ending their self paced programs, I just checked, all of them say that. "This plan will not be available to new students after Summer 2024." 

Anyway, can't go wrong with the UMPI MAOL! Good luck!!!

[Claudia P]

Congratulations! Your story is very similar to mine. It's a fantastic feeling, isn't it? All the best to you!

[bjcheung77]

Yes, public/state colleges are the best options, followed by the private/non-profit ones as most of them are more expensive, the ones you want to be cautious or wary about are the private/for-profit institutions.

[sixdegreesandamovie]

I graduated from high school in 1995 and jumped into a rewarding career. No one in my family went to college, so I navigated the system (and the costs) on my own. Over the years I attended over ten colleges, failed A LOT, and learned a ton. A few years ago, I enrolled in a few classes at a state university and began to feel incredibly disenchanted and impatient. After all, I was over 40 and still plodding through traditional classes that felt like a huge waste of time and money. I started looking for alternatives, though I wanted to remain with a public college. I learned about UMPI after finding this message board, and just a few months later, I was enrolled!

I took the second fall session and completed 33 units during that time. I’ll list the courses I took at the end of this message and will add my reviews/feedback to the main course thread. I absolutely loved the pacing, the course platform, the access to University of Maine resources such as the library catalog, and the courses themselves. Even though I transferred in over 135 units, I still had a few general education gaps, so I took those via Sophia the week before classes started and while I was concurrently taking UMPI classes. I’ll list those below, as well.

My degree is a Bachelor of Liberal Studies with minors in Management, Social Studies, and History. The history courses were my favorite part of my UMPI experience and I am considering returning to complete the history degree. I was not really impressed by the content of the business courses, especially some of the theories and methods. Overall, UMPI was an excellent choice for me and I am elated that I finally finished my degree!

I have applied to the NAU MAOL program (another degree I discovered via this group!) and then I am hoping to complete a traditional online MA in community development. 

A few things I learned at UMPI:

1. Be ready to write…and write…and write. 
   
2. Have fun with the assignments when you can. You’ll find the assignments more enjoyable and your instructors will appreciate it. For example, for the MAT 140 final assessment, I pretended like I was working at Jurassic Park. I had a great time with a super dry subject. For the BUS classes, I related the course material to my own experiences whenever possible.
   
3. Be patient with Jessica and the rest of the team. They are swamped and deserve kindness. At the same time, be sure to advocate for yourself. Ask for prior work to be evaluated to fulfill requirements, and nudge Jessica if she forgets to get back to you. 
   

Thank you to everyone in this group for your endless insight and encouragement. You are the best!

UMPI courses, 2nd Fall term:
BUS 141
BUS 240
BUS 260
BUS 321
BUS 415
ENG 121
FYS YP1
HTY 350
HTY 370
HTY 400
HTY 401
MAT 140

Sophia courses, taken during UMPI Fall 1 and Fall 2 terms, to satisfy UMPI GE requirements:

• Ancient Greek Philosophers
  
• Art History I
  
• Human Biology
  
• Human Biology Lab
  
• Spanish I
  
• U.S. History I
  

Summary: 
Total transferred in: 

• CLEP: 3
  
• Sophia: 16
  
• ACE (Google Project Management on Coursera): 9
  
• University course units: 108
  

Total transfer: 136
UMPI courses: 33
Grand total: 166

Congratulations! I'm trying to find more information about HTY 400 and HTY 401. It seems like very few people take those. What was your experience like?

[Junco]

Congratulations! I'm trying to find more information about HTY 400 and HTY 401. It seems like very few people take those. What was your experience like?

Hi! Those two courses were definitely the most writing intensive of all the courses I took at UMPI. If I recall correctly, one of my final papers was 20 pages. The professor was, by far, more engaged, knowledgeable, and supportive than the other professors in my program. If you have a topic that really interests you, these courses are a great opportunity to do a deep dive. Highly recommend, as long as you're up for the writing. Good luck!

[colonelcamp]

I graduated from high school in 1995 and jumped into a rewarding career. No one in my family went to college, so I navigated the system (and the costs) on my own. Over the years I attended over ten colleges, failed A LOT, and learned a ton. A few years ago, I enrolled in a few classes at a state university and began to feel incredibly disenchanted and impatient. After all, I was over 40 and still plodding through traditional classes that felt like a huge waste of time and money. I started looking for alternatives, though I wanted to remain with a public college. I learned about UMPI after finding this message board, and just a few months later, I was enrolled!

Congrtats, Junco! Very inspiring! 
I graduated in 1994 and I hope to get mine at UMPI by the end of this year. :-)

[bjcheung77]

@Junco, Just wondering where you're attending or furthering your studies now? Did you go the NAU MAOL route or something else?

[ishady]

Congrats. I graduated HS 26 years ago and enter some university but never graduated. I transfer my uni credits (120 credits but only satisfy 30 credits) to satisfy the GEC at UMPI. I do all the rest of my credits (about 30 classes) at UMPI. I hope to graduate in 2 more terms and attend the commencement in May 2025. I will fly 9,000 miles to Maine for it because it's very important to me and my family.
Congrats again and good luck to you.

[bjcheung77]

Congrats. I graduated HS 26 years ago and enter some university but never graduated. I transfer my uni credits (120 credits but only satisfy 30 credits) to satisfy the GEC at UMPI. I do all the rest of my credits (about 30 classes) at UMPI. I hope to graduate in 2 more terms and attend the commencement in May 2025. I will fly 9,000 miles to Maine for it because it's very important to me and my family.
Congrats again and good luck to you.

A previous post of yours and a reply from me... https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid419017

I'm just confused why UMPI only accepted 30 out of your 120 credits, they would have accepted at least something for the general education and the electives, which degree are you going for at UMPI? If you are doing the BAS or BLS, there are 60 credits in the electives alone!