UMPI BA Psychology Degree Plan

[Swiss Cognac]

I am a lurker who finally decided to register an official account. I have officially applied and have been accepted to UMPI for the YourPace BA in Psychology.
I transferred in about 166 credits from 2 different attempts at B&M schools. Unfortunately, I cannot get started right away at UMPI. I will have to defer until I can finish the GEC classes I need at Sophia and the 2 psychology courses at SDC.

I plan to start on Sophia next week. I'm not sure how long 6 classes at Sophia and 2 classes at SDC will take me. However; I anticipate starting Summer Session 2 at UMPI. This should give me enough time to knock those 8 classes out and not feel rushed. This will leave me with exactly 10 courses at UMPI.

Here is my degree plan....

SOPHIA:

1.) 2D        VICOMM      Visual Communications 101       
2.) 3A/3B    MAT 101     Basic Statistics                
3.) 3C         BIO104       Intro to Human Nutrition            
4.) 4C         PHI 152      Introduction to Ethics                
5.) 5B         HTY 161     US History I            
6.) PSY 205                  Lifespan Development                    

SDC:
7.)  PSY 200        Social Psychology                    
8.)  PSY 235        Abnormal Psychology

UMPI:
9.)   PSY 311        Research Methods I
10.) PSY 446        Psychobiology
11.) PSY 341        Drugs And Behavior
12.) PSY 360        Animal Behavior
13.) PSY 370        Personality
14.) PSY 374        Voc Aspects of Disability
15.) PSY 375        Sex And Gender
16.) PSY 380        Principles of Counseling
17.) PSY 382        Substance Abuse Counseling
18.) PSY 448        Cognitive Psychology

I am planning 2 sessions because I hear psychology courses tend to be a bit longer than others. I'm in no rush. My personal goal is to be done by the end of 2025. I think it is a realistic goal.



What do you think? Any suggestions?

[slaterjack]

All of those Sophia classes should be very quick, the hardest one is probably Nutrition lol

[Hotdogman1]

I didn't take any PSY courses at UMPI but can't you just take the 2 SDC courses at UMPI? That would make it 6 courses per UMPI session and you wouldn't have to pay the additional $200+ at Study.com.

Either way, it looks like a very reasonable timeline.

[bjcheung77]

Welcome to the board, great post, I think you should be able to get through this in 2 sessions as you mentioned. We don't know the big overall picture or overview of your scenario as you haven't completed the addendum and template details. You can use the link on my signature for the Study.com 30% discount for 3 months, even if you just use one month.

It really does depend on the student... My suggestion is to get 14 classes completed in two sessions at UMPI in prep for grad school. Depending on your goals and what info you have on the addendum plus template, I would do exactly as what you're planning on, but add the 4 classes that can go towards the MAOL and have it completed within the two sessions.

[Swiss Cognac]

All of those Sophia classes should be very quick, the hardest one is probably Nutrition lol

Thanks for the heads up. I am going to attempt the hardest class first.

---

I didn't take any PSY courses at UMPI but can't you just take the 2 SDC courses at UMPI? That would make it 6 courses per UMPI session and you wouldn't have to pay the additional $200+ at Study.com.

Either way, it looks like a very reasonable timeline.

Honestly that was my original plan, but I am paying out of pocket and didn't want to risk having to pay for another session. Everything I have been reading says that the psych courses are longer and more work. I think 5 a session is reasonable. 6 per session would be pressure on me. I will just spend the $200 for some peace of mind.

[Swiss Cognac]

Welcome to the board, great post, I think you should be able to get through this in 2 sessions as you mentioned.  We don't know the big overall picture or overview of your scenario as you haven't completed the addendum and template details. You can use the link on my signature for the Study.com 30% discount for 3 months, even if you just use one month.  

