New Here & Would Appreciate Advice In Degree Planning

[Aardvarks_n_scotties]

Your Location: NE Ohio, United States
Your Age: mid-late thirties
What kind of degree do you want?: In theory, any, however I am open to suggestions. My long term and career goals entail pursuing either Masters in Public Health or BSN and specifically focus on Health & Human Services (which is such bummer both the certificate & minor at UMPI are in person only). Some of the Universities in my area will let you accelerate your BSN if you have a bachelors (any) from an accredited school. So that leaves me having conflicting thoughts on which degree path to pursue due to my love for history but common sense tells me it makes more sense to have a more versatile, business degree.
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 27
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: 92
Any certifications or military experience?:
Military: None
Certifications: NPTI-CPT (probably not applicable in this setting)
Coursera Google Data Analytics Certificate
Coursera Salesforce Sales Operations (again, probably not applicable in this setting, and I couldn’t get it on my credly account anyways?)
Courses:
Community College:
COLLEGE MATHEMATICS
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
WRITTEN ENGLISH 1
MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY
INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY
INTRO TO HUMAN COMMUNICATIONS
BUSN COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
Sophia:
COLLEGE ALGEBRA
Introduction to Statistics
Introduction to Business
Business Law
Principles of Finance
Environmental Science
Financial Accounting
Microeconomics
INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
MACROECONOMICS
ART HISTORY I
HUMAN BIOLOGY
INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
HUMAN BIOLOGY LAB
U.S. HISTORY
INTRODUCTION TO WEB DEVELOPMENT
HEALTH, FITNESS, AND WELLNESS
IT CAREER EXPLORATION
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
MICROBIOLOGY
MICROBIOLOGY LAB
SPANISH I
VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS
BUSINSS ETHICS
U.S. GOVERNMENT
ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSPHERS
LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
U.S. HISTORY II
WORKPLACE WRITING II
COLLEGE READINESS
TEEX:
Cyber Security for Everyone
DIGITAL FORENSICS BASICS

Budget: if it’s cheap, it’s for me.
Commitments: I had surgery this year, so it’s the perfect opportunity to complete my degree, finally.
Dedicated time to study: weekdays, as I am still home due to recovery.
Timeline: ASAP
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: none.

Budget: None, but again, I’d like to get this done as quickly as possible. After having brain surgery, it made me realize I have nothing substantial to put in my obituary so, I know vain, but still.
Commitments: Honestly, just recovering from my surgery (I still get migraines and sometimes I get overwhelmed with anxiety, another reason why UMPI was a selling feature because of my test anxiety and adhd), spouse and my pets. Weekdays like 8 am – 6 pm will be my primetime for studying, assignments, etc.
Dedicated time to study: definitely a minimum if I am juggling everything else, plus assignments, 20 hours, similar to that of a part time job.
Timeline: Finishing the courses required for the degree as fast as possible would be ideal.  I would love to be done in a one session, but realistically, less than twelve months would be fantastic.
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: none

Please provide any relevant details you may have that may help us determine a option or path for you to investigate, such as your preference towards either test-out (you're a great test taker) or competency based education (because you like assessments, assignments and have test anxiety).  What other details you provide us can help determine your course of action suited for your educational journey...
I definitely experience test anxiety, as I did in the past. This is why UMPI was so attractive to me.
In my spreadsheet, you will find multiple “degree” paths. I guess I was just trying to weigh the pros and cons of each path, which way was the best to go for myself and also offered varied content, with the least number of courses needed to complete the degree.
I hope I didn’t overshare, just trying to be concise and effectively describe my situation, as weird as it is.
Thanks everyone!


Also, my google sheet wasn't attaching, so here is the link directly: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...sp=sharing

[bjcheung77]

Welcome to the board, great post with the amount of information in the addendum, spreadsheet, and template! Hmm, I would add TAMUC and their CBE options as there is a concentration that may interest you, their BAAS Human Services Administration degree in particular. Basically, they've been adding programs to their CBE offerings recently and previously I wrote about them in this thread here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ogram-List

[Aardvarks_n_scotties]

Welcome to the board, great post with the amount of information in the addendum, spreadsheet, and template!  Hmm, I would add TAMUC and their CBE options as there is a concentration that may interest you, their BAAS Human Services Administration degree in particular.  Basically, they've been adding programs to their CBE offerings recently and previously I wrote about them in this thread here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ogram-List

Thank you so much for the reply! I remember seeing a post on Reddit about TAMUC, but didn't look much further into it at the time. However, I will absolutely look into TAMUC with this new information. Thank you so much for sharing your thread and suggestion!

