Advice for BA in History and Poli Sci from Sophia!

[picochily]

Greetings everyone, I'm currently in the Army and I have 21 SH from my training and 41 from Sophia.org. I am preparing to enroll at UMPI for the BAH in History and Poli. Sci. I am trying to complete this degree as quickly as possible in order to apply to law school next year. The 21 SH are mostly electives, and the 41 are a mix of electives and gen eds. Overall, I need advice on what classes to finish in Sophia before enrollment in order to maximize efficiency. Thanks so much for your time and consideration. I will list all of the classes I have taken with Sophia below. I tried Eng Comp 1 & 2 and had too many issues with the graders of the touchstones so I am accepting defeat with those. Please inquire with me for more specifics.


3 hrs: Financial Accounting, Ancient Greek Philosophers, Visual Communications, Environmental Science, Microeconomics, Introduction to Psychology, Approaches to Studying Religion, Project Management, Introduction to Information Technology, Art History 1, Intro to Business, College Algebra, Intro to Statistics

1 hrs: The Essentials of Managing Conflict, Developing Effective Teams

[bjcheung77]

@picochily, Welcome to the board... You may have missed the template and last post addendum here, it's best for you to provide more details as it will give us a bigger picture of what you're looking for and your current scenario.  For military, I usually recommend Excelsior and TESU in addition to UMPI due to cost, ease, speed to finish.

@OP.  It really depends on how you look at things... TESU has a requirement for 24 residency credits for military, civilians route requires 16 credits, in either case, some people go the residency waiver route ($3,354) and just pay the fee to take only the cornerstone/capstone at TESU ($1,635 each, $545x3 out of state or $1,257 each, $419x3 in-state NJ).  

The only difference is that for military students, the PLA and TECEP will grant residency credits, for civilians, this method will not work, it will only apply to RA credits.  I would recommend the TESU route, as you can add another Bachelors in Business or something for an extra $750 capstone + extra you need for the remainder of courses that make up the degree.  

Here's a quick break down, the Excelsior route, TESU way, or the UMPI method.

Excelsior has 7 residency credits for any student.  Military rates are cheaper for tuition alone.
Tuition Reference: https://www.excelsior.edu/costs-and-fina...uate-fees/
7 x 250 = $1,750 for Tuition
28 x 7 = $196 Tech fee
$300 = Each Evaluation
20 x 7 = $140 Service fee
$125 = Grad fee
Total: $2511

TESU has 24 credits residency for military, it's recommended to take 18 credits for the easier lower level ones.
You can go for the BALS, but I would recommend either with a concentration or a BA History instead.
Military Tuition Fees Link: https://www.tesu.edu/military/tuition-fees
18 x 52 = $936 TECEPs
6 x 250 = $1500 Cornerstone/Capstone
$298 = Grad Fee
Total: $2734

UMPI = Two sessions at $1500 each
Total: $3000 (no discounts for military)
You can use your military discounts if any, or go the financial aid method (Pell Grant)
Note: For all of these, you have to pay for the initial 90 credits from all alternative sources.
Forgot URL to addendum/template here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

[grogers14]

Take a look here :

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...egree_Plan

and here:

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...ts_Roadmap

Users from this forum have compiled the plans for each degree currently at UMPI YourPace.

Some wholesale advice:

Take your Life sciences , Philosophy, Humanities , languages courses through Sophia , Saylor , or CLEP/DSST. The professors for these courses at UMPI YourPace are very, um, thorough !

[picochily]

@picochily, Welcome to the board... You may have missed the template and last post addendum here, it's best for you to provide more details as it will give us a bigger picture of what you're looking for and your current scenario.  For military, I usually recommend Excelsior and TESU in addition to UMPI due to cost, ease, speed to finish.

@OP.  It really depends on how you look at things... TESU has a requirement for 24 residency credits for military, civilians route requires 16 credits, in either case, some people go the residency waiver route ($3,354) and just pay the fee to take only the cornerstone/capstone at TESU ($1,635 each, $545x3 out of state or $1,257 each, $419x3 in-state NJ).  

