Degree Advice for a semi-successful dropout

[rachel83az]

I actually intended on doing the 10 courses in one session at UMPI, I really am a workaholic so I thought I could pull it off, then I would be done by the end of the year. I don't mind how long the school takes to send out the actual degree, I just want to finish the actual course work ASAP. I'm about to do my own research on TESU, does anyone know if I'd finish it before December? I see your message says I'd graduate in March.

Some people have done the UMPI degree in a single session, but it's really not recommended. It's tough unless you have literally 0 commitments aside from UMPI. Even then, it's not easy. Multiple people have thought they could do it in a single term and wound up taking 2 terms instead. Or 2 terms and needed to take 3 terms.

At TESU, the cornerstone/capstone term would conceivably start during the October term, which would run October/November/December. In September, you'd spend your time filling in any gaps with Sophia/SDC courses. If you really are a workaholic, you might even be able to finish the capstone/cornerstone courses in November... or even October. Then you'd be done and you'd just have to wait for your diploma to arrive.

[dfrecore]

I actually intended on doing the 10 courses in one session at UMPI, I really am a workaholic so I thought I could pull it off, then I would be done by the end of the year. I don't mind how long the school takes to send out the actual degree, I just want to finish the actual course work ASAP. I'm about to do my own research on TESU, does anyone know if I'd finish it before December? I see your message says I'd graduate in March.

Some people have done the UMPI degree in a single session, but it's really not recommended. It's tough unless you have literally 0 commitments aside from UMPI. Even then, it's not easy. Multiple people have thought they could do it in a single term and wound up taking 2 terms instead. Or 2 terms and needed to take 3 terms.

At TESU, the cornerstone/capstone term would conceivably start during the October term, which would run October/November/December. In September, you'd spend your time filling in any gaps with Sophia/SDC courses. If you really are a workaholic, you might even be able to finish the capstone/cornerstone courses in November... or even October. Then you'd be done and you'd just have to wait for your diploma to arrive.

I think the only degree I've heard of people finishing at UMPI in a single term is the BLS - because there are a LOT of courses to take for a BABA that can't be done via alt-credit (like 13-14 IIRC).  Most people aren't finishing the BABA in 1 term.  2-3 seems more likely.

It's pretty hard to finish the TESU BSBA Capstone really early.  There's quite a bit of work, and you need to do a lot of the case studies and projects and get them graded before you do the final paper - you do NOT want to do the final before knowing what the instructor is looking for, and those case studies and discussion posts are the only way to find that out.  And the teacher may not grade your papers if you finish them early, they are allowed to wait until it's the correct week for turning things in.  So I don't recommend doing it this way.  You don't want a low grade on the final just because you wanted to finish faster.  Wait for feedback on your papers before starting the final paper.

[oraibihm]

If it were me, I'd be going back to VCU to try to work out some sort of plan to complete the degree by NOT doing an in-person internship - there may be something you can work out with the dean of the school to complete this in another way.  You simply cannot be the only person who has to work FT in college (I did all the way through as well - 2 jobs at times).

If that is a hard no, then I'm taking all those credits and going to get THE fastest degree possible.  You've obviously spent a ton of time going to school already, and have a high GPA - so there's no need to get more graded credits.  Instead, I'm getting a TESU BALS and getting the heck done.  Since you're going for an MBA later, and most do not require a BSBA to get in, you don't really NEED one.

If later, you find that they have a bunch of pre-reqs to get in (many don't), then I guess you could go back and do the UMPI BABA, but honestly, I wouldn't waste the time now.

I tried to work with VCU a lot actually, even had some upper level faculty involved but there was no work around unfortunately. Which is crazy because I was actually the sole recipient for one of their most prestigious scholarships and have my name on a gold plague on a wall in the student center....but I don't even have a degree from them lol.

Thank you for your input though, it seems to be that TESU is the best course of action for me, I'll apply today and see how the transcript evaluation goes.

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I'd have to agree the the TESU BALS (NSM - since it looks like you already meet the concentration) is like the best use of your credits, it will be quite quick as well.  Without knowing all your courses (Gen Eds) it is hard to say how much you're missing for a UMPI degree (BLS or BABA). UMPI may be cheaper, but I doubt it is faster (TESU terms start every month).  As far as moving towards an MBA you already have the most common courses that are prerequisites like economics and statistics, and there are plenty of MBA options that don't even require any. If you're still leaning towards UMPI make sure you have that foreign language covered (Sophia Spanish works if you don't already have it met) before applying. If I were you, I'd probably apply to both TESU (BLS-NSM) and UMPI (BLS-Management). It will take both a bit of time to evaluate your transcripts for transfer in, then you could make a decision on who would be quickest within your budget (which you have not mentioned).

