Decision time: BABA/Leadership vs BLS/Management

[Kjnova]

I actually thought about that scene in The Matrix when they plug in and download knowledge to their brains. If only I could do that! I guess I'm doing the most available version of it in 2024, outside of science fiction.

I completed SDC Business 304, which transfers in as BUS 260. (I feel like I gave the SDC and UMPI course numbers backward at some point, apologies if so.) 109 quizzes, whew. They were easy, but it just takes time to chew through that. I got 80s or close to that on assignments and unofficially the proctored exam, though I don't have the official exam grade yet. I only care about passing, but I think I ended up with the equivalent of an 86 on the course overall. I signed up for SDC 312, which transfers in as BUS 415. That one has 64 quizzes, so I am hoping I can complete it by this time tomorrow. I might try to slip in one more this weekend (I'd have to pay $70 for the third exam), maybe SDC 306 for UMPI BUS 321, but I'm not confident I can do that in time. We'll have to see how it goes.

Current status is, with UMPI session beginning Monday, I need 13 classes. If I am able to complete the one I just started, I will need 12. If I am able to complete the one I just started, plus one more this weekend, I will need 11.

If I find that I'm coming up one class short in the session, especially if I am in a dead period such as the last two weeks of the session when you are limited in adding more classes, I may add another SDC class at that time. I will make sure to save at least one more I can do on SDC for near the end.

The classes I still need are: BUS 200, BUS 220, BUS 244, BUS 325, BUS 440, BUS 460, BUS 469, MAT 140, BUS 321*, BUS 335*, BUS 415* **, BUS 489, BUS 330*.
* means there is a Study.com equivalent available.
** I am enrolled in this SDC class and actively working on it now.

[Kjnova]

Quick update in case it's useful for anyone else now or in the future with similar goals or background as me.

I completed the SDC equivalent for BUS 260 on Friday and am awaiting the exam grade. I have completed everything except the exam for the SDC equivalent for BUS 415. I got 99% for quizzes and 94% for assignments, so I'm not worried about the exam. I only need a 17 on it. I will take it sometime this week when I have about 45 minutes available.

I re-sent my Credly badges to edocs because since I first sent it, I have added a few more Sophia classes that met some requirements.

Between all of this, I need 12 classes at UMPI: BUS 200, MAT 140, BUS 220, BUS 240, BUS 325, BUS 440, BUS 460, BUS 469, BUS 489, BUS 321, BUS 330, BUS 335

I am planning to do them in pretty much that order. I want to save one or more that can be done via SDC for last, in case I can complete residency but not all 12 classes this session. That way, I can do the one or two I still need via SDC and apply for graduation. There are SDC equivalents I have not done yet for 321, 330, and 335. If I can't do 10 classes this session at UMPI, then I will need another session regardless.

Yesterday, I took the orientation class, then started reading on my first two real UMPI classes, BUS 200, and MAT 140.

Today, I submitted all milestones for BUS 200. The hardest one for me was the Excel spreadsheet. I use Excel a lot, but rarely for formulas and functions. I had to do some reading on that, and I will be interested to see the feedback on that one. The Word and PPT docs were easy for me so far - for milestones, you don't do full final versions of the documents with all features, so they may get harder for the FA.

I then started on MAT 140. I did the first milestone (super easy if you are good with basic math and understand things like sales tax and discount percentages) and am about to work on the second milestone.

I like how UMPI presents the material. So far, so good.

[colonelcamp]

Quick update in case it's useful for anyone else now or in the future with similar goals or background as me.

I completed the SDC equivalent for BUS 260 on Friday and am awaiting the exam grade. I have completed everything except the exam for the SDC equivalent for BUS 415. I got 99% for quizzes and 94% for assignments, so I'm not worried about the exam. I only need a 17 on it. I will take it sometime this week when I have about 45 minutes available.

I re-sent my Credly badges to edocs because since I first sent it, I have added a few more Sophia classes that met some requirements.

Between all of this, I need 12 classes at UMPI: BUS 200, MAT 140, BUS 220, BUS 240, BUS 325, BUS 440, BUS 460, BUS 469, BUS 489, BUS 321, BUS 330, BUS 335

I am planning to do them in pretty much that order. I want to save one or more that can be done via SDC for last, in case I can complete residency but not all 12 classes this session. That way, I can do the one or two I still need via SDC and apply for graduation. There are SDC equivalents I have not done yet for 321, 330, and 335. If I can't do 10 classes this session at UMPI, then I will need another session regardless.

Yesterday, I took the orientation class, then started reading on my first two real UMPI classes, BUS 200, and MAT 140.

Today, I submitted all milestones for BUS 200. The hardest one for me was the Excel spreadsheet. I use Excel a lot, but rarely for formulas and functions. I had to do some reading on that, and I will be interested to see the feedback on that one. The Word and PPT docs were easy for me so far - for milestones, you don't do full final versions of the documents with all features, so they may get harder for the FA.

