Degree planning advice

[Oktoberfest]

Thanks everybody. I am going to take the OPIc if that will really count as UL as dfrecore mentioned.
So far followed all degree plans and finished all courses including U.S. government. Waiting for Touchstones of "Introduction to Sociology" and "Workplace Communication" to be graded and looks like I will have earned all requires Sophia credits then. Will update my first post accordingly once the membership is over in a few days. Stumbled upon "ENEB" yesterday. Would a BLS from UMPI suffice for applying at ENEB? And is the whole master really only 300€ like I read or does that only count when applying for the 2nd MBA?

[rachel83az]

Would a BLS from UMPI suffice for applying at ENEB?

Yes, absolutely. ENEB doesn't care what your degree is in, so long as you hold a valid Bachelor's degree.

However, I still maintain that a Liberal Studies degree is probably not the best option for someone who is living in and plans to remain in Germany indefinitely. As far as I can tell, a "Bachelor of Liberal Studies" is not a degree that exists in Germany. There are "Liberal Arts" degrees, but they seem to be like American "Bachelor of Arts" degrees. Things like Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Photography; very specific degrees that cover a single topic. They're not quite the same thing as the American Bachelor of Liberal Studies degrees where you are expected to cover 2 or more subjects. So the BLS degree may or may not be considered "legitimate" by current and future employers. I strongly recommend going with the BABA Project Management, as you previously mentioned, rather than a BLS. European employers in general are going to be more likely to understand what a Business degree is, rather than a Liberal Studies degree.

And is the whole master really only 300€ like I read or does that only count when applying for the 2nd MBA?

It can actually be cheaper than 300€. The timing may need to be right, but it can be under 200€. You don't need the MBA for the Master to count, but it may be looked on slightly more favorably in certain circumstances to have both.

The ENEB degrees are a bit of a tricky situation for Germans. The degrees are legit and above-board in Spain, but not recognized (as far as we can tell) in Germany. I am not an expert, but I don't think it's illegal to say that you've got such a degree. Employers may or may not look upon them favorably. We do know that at least one student in Belgium was able to get their employer to give them a pay raise based on having completed an ENEB degree, however, so it shouldn't be completely useless outside of Spain.

I would suggest Googling for something like "Spanien titulos propios Arbeitgeber Deutschland" and see if you can find any Spaniards talking about using their Titulo Propio in Germany or Germans wanting to use a Spanish Titulo Propio in Germany. Unfortunately, my Deutsch ist sehr, sehr schlecht and it'd probably take me a long time to find anything relevant. 

[debrag]

where the link to ENEB for 300€? - Found it.

[Oktoberfest]

Thanks rachel83az, you really got a wide spectrum of knowledge. I mean you recommended finnish university for 500€, you know about ENEB and have lots of valuable recommendations. I appreciate it. Thanks for taking time to help and share your knowledge.

Can someone please answer me following question. Don't want to create a new thread for that:

• Which UMPI BABA degree plan from the wiki hast the most courses with an exam? I know most are based on a final paper like Sophia's Touchstones but couldn't find which degree has the most exams.
  

[Oktoberfest]

So, it's me again. Just found out that I cannot edit my first post. my Sophia membership is cancelled now. I've marked the most relevant info changed since first post in green color

Your Location: Germany

Your Age: 40
What kind of degree do you want?: UMPI BABA Management or BABA Project Management

Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits:

Provider Total Credits: Sophia / 82 credits

• Art History II (ArtHist1002)
  
• Business Law (BUSLAW1001 - 2020)
  
• Calculus I (MATH1040)
  
• College Algebra (CA1001)
  
• Conflict Resolution (ConRes1001)
  
• Critical Thinking (PHIL1005)
  
• Developing Effective Teams (BUS1200)
  
• Environmental Science (ENVS1001 - 2021)
  
• Financial Accounting (BUSI 1010)
  
• Human Biology (HumBio1001)
  
• Human Biology Lab (SCIE1021)
  
• Introduction to Business (BUS1001)
  
• Introduction to Chemistry (CHEM1001)
  
• Introduction to Ethics (PHIL1002)
  
• Introduction to Information Technology (CS1001)
  
• Introduction to Java Programming (CS1101)
  
• Introduction to Python Programming (CS1100)
  
• Introduction to Sociology: Embracing Diversity and Collaboration (SOCI1010)
  
• Introduction to Statistics (STAT1001)
  
• Introduction to Web Development (CS1005)
  
• Macroeconomics (ECON1001)
  
• Microeconomics (ECON1002)
  
• Principles of Finance (FIN1001 - 2020)
  
• Project Management (PM1001)
  
• The Essentials of Managing Conflict (CONRES1000 - 2020)
  
• U.S. Government (HIST1020)
  
• US History II (HIST1002)
  
• Visual Communications (VisComm1001)
  
• Workplace Communication (COMM1010)
  

Any certifications or military experience?
Yes, the following IT certs.