It really does depend on the student... My suggestion is to get 14 classes completed in two sessions at UMPI in prep for grad school. Depending on your goals and what info you have on the addendum plus template, I would do exactly as what you're planning on, but add the 4 classes that can go towards the MAOL and have it completed within the two sessions.

Thanks for the warm welcome and the study discount code. Much respect.

I actually want to focus on this psych degree first because I need a bachelor's by early 2026 for an anticipated promotion next March. I am going with the BA Psych because I want to go the ABA/BCBA route for grad school.

There is a January-February 2026 deadline for the 3 ABA masters program I am interested in. All the cohorts start in September. So once my degree confers I can apply and anticipate starting ABA in Fall 2026.

I decided against a minor and/or completing the 3 MAOL courses within the 2 sessions because I want to focus on getting the best grades possible. I'm much more concerned with quality than quantity. It would be ideal to only have 9 classes to complete the MAOL however the MAOL isn't my priority right now.

In fact I have another scenario for BABA PM/IS already planned in case I want to knock that out while waiting to start grad school in Fall 2026. It would add 3 additional Sophia courses and 3 additional SDC courses. The MAOL classes would be completed at UMPI in case I wanted to go that route. It could be possible to get the BABA PM/IS and the MAOL prior to Fall 2026 but I would be cutting it close having to wait the mandatory term 6-8 weeks between degrees. I also don't want to be burned out by the time I get in my ABA program. Honestly, the 2nd BABA/PM is looking more attractive while waiting because I will still have most of the summer to relax before I begin the ABA route. However; reading how some people completed the 9 MAOL classes in 5-8 weeks entirely is very tempting. I just don't know how feasible it is with my timeline; do you think it is possible to be done with all 3 degrees by September 2026? It seems like a tight squeeze. If I add the additional 3 Sophia + 3 SDC courses to my current plans and begin in Summer Session 2...


This is my scenario for a 2nd degree in BABA/PM IS in 2 sessions:

Business Administration Core
BUS150        Intro to Financial Accounting            Sophia
BUS200        Intermediate Business Comput            UMPI only
BUS220        Managerial Accounting                Study.com            
BUS244        Management Information System            Study.com
BUS325        Financial Management                UMPI only
BUS353        Business Ethics                    UMPI only MAOL
BUS440        Business Analytics                UMPI only MAOL
BUS469        Strategic Professional Communication        UMPI only MAOL
MAT140        Mathematic for Business             UMPI only (easier than Sophia option)

Project Management & Information Systems concentration

BUS141        Intro to Project Management            Sophia
BUS240        Change Management                Study.com
BUS343        Project Risk/Cost Management            UMPI only
BUS345        Database Management                UMPI only
BUS400        Project Management Applications I        UMPI only
BUS415        Operations Management                study.com or Sophia
BUS401        Advanced PM Applications II            UMPI only
BUS359        IT Project Management                UMPI only

[bjcheung77]

+1, I agree, that may be your best path forward... If there really isn't a rush, I would do all the Sophia.org with the current subscription of Sophia.org, then Study.com by completing all there is required for the 2nd degree. For the second degree program, you just need the residency requirements completed for the major as most of the MAOL classes are offered at the BSBA level.

[Erikabol]

This is crazy for me, I've been thinking of doing almost the same thing. I have a bunch of credits in psych and got my degree mapped out here on the forum. But I also want to get my BABA. I want to get the MAOL just because (and it'll help me in any field), and my thought process is that I could get my BABA and increase the likelihood that I can finish the MAOL in one term at a lower cost. I started on Sophia and it took me 3 weeks to get through my first class because I was second guessing myself. Once I finished it, I finished 2 more classes in 3 days ? Visual communication is super easy, Nutrition was outrageously easy for me but I was a former nursing student. I've heard Lifespan is easy as well and I've taken it in college, not a tough class! I've also taken social psych and gender and a few others at ASU and they were breezy. I'm "smart" but I have ADHD and depression so I sabotage a lot and still got through the material pretty quickly!