I then started on MAT 140. I did the first milestone (super easy if you are good with basic math and understand things like sales tax and discount percentages) and am about to work on the second milestone.

I like how UMPI presents the material. So far, so good.

Awesome!  I start on September 3rd and am super excited.

[LevelUP]

I actually thought about that scene in The Matrix when they plug in and download knowledge to their brains. If only I could do that! I guess I'm doing the most available version of it in 2024, outside of science fiction.

I completed SDC Business 304, which transfers in as BUS 260. (I feel like I gave the SDC and UMPI course numbers backward at some point, apologies if so.) 109 quizzes, whew. They were easy, but it just takes time to chew through that. I got 80s or close to that on assignments and unofficially the proctored exam, though I don't have the official exam grade yet. I only care about passing, but I think I ended up with the equivalent of an 86 on the course overall. I signed up for SDC 312, which transfers in as BUS 415. That one has 64 quizzes, so I am hoping I can complete it by this time tomorrow. I might try to slip in one more this weekend (I'd have to pay $70 for the third exam), maybe SDC 306 for UMPI BUS 321, but I'm not confident I can do that in time. We'll have to see how it goes.

Current status is, with UMPI session beginning Monday, I need 13 classes. If I am able to complete the one I just started, I will need 12. If I am able to complete the one I just started, plus one more this weekend, I will need 11.

If I find that I'm coming up one class short in the session, especially if I am in a dead period such as the last two weeks of the session when you are limited in adding more classes, I may add another SDC class at that time. I will make sure to save at least one more I can do on SDC for near the end.

The classes I still need are: BUS 200, BUS 220, BUS 244, BUS 325, BUS 440, BUS 460, BUS 469, MAT 140, BUS 321*, BUS 335*, BUS 415* **, BUS 489, BUS 330*.
* means there is a Study.com equivalent available.
** I am enrolled in this SDC class and actively working on it now.

One thing that sucks about Study.com is that they can take up to a week to verify your exam grade.  They usually grade papers within 24 hours, however.

[Kjnova]

Updates for current or future reference.

This is the Friday of my second week at UMPI. I started last Monday. Coming in, all requirements except major and concentration were fulfilled by transfer credits, and, I had the six Sophia transfer credits as well, leaving (so I believed) 14 classes to take. It turns out, I actually had MAT 140 covered by a class I took in 1990 ... but I didn't realize this until I was nearly done with MAT 140, so, oops.

Anyway, that means I needed 13 classes. But I also had completed two at SDC, I was just waiting for grades and to then transfer them in. So, I really needed 11.

And, I started another on SDC, but haven't finished it yet. I should be able to finish it by next week. That would get me down to 10.

Meanwhile at UMPI, I have submitted draft FAs for: MAT 140 (heh), BUS 200, BUS 220, and BUS 325.

I am waiting for my BUS 244 milestones to be graded. I have the FA draft ready to upload as soon as I have access to upload it.

I submitted the final version for MAT 140 today but don't have the final grade yet.

So depending how you count, you could say I've finished zero, one, four, or five classes in two weeks.

I am trying to get all As, so I may end up spending a fair amount of time revising my drafts based on feedback.

I requested to add BUS 440 today, and when the BUS 244 milestones are graded, I will upload that draft FA and request to add BUS 469. Beyond that, I still need BUS 260, BUS 330, BUS 335, and BUS 489. Additionally, though I do not need BUS 353, if there is time, I want to do that one since it counts toward the MAOL.

I really like the structure of the classes. I learn by doing. So what I do is fly through the lessons and go right to the milestones. When working on the milestone, I refer back to the lessons as needed. And, since you only need a 3 (aka a B) on the milestone to proceed, I try to get through the milestones quickly to get to the final assignment. I take more time with final assignments, and again, refer back to the lessons as needed for missing information.

The final assignments so far involve a lot of voiceover powerpoints, a lot of spreadsheets, and some papers.

If no major life events occur in the coming weeks, I am pretty confident I can complete everything I need in one session, and hopefully with good grades.

[ss20ts]

Before you submit your FAs, confirm that the FA is entirely covered. Sometimes what you can see before the Milestones are graded isn't the full FA for whatever reason. There was a discussion about this on Discord this week.

[DavidGood]

Updates for current or future reference.

This is the Friday of my second week at UMPI. I started last Monday. Coming in, all requirements except major and concentration were fulfilled by transfer credits, and, I had the six Sophia transfer credits as well, leaving (so I believed) 14 classes to take. It turns out, I actually had MAT 140 covered by a class I took in 1990 ... but I didn't realize this until I was nearly done with MAT 140, so, oops.

