Excelsior VS Umpi

[Jennr2z]

Hello- I have applied at Excelsior and Umpi (BS - LIberal studies) I have about 60 transferable units from an old AS degree and am currently taking Sophia courses. Excelsior has my transfer credits completed and am currently waiting on Umpi for transfer audit results.  My question here is, what are your general thoughts and experiences with Excelsior and Umpi? I have not had a good experience with the communication from Excelsior thus far and was even stood up by an academic counselor for an appointment that was booked for yesterday with no response. The admissions counselor hasn’t been helpful either. Umpi has been really great with communication so far, but still waiting on the transfer audit results. Thank you!

[ss20ts]

It will take a few weeks for UMPI to process your transcripts. That's normal. It's a VERY small school. Many staff work at UMPI and UMFK or another campus. You can easily transfer in 90 credits to UMPI. Many have already done so. Then you should finish your BLS in 1-2 sessions. Some have finished in 1 session.

I applied to Excelsior long before I applied to UMPI. My advisor at Excelsior never had answers to my questions and always had to ask someone else. It would take at least a week to get a response which was frustrating. I ended up not enrolling at Excelsior. It wasn't a smooth process for me. I applied to UMPI and was accepted in a few weeks. It was still a shorter process than Excelsior.

Something some people care about...an UMPI degree is from the University of Maine system. Some people like that because it's a state university system. UMPI has pretty decent rankings. In the YourPace program, I found a lot of help when I needed it. The staff was responsive. I'm still talking to a few staff members about some things even though I've graduated - twice.

[bjcheung77]

You're trying to compare two different styles of degrees, alternative (test-out) credit vs competency based education, it's going to be hard to compare the two. It's not just comparing the Big 3 (COSC, EC, TESU), you're bringing in CBE's such as PUG, UMPI, WGU. It may be better to provide more details to see what type of "scenario" or situation you fall under. You should complete this template located in this thread: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

To answer your question, generally: If you have many transfer credits from ACE/NCCRS, RA, NA, etc, then I suggest the Excelsior route, you can finish with just 3 courses with them (7 credits). If you have plenty of time and no commitments, don't mind a science lab, and know language, I would pick UMPI for cost, ease, speed. Depending on the degree you're looking for and location you reside in, TESU and WGU may be better options...

[ss20ts]

To answer your question, generally:  If you have many transfer credits from ACE/NCCRS, RA, NA, etc, then I suggest the Excelsior route, you can finish with just 3 courses with them (7 credits).  If you have plenty of time and no commitments, don't mind a science lab, and know language, I would pick UMPI for cost, ease, speed.  

Almost everyone on here who has transferred to UMPI had ACE credits. They also accept RA credits and some NA credits. You also don't need to know a language for UMPI. You just need to take a language class. Lots of people don't have experience or knowledge of another language and attend UMPI and do just fine. The science lab isn't anything to worry about either. You need science classes for Excelsior too. Depending on the major you may not need labs.

[Jennr2z]

To answer your question, generally:  If you have many transfer credits from ACE/NCCRS, RA, NA, etc, then I suggest the Excelsior route, you can finish with just 3 courses with them (7 credits).  If you have plenty of time and no commitments, don't mind a science lab, and know language, I would pick UMPI for cost, ease, speed.  

Almost everyone on here who has transferred to UMPI had ACE credits. They also accept RA credits and some NA credits. You also don't need to know a language for UMPI. You just need to take a language class. Lots of people don't have experience or knowledge of another language and attend UMPI and do just fine. The science lab isn't anything to worry about either. You need science classes for Excelsior too. Depending on the major you may not need labs.

Thank you all! If I’m correct, the American Sign Language course would satisfy the language requirement at Umpi? 
I have a ton of transferring science, including Bio with lab so I should be ok there.

[ss20ts]

Thank you all! If I’m correct, the American Sign Language course would satisfy the language requirement at Umpi? 
I have a ton of transferring science, including Bio with lab so I should be ok there.

Yes! American Sign Language is considered a foreign language at UMPI so you will be able to transfer it in. You sound like you're in really good shape for transferring to UMPI. We can get you close to 90 transfer credits with Sophia. Not a problem at all.

[bjcheung77]

@Jennr2z, that settles things then... UMPI sounds better if you've got the language and lab already.  Just make sure to take the bulk of your upper level and 30 remaining credits at UMPI.  One thing is, have you decided on the degree?  If you're going for the BLS with a minor, you may need to take an extra minor to hit the 30 credits and the upper level requirements.  I would go for the Management & Project Management one as 3 courses overlap.  You may want to review this thread/post: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid363613

[Jennr2z]

@Jennr2z, that settles things then... UMPI sounds better if you've got the language and lab already.  Just make sure to take the bulk of your upper level and 30 remaining credits at UMPI.  One thing is, have you decided on the degree?  If you're going for the BLS with a minor, you may need to take an extra minor to hit the 30 credits and the upper level requirements.  I would go for the Management & Project Management one as 3 courses overlap.  You may want to review this thread/post: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid363613

Thank you for the help. I don’t have my language, but I’m not real worried since the ASL counts! I did apply for BLS, Management minor. I’m really leaning towards UMPI, over Excelsior, just an overall better vibe and the YourPace courses seem reasonable to complete quickly. Do you know if there is an Umpi Capstone and are the YourPace classes all proctored tests?

[dfrecore]

Honestly, the best way to deal with the Big 3...is not to deal with them as much as possible! I know that sounds crazy, but you have us.

If you list your courses here, we can tell you how they will come in at EC and UMPI.

Do it like this:

School A (RA or NA? Semester- or Quarter-based? 2yr or 4yr school)
Course #, full course name, # of credits, grade if less than a C

Repeat for each school. Keep them separate. Do not include transfer info (so if you went to school A and then transferred credits to school B, don't list them as school B). Keep things at their school of origin.

Note any courses that things are unclear, like if a science had a lab. Explain anything else that is unclear.

Then, we can give you a breakdown of what you'd need to finish, and what that would cost, and then you can make a more informed decision.

Seriously, I was at TESU, and had almost zero communication with anyone there, except my mentor when I took the capstone. I did just fine without any hand-holding. If you can do the same at EC, you'll be ok.

[ss20ts]

Thank you for the help. I don’t have my language, but I’m not real worried since the ASL counts! I did apply for BLS, Management minor. I’m really leaning towards UMPI, over Excelsior, just an overall better vibe and the YourPace courses seem reasonable to complete quickly. Do you know if there is an Umpi Capstone and are the YourPace classes all proctored tests?

The BLS does not have a capstone. There are few tests in YourPace. At this time the few exams they have don't have a proctor. Most classes have a paper or project as the Final Assessment.