Sorry for not including every single gen ed, but I used the transfer equivalency and confirmed that I would meet all the gen ed requirements at UMPI, I did all the sophia credits over the last 2 weeks planning on going to UMPI but I don't mind pursuing TESU if that's the faster option. I'll apply to both schools and re-evaluate after seeing how long they take to get back to me and evaluate transcripts.

I apologize for not mentioning budget but I really am willing to pay whatever just to have it done ASAP, I guess for it to be logical and not super unresponsible I'd like to keep it below 15k? Not sure if that helps.

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@oraibihm, And to add, you have missed the addendum, armed with the details in the addendum, you may be better off with one or the other (TESU or UMPI) due to cost, commitments, energy, time management, whatever else there may be for your particular scenario.  You can also go back to VCU if another program takes all your current credits.

You also want to find out what degree options are available at VCU, if you can swap another degree in place and it uses your current credits, here's a recent example of someone who is enrolled at UMGC and my replies to their inquiry, notice they also missed the addendum. See link here:  https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Resistance

@bjcheung77, sorry about that! I thought I did include the information from the addendum, I was actually consciously making sure I did because I've seen you comment under multiple people's posts for not including it haha. You're referring to the budget, commitments, etc, correct? I have it near the top.

I gave few details in another comment but I've confirmed VCU is not an option, had 6 months of dialogue with different faculty and made no progress.

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I actually intended on doing the 10 courses in one session at UMPI, I really am a workaholic so I thought I could pull it off, then I would be done by the end of the year. I don't mind how long the school takes to send out the actual degree, I just want to finish the actual course work ASAP. I'm about to do my own research on TESU, does anyone know if I'd finish it before December? I see your message says I'd graduate in March.

Some people have done the UMPI degree in a single session, but it's really not recommended. It's tough unless you have literally 0 commitments aside from UMPI. Even then, it's not easy. Multiple people have thought they could do it in a single term and wound up taking 2 terms instead. Or 2 terms and needed to take 3 terms.

At TESU, the cornerstone/capstone term would conceivably start during the October term, which would run October/November/December. In September, you'd spend your time filling in any gaps with Sophia/SDC courses. If you really are a workaholic, you might even be able to finish the capstone/cornerstone courses in November... or even October. Then you'd be done and you'd just have to wait for your diploma to arrive.

I think the only degree I've heard of people finishing at UMPI in a single term is the BLS - because there are a LOT of courses to take for a BABA that can't be done via alt-credit (like 13-14 IIRC).  Most people aren't finishing the BABA in 1 term.  2-3 seems more likely.

It's pretty hard to finish the TESU BSBA Capstone really early.  There's quite a bit of work, and you need to do a lot of the case studies and projects and get them graded before you do the final paper - you do NOT want to do the final before knowing what the instructor is looking for, and those case studies and discussion posts are the only way to find that out.  And the teacher may not grade your papers if you finish them early, they are allowed to wait until it's the correct week for turning things in.  So I don't recommend doing it this way.  You don't want a low grade on the final just because you wanted to finish faster.  Wait for feedback on your papers before starting the final paper.

Thank you both for chiming in! I didn't know that it was that difficult to complete the BABA in one term, with everything being said it seems like TESU is the best option. I'm applying today and hoping for the best!

I will add that after going through https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...egree_Plan, I did come up with a plan to have exactly 10 courses to complete for the BABA by utilizing sophia/study.com. I was going to do all the study.com courses over the next couple weeks while I waited for the October session to start.

[bjcheung77]

Oopsie! You're correct, I skimmed too fast a second time and missed it, I went straight to the courses and was really interested in what you had... I still think it's a good idea to do the TESU Double Degree *IF* you don't have much to complete for the BSBA. I am leaning heavily on the BALS NSM and to get that done quickly and adding the TESU BSBA since it would be an added bonus for not much extra work...

[oraibihm]

Oopsie! You're correct, I skimmed too fast a second time and missed it, I went straight to the courses and was really interested in what you had... I still think it's a good idea to do the TESU Double Degree *IF* you don't have much to complete for the BSBA.  I am leaning heavily on the BALS NSM and to get that done quickly and adding the TESU BSBA since it would be an added bonus for not much extra work...