The only difference is that for military students, the PLA and TECEP will grant residency credits, for civilians, this method will not work, it will only apply to RA credits.  I would recommend the TESU route, as you can add another Bachelors in Business or something for an extra $750 capstone + extra you need for the remainder of courses that make up the degree.  

Here's a quick break down, the Excelsior route, TESU way, or the UMPI method.

Excelsior has 7 residency credits for any student.  Military rates are cheaper for tuition alone.
Tuition Reference: https://www.excelsior.edu/costs-and-fina...uate-fees/
7 x 250 = $1,750 for Tuition
28 x 7 = $196 Tech fee
$300 = Each Evaluation
20 x 7 = $140 Service fee
$125 = Grad fee
Total: $2511

TESU has 24 credits residency for military, it's recommended to take 18 credits for the easier lower level ones.
You can go for the BALS, but I would recommend either with a concentration or a BA History instead.
Military Tuition Fees Link: https://www.tesu.edu/military/tuition-fees
18 x 52 = $936 TECEPs
6 x 250 = $1500 Cornerstone/Capstone
$298 = Grad Fee
Total: $2734

UMPI = Two sessions at $1500 each
Total: $3000 (no discounts for military)
You can use your military discounts if any, or go the financial aid method (Pell Grant)
Note: For all of these, you have to pay for the initial 90 credits from all alternative sources.
Forgot URL to addendum/template here:  https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

Thank you for your time and response. I originally was looking at TESU but was leaning towards UMPI due to what seemed like efficiency. So if I am reading your post correctly: the TECEP is similar to an ACE credit and I would be able to graduate by taking the remaining 30 credits (after transferring 90) through TECEP. If this is true I have a few concerns such as what my GPA would be since there are no hard grades, if I can fully graduate without a graded class, and difficulty in preparing for these exams. I'm glad you mentioned what you did because while I prepare to apply to law school I actually would like to.pursue a second bachelor's. Your help is greatly appreciated!

[dfrecore]

If you know you're not going to be deployed, UMPI is a better option, because you need more graded credits for law school admissions IIRC. I might even take a full 60cr graded from UMPI if possible.

[LevelUP]

They usually suggest having 60 graded credits before applying to law school.
https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Law-School

I suggest getting a high GPA of 3.7 or better which means doing EXACTLY what Ashkir suggested UMPI courses that have exams.
https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...THE-DRAFTS

UMPI isn't picky on essay format EXCEPT for English comp courses, so I would think twice before taking English comp at UMPI unless you are ready to take a hit to your GPA.

The fastest Sophia courses are the ones with no touchstones
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/So...lency_List

[rachel83az]

For UMPI, you need the following from Sophia: Human Biology, Human Biology Lab, Spanish 1. Because you want the history degree, you also want to take Spanish 2 at Sophia. Everything else can be taken at UMPI, especially if you need the GPA to continue on to law school later.

[bjcheung77]

Depending on the info in the template/addendum, plus the law schools of your choice, you'll get all sorts of answers and they will vary widely... It really doesn't matter which institution you go with to get the Bachelors, you need to make sure you hit the requirements for the institutions you decide to apply to.

[allvia]

It is recommended to take Comp I & II at UMPI vs Sophia - so the defeat is a wise move vs a true loss.

[ss20ts]

They usually suggest having 60 graded credits before applying to law school.
https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Law-School

I suggest getting a high GPA of 3.7 or better which means doing EXACTLY what Ashkir suggested UMPI courses that have exams.
https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...THE-DRAFTS

UMPI isn't picky on essay format EXCEPT for English comp courses, so I would think twice before taking English comp at UMPI unless you are ready to take a hit to your GPA.

The fastest Sophia courses are the ones with no touchstones
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/So...lency_List

It is expected that exams will be leaving at the end of Summer 2 so they won't be available beginning with the Fall 1 session. 

The English Comp courses are NOT difficult IF you follow the rules of APA. You need to know them for almost every paper at UMPI. Some professors actually are picky about this stuff. These courses are also 1 paper at UMPI versus Sophia which has 5-7 papers per Eng Comp course. Sophia takes far longer than UMPI for these courses. Writing is an essential skill in law school so one might as well get used to that.