Anyway, that means I needed 13 classes. But I also had completed two at SDC, I was just waiting for grades and to then transfer them in. So, I really needed 11.

And, I started another on SDC, but haven't finished it yet. I should be able to finish it by next week. That would get me down to 10.

Meanwhile at UMPI, I have submitted draft FAs for: MAT 140 (heh), BUS 200, BUS 220, and BUS 325.

I am waiting for my BUS 244 milestones to be graded. I have the FA draft ready to upload as soon as I have access to upload it.

I submitted the final version for MAT 140 today but don't have the final grade yet.

So depending how you count, you could say I've finished zero, one, four, or five classes in two weeks.

I am trying to get all As, so I may end up spending a fair amount of time revising my drafts based on feedback.

I requested to add BUS 440 today, and when the BUS 244 milestones are graded, I will upload that draft FA and request to add BUS 469. Beyond that, I still need BUS 260, BUS 330, BUS 335, and BUS 489. Additionally, though I do not need BUS 353, if there is time, I want to do that one since it counts toward the MAOL.

I really like the structure of the classes. I learn by doing. So what I do is fly through the lessons and go right to the milestones. When working on the milestone, I refer back to the lessons as needed. And, since you only need a 3 (aka a B) on the milestone to proceed, I try to get through the milestones quickly to get to the final assignment. I take more time with final assignments, and again, refer back to the lessons as needed for missing information.

The final assignments so far involve a lot of voiceover powerpoints, a lot of spreadsheets, and some papers.

If no major life events occur in the coming weeks, I am pretty confident I can complete everything I need in one session, and hopefully with good grades.

This is all very helpful. Thank you and please keep sharing. Oct UMPI start date for me

[Kjnova]

Also adding for future reference, there are some things that I was trying to understand a certain way, that were not always described in ways that worked for the pattern my brain was looking for. This community helped greatly, but here are a few things I was looking for clarity on, and what I would tell myself if I could travel back in time.

How do UMPI classes compare with SDC classes as far as time to completion?

It's apples and oranges because the structures are so different. SDC classes start out with quizzes, sometimes a huge number of them. They aren't difficult, but they take time, and in my case, it can be hard to motivate myself to slog through them. In actual time, they probably take hours, but in my time, they. usually take days because I prioritize nearly everything else above going through dozens of quizzes.

The fastest I have gotten through an SDC class with a lot of focus and motivation was about two days. It might be faster for some people, though. I should add, you will be waiting a week or two for SDC to officially grade your exam and mark the class as complete.

With UMPI, you can get right to the milestones. However, the milestones are usually meatier than the SDC milestones, and, with UMPI, the final assignment is 100% of the class grade. 

Because of this, unlike the SDC exam where it's only 1/3rd of your grade and you only need 70% overall to pass ... so sometimes you only need 20 points or so out of 100 on the final exam, you need to bring your A game to the UMPI FA. To me, UMPI has better and more challenging content, but SDC's format takes more mental focus on my part.

In theory, it's probably a similar amount of time to get through the classes if you are highly motivated, but for me, there is more risk of procrastination with the SDC quiz wall, so I think I can go faster in UMPI simply because of my own study and work habits. Other people might say SDC is faster. Anyway, they are in the same ballpark, based on which format works better for you.

It may go without saying that Sophia is faster than either UMPI or SDC, but, for the sake of clarity, I'll say it. I have sometimes completed three different Sophia classes on the same day. It is much faster than any other option I have tried. I haven't tried Straighterline, Saylor or any of the other common options aside from Sophia, SDC and of course UMPI.

The UMPI final assignment is 100% of the grade. Not most of the grade, 100%

I think this is fairly well known, I just want to make sure it is crystal clear in case anybody is interpreting different things they've seen and wondering how precise the wording is. You can get a 4 on every milestone and a 3 on the FA and your score for the class is 3. Or, you can get a 3 on every milestone and a 4 on the FA and your score for the class is a 4.

Also note that at UMPI, a 2, aka a C, is a failing grade, unlike most schools.

How many classes is it realistic to do in an 8-week session?

This varies greatly, and I can see why most people don't want to give a number. We all approach this differently, come into it with different knowledge, some may want to take their time absorbing info while others want to get through ASAP, some may want 4s on every milestone while others may settle for 3s so they can reach the FA faster, and course content is different.

That said, it is certainly possible, and not that rare among motivated people who come to forums like this, to complete 10 or more classes in an 8-week term. That is an important number because you need 30 credit hours for residency to complete any degree at UMPI. If you can do 10 in one term, you have the possibility of transferring in the rest of what you need without another term.

There is a thread here where somebody says they completed 11 classes in 8 days. To me, that seems like winning the lottery. Everything would need to break right as far as receiving grades rapidly, over and over again, along with lots of other things going right. I would not count on that sort of pace. In my case, I have pushed pretty hard, but not as hard as I possibly could have, while treating this as my full-time job, and I have completed three classes (finals submitted) and nearly completed two more (drafts submitted) in two weeks.