No worries! I'm definitely interested in the double degree even if it adds a little more time, if it's easily attainable I'm thinking why not! I really just somehow never gave TESU much consideration, I believe because I first discovered WGU but heard people saying UMPI is easier/faster for business degrees and then I just settled with that.

[allvia]

I'd have to agree the the TESU BALS (NSM - since it looks like you already meet the concentration) is like the best use of your credits, it will be quite quick as well.  Without knowing all your courses (Gen Eds) it is hard to say how much you're missing for a UMPI degree (BLS or BABA). UMPI may be cheaper, but I doubt it is faster (TESU terms start every month).  As far as moving towards an MBA you already have the most common courses that are prerequisites like economics and statistics, and there are plenty of MBA options that don't even require any. If you're still leaning towards UMPI make sure you have that foreign language covered (Sophia Spanish works if you don't already have it met) before applying. If I were you, I'd probably apply to both TESU (BLS-NSM) and UMPI (BLS-Management). It will take both a bit of time to evaluate your transcripts for transfer in, then you could make a decision on who would be quickest within your budget (which you have not mentioned).

Sorry for not including every single gen ed, but I used the transfer equivalency and confirmed that I would meet all the gen ed requirements at UMPI, I did all the sophia credits over the last 2 weeks planning on going to UMPI but I don't mind pursuing TESU if that's the faster option. I'll apply to both schools and re-evaluate after seeing how long they take to get back to me and evaluate transcripts.

I apologize for not mentioning budget but I really am willing to pay whatever just to have it done ASAP, I guess for it to be logical and not super unreasonable I'd like to keep it below 15k? Not sure if that helps.

The reason we like to see all courses including the Gen Eds listed is because it makes it easier for those with the best planning skills to assess the full picture when they post recommendations; each school can vary on their Gen Ed requirements. In your case, I wouldn't go back and add them now - but I want to make that known for others who may be reading this before they post for assistance.   Your budget is generous by this forum's standards - so you're good there. Being a US student, for that budget you could get yourself both a bachelor and master - maybe even take a cruise after to celebrate  

[dfrecore]

Oopsie! You're correct, I skimmed too fast a second time and missed it, I went straight to the courses and was really interested in what you had... I still think it's a good idea to do the TESU Double Degree *IF* you don't have much to complete for the BSBA.  I am leaning heavily on the BALS NSM and to get that done quickly and adding the TESU BSBA since it would be an added bonus for not much extra work...

No worries! I'm definitely interested in the double degree even if it adds a little more time, if it's easily attainable I'm thinking why not! I really just somehow never gave TESU much consideration, I believe because I first discovered WGU but heard people saying UMPI is easier/faster for business degrees and then I just settled with that.

Just remember that a "term" at UMPI is 8 weeks, so 2 terms is 16 weeks.  They are generally faster about accepting you and evaluating your credits than TESU, so all in all, I'd say that you'll probably have your degree about the same time either way.  So don't let that be a factor in your choice.

Overall, I think UMPI is probably a better bet, but TESU is good as well.  You just get to decide which way you want to go - more graded credits, competency-based, or everything done via alt-credit and then do 2 final courses at TESU.

[bjcheung77]

@oraibihm, I replied to your PM... In addition to that, there are differences other than CBE for UMPI and max transfer for TESU.
UMPI BABA is RA, that's all they need as they're a public/state school system. TESU is also a public/state institution, they chose to add additional ACBSP for some of their business programs and the BSBA is part of that.

As I mentioned in PM, you can do the dual degree, BSBA CIS and BA Biology/Computer Science double major, skipping UMPI altogether. Here's an example of someone doing a dual degree, in fact, they're going to try and max their ROI/Value with a BSBA with 2 AOS, and a BA CS/Math, link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid398897

[oraibihm]

@oraibihm, I replied to your PM... In addition to that, there are differences other than CBE for UMPI and max transfer for TESU.
UMPI BABA is RA, that's all they need as they're a public/state school system.  TESU is also a public/state institution, they chose to add additional ACBSP for some of their business programs and the BSBA is part of that.

As I mentioned in PM, you can do the dual degree, BSBA CIS and BA Biology/Computer Science double major, skipping UMPI altogether.  Here's an example of someone doing a dual degree, in fact, they're going to try and max their ROI/Value with a BSBA with 2 AOS, and a BA CS/Math, link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid398897

Thanks for the response both privately and here, after reading through that thread you've convinced me haha. I've applied and am now going to try to decipher what I need to do via sophia/sdc to maximize my transfers and such.