• Fortinet FortiGate 7.0 Administrator
  
• MCSA: Windows Server 2012 - Certified 2016
  
• Exam 417: Upgrading Your Skills to MCSA Windows Server 2012
  
• Microsoft 365 Certified: Teams Administrator Associate (3 ACE credits UL)
  
• Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals (3 ACE credits UL)
  
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals (3 ACE credits LL)
  
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals (3 ACE credits LL)
  

Budget: Max 3000$

Commitments: family with 2 young kids. I currently work full time and can work on my studies part time or in the evenings/weekends. 
Dedicated time to study: Something around 15-20h per week
Timeline: I would like to finish within 1 or max 2 terms at UMPI. 1 term is definitely preferred. Canot afford to study for a year w/o sacrifying family and job. A predefined 7 to 8 week timeframe would be acceptable for family and boss.
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: No tuition, I am going to pay myself

I know I must continue nnext week with study.com. Just taking some days rest, got holidays booked for almost complete august. Thought about applying to start 28th August at UMPI. Initially thought Project Management could fit best but Management has been reported to be easy. Now the big Q is do I sign up with coursera and take the 3 courses for project management or do I do study.com only and apply for management.

Decisions, decisions.... Anyone care to comment? Can't judge if Project Managemet would really be much harder compared to management. Any trick to speed up study.com? I read it's capped to max. 5 courses per month?

[rachel83az]

I don't see it on your list; have you taken a German ACTFL exam yet?

The Coursera PM courses don't fully align with UMPI's Project Management degree, so I don't know if I would recommend doing them on Coursera vs. just completing those courses at UMPI. The PM courses on UMPI are a bit more involved than Management, but people have been able to complete PM in 2 or 3 sessions.

Because your time/budget requests are so tight, if you have any unplanned vacation days left, you might want to consider using them where possible to give yourself 3 or 4 day weekends to devote to UMPI. The more time you have to devote yourself to study, the more likely it is that you'll be able to finish in 1 or 2 sessions. Vacations are extremely important, but so is being able to finish your degree on schedule and within budget.

[Oktoberfest]

Hi rachel,

ACTFL is on my todo list. It's a no brainer for german and I am going to finish it next week. Sound like Management could work out in 1 term, maybe 2 and PM is definitely more difficult. Ihave proven to not finish study in young years. that's why I am here so I now tend to think: Just finish something acceptable first and if needed add the MAOL or something else on top later.

[dfrecore]

Hi rachel,

ACTFL is on my todo list. It's a no brainer for german and I am going to finish it next week. Sound like Management could work out in 1 term, maybe 2 and PM is definitely more difficult. Ihave proven to not finish study in young years. that's why I am here so I now tend to think: Just finish something acceptable first and if needed add the MAOL or something else on top later.

For the ACTFL, take a cheaper option, since you don't need more credits: the OPIc is obviously going to be easy if you're fluent, but it's $108, while the LPT (listening) is only $51.

Since you currently have Study.com, I would take:
BUS 303: Management Information Systems (core) - because you're obviously good at computers, so this will prob be an easy one for you
BUS 304: Leading Organizational Change (UL)
BUS 312: Advanced Operations Management (UL)

All 3 of these courses will work in both the Management and Project Management concentration. Then you can decide which one you want to do.  If I was working in IT, I'd do PM, but it's totally up to you.

The more courses you take at SDC, the fewer you need at UMPI, so give that some thought.  If you REALLY want to finish in 1 term at UMPI, you probably can't do it with needing 16 courses (including the art course, both English comp courses, a bunch in the core, and a bunch in the concentration).


The business core has 2 additional courses you can do through SDC:
ACC 301: Applied Managerial Accounting
BUS 303: Management Information Systems

The Management concentration has 8 courses, 6 of which can be done at SDC:

BUS 304: Leading Organizational Change
BUS 312: Advanced Operations Management
BUS 209: Mentoring & Leadership Development in the Workplace
BUS 306: Strategic Human Resources Management
BUS 309: Digital Marketing & Advertising
BUS 307: Leadership & Organizational Behavior

The Project Management concentration has 8 courses, 2 of which can be done at SDC.
BUS 304: Leading Organizational Change
BUS 312: Advanced Operations Management

So, I think for your purposes, you take as many SDC courses as you can, balancing the cost of another month+courses to another term at UMPI.  There is a time in which it doesn't make sense to do more SDC courses, but you kind of have to play with things to figure it out.

[Oktoberfest]

Very good sum up. Thanks everybody. I'll do the ACTFL and suggested 3 courses on SDC next.
For Project management: Do you suggest to follow degree plan and take the coursera courses? If I remember correctly dfrecore and origamishuttle are studying project management at the moment? I got some Microsoft IT certs which are ACE credited and listed above but can' judge if they can help me. I tried to search for Microsoft in "Credly/ACE" and "Microsoft" but I cannot find any entries for Microsoft on the Transfer Equivalencies page. I mean I probably could find out by applying to yourpace and then ask Jessica but it has been recommended to get the credits first then apply across different threads on the forum....

[bjcheung77]

@Oktoberfest, one thing to note: The bulk of your major and 30 residency credits (upper level) should come in from UMPI courses. I would re-evaluate your course of action to make sure that you have enough courses that are upper level that you don't transfer into the degree. As again, It won't really matter which BABA you go for, you can get admissions to the MAOL regardless of the major.