I think if I knew two weeks ago what I know now and I approached things a little more efficiently, I could have done one more class in the same amount of time, and in a "my life depends on it" type scenario, I could have done probably two more classes in these two weeks while going for As. But you also have to know yourself and avoid burnout.

How do you interact with the instructor?

In my case so far, I have had several email conversations with instructors. Those I have interacted with in this way show an interest in my success. Their feedback is honest but positive.

One instructor gave me some feedback that didn't seem applicable, but for the most part, the feedback seems valid, accurate and helpful. One instructor in particular (Woodson) has really gone out of his way to be helpful.

The fastest milestone grading I have seen was the day after I turned the milestone in. The slowest was about three days. FA draft grading seems to take a little longer on average. I worry more about speed of milestone grading than speed of draft grading, because I figure I have several weeks if I need it to revise and submit the final.

Mechanics of completing and adding classes

You begin the session with two classes open. You cannot add more until you submit draft or actual FAs. More on that process below.

When you start a class, you will be presented with material to read or view. Some are documents, some are web links, some are videos. As you read/view them, you will see checkmarks appear. There is a status tracker that tells you how many you've viewed and how many are left to view in that section, or overall.

Opening a link or a video immediately marks it as viewed.

When you have viewed the material, the milestone is available. Milestones are often papers, powerpoints, spreadsheets etc (I am taking BUS classes, this may be different for other subject areas).

When you submit all milestones in a class, you can read the final assessment requirements, though as noted above, there are cases where you don't see the full, correct requirements until your milestones are graded. In any case, you cannot upload the draft FA or actual FA until all milestones are graded.

When all milestones are graded and are satisfactory, you can upload your draft. You can then request to have another class added, even though this class is still open.

Right now I have five classes open plus the orientation class, so it shows as six classes in all; I have submitted one final version of the FA (not draft) and am awaiting grading on it to consider the class complete; I have draft feedback for three others but have not done the final version yet; I have submitted the draft for one other but have not received feedback yet. I have requested to add two more classes. If they add those classes before I get final grades, I will have seven classes open tomorrow, or eight if you count the orientation.

I do not think there is a limit to how many classes you can have open, as long as you have submitted at least the draft FA for all but the two most recently opened.

A sidenote on that, if you are OK with Bs instead of As, I think the FA would take about 2/3rds as long in most cases. Since the FA is so much of the class, I think you could do probably at least 20% more classes in a period of time that way.

One thought I had initially was, what if I submit a rushed draft just so I can open more classes, and then I can more strategically shift my time around between a bunch of open classes, using more time where needed? The problem with that is, you can only submit one draft and get feedback on it. If you submitted a deficient draft, you might have so much feedback that you're basically redoing the FA, only this time, without an opportunity for feedback before submitting it. If you want As, it's better to get your draft in good shape before submitting, so you won't have to boil the ocean when revising it. If you didn't care about GPA (that is, didn't care if you got a B or an A ... below a B does not pass), this might be an efficient strategy, though.

[Kjnova]

An update for those now or in the future in a similar situation. This is the midway point of the term, although the last two weeks are more limited as far as adding classes, so for practical purposes, it's probably more than halfway through. I have submitted 10 finals, 8 of which have been graded (GPA 3.911). Additionally, I have submitted two other drafts. Those two are awaiting draft grading. That is 12 classes, which is all of my requirements for the BBA/Management. I needed 12 coming in because I ran out of time to do SDC classes, and, 12 are at least close to done (three may still need revision before I turn them in). I also feel that I have time to pick up a minor, and in my case due to my transfer credits, the fastest option is a History minor. I only need two 300+ classes for that, so I am signing up for HTY 439 and HTY 489. Once those are done, and all classes are graded, I will apply for graduation.

I could hardly be happier with UMPI. It is what I hoped it would be and a great fit for my needs and goals. Thanks for all who helped and advised me, and I'll try to do the same for others.

[Kjnova]

Quick update, it is Tuesday of Week 5 of my first and only session for BABA. I applied for graduation today. The earliest you can do this is when you have at least started all of your required major and minor classes. The reason I did it today is that today is when my academic advisor was able to get one of my transfer credits updated so it counted against a History minor requirement. That plus the classes I have taken or was taking at the time accounted for all of the requirements for BABA/Management, and History minor, in my case with my transfer credits. That is 12 BUS classes and two 300+ HTY classes, 14 in all.

Of course, I have technically completed zero classes, until the term ends, but in practical terms, I have completed 12, plus one draft I am improving based on feedback, and one draft awaiting feedback. Once those two are complete, I am done.

I hope to make summa, and I think I will, unless something goes really wrong with these last two classes.