[allvia]

Welcome to the board, great post with the amount of information in the addendum, spreadsheet, and template!  Hmm, I would add TAMUC and their CBE options as there is a concentration that may interest you, their BAAS Health Services Administration degree in particular.  Basically, they've been adding programs to their CBE offerings recently and previously I wrote about them in this thread here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ogram-List

I agree with this recommendation, a BSN doesn't seem practical if you're not planning to become (or are not already) a RN. You will need 'English Composition II' from Sophia. Here is the wiki page for the TAMUC BAAS OL, it can help you plan out what your missing in the general education requirements from Sophia (if you're missing any, Comp II just jumped out at me as missing from your existing list). https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...egree_Plan

For clarity, bjcheung77 had a typo, it is a BAAS Health Services Administration (not Human Services). And do complete the FAFSA no matter the school/program you choose. It is always worth applying as you can sometimes be surprised with awards; the school can't tell if you qualify for anything - often even their own grants or scholarships - if you don't complete the FAFSA.

[ss20ts]

If you're not going to become a nurse at any level I wouldn't spend my time on a BSN. Focus on public health or healthcare admin instead especially since you already know you want a master's.

You mention not having an financial aid. Have you filed a FAFSA?

Supposedly UMPI will be adding a bachelor's in healthcare administration soon. Rumors are sometime in the spring. They're just rumors thus far, but they are hiring faculty for this program on YourPace.

[Aardvarks_n_scotties]

Welcome to the board, great post with the amount of information in the addendum, spreadsheet, and template!  Hmm, I would add TAMUC and their CBE options as there is a concentration that may interest you, their BAAS Health Services Administration degree in particular.  Basically, they've been adding programs to their CBE offerings recently and previously I wrote about them in this thread here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ogram-List

I agree with this recommendation, a BSN doesn't seem practical if you're not planning to become (or are not already) a RN. You will need 'English Composition II' from Sophia. Here is the wiki page for the TAMUC BAAS OL, it can help you plan out what your missing in the general education requirements from Sophia (if you're missing any, Comp II just jumped out at me as missing from your existing list). https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...egree_Plan

For clarity, bjcheung77 had a typo, it is a BAAS Health Services Administration (not Human Services). And do complete the FAFSA no matter the school/program you choose. It is always worth applying as you can sometimes be surprised with awards; the school can't tell if you qualify for anything - often even their own grants or scholarships - if you don't complete the FAFSA.

Hey there - thank you so much for this comment, especially the clarification and English Comp II. My intent was UMPI so I went with Workplace Writing II due to recommendations that grading times were quicker (which were not true in my case) and in retrospect I should’ve just done eng. comp II. I had wanted to pursue the BSN but not in the case for bedside nursing, no, so you make a strong point that it wouldn’t be beneficial in the long run. Good call too on the FAFSA and the possibly for qualifying for anything! Thank you again for the recommendations. I am going to apply TAMUC because even though I have already applied to UMPI I am still waiting for my evaluation and there’s nothing to lose. Only downside I’m aware of is I’d probably have to start the first spring term.

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If you're not going to become a nurse at any level I wouldn't spend my time on a BSN. Focus on public health or healthcare admin instead especially since you already know you want a master's.

You mention not having an financial aid. Have you filed a FAFSA?

Supposedly UMPI will be adding a bachelor's in healthcare administration soon. Rumors are sometime in the spring. They're just rumors thus far, but they are hiring faculty for this program on YourPace.

Hi, thank you so much for this information! It may be just rumors but it’s still great to learn that the program is doing so well and expanding.

Thank you so much for the feedback about the BSN and I do agree. After consideration I do think masters in public health is going to be my best bet. 

 I didn’t fill out FAFSA because I am just going to be doing self-pay but I am definitely going to despite being so late in the season as pointed out you never know what you may qualify for. 

Again, thank you for the information and I am looking forward to the growth of the UMPI program(s).

[Hackingat40]

Hey Im also from NEO! I am working on the BAS with triple minor at UMPI. I would be glad to be a communication/support buddy during classes to bounce ideas and stuff off of!