About to submit for BOG and then UMPI or TAMC?

[teejayb]

First, I would have probably never attempted to get my AA degree again, much less be motivated to pursue a bachelors without this forum. Thank you to all!

I'm working on my last Sophia classes for the Pierpoint BOG as shown below. I wanted to also show my (very old) college credits to see if everything would be fulfilled before I send in everything. I also wanted to get everyone's take on if I should do the UMPI BABA-Leadership or the TAMC-Leadership since I'm in Texas. 

Sophia Classes complete:
Intro to Business
Intro IT
Sociology
US History 1
Visual Communications
Communication at Work

Classes I'm taking:
College Algebra 
Enviro Sciences

Classes in the pipeline:
English 1&2
Micro and Macro Econ
Human Bio
"All the business ones"
History 2
Art History 1

Old College:
72 Credits of Paramedic School (trying to lower quality to upload)
34 Credits of Fire Fighter Academy/Technology
Intro Business
Business Math
Basic Economics
Oceanography Lecture


At what point to you guys think I should submit for my BOG and which direction should I go for the Bachelors?





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[rachel83az]

Don't do English 1 & 2 unless you are sure that you're going to TAMUC. Because you're in Texas, that probably is the better choice for you. But we don't have many people who have even attempted that degree yet, so it's difficult to have anything like a direct comparison. We know that UMPI only requires 1 paper per class, and the occasional exam, but we need more people reporting back about TAMUC!

For Pierpont, apply now and send in your traditional transcripts for evaluation. That way you know how many credits you have at that school. Assuming that they take everything, you should be able to graduate now. But, you should definitely be ready to graduate the BOG as soon as you finish Algebra & Environmental Science. If you want a business AoE, you'll want to want to finish all of the business courses first. That's up to you.

[teejayb]

Thanks Rachel! I'll apply for the official transcripts from my old colleges and have them sent in next week. I'm leaning towards that TAMUC degree because I believe my job qualifies me to get reimbursed through a Texas college. I'll definitely help create a plan for those to come if I do go this route.

[rachel83az]

We do have a sample TAMUC plan on the wiki: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...egree_Plan But more feedback is always appreciated.

[Vle045]

I think there are a handful of people who may be starting with TAMUC soon. For non-Texans, the price is similar to UMPI, so it would really depend on what exactly you are looking for. I am considering TAMUC myself. I only need 33 credits to complete it, with no more additional classes to take. For an UMPI degree, I have quite a few alt credits to still gather up before I get close to needing only 33 credits. And I will be totally honest, I don’t need it. It would be really more of a personal goal than an academic or professional goal. I originally had my eye on NAU for Human Resources, but the best I can get down to there is 54 credits. And the terms are six months for $3000.

[bjcheung77]

Hi OP... many variables are missing towards your journey. The more details, the better, so we know your current situation. How young are you? Do you have other commitments besides a job? Is there a specific degree or major you're looking for? Are you into alternative credit through test out options or competency based assessments? Most important is, how much time can you dedicate to your studies each day?

[LevelUP]

If you are in Texas, TAMC is only $750 for CBE.

You could complete one class, be like screw this B.S. I'm quitting and only be out $750 and have one course done. Then go to UMPI or whatever.

So it's pretty low risk compared to say WGU which would cost 5x as much to find out if it's for you.

[teejayb]

Hi OP... many variables are missing towards your journey. The more details, the better, so we know your current situation.  How young are you? Do you have other commitments besides a job? Is there a specific degree or major you're looking for? Are you into alternative credit through test out options or competency based assessments? Most important is, how much time can you dedicate to your studies each day?

My apologies. I'm in my mid thirties with a family. I work as a firefighter/paramedic here in Texas. Our city and Department heads are starting to implement a program that requires you to have a degree in order to promote to the officer rank. I'm looking at a degree which I can eventually use in my current field if I wanted to ever go for a department head role at my current organization, or on a state or national level such as FEMA. We have had a few guys have career ending injuries with nothing to fall back on. That's scary.

The Pierpoint degree seems like a decent and quick was to satisfy my work requirements for now. I'd like to continue on for a bachelors in organization management/leadership, or something like that. Besides what is mentioned on my first post, I do not have any additional credits that could be useful, except for a ton of FEMA, TEEX classes that probably would not transfer over, or do me any good in the programs I'm looking at. I'm still open to ideas, but the UMPU and TAMUC programs seem like the best fit. With the latter being paid by my department and the State due to my career. The TAMUC might carry a little more weight around here as well, for whatever it would be worth.

As far as dedicated time, I would say I can reasonably manage 3-4 hours a day on studies. I have been able to do a fair amount of studying at work between calls, but won't take any tests while on duty because it would be my luck to get a call as soon as I start a timed test!

[ss20ts]

UMPI does accept TEEX courses. FEMA courses are tough to transfer these days unfortunately. One of the great things about the BLS at UMPI are the options available to you. There's a lot of electives in the BLS which is a nice thing to have. They are also easy to fill with ACE courses.

[LevelUP]

As far as dedicated time, I would say I can reasonably manage 3-4 hours a day on studies. I have been able to do a fair amount of studying at work between calls, but won't take any tests while on duty because it would be my luck to get a call as soon as I start a timed test!

Here on DF, we consider:
20hr a week - Full-time time student (you can complete a degree in around 6-12 months while working a full-time job)
10hr a week - Part-time student (still enough time for CBE options or light load of scheduled classes)
4hr a week on avg - sporadic student (in  a year, it's possible to complete a similar amount of ACE credits as brick & mortar college students)

It seems like you have more than enough time needed, so you